Page 153 of Untouchable

She heard a strange sound. A guttural sound that must have come from Caleb, although her mind wasn’t working enough to begin to process it.

Then she was being lifted up to her feet.

Her knees buckled immediately, and she fell back down.

“Damn it, Kelly,” he muttered. “Damn it all to hell.”

She had no idea what he meant. What anything meant. She just reached out to him because she needed him, and he was right there beside her.

He lifted her to her feet again, and this time he didn’t let her go. He swung her up into his arms, and he started to carry her back down the trail, out of the woods at last.

She buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could get. And then, finally, they were breaking out of the trees, back in the sunshine again. She expected him to set her down on the ground, now that they were out of the woods, but he didn’t. He carried her off the trail and down the hill and into a secluded little hollow out of sight where there was a stream and several large rocks.

Only there did he lower her to the ground. He lowered himself too, sitting on the grass where he could lean against one of the rocks. He pulled her toward him, and she came willingly, taking comfort in him, in the sunshine, in the safety of the fresh air and clear sky.

Eventually she stopped crying, but she couldn’t pull away from him. She was so battered that she couldn’t move. She just lay in the grass with her head in his lap.

He stroked her hair and didn’t say anything.

She had no idea what he was thinking, but she was really glad he was here.

After what felt like a really long time, her trembling had stopped and her tears had all dried. She still couldn’t raise her head, but she said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Caleb.”

“What are you sorry about?” His voice sounded weird and cracked.

She was sorry for everything. Absolutely everything.

“I…” She couldn’t say it, not if she had any hope of making all this worthwhile. “I tried to be strong enough, but I’m not.”

He didn’t say anything. Just kept stroking her hair.

“Maybe eventually I’ll be able to face it. Thank you.”

“For what?” His voice still sounded strange, but everything seemed strange to her at the moment.

She took a deep breath and managed to sit up at last. “For trying to help me. For caring about me that much.” She leaned toward him, reaching out to pull him into a hug.

He returned it, his arms so tight they were almost painful.

When they finally pulled apart, it didn’t feel like enough, so she pulled his head down into a kiss.

“Thank you,” she murmured over his lips. “I love you, Caleb. I love you.”

When she withdrew, his expression was unreadable, although he gave her a little smile.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, wishing the last of the secrets, the barriers, could be destroyed between them so there really would be nothing but the two of them.

He cleared his throat. “Just worried about you.”

It wasn’t what he’d been thinking. She could tell. “I know. But is something else wrong? You look… I don’t know…”

“Nothing is wrong. Are you okay? After before, I mean.”

“Yeah.” She relaxed again and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was racing in his chest, just like hers was. “It was… hard. But it means so much that you… you want me to get better.” She pressed a kiss against his shirt. “Thank you.”

She felt his body tense up briefly, but all he said was “You’re welcome.”

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