My brows climbed. “You did this with Cody and bit it?”
“Yeah. He thought it be amusing.”
Cody would. I looked down at the rushing river, which Mari was now wading across. It was up to her chest. Which meant it would be over my head.
“We can do this, Anna.”
My gaze rose to his and froze at what I saw. Just a glimpse, before he shuttered it, but it was enough to convince me.
Why, I couldn’t say. The man was a confirmed asshole. But what I’d felt on that wild ride to save the twins—I’d just caught a microsecond’s worth of it.
It was surprising as hell. But the truth was simple, really.
Despite it all, I trusted him.
“You will have to remove your boots. Socks too. I will carry them.”
I bent to unlace and pull them off, and my socks too. Tucked the socks into boots, and handed them over. He strung them by the laces around his neck, dangling them over his back. I glanced at his footwear and realized they were made of hair like his clothes. Which made them flexible enough for this.
I approached the bridge with my heart in my mouth. I had no idea how we were going to get across it.
Sebastian came up so close from behind that I could feel the heat radiating off his body.
“I will use the belt to keep us together, in case our grip slips,” he told me. His voice sounded much rougher than usual, as though his throat was dry. His big hands encircled me, winding the belt around my waist. Then he stepped in close and fastened the buckle so that I was pushed right up against him.
I forced myself to breathe. My inner beast was awake and prowling, hungry for the energy that surrounded me.
“Watch the skin contact,” I breathed.
He didn’t respond for a moment. Then, “I can feel it. It be hungry.”
I swallowed. “Yes. Be careful. I don’t have any control over it.”
“It be okay.” His voice had deepened. “You can’t hurt me. Concentrate on the task ahead.”
I nodded.
He put his left arm around me from behind. “Give me your arm.”
“I still have no strength in that hand,” I said, moving my right arm toward his. My voice trembled slightly.
He wrapped his strong fingers around my forearm, and tightened his arm, pulling me snug against him. “We have to move as one body,” he said. “I will be our right arm. You will be the left.”
Holy crap. My entire body was vibrating as his energy wrapped around me. “Did you really do this with Cody?”
A vibration ran through him, and I wished fervently I could see his face. “Yes. Wasn’t nearly so—distracting—though.”
My heart flipped right over at the undercurrent running beneath the words.
“I thought you said Cody was distracted.”
“Never mind. Focus,” he coached. But I had a feeling the words weren’t just directed to me. “I’ll talk us through. Just try to relax.”
Relax. Right.
He reached to take the right-hand rope, and I reached to take the left.
“Small steps,” he said. “We have to keep our bodies as close as possible.”
