“Let them deal with that,” he said, nodding at Keetan’s body.“We’re taking her home ourselves.”He rubbed Natalie’s back.As soon as her breathing was regulated, he scooped her up and held her against his chest.His shoulder burned, but he pushed away the pain.
Natalie’s head lolled with fatigue, but her eyes stayed riveted to his.She opened her mouth to speak but he shushed her.“Just rest, honey.You need your strength.”
He and Taschen got her onto the other boat, and Brick laid Natalie on the leather seat at the back.She shivered and her teeth chattered—likely from blood loss, shock, and of course her cold, wet clothes.But she was conscious.That was all that mattered.
He hugged her close, rubbing his hands up and down her back.“Jesus.I’m so glad you’re okay.”Uncertainty ran through him.She wasn’t out of the woods yet.She’d been shot, goddammit, and had been underwater for far too long.Fear made his mouth dry.
She curled into his body.A sob broke from her lips.“I thought I’d never see you or Bray again.”Her tiny voice, so weak, so damn delicate, shredded him.
He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.“I told you I wouldn’t let that happen.”He summoned a breath as regret gutted him.“I also told you I wouldn’t let Keetan hurt you.I’m so fucking sorry.”
She brought her palm to his cheek and touched her forehead to his.“N-Not your f-fault,” she whispered.
Itwashis fault.All of it.But he wouldn’t argue with her right now.He caught her hand and kissed her freezing-cold palm.“Let’s get you warm.”He attempted to move the blanket, but she held fast to his face.
“Th-Thank you f-for coming f-for me.”
“I’ll always come for you.Whenever you need me.”He swallowed.“I was so fucking scared.”Ah, hell.He didn’t want to do this now.He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him when he wasn’t a blubbering idiot.
But he couldn’t hold back.“When Keetan took you—” He shook his head.“My life flashed before my eyes.Everything I’d ever deemed important up until that moment just vanished.”He swept his thumb over her cheek, catching a tear.“All that was left were memories of the three of us.We had so little time together, but those moments were so good.So pure.I knew I’d hang on to them forever.”
The engine roared as Taschen fired up the boat.
Tears ran down her face, and she sniffled.
“I love you, Natalie.I’ve loved you from the moment I fell flat on my back in Fargo.You hovered over me like an angel, and I failed you.”
She frowned.“You never failed me.You gave me Bray.And y-you saved m-me.”
“I saved you now.But I was a coward then.I should’ve looked for you harder when you left.Should have done more.”
She shook her head, but before she could speak, he pressed a kiss to her lips then brushed his mouth over her cheeks.
She placed her hand on his face once again.“I l-love you, t-too.I knew you’d come for m-me.”
His heart expanded, and he kissed her again.“Let me take a look at that wound, all right?”He picked up the flashlight and carefully moved the blanket down so he could see where she was bleeding.Blood pumped out of a quarter-sized hole an inch below her clavicle.“Does it hurt anywhere else?”
Her body vibrated, and her teeth slammed together with every shudder.“N-no.Just my head.”
Shit.He’d forgotten she’d hit her head before going under.His mind replayed that moment.Keetan had moved so quickly despite knowing Taschen would light him up.He’d been set to kill the most perfect, beautiful thing in Brick’s life.
“I need to check you over.”He gingerly peeled back the blanket further and scanned the contours of her body with the flashlight.There were blood smears and droplets but nothing that suggested a pressing injury.
“C-Cover me back up.”
He tucked the blanket around her.“We’ve gotta stop the bleeding.Just sit tight a minute.”
She nodded.Her large, glassy eyes were now alert, probably from all the adrenaline firing through her body.He was semiconfident she wasn’t going to slip away any minute.
Brick reached for the weapon that had somehow stayed in his waistband.He placed the gun next to Natalie on the bench.Then, scooting along the deck, his jeans still restricting his movement, he opened the cupboard beneath the bench.Inside, he found a battery-operated lantern.He got it started, then took out an emergency kit.
After clicking off the flashlight he no longer needed, he removed gauze, peroxide, and a large bandage.Shuffling back to Natalie, he gave her a sympathetic look.“I need to help you out of those wet clothes and patch up your shoulder.”
Her eyes widened.“I trust you and all, but I don’t think you have a steady-enough hand to stitch me up right now.”
He smirked involuntarily.“I can’t stitch you up with the bullet inside anyway.I just want to clean it and stop the bleeding.”
She inhaled a shuddering breath.“I’m so cold.”
