Cabin of Axes - Bea Paige Page 0,27

hand runs over my bare arm, trailing up and over my shoulder as he mutters under his breath. When he rests his palm against my neck, his thumb pressing against the hollow of my throat, my breathing halts.

“I would never knowingly hurt you…” he mutters, before lowering his lips to mine and sweeping his tongue inside my mouth.

His kiss is urgent, desperate, and I succumb to it entirely. As he kisses me the lust that had been overshadowed by my sudden inexplicable fear, returns. It builds like a cyclone far out to sea, churning up my blood, making my heart beat dangerously fast until I can’t breathe again.

I feel like I’m drowning in a vortex of longing and fear. Desire and panic. It’s twisting me up inside, sending me into a tailspin. I pull away from his kiss, my eyes snapping open as I fight for breath. My heart beats in my throat, my chest feels tight like a vice is wrapped around it and I clutch at my throat. Mathieson rears backwards.

“Fuck, fuck!” he cries out.

A moment later, my t-shirt is ripped from my body and I’m lifted into another pair of strong arms only to be lowered into a bath of cool water moments later. The temperature feels shockingly cold against my too hot skin and I grab at Berrin, trying to climb back into his arms.

“No, please. It’s too c—cold.” I shiver, my teeth clacking with shock.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Berrin soothes. I feel his hands on my shoulder, holding me firmly in place.

“Just breathe in deep, darling. Just breathe. I got you,” Berrin says before I pass out again.

Chapter Nine

The sound of a man singing permeates my dreams, drawing me slowly up from a deep, peaceful sleep. His voice is melodious, a baritone that soothes me. It’s so perfect that I assume it’s playing over a sound system and I make a mental note to ask who the singer is when I eventually pry my eyelids open.

My body feels heavy, languid, satiated, as though I’ve been given a deep tissue massage all over. My muscles are loose, and my body relaxed. Memories sit at the edge of my consciousness as the song floats over me, caressing my skin. They’re still out of reach but closer than they’ve ever been before so I force myself to relax into this state of semi-consciousness, hoping to uncover them.

Concentrating on the toe-curlingly beautiful voice, I imagine myself floating on water, the warm sun beating down on my naked body. I’m at peace and it’s the most wonderful sensation. I don’t know whether it’s night or day or how many hours have passed since my episode, but right now I don’t care.

I just want to be still.

Minutes pass and the singing continues. I begin to take note of my surroundings. I allow my senses to take over. The insane lust has been tempered along with the high temperature. My breathing is no longer ragged, and I don’t ache like I had before. I’ve no idea what happened to me or why my body reacted in such a way, but for now I’m glad to be at peace.

Shifting slightly, I can feel the softness of a sheepskin beneath my body and arch my back slightly, shuffling my butt and enjoying the feel of it against my skin. I feel something covering me too, another fur but a different texture to the one I’m lying on top of. The pelt is even softer, caressing my naked skin.

Wait! Naked skin?

My eyes snap open as all of my senses come rushing back in at once. One quick look and I can see that I’m lying once again on the same bed I fell asleep on the first day I arrived here, but that’s not the most troublesome thing, the fact that I’m restrained is. My ankles and wrists are bound by leather cuffs connected to the bedframe with linked chains. Yes, my arms might be crossed at the wrists and relaxed above my head, but the minute I move, I feel the restraints biting into my skin. My ankles are restricted in the same way and a quick tug tells me I don’t have much manoeuvrability. When I twist my head to the side, Berrin is sitting on a chair beside the bed, his eyes pressed shut as he continues to sing.

Berrin.

For a moment, I’m caught by how ruggedly handsome he is, how utterly captivating, as he sings. Sunlight pours through the bedroom window telling