His to Protect: Book 1 in the Bound to Him Series by Sandra Antoni (the reading list TXT) 📗

the sink so that I could wash my hands, and then he lifted me again. I was beginning to get used to the feel of being in his arms, but I knew this would not last long. I needed to get back to the resort and let Zeke get on with his life. For some reason, that thought made me sad.

When we left the bathroom, he carried me back to the bed and set me down on the edge of it. Then he knelt in front of me and lifted my leg. His hands gently probed my bruised ankle, but it was not nearly as tender as it had been before, and luckily, a lot of the swelling had already gone down as well.

“Do you need help getting dressed?” he asked, looking back up at me. I bit my lower lip, not sure how to respond. I wasn’t sure if I would need help or not.

“Um…I don’t know,” I finally replied honestly. He ended up helping me after all. There was no way that I could have gotten those jeans back on over that ankle. When I was fully dressed once again, he stood in front of me.

“Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet,” he told me. I felt my surprise at his words, but I did not have time to think about it before he lifted me again from the bed. This time, he strode from the room.

I had just met Zeke the night before, and now he was introducing me to his friends. It seemed odd, but after the several intimate and awkward moments that we had already had, this didn’t really seem that unusual after all. Besides, I was enjoying being in his arms.

Weird. I wondered where that thought had come from. I mean, sure, for the few hours that I had known him, he had carried me for quite a lot of them. Glancing up at him, his eyes met mine. Those gorgeous blue eyes seemed to be studying me, and I noticed the long lashes that seemed way too pretty for a man, but wow! They were perfect on him.

My eyes betrayed me and landed on his lips. Kissable lips. I almost groaned at my wayward thoughts and ended up just closing my eyes and gulping. I heard his chuckle and felt the heat flood my cheeks.

This man was getting to me in a way that no other man had before, and I hadn’t even known him for twenty-four hours! Maybe I had hit my head harder than I thought when I fell.

I finally opened my eyes and turned away from Zeke’s face. Looking at my surroundings kept me occupied. This place was enormous! We exited the bedroom and walked down a short hallway that led to a large, two-story, open entryway. Across from us was a large formal living area.

Zeke turned left at the entryway and walked into the largest kitchen that I had ever seen. The room was open and airy, and it joined with a living room on the far side to the right. Only part of that room could be seen as it stretched out around the corner and out of sight.

An alcove on the far side of the kitchen held a dining table with six chairs. The alcove was all windows that filled the place with natural light, and my eyes immediately went to the gorgeous view of the mountains in the distance. It was amazing. What I wouldn’t give to be able to have a view like that every day.

The living room I could tell was huge, even though I could not see all of it around the corner. I could tell there was easily enough furniture to seat eight or ten people, possibly more. The colors of all the rooms were earth tones, and the furniture was all inviting. Modern, but not too much so. It fit the space and the landscape that I could see out the windows.

We entered the living room, and I noticed a man sitting on one of the couches. I had not been able to see him until we rounded the corner from the kitchen. He looked to be about the same age as Ezekiel, so I figured around thirty. The man stood when we entered the room, and Ezekiel walked towards him, setting me down on the couch the man had just vacated.

“Brady, meet Chelsea,” Ezekiel said to the man. I held out my hand and we shook. The man was easily the same height as Ezekiel and just as broad and muscular. His hand swallowed mine when we shook. With the two of them in the room, I suddenly felt small.

“Zeke told me that you hurt your ankle in a rockslide on the mountain. I’m glad to see that you are okay,” Brady said to me, and I could tell that he was being sincere. Ezekiel pushed an ottoman in front of me and lifted my leg, placing my swollen foot on top. I saw Brady lift an eyebrow as he watched Zeke, but he didn’t say anything.

“Yes, if Zeke hadn’t shown up when he did, who knows where I’d be right now. Probably still trying to crawl down the mountain on my hands and knees. That is not an experience that I would care to repeat in the near future,” I told him with a teasing grin.

“Well, obviously you are doing okay if you still have a sense of humor after that,” he said with an amused expression. I chuckled.

“Brady, have you had breakfast yet?” Zeke asked him and he replied that he had not. “Well then, keep Chelsea company for me and I’ll go fix something,” he said, and headed out of the room. He disappeared around the corner and into the kitchen.

Chapter 6

Zeke was officially the only person who I knew here in Tucson, but sitting on a couch in his living room having a conversation with one of his good friends was a