Pieces of Three by Kim Carmichael Read Free Book Online

draped in the scent of her blood and fear making it hard to get a lock on her, but at last he located her toward the far corner. “Alyssa.”
    He crawled across the floor, moving aside the debris blocking his path including her suitcase and some of her snacks.
    His nerves stood at attention as he tried sense any life signs to no avail. The once confining space seemed a huge canyon between him and the woman he promised to protect. “Alyssa?”
    At last he reached her, a sad crumpled heap on the deck, but her faint heartbeat and shallow breaths let him know she survived. Still, he put his hand on her chest and allowed himself the luxury of exhaling when her chest moved. “Thank you.” The blood he picked up on came from a long gash across her forehead.
    “Porter!”
    “I found her, she’s alive, but she’s hurt.” Like earlier, he checked her pulse then pressed his palm to her cold skin.
    “How bad is she?”
    “I don’t know.” He gave her a quick assessment, running his hands over her. Without the benefit of any supplies he couldn’t tell. “Go back up and find a place for us to rest. She needs to get warm.”
    “Get her up here,” Julian called.
    As he gathered her up in his arms her head fell back and her arm fell lifeless to one side. He pressed his lips together and hurried back to the deck.
    “Let’s go to the quarters. The ship is secure, even if the tide gets higher. We’re wedged against a hill.” Julian touched her hair and guided him to their destination. “There’s some damage to the boat, but it’s hard to assess until sunlight. How is she?”
    “We need to get her warm and dry, she was in the corner like she tried to hide.” He sped up his steps.
    “At least she’s alive.” Julian ran ahead and opened the door to their shelter. “We have to take care of her like she did us.”
    He made his way inside. All he needed was to fail her like the ones sick back home. They trusted him and he left, escaping with Julian.
    “Put her here.” Julian pulled the covers down on one of the bunks. “We have to get her out of the those wet clothes.”
    Before placing her on the bunk, Porter brushed her hair aside. Why wasn’t she moving?
    “Put her down.”
    They had no tools, nothing to fix her if she were truly hurt beyond a bump and scare. He shook his head. Some protector he turned out to be.
    “What are you doing?”
    “I’m putting her down.” He didn’t budge.
    “Then do it before she freezes.”
    He paused before kneeling to get her on the bunk without jostling her too much.
    At the same time, they reached for the buttons on her shirt, stopped and looked at each other.
    “I got it. I want to look for injuries.” Porter took it upon himself to unbutton the first button.
    “Fine, I’ll work my way up.” Julian moved down and slipped off her shoes. “Her feet are practically ice.”
    “Cover her as you go.” He worked his way down, unfastening the buttons and taking his time to lift her to get her out of the soaked shirt. After tossing the garment to the floor, he was met with another challenge and frowned at her bra. Only humans went to such great lengths to bind their body parts in strange configurations. After two tries he ripped the blasted contraption open and threw it across the room before laying her back down.
    Darkness or not, he got the opportunity to take her all in without the unflattering clothes. She possessed the curves, softness and fragility Lykan women lacked. His mouth watered at the sight of her full breasts and her nipples hard from the temperature, a perfect contrast of textures.
    “I thought we were covering her as we went.” Julian pulled her pants and undergarments over her hips and let out a low growl. “She doesn’t appear injured to me.”
    At having her as naked as the two of them he broke out into a sweat. In an attempt to distract his mind from all she had to offer, he leaned in and studied the gash on her forehead, brushing her hair aside.
    She