Emma was too much in shock and too freezing to care about modesty.
Pushing Travis from her bedroom, Lexi ordered him to start a fire. The reluctance to leave her was pulsing from his body. She could see his control slipping a notch. “She’ll be okay. I promise.”
Nodding robotic, he took one last glimpse of Emma’s form curled up into a ball on Lexi’s bed and left the room.
Quickly she tore the soaking wet clothes from Emma’s tiny frame. As gentle as she could, Lexi helped her into a pair of sweats. Her skin was clammy and an unhealthily tinged of blue, but it didn’t look like any hypothermia had set in. That was good. Very good.
*
Wrapped in a thick blanket in front of a roaring fire, the clothes she wore were baggie and dry. Her hair was damp making what seemed like a dream a reality.
She had really fallen through the ice. And Travis had saved her life in an incredible feat. It shouldn’t have been possible.
She was alive.
Taking a deep breath, the fire crackled in the air. Regardless of the heat producing from the flames, her body was chilled.
She recalled gold eyes that were so familiar and at the same time out of this world. Had that really been Travis? Chewing on her bottom lip, she thought about the few other times she had caught glimpses of gold flecks in Travis. More than ever she was confused and uncertain.
A voice in the back of her head tried to frighten her, but she wasn’t having it. This was Travis. As soon as she found him, she would figure out what had happened. What he was.
Well as soon as her teeth stopped chattering.
“Your color is coming back,” said a lovely tiny voice behind her.
She was propped up on a mountain of cushy pillows. Lexi was smiling friendly at her, but there was a caution in her stance. Like she was afraid she was going to scare Emma off if she made any sudden movements.
Emma might look fragile but she was no deer. A small smile touched her lips “I am still so cold.”
Lexi sat at the edge of the couch watching her carefully. “I brought you some tea. It should help.” Lexi couldn’t help but think how delicate Emma looked wrapped in sea of blankets with firelight framing her face. It was a no-brainer why her brother was in love with her. She raised an instinct to protect he wouldn’t be able to ignore with those doe eyes.
Emma enclosed her hands around the steaming mug letting the heat seep into her pours and inhaled the steam. “Thanks. For everything.”
Lexi shrugged. “I’m just glad you are okay. How do you feel?” Lexi asked, tucking her legs underneath her. Hair like sunlight and summer outlined her perfect face.
“Like an idiot,” she replied, and heaved a sigh.
A softness touched Lexi’s expression. “It wasn’t like you could have known. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” She could hear the misplaced blame in Emma’s voice. No one was to blame.
She looked down at her joined hands around the mug. “I don’t know what would have happened if Travis–,” her voice hitched.
Lexi reached out and laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t. Don’t even go there. There is no point in rehashing it. Nothing will change from it. I can guarantee that he would do it again in a heartbeat. He’s never felt about anyone the way he feels about you.”
She could hear how much Lexi loved her brother. He had risked himself to save her. “He really is a great guy.”
“The best,” Lexi agreed, beaming her dimples.
Travis walked into the room seeing his sister and Emma grinning at each other. His heart skipped a beat. That had been too close.
Her brows furrowed together. “He’s different,” Emma said quietly.
Travis stiffened in the doorway.
He knew there would be questions; however, he just wasn’t yet ready for the consequences.
Lexi pursed her lips, and Emma knew she had hit a sore spot. That hadn’t been her intention. She wasn’t quite certain why she had even blurted that out. Sure it had been stamped on her mind, but maybe she should have bitten her tongue. The last thing she wanted was for Lexi to dislike her or offend her in anyway, and that was exactly how she felt right now, like she might have upset her.
You have no idea, Lexi thought to herself. “I should probably let Travis–”
They both turned their heads at the deep voice clearing his throat from the archway.
Chapter 11
“Travis,” Emma breathed in relief.