“H-h-how did I get there? I just…and then…I thought I was going to—”
He stopped her with another rough kiss, his unsteady hands stroking her wet hair. “I woke up with silver across my chest and you were halfway out the window. Fucking gone and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move.”
“How did you get it off?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know it was possible, but you were moving out of my reach and I just…I broke out. It had no hold over me.”
Involuntarily, her hand touched his chest, as if to strip away the metal after the fact. She found a deep trench of red, angry branded skin, instead. “Jonas. Why isn’t it healing faster?”
“You worry over a flesh wound when you just fell of a bridge?” he gritted out, squeezing her shoulders. “Jesus Christ, I have to get you out of here. I have to get you somewhere safe.”
Ginny was too drained to protest when Jonas tossed her onto his back and started swimming. Her head lolled on his shoulder and she watched the water fly past at a rapid pace.
“Talk to me, love,” he whispered morosely. “I keep seeing you fall.”
Talk? She could barely keep her eyes open. Apparently her brain was handling the stress of falling to her death by calling it a day. “I dreamed of you,” she murmured, dazed. “I was dreaming of you this whole time.”
“Dreaming of me?”
She hummed, rubbing her face on his wet shoulder. “Outside the fair. You were waiting for me underneath the tree in your hat and suspenders.” Absently, she noticed Jonas’s back muscles bunching, the rhythm of his strokes faltering. “I tried to come to you, but the person in the red hood ruined everything.”
“Ginny,” he rasped, lifting her out of the water onto a dock and climbing out beside her. She started to lie down on the wooden planks, but he caught her in his arms, lifting her to his chest. “Stay awake.” He shook her lightly. “Finish the rest.”
“You told me to go back, but I didn’t listen. I needed you.” She tucked her head under his chin and let the drowsiness close in. “We needed each other.”
The last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her was Jonas staring down at her in shock. And oddly…recognition.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ginny woke up on soft, heavenly bed sheets to a trio of angry male voices.
She cracked an eyelid open, expecting to find Jonas, Tucker and Elias in the same room with her, but she was greeted by nothing but darkness. Cautiously, she walked her fingers across a fluffy pillow and found something hard. A side table? She scooted over a few more inches, levered up and switched on a lamp, finding herself somewhere unfamiliar.
A hotel room?
Memories forged through her foggy mind. Her entire body jerked when her fall from the Verrazano returned to her in full force, putting her back in the center of her freefall. She heaved a breath and sucked in more oxygen, ironically wishing she had some water.
Jonas burst into the room through an adjoining door wearing nothing but black sweatpants. His hair was still wet, which meant he’d either taken a shower or it was still damp from their impromptu swim. She hoped it was the latter because it would mean she hadn’t been out long.
“You’re awake,” Jonas sat down on the side of the bed, his weight on the mattress causing her to roll toward him. Automatically, his finger threaded into her hair, his thumb massaging circles into her temple. “How are you feeling?”
She laid her head on his thigh. “I’m fine.”
He watched her in silence, brows knit together.
“I’m glad the wound on your chest is fading. I didn’t like thinking of how much it must have hurt.”
“Hmmm.”
Was it her imagination or was he acting odd? “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said quietly. “Everything.”
“Oh is that all?”
Not a hint of a smile from Jonas.
“What were you arguing about?”
“Now, we weren’t arguing,” Tucker said, clomping into the room with a pinched grin on his face. “Your mommies and daddy were just having a discussion.”
Ginny sat up all the way with her back against the headboard, realizing too late she was wearing an unbelted white hotel robe. Thankfully, Jonas yanked the sides shut and secured the belt around her waist before she could flash Tucker. She glanced at the adjoining door, waiting for Elias to join them in the room, but the entrance remained empty. “How long was I asleep?”
“Two hours,” Jonas answered. “We’re at a Hilton in Staten Island. It was the closest place I could find.”
Tucker cracked a laugh. “Listen to the disgust in his voice over the three-star rating.”
Jonas was still staring at her strangely. “It’ll do for the night, but you should always expect better.”
“What’s going on with you?” she whispered, reaching up to scratch his chin. “You’re looking at me like I grew a unicorn horn.” Her eyes widened in mock concern. “Oh my God. Did I?”