Free His Safe Keeping (The Safe Series) by Tina Bass Page A

her head. “You okay, baby?”
    Chapter Nine

    They were on their way back home when the dizziness started. Krista was just sitting there, doing nothing, and she began to get dizzy. Very dizzy. She laid back on the head rest and closed her eyes, but that didn’t help. Turning to her side, she laid her cheek on the back of the seat and closed her eyes, and that was when she heard Kade speak. “Hey, Krista, you doing okay? You need me to stop?”
    Stopping wouldn’t help with the dizziness so she just answered quietly, “No, I’m okay.” She opened her eyes to look at him.
    He looked over at her. “You’re not okay.” That was all he said, jaw tight. Krista closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass. All of sudden, the dizziness did pass, but it went straight into the most horrible wave of nausea. The nausea was so hard that she dropped her head, trying to put it in her lap. But the seat belt was holding her back. She brought her knees up to lay her head on and looked at Kade.
    “I’m sorry.” She managed, but she said it so quietly she wasn’t even sure he heard her.
    “Sorry ‘bout what?” Yeah, he’d heard her.
    “Putting my shoes on your seat.”
    “Does it help?” he asked her back.
    “Yeah, maybe. A little.”
    “Then I don’t give a shit about the seat.” Was his quick answer, so, okay then. They rode for a while in silence. They were about halfway and basically in the middle of nowhere, when she saw the pull-off where she’d stopped the last time. Where she had met Kade. Krista looked over at it as they passed, then turned her head to look at Kade, wondering if he noticed it too. Yeah, he noticed. He gave her a smile, and as bad as she felt, she couldn’t stop the smile which she felt growing on her own face.
    Kade knew the pull-off was coming up because he remembered the exact spot he’d seen Krista for the first time. Right there! Hell, how could he forget? She caught him smiling at her and her own smile grew even bigger. Then it faded and she looked…pained? “Baby, you okay?” She only sat there, holding herself still, trying to breathe deep. Tears came to her eyes. “Fuck,” he growled. Maybe a little too loudly and then he was pulling the truck over. He reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt. When he touched her to pull her over to him, she yelped like he’d hurt her, and he jerked back. “Did I hurt you? Damn, baby, I’m so sorry! Tell me what to do! How can I help you?” He was becoming frantic. She was just sitting there, breathing so deeply he thought she was having trouble catching her breath. And the tears! Streams of tears were rolling down her face. He wanted to hold her, wipe away her tears and take away her pain. He had to do something, but he was too scared to even touch her again. He jerked open his door and ran around to her side, then just stood there and rubbed her hair. That was the only thing he touched—her hair. Kade had to touch her, or a part of her, or he would die. He felt it in his bones. “It’s going to be okay, baby.” He felt helpless. All his years of training was for shit! The one time someone needed his help, and all he could do was stand there, helpless, and stroke her hair. Finally, she looked up at him and his heart broke to see the pain etched on her face.
    “I’m going to be sick.” Krista gasped and damn near fell out of the truck. He helped her down, touching only where he had to so she wouldn’t fall. He stood and watched as she threw up over and over and over. Fuck! She didn’t have that much in her. When her body began to shake, he couldn’t take it anymore and wrapped his arms around her lightly from behind. Krista leaned back into him, so he held her tighter until she stopped trembling. He then turned her around in his arms, holding her close to his chest. “Baby?” He didn’t even know what to ask.
    “I’m okay. The burning has passed.” She sighed, breathing hard. Kade laid his cheek on the top of her head and