There was a choice coming, though. She saw it in his heated blue eyes when he thought she wasn't looking, felt it when shared a meal over flickering candlelight, and while it flattered her, she didn't encourage him or lead him on. Luke was a full-grown man who could easily take what he wanted if provoked, and that was nothing to play with when you were almost alone together on a deserted island paradise.
"Where did you get all this stuff?" she asked, needing to fill the silence as he stepped from behind the blanket. His big, scarred hands were tucking in his plaid shirt around lean hips, and Kendle quickly looked away, thinking he really was in great shape for being sixty.
"Plane used to come. Some from crashes and what the tide brought in. Little from people leaving, not wanting to take it back to the mainland with them." He paused, looking at her with dark eyes lined by the coming of old age. "Some from my time in the service."
Kendle nodded, recognizing the first information he'd offered about his past. She stopped herself from asking anything, knowing he expected it, but didn't really want to give it. Instead, she sat down, still shivering a little.
Luke took a long suede jacket from a wall peg and draped it over her shoulders, not letting his restless fingers make contact with her skin.
She pulled it close, smiling her thanks and noticing the light smell of whiskey before he moved back. Luke had been a complete gentleman the entire time they'd been together. Weak most of the time, she felt guilty, wanting to help with the chores, but the doctor had told him to make sure she took it easy, and he did. He cooked and cleaned, did the laundry, and sometimes, let her dry dishes or set the table.
As a result, she was starting to regain the weight she'd lost and was feeling better every day. Even the tears at night were coming less frequently. It had been almost a week now since her last nightmare, and she was grateful to him for everything.
"Enough to give your body? When a man's been alone as long as he has, that's a powerful thing to be used."
No. Her virginity was worth more to her than just the payment of a debt or a bond to keep from being alone.
The storm outside their den grew stronger, and Luke turned on the CD player, surprising her with Aerosmith's greatest hits, then left her alone, knowing she needed time to heal. She reminded him of how bad off he'd been when he first came here.