"We're on land?"
Her pain rushed over him, and he longed to erase the desperation in her panicked eyes. "In my cabin, on Pitcairn island."
More tears slid out, and when the Island Outcast held his arms open, she went without hesitation, feeling the connection of survival with him.
"You're safe here, Ms. Roberts. I won't let anything happen to you."
She nodded against his shoulder, and Luke eased them down, holding her close. He hurt for her, wanted to tell her it would fade in time, but he didn't. it hadn't for him and it had been half a century.
After a while, her tears eased, and her even breathing told him that she had cried herself back to sleep. Her feverish body pressed tightly against his, Luke knew he should get up, but only pulled the blankets over them and let her warm nearness lull him into a slumber that was, for once, without nightmares of being stalked by his mistakes.