Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 41933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
When I shifted my body, he moved in his sleep and wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging me against his side. I loved that about him. No matter what, Damien had to have his hand on some part of my body as we slept. He had admitted to me that he sometimes woke up, and for a few moments, he felt like he dreamt of our coupling, but when he felt me under his palm, he knew I was his. In a way, I felt the same. It wasn’t until I heard his snores after I awoke that I relaxed, knowing he was by my side.
Though after my nightmare, not even Damien’s presence could comfort me.
I lifted my hand to my face and covered my mouth when tears welled in my eyes, and a soft cry escaped from my parted lips. I knew what happened was a nightmare and not real, but it had triggered a slow building panic attack. My heart pounded so fast against my chest that I could feel each thump as if it were a wallop. Fear wrapped around me as tight as Damien’s arm, and I began to feel like the area around me was closing in. I roughly pushed Damien’s arm away from my body, and the action caused him to wake instantly.
“What?” he said, groggily. “What’s wrong?”
Without a word, I kicked away the blanket that covered me, got out of my bed, and blindly rushed over to the window. Pulling back the curtains, I unlocked the balcony door and opened it wide. The cool air that slammed into me felt like a smack in the face. I stepped out onto the balcony, but before I could touch my fingers to the rail, strong hands clamped down on my shoulders, and held me in place.
“Alannah!” Damien grunted as he roughly shook me. “Wake up.”
“I’m already awake,” I said, my breathing laboured. “But I can’t breathe. I need air.”
Damien stepped out onto the balcony with me, and when he looked down at me, he squinted his eyes as he used the street lamp light to see me. He frowned, lifted his hand, and used his thumb to swipe away the tears from my cheeks. I hadn’t realised I was still crying.
“What’s wrong, Alannah?”
I hesitated. “I had a nightmare.”
There was no way I was going to tell him the content of my nightmare because Morgan Allen was always on Damien’s mind, and I didn’t want him to worry. If he knew I was having issues over him, he’d stress out more than he already was. I couldn’t protect Damien from Morgan before, but I would do everything I could to protect him now.
Damien’s frown deepened. “About what?”
I stepped forward and pressed my face against his hard chest, feeling soft chest hair brush against my skin. I wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed in contentment.
“I don’t remember,” I lied. “It was just a bad dream.”
Damien’s arms came around me. He rubbed his palms up and down my back and kissed the crown of my head.
“We’re lucky we didn’t have sex before bed,” he commented lightly. “We’d be standing out here butt ass naked otherwise.”
When I chuckled, Damien gave me a little squeeze.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “You’re ‘ere with me, so I’m fine.”
We went back into our room, closing the balcony door behind us. Damien flipped on the light and then sat next to me on our bed. My hands were trembling, and he noticed. He kneeled before me and took my hands in his. I watched as he lifted them to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles. The gesture and being in his presence began to calm me, and it didn’t take long for my shaking to stop. I had been having nightmares about Morgan on and off for a few weeks now, and each time, my thrashing woke Damien. He never complained, not once. He would just hold me until I relaxed. He seemed to know that he had to have his hands on me and be in my space for that to happen.
“Thank you.”
Damien tilted his head to the side. “For what?”
“For sittin’ with me while ye’ calm me down.”
He raised a brow.
“Ye’ get this close to me and put your hands on me because it relaxes me,” I said. “I’ve noticed it.”
“Maybe I just wanna put my hands on you.” He grinned. “Have you ever thought of that?”
When I smiled and a few tears fell from my eyes at the same time, Damien’s smile disappeared. I hated that I had upset him, but tonight’s nightmare really scared me. I couldn’t talk to Damien about it without causing him more worry, and using my own mind to break it down had never worked out well for me in the past. In my dream, I was the one to die at the end, but Morgan usually killed Damien while I screamed and pleaded for it to be me. I knew it was all fake, just my mind playing tricks on me, but the dreams always felt so real that I couldn’t help but feel genuine fear.