“What’s that?”
“Sleeping without you last night. I hated that.”
“I never went to bed at all, because I couldn’t bear to sleep without you.”
“You must be so tired.”
“I am.” His hand moves from my belly to land between my breasts. The hard column of his erection is pressed between my buttocks.
Despite his obvious arousal, despite my never-ending desire for him, neither of us is compelled to move. This is all about comfort and security. The feel of his skin against mine is all I need to release the deep breath I’ve been holding since I left LA yesterday, not knowing when or if I’d see him again.
In the last couple of weeks, my whole world has been turned on end by this relationship. Now, settled in his arms, with no secrets between us, and decisions made about our future, I feel ready for this next step we’re planning to take. I’m excited. Of course, I’m also nervous, but I’m more excited than nervous.
I trust Flynn to make whatever we do together amazing for me, because that’s what he’s done from the beginning. I want to make it amazing for him, too. I want to give him everything he’s ever wanted in a lover. I want to be perfect for him in every way.
Thinking about all the things I agreed to try, I drift off to sleep wondering how long he’ll make me wait before our contract becomes a reality. I dream of things I’d much rather forget—the horrific weekend with Oren Stone that claimed my innocence and changed my life forever. I watch the scene unfold as an observer in my dream. I get a front-row view of my own assault, every lurid detail played out before my horrified eyes.
It was such a long time ago that many of the memories have faded somewhat. The overall horror has remained, though. As a witness, I’m forced to relive it once again. He is on top of me, inside me, hurting me, making me bleed, making me scream from the pain until I lose consciousness, floating, hurling through darkness so deep I may never find my way out.
I wake to Fluff’s frantic barking and the low rumble of Flynn’s voice.
“Nat, honey, what’s wrong?”
Though my heart is racing, I’m sweating and undone, I know right away that I can’t tell him I dreamed about the attack for the first time in years. He’ll see the timing as a sign that I’m not capable of what we agreed to earlier. “N-nothing. Just a weird dream. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“You were screaming.” Propped up on an elbow, he reaches over to stroke my face. “And you’re crying.” He kisses my shoulder. “Sweetheart…”
“I’m okay.” I reach for his hand and hold on tightly.
“Are you sure?”
“Mmm. Uh-huh.” Fluff curls up against my legs and lets out a huff of indignation at having been so rudely awakened.
“You’re trembling, baby.”
“I’m cold.”
“That I can fix.” He brings me in tight against him, wrapping his arms around me and intertwining his legs with mine. “Better?”
“So much better.”
I was young and alone when Stone attacked me. I’m not alone anymore. Flynn’s love and devotion only make me stronger than I was on my own. But the dream and the timing of it have me wondering if I’ll be able to uphold my end of our agreement.
Once again a ringing phone wakes us early in the morning. Flynn groans as he reaches for his phone on the bedside table.
“Yeah, Emmett. You’re up early.”
Since he curls back up to me immediately, I can hear Emmett’s side of the conversation, too.
“I just got a call from Vickers.”
I feel Flynn go tense behind me. “What’d he want?”
“He’d like to see you and Natalie as soon as possible.”
“What the hell for?”
“All he’d say is ‘follow-up questions.’”
“This is bordering on harassment. Should we make some calls to Washington?”
“I wouldn’t, Flynn. Calling in favors looks like you have something to hide when you don’t.”
“I don’t like that he wants to see Natalie, too.”
“They’re ruling out both of you. My advice is to meet with him and get it over with. How soon can you get back here?”
“I don’t know if you heard, but we had somewhat of a blizzard here last night.”
“Yes, I heard,” Emmett says with a laugh. “It’s all over the news.”
“I’d say it’ll be tomorrow at the earliest before we can get back there.”
“I’ll make an appointment for Monday morning, then. Is that okay with you?”
“I guess it’ll have to be. Let him know that if my name or Natalie’s gets linked to this guy’s murder in the press, I’ll be after his job.”
“I’ve already let him know that.”
“You’re good, Em.”
“Just doing my job. See you soon.”
I turn to face Flynn, looking for some assurances that we have nothing to worry about. He’s got his glasses on, and he’s typing frantically on his phone.
“What’re you doing?”
“Asking Addie to get us back to LA tomorrow, so we can deal with this once and for all.”
“Are you scared?”