Chapter Nine #2
Chad was a little freaked out himself now. He was desperate to ease her suffering. Because it was obvious she was suffering.
“Shhhhh,” he soothed, running one hand up and down her back as the other held her tight. She was making a quiet keening noise in the back of her throat that he had no idea if she even realized she was making. The sound was heartbreaking.
“I’ve got you,” he told her. “Close your eyes, concentrate on me, nothing else.” Chad felt helpless. He didn’t know what to do or say to help her.
Of course, the storm sure didn’t help. Another bright flash and loud boom shook the house, and it made the pace of Britt’s breathing increase alarmingly.
Making a decision, Chad scooted down until he was lying flat, bringing Britt with him—not that he had a choice, since she was clinging to him like a baby sloth hanging on to its mother.
He lifted his butt cheek and managed to get the comforter out from under him, then pulled it over both of them, enclosing them in the dark space.
“You’re okay. The storm is outside, and we’re safe in here. Slow your breathing, Britt.”
But his gentle words weren’t helping. He put a little more force in his tone.
“I mean it, Britt—slow your breathing down. Do what I do ... breathe in ... hold it ... breathe out. Good. Again.”
He felt her making the effort to mimic him, and a bit of his own panic started to fade.
One of her hands had made its way into his hair, and he could feel her fingernails scraping rhythmically against his scalp.
It didn’t hurt, but it underscored her desperation.
This wasn’t a simple fear of storms. This extreme reaction went much deeper.
Having the blanket over their heads made the air around them humid and warm, but Chad ignored the slight discomfort because it also helped make the lightning flashes less bright. He continued to talk to her, having no idea what he was even saying as he held Britt tightly against him.
Eventually, the scary lightning and thunder began to fade, but the sound of the rain against the window and the wind blowing crazily outside continued. Every now and then, Chad heard a crash, and he prayed again that the trees weren’t causing damage to anyone’s personal property.
But that was the least of his worries at the moment. The woman in his arms was his priority. She was still tense, still trembling, but at least with the lessening of the thunder and lightning, the distressing keening sounds had stopped.
Chad moved the blanket down from over their heads and took a deep breath of the fresh air.
Britt was still lying on his chest, her legs on either side of his, and they were still plastered together.
Her T-shirt had ridden up, and the only thing separating most of their bodies was their underwear.
He could feel her bare belly against his own.
But he wasn’t aroused. Not in the least.
“Can you talk to me, Britt? Lift your head and look at me?”
She shook her head against him, and Chad didn’t push the issue. “Okay. We’ll just lie here and breathe together.”
And that’s what they did.
To his surprise, even though he could still hear the rain beating against the window, Britt fell asleep in his arms. He could tell the moment it happened because her entire body went limp against his.
For a moment he panicked, thinking something was terribly wrong.
But when he felt her steady breaths against his neck and her heart beating against his bare chest, he realized that she was getting some much-needed rest.
He didn’t dare move an inch, not wanting to wake her up now that she was asleep.
Glancing over at the clock on his nightstand, Chad saw that she’d been in his room for an hour.
It hadn’t felt that long, yet it had felt like an eternity at the same time.
But he wasn’t close to falling asleep himself.
His mind was going a million miles an hour.
First and foremost, what had caused this woman to be so damn terrified of storms?
Yes, they made him uncomfortable, made him worry about the aftermath, and many people didn’t care for the sounds.
But the level of fear Britt had suffered was enough to convince him that she’d experienced some kind of trauma associated with a bad storm like the one that had just blown through.
Thinking of what that trauma could’ve been kept Chad wide awake.
Tomorrow was going to suck. There was no way around that.
It was his mom’s birthday, they had the special breakfast planned, his brothers would all be over to celebrate, and now he’d need to deal with the aftermath of the storm as well.
Doing all that on little to no sleep was going to be extremely difficult.
But he’d experienced his share of sleepless nights in the Army.
Lying motionless on top of roofs, both in the scorching sun and throughout freezing nights, waiting for the exact right moment to take out his target.
He could deal with exhaustion better than most people.
It was Britt he was worried about. Nothing about the last hour had been fun. He couldn’t even enjoy finally holding her in his arms. When he’d had the thought earlier that night about taking her to bed, this hadn’t been what he’d envisioned.
Despite that, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It hadn’t escaped his attention that when Britt was scared out of her mind, she’d come to him .
She’d likely experienced many storms in her life, and he wondered how she’d gotten through them in the past. Had she hunkered down in a closet?
Listened to music? Huddled in a ball in a corner by herself until they passed?
He didn’t know. But he was humbled that she’d turned to him for comfort tonight.
Making a mental vow not to let her down in any way from this point on, Chad closed his eyes.
He did what he’d ordered Britt to do earlier: he concentrated on breathing.
Matching his breaths to hers. And as worried as he was about the woman in his arms, it wasn’t long until he succumbed to the lure of exhaustion himself.