Chapter 10
It was too dark. And the silence… She’d never understood people who described silence as loud, but right now, she got it. It filled her ears, making her heart beat faster and a prickle run over the back of her neck.
It was stupid. This was her apartment. And a couple of nights ago, she’d been fine. But that was before someone had attacked her. Assaulted her.
She’d had the entire day off work today, but there were always people with her. Noah. Indie. Jesse. Now she was alone, and she felt it.
She rolled to her other side, gaze catching on the clock beside her bed. One a.m. She’d been lying here, staring into the darkness for three hours, and hadn’t gotten a minute of sleep. Not a single second.
Come on, Bonnie, you have work tomorrow. You need sleep.
She squeezed her eyes shut, but the guy on her back suddenly felt like he was there again. The breath against her cheek.
Her eyes flashed open, pulse picking up speed.
Maybe she couldn’t sleep because her attacker knew where she lived.
And this building wasn’t old, but it also wasn’t that hard to access.
People forgot to lock the downstairs door all the time.
Hell, that was how Noah and Indie had gotten in today.
And even if the door was locked, residents let random people in and out a lot.
She’d brought it up to the super before, but he was lazy and didn’t care in the slightest.
Did her attacker know which apartment she lived in?
She shot up.
Sleep was not happening. At least, not right now.
On the way to the kitchen to make hot cocoa, she stopped in the bathroom to pee. She was about to leave when her gaze caught on the mirror. Air stuttered out of her at the bruise on her temple.
With fingers that weren’t quite steady, she touched the purple bruising and flinched. Someone hated her so much that they’d resorted to physical assault.
It made her want to run. Hide. Maybe even disappear. Because that was her default when things got hard.
But she couldn’t do that. This was her home. This was where her family lived. And she wasn’t willing to lose it all a second time.
Dropping her hand, she stepped back and turned, heading into the kitchen where she grabbed a saucepan from the cupboard.
The only good part of today was that she’d gotten to see Indie again. They hadn’t spoken about anything serious, like her leaving or their parents’ passing. In fact, Indie and Noah had been really good at keeping all conversation light and fluffy, which had made everything a bit easier.
Zane hadn’t stayed long after Jesse and his deputy had left, but he’d messaged throughout the day, checking in. And there’d been this feeling inside her, like maybe he left because he couldn’t hold the rage inside him.
But that was silly. They hadn’t even known each other for that long.
She was pouring milk into the saucepan when a scratching noise sounded from the living room balcony door.
She spun, the milk carton hitting the edge of the counter and falling from her fingers, spilling all over the floor. She didn’t so much as look at it. Her gaze was on her closed blinds.
She was on the fourth floor. No one would be able to get up to her balcony…right?
Right.
She turned to grab a cloth for the spilled milk when she heard scraping noises, this time louder.
She spun again, slipping on the spilled milk before hitting the floor, hard.
Bonnie barely stayed there for a second before she was on her feet and racing to the door.
Not caring that she was covered in milk or that it was ridiculously late, she ran straight down the hall to apartment forty-three and banged on Zane’s door.
Loud thuds had Zane shifting from fast asleep to wide awake in under a second. He shot up, immediately opening the second drawer in his bedside table and lifting the false bottom.
When he held the Glock in his grasp, he climbed out of bed, not caring that he only wore briefs. He didn’t even stop to flick on a light. It was after one in the fucking morning. He shouldn’t have any visitors.
His steps were fast but silent as he moved down the hall to the door. Keeping his body positioned against the wall, he leaned over and looked through the peephole.
The fuck?
He tugged the door open. “Bonnie, what’s wrong?”
Just like this morning, she only wore an oversized T-shirt, but now it was wet. And did she smell like milk?
She wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m sorry! I know it’s late. But I couldn’t sleep and then I heard scratching against my balcony door and I spilled milk and slipped in it and—”
“You heard scratching against your balcony door?”
“Twice. And it might be nothing—it’s probably nothing—but after last night it just…” She scrubbed her face. “It freaked me out.”
“Come in.”
When she looked up, there was a hint of tears in her eyes. “Really?”
He reached out and set a hand on the small of her back before leading her inside and locking the door after him. Then he led her straight down the hall to the bathroom off his bedroom. “Wait here.” He grabbed a T-shirt from the bedroom. “Shower. Change. I’ll go check your apartment.”
She swallowed, relief darkening her hazel eyes. “Thank you.”
He waited to hear the click on the bathroom door before pulling on jeans and a shirt. It was only then that he lifted the Glock again and headed to her apartment. Even though it might be nothing…it also might not be.
Her apartment door was ajar. He tapped it open, keeping his back to the wall as he glanced around. The hall and kitchen lights were on.
He started in her bedroom, checking the window behind the closed curtains. Nothing. And nothing in the room either. Next he searched the bathroom, then the living room.
Every curtain he pulled back showed the dark night and nothing else…until he reached her balcony door.
There was a small tree in a ceramic pot, maybe four feet tall, and every time the wind blew, its branches scratched against the glass.
That’s what she’d heard. Even though it was nothing to worry about, he wasn’t surprised she’d been scared, not after the events of the night before.
After tidying the kitchen, including the milk on the floor, he found her phone in her bedroom and her apartment key on the hall table, using the latter to lock up before heading back to his apartment.
He expected to find Bonnie still in his bathroom when he got back. She wasn’t. She sat on his couch, hair wet, legs tucked beneath her.
His throat fucking dried at the sight of her in his shirt. It was just a plain white shirt, and it drowned her. But for some goddamn reason it made his hands itch to touch her. And some deep, primal part of him felt like he’d just claimed her.
She rose from the couch, her gaze going to the pistol in his hand before lifting back to him. “Did you find anything?” Her voice was small and vulnerable.
It made him want to fight every asshole who’d threatened her. “Your place is empty. The culprit of the balcony noise was your tree.”
“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry! I freaked myself out. Of course it was Evergreen. She’s a dwarf but still tall.” She shook her head. “I feel dumb. I should go.”
She started to leave, but he touched her arm. “Bonnie…stay here tonight.”
The flare of her eyes hinted that she wanted to. But then her brows wrinkled. “Are you sure?”
“I only have one bed, but—”
“I can sleep on the couch.”
He almost laughed. “No. You take the bed. I’ll take the couch.”
“It’s a two-person couch. It would basically fit your legs.”
“I’ll survive.”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not. Either I take the couch or I’m not staying.”
But even as she said the last part, he heard the tremor in her voice. She didn’t want to go any more than he wanted her to. “Fine. We’ll share my bed. It’s plenty big enough.”
Her mouth opened in an O, and yeah, it was a dangerous idea. But he didn’t want her alone. And now that she was here, he didn’t want her out of his sight.
“Are you sure—”
“Yes,” he interrupted.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “Okay.”
He set a hand on the small of her back, letting the heat unravel anything cool beneath his skin, and led her into the bedroom. “Get comfortable. I’ll be back in ten.”
She stepped into the room. “Zane…”
He turned, getting damn lost in the dark specks in her hazel eyes. “Yeah, Bon?”
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
One small smile and she headed to the bed. He turned and went back down the hall to the kitchen, where he took out a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey. He shot it back, the alcohol burning his throat, then his gut.
It wasn’t enough. But then, would anything be? Would anything help him get through the torture that would be sharing a bed with Bonnie when he wasn’t allowed to touch her?
Bonnie slipped between the silk sheets. God, the bed smelled like Zane. Earthy and masculine and a bit like pine. Somehow the bed was also warm.
She sighed as she closed her eyes. She shouldn’t be here.
She knew she shouldn’t be here. She should be strong and brave enough to be in her own apartment.
But somehow, even though she hadn’t known Zane for long, he’d become this safe person for her.
Maybe because he was just down the hall.
Maybe because he’d already protected her more than once.
Whatever it was, she was grateful. And it made her care a little less that she was somewhere she shouldn’t be.
She thought sleep would come to her. It didn’t. Which was annoying because she was so tired. She’d barely slept the previous night, and if she didn’t sleep tonight that would be two nights in a row of basically no sleep.
How was she supposed to function at work tomorrow?
She rolled to her left side. A few minutes passed and she rolled to her right.
Nope. Nothing.
The creak of a floorboard sounded behind her from the hall. She nibbled her bottom lip, suddenly nervous. Nervous for Zane to be so close. When he’d answered the door, he’d only worn briefs. Was he going to sleep like that?
The mattress dipped behind her. And if she’d thought the bed smelled like Zane before, that was nothing compared to now. His scent surrounded her, so strong that all she breathed was him.
Go to sleep, Bonnie. Rest.
She closed her eyes again, but the second she did, she felt that hand yanking her hair again. The stranger’s breath against her cheek. And those words snarled into her ear.
Her skin pricked with fear, and some of that warmth left her body.
She wasn’t sure if her breathing changed or if she’d made some kind of sound, but the mattress suddenly moved behind her, then a warm body pressed to her back.
A silent gasp escaped her throat at the warm hand on her hip. A breath suddenly whispered against her cheek, so different from the one that had just been in her head. Softer. Warmer.
Then four words whispered into her ear. Kind words. Safe words.
“Sleep, Bonnie. You’re safe.”
And just like that, her muscles relaxed, and she leaned back into Zane’s strength. He surrounded her, held her, allowing her to feel secure enough to sleep.