Chapter 24 #2
Suddenly, having her so close, where he could have better access to her and protect her, made sense.
She held his hand, walking backward until the back of her knees hit the foot of the bed.
She climbed onto it, never letting go of him for a moment.
As if he might somehow drift away should she stop touching him.
He looked like a sudden movement away from bolting.
For a moment, as he lifted a knee onto the bed, allowing himself to be dragged toward her, she almost regretted her choice of only sleeping. It was a strangely powerful feeling to have him so close. It would be too easy to pull him on top of her, to have him settle between her legs.
But he settled beside her instead like a consummate gentleman ought to.
She smirked to herself as she tucked herself into his side, his heavy arm a comfortable weight around her.
The scent of him wrapped around her like the blankets he pulled over them.
She was sorely tempted to trace the lines of his face with her fingers, but he had closed his eyes, so she did the same.
She never would have thought that she would be happy in a position like this. In her previous experiences, she had only wanted to push men away from her as far as she could.
Yet, it still felt natural to settle down into his arms and let the warmth of him fully envelop her, lulling her back into a peaceful sleep.
The room was pitch black when Emily stirred awake to the sound of growling from the foot of the bed.
“Shh, Maggie, shh,” she cooed, half drowsy.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she assumed that Maggie was dreaming, or perhaps she was chasing down a magpie for her dinner in her sleep.
Either way, Emily fumbled for her in the dark. Her hand patted the mattress at random, searching for the small bundle of fur. She sleepily reached down a foot, seeking the puppy’s familiar warmth, but it seemed that Maggie had pushed herself very far, indeed.
Her growling grew louder, as if she was frightened of something. But there was no storm outside that Emily could hear, no rain hitting the windows. There was nothing that she should be afraid of, but the fact that Maggie was so worried had her on edge.
“What is it, girl? What do ye hear?” she whispered.
And then the body beside her thrashed.
The growling grew louder as Kaden’s massive frame thrashed violently.
She knew in her bones that no part of him wanted to harm her.
She tried to press herself into his side in the hope that it might offer him some modicum of comfort, but he flinched away from her touch so quickly that he almost threw himself off the bed.
“Kaden?” Emily murmured, “Kaden, ye are having a bad dream.”
It was almost impossible to resist the impulse to touch him.
He thrashed once more, and Maggie stopped growling now that she could see Emily was awake. She hopped off the bed and ran right under it.
Emily didn’t like the way Kaden nearly curled in on himself, either. He muttered something, the sound low and frightening.
“Kaden, ye have to wake up. Ye have to wake up right now,” she urged.
She pulled the pillow from under his head, but it didn’t help. He lurched, falling off the bed and taking most of the bedding with him. Even when he hit the floor, his arms came up defensively over his head.
Her heart broke at the sight.
How bad the torture must have been to linger in his subconscious all these years later. He almost looked like somebody was hitting him, the way he grunted and rolled on the floor.
“Kaden!” Emily shouted, thankful that they were somewhere they would not be overheard. She knew that Kaden wouldn’t want that.
She wasn’t getting through to him.
She crawled down onto him, knowing that it was a risk. She settled atop him and pried his hands off his head. She wasn’t ready for the way he started to struggle and fight against her, but she wasn’t going to give up so easily.
She tried again, leaning down over him and using every ounce of her strength to pin his arms down. Perhaps not the very best strategy that she could have come up with, but it was something she had to try.
There was no chance of her overpowering him. So she did the only thing she could think of that would make him realize he was only having a nightmare—she kissed him.
Her lips lingered against his, even as he slowly stopped struggling, and she could have sworn that she felt the moment he woke up.
“What are ye doing?”
“Ye were having a nightmare. I was… I was… I was just trying to help.”
Kaden smirked, but didn’t meet her eyes as he spoke. “Well, feel free to wake me up like that any time ye choose.”
Emily loosened her grip and sat upright, suddenly aware that she was straddling him. Her cheeks flushed with heat, and she attempted ot remove herself, but he caught her thigh.
“I’m sorry ye had to see that.”
Emily doubted very much that it was the worst it could get. “I’m nae afraid.”
She meant it, but he didn’t seem convinced.
She reached down once more and cupped the side of his face in her hand. “I mean it,” she insisted as her thumb brushed over his cheek.
Kaden heard her, but still attempted to push her off him so that he could sit upright. “This isnae what ye signed up for. I ken that.”
“It would take a lot more than this to scare me away,” Emily declared, following him as he crawled up onto the bed and fixed the bedding.
She patted the mattress for Maggie to come back up and join them.
“I think Maggie was frightened for ye, and it must have triggered something in ye. I willnae judge ye for it.”
Kaden still looked distant as he settled back into the bed beside her, but he allowed her to curl up against his side. She hoped for the best, because that was all she could do as her heavy eyes drifted shut once more.
But the next morning, on the dawn of their wedding, she still woke up alone.