“I would like to hear you play sometime.”
“I really don’t think you would like it.” A soft giggle bubbles out of me. “I would sound awful. I wasn’t that good in the first place.”
“I think I would like it,” he murmurs, and the look in his eyes makes my heart flip. It’s impossible to hate him when he looks at me that way. Like I’m his world. Especially since a ripple of pleasure races down my spine.
The pleasure doesn’t last long. He looks away from me and glances up at the clock on the wall. “Tara and Zeke will be back soon.”
So much for that. I’m not ready to face her. I don’t know when I ever will be, but it sure isn’t now. “Can I… I mean, can I not be down here…”
“Go ahead,” he replies. I hear his disappointment, but right now, I don’t care. He can’t ask me to magically be comfortable. The sound of running water follows me up the stairs—I’m glad he hung back to clean up the kitchen, since I need a minute or two to pull myself together. Things got very comfortable down there. I need to wrap my head around it. Ineed to wrap my head around a lot of things as I take a seat on a bed that isn’t mine in a room that isn’t mine… no matter how much Cole wants me to see it differently.
He joins me before long, closing the door behind him. “So.”
This is too awkward. “Thank you for dinner,” I mumble, since it feels like I should say something. “It was really good.”
“You’re welcome.” His smile is sweet and genuine, and it makes me wish so much that I could feel differently about him. “Are you ready for bed?”
Bed. I’m sure he can hear the way I gulp when reality sinks in. “I guess so?” What else is there to do? Sure, maybe there is one thing we could do, but I really don’t need to think about that now. Not while he’s watching so closely. Looking around the room, I ask, “Where are you going to sleep?”
I know it’s a stupid question when he tips his head to the side, wearing a funny little grin. “With you, of course. In bed.”
This is terrible. I can’t decide if I’m full of dread or excited to be sleeping next to him. I almost feel like I should apologize to myself for even considering what it means to sleep with him next to me. I can’t stay in denial about the way my heart starts to race in anticipation when I remember how beautiful his body is.
I don’t have to rely on memory, either, since before I know it, he’s pulling his shirt over his head. “Here. You can sleep in this.” Part of me wants to remind him I have my own things now and don’t need to wear his clothes, but I can’t seem to find the words when the sight of his naked torso heats me up all over again, the way it did downstairs. Now all I want is to be wrapped in his scent all night. I can’t imagine anything sweeter.
I don’t know what to do with all of this, so I duck into the bathroom to get changed. When I look at the counter, there’s only one toothbrush. Great. I’m reminded again that this isn’t my home. It’s either use Cole’s toothbrush or go to bed with a taste of garlic in my mouth. I guess, being mates and everything, sharing a toothbrush isn’t a crime. I get through it quickly, run my hands through my hair, and try not to pay too much attention to my mate’s scent wrapped around me.
Finally, I have no choice but to leave the room before he comes looking for me again, like he did when I was in the bath. I’m kind of surprised to find the bedroom dark and the bed already occupied. “I won’t bite, Nora,” he tells me, chuckling, as if him biting me didn’t get us in this position in the first place. Without a word, I climb into bed, frantically clinging to the edge of the mattress before pulling the blanket up over me like a shield.
It must be all the stress I’m under. All the changes happening in my life. It doesn’t seem right that I’d be this tired after spending a day basically lying around. Or maybe my body is trying to catch up on all of the rest it didn’t get during my years with Dad and his family. Either way, it barely takes any time at all for me to drift off to sleep.
I might be able to get away from my family when I’m awake, but sleep is another story. There’s no way to banish them from my subconscious. The dream that immediately sinks its claws into me is more like a memory, but intensified. Not like it needs to be. The reality of it was already bad enough.
“You’re going to learn.” I’m pinned to the floor, flat on my back. Dad’s voice, spitting angry words, pounds against my skull. “There is a hierarchy around here, and you are at the bottom of it.”
Derik looms over me. There’s no escaping. Dad’s hands are steel shackles around my arms, holding me in place no matter how I fight and squirm. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out.
Not even when Derik’s fist collides with my face and snaps my head to the side. I try to scream again, but all I hear is their laughter before another brutal explosion of pain knocks the wind from my lungs. Again, and again, with Dad urging him on. Just like he did the night he held me down while Derik beat me until I was unconscious.
And just like that night, there is no escaping. They’re bigger, they’re stronger, they are monsters. Monsters who have made it their mission to destroy me.
“Nora. Nora!” The hands around my arms squeeze tight, but it’s not Dad’s voice or Derik’s cutting through the screams that are finally tearing their way out of my chest. It’s Cole’s.
I’m safe. They’re not here. It was just a dream. Even now, I can’t escape them. The thought of that, plus the vivid memory, sends tears pouring down my cheeks while my body shakes from the force of my sobs. How could Dad let that happen? How could he encourage it? What did I ever do to him?
“It’s all right.” His voice is soft, gentle, as he pulls me into his embrace.
I want to shove him away. I want to tell him that I don’t need him, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Not now when I feel like I’m falling apart and need my mate to keep the broken pieces together.
I can’t stop crying. It feels like my heart is being ripped out ofmy chest. For so long, I couldn’t defend myself. I couldn’t stop them. And even now, I can’t keep them out of my dreams.
With my head against his bare chest, I feel it before I hear it. A rumbling, soft and deep and comforting. Purring. It reaches something in my soul and spreads peace over what is so tormented. Like a downpour of rain extinguishing a fire. A little at a time, the worst of it passes while he continues to purr the way he did after he forced the mating bond.
And just like then, it soothes me until all I can do is cling to him gratefully. For the first time in forever, I have someone to hold onto.
Chapter 10
Cole
