FIONA
Idon’t know what I expected sleeping with Hunter to be like, but I never would have foreseen that a man like him would have night terrors.
And no, that’s not an exaggeration.
After climbing into the sleeping bag with me, he stared up at the stars for hours, refusing to sleep, but as I curled into him and his arm came around me, his breathing grew longer and softer.
I’ll never forget how safe I felt in those moments when my nostrils filled with his scent and his warmth enveloped me. It was a feeling of acceptance and belonging I was desperate for.
Then, the mumbling began.
I don’t know who Gabby was, but he called for her again and again as sweat poured from his flesh, and when he started shouting, his body jerking violently against invisible assailants, I knew I had to free myself.
Luckily, I was able to slip from the bag without being mauled, but it was dicey, and I have no doubt that if I’d stayed next to him, I’d be dead.
The monsters that visit his dreams are worse than the ones that had climbed into my bed, and now I see how like a child he really is. How he’s scared, just like me, but his fears aren’t of this world.
Not anymore.
The crazy thing is, he never woke. At one point, I was scared he’d crash into the incubator, so I yelled for him to get up, but he never did. Eventually, his motions slowed, and he fell into a deeper slumber. But I’m terrified that one wrong move will trigger another reaction.
I guess I should have expected this. There’s no way a man with his dark desires could be free of trauma.
Hunter stretches, looking around at his surroundings.“Shit…”
“Morning,” I chirp, trying to sound nonchalant.
He cranes his head to look at me. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“Yeah, and I bet you’re going to wish you hadn’t.” I bring my gaze to the incubator. “Two adorable little chicks hatched while you were out.”
“Did I hurt you?”
I shake my head no.
He shoves his fingers through his hair and curses under his breath as he pulls himself into a sitting position.
I feel a needle of guilt, because he didn’t want this.
“I’m sorry I asked to sleep up here.”
“You have no reason to be sorry,” he mutters.
If I had to guess a time that I was at the greatest potential risk of harm from Hunter, aside from last night, it would be right now.
But I don’t skulk off or hide. Hunter saved me from the life I was sold into, and maybe this is how I repay him. Not with my body, but with my ear.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
A part of me wants to drop it, but what good would that do? The issue will remain.
He killed my monsters. Literally.
The least I can do is return the favor figuratively.
“Who’s Gabby?”
