I couldn’t say what woke me. Just that something was off. I sensed Folk still beside me in the bed, but the warmth of his body wrapped around me had gone.
Shifting to face him, I forced my heavy eyes all the way open. It was still dark, but I had his profile committed to memory, and on the rare occasions I woke up before him, he was always on his stomach, hands tucked under the pillow.
I liked it because it gave me a view of his bare back.Hatedit because I knew his hands were wrapped around a phantom machine gun, and he deserved better than to sleep with his soul stuck in the past.
It’s not the past for him.
But he wasn’t on his belly now. He was on his back, face twisted in a grimace. I reached for him in the same split second his eyes flew open and a strangled gasp breached his lips.
I knew what this meant. I’d seen it happen to Cam and to Embry. Watched other brothers talk them down. But I’d never shared a bed with someone stuck in a literal nightmare.
I’d never shared a bed with anyone who had the hold on my heart that Folk did.
“Hey.” I laid my hand on his chest, pressing against his racing pulse. “It’s okay. You’re with me.”
He didn’t answer. Just shut his eyes again without focusing.Did he even wake up?
I couldn’t tell.
We were close already, barely an inch between us. But I erased that distance so he could feel me, wishing I could think of something to say to make it all better. He’d told me before that the only nightmares he ever had were about Rocco. And goddamn, I’d sent him to sleep with the death of his best friend on his mind.
Guilt burned my soul. Folk was tough, I knew that, but he was human too. And Rocco’s death... fucking hell. It had messed with my head and I’d never met the bloke.
Folk’s hair had tumbled into his face.
I brushed it back, and he sighed, shifting slowly onto his stomach, hands disappearing under the pillow. I rubbed his back and his quiet hum reached me, but he still didn’t seem to be awake, so I let him be.
Not counting the last few seconds, Folk was a quiet sleeper. He didn’t snore, ramble, or flail around like Ivy did. After a minute or so, it was hard to imagine anything had happened.
I eased onto my back, feeling the burn of him fucking me. That deep ache in my muscles, a pleasurable pain I’d never understood until now. My hands were still shaky. And my heart was an absolute write off. Mateo once treated me to a road-trip induced rant about how sex was never the same after you did it with someone you loved. Irritated that he was lecturing me to the soundtrack of some godawful drum and bass album, I hadn’t taken it all in, but his words echoed in my head now.
“You never get over it, man. That shit stays with you forever.”
I wantedFolkto stay forever. In my life, in my bed. It had been a minute since I’d pictured a future with anyone but Ivy, but as I lay beside Folk in the dark, it came so easily to me.
Too easily, maybe. Life never panned out for me. I’d accepted that a long time ago.
I closed my eyes, sure I’d be awake until morning.
Next thing I knew, I was opening them again to a warm hand on my shoulder and the unmistakable sound of a mug landing on the bedside table.
“Easy.” Folk kissed my cheek. “It’s still early, but you’re opening the yard, right?”
I blinked a couple of times. The yard. Work. It all seemed so far away. “Uh. Yeah.”
Something still felt off. It took a second to recall the night we’d spent together, awake and asleep.
I focused my bleary eyes. Folk’s gorgeous face solidified, and he looked the same as he always did, bright-eyed and warm. Fuckingbeautiful.No sign of bad dreams.
And he wasn’t dressed yet. “Did you make tea naked?”
He grinned. “Little bit. How are you doing? You feel okay?”
I felt... something. And he seemed to know it. Of course. I was coming to learn that Folk knew most things. He wasn’t as psychic as other brothers. Just wise and wonderful and too compelling to resist.
Fully awake now, I sat up and kissed his shoulder.
Folk hummed and rested his head on mine. “When’s Ivy back?”
