I don’t know how long I laid there for. Eventually the tears dried up and I calmed my anger, but I still felt so adrift and lost. I laid there, curled into myself for too long though – I knew that, so it didn’t surprise me when I heard the door open and footsteps approaching. I had expected it to be Cal, having woken and not found me where he left me.
I braced myself for his questions, ready to paste on a smile and tell him I’d just worked out too hard, but not a word was said. Instead I felt movement behind me, then a huge body wrapped wordlessly around my back. A heavy arm came across my waist and pulled me backwards until there wasn’t an inch of space between us. I didn’t panic though, because I knew who it was from the sheer size and strength that was surrounding me. Dante.
He slid his arm through the space under my neck and wrapped his other huge arm cross my chest, caging me against his warm and firm body, and for the first time since I woke up, I managed to take in a full breath, albeit a little shaky.
It was odd, the way he didn’t speak. I expected him to lecture me on being down there alone, or demand to know why I was laid on the floor. Grumbling at me was his normal, but he didn’t say a word. He just held me, and all I could hear was his calm and steady breathing intermingled with my faster gasps.
“Dante?” I spoke first after several moments of the peaceful calm.
“Hmm?”
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you what you need,” he replied easily.
“How do you know this is what I need?”
“I was watching you. You’re upset and scared. I tried to give you space but I couldn’t just sit back and watch you looking so lost anymore. You needed me.”
“You were watching me? On the cameras?” I guessed.
“Rafe told us what happened last night. I don’t like that I wasn’t here. I should always be with you when you’re upset.”
“Because I’m yours, you mean?” I pushed.
“Yes.”
“So you were watching me in case I needed you?”
“Ever since I got back,” he nodded, though I felt it more than saw it. “Did you have a nightmare? I saw you jolt awake.”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to me, Cara. Never lie to me. You don’t need to. I can handle the truth, and I want to know everything that concerns you, always,” he replied firmly.
“I’m not lying. I am fine. And you can’t know everything that concerns me, Dante. Contrary to what you seem to believe, I don’t belong to anyone.”
“You’re resistant. I get that after the life you’ve lived, but have no doubt, love. You are mine. You’ll realise that one day soon, but I can be patient, for now,” he explained, very matter-of-factly.
“We’ll see about that.”
“Stop changing the subject and answer my question.”
“What question?” I asked, confused.
“Did you wake up from a nightmare? Is that why youn came down here so angry and upset?”
“I just wanted to do some training,” I defended myself, even though I knew it was ridiculous considering he had walked in and found me curled up on the floor.
“That wasn’t training. That was fear and rage. I know that type of training intimately.”
“Then why ask if you already know everything?” I snapped, annoyed. I was more ashamed, if I were honest, that Dante had watched me completely lose my shit as I had. The idea of anyone witnessing my meltdown was horrifying. It had been a pathetic display of weakness and emotion.
“Because I want you to tell me. I want you to open up and let some of that pain out. I want to know everything that scares you so I can take all of it away and make everything better.”
“Dante,” I gasped as tears struck me from nowhere, the sentiment in his words knocking me aback. I turned in his arms so I was facing him and smiled shakily. His hair was slightly damp, like he’d freshly showered, and he was wearing a black t-shirt that just made him look all the more dark and sexy.
His intense gaze was lasered on mine. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching up and wrapping my hand around the right side of his face, my palm brushing the light stubble he never shaved clean. “I know that you care about me, but please, never believethat you can make everything better for me. It’s a fight you can never win,” I told him weakly.
