There was no one in the room except Ava. Bathed in the moonlight that shone through the nearest window, she was curled up in the bed, dithering, on the verge of tears, then she thrashed, her body moving over to the other side of the bed.
It’s a nightmare.
Kai hastened to shut the door behind him, not wanting anyone else to make the same mistake he had made and come in to find Ava in this state.
“Nay,” she moaned, quieter this time. “Get away from me.” She tussled with the bed covers, her skin clammy, her blonde hair stuck to her cheeks and her neck.
Kai’s urgent need to protect her didn’t change, even if it meant protecting her from something buried deep in her sleep. He threw aside the rushlight and undid his weapons belt, discarding that on a chair nearby, then he kicked off his boots. Without thinking about what he was doing, his focus purely on calming her, he hastened toward the bed.
He lifted the cover and slipped inside.
“Nay!” Ava yelled, thrusting her back toward him.
Kai placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, not wishing to startle her any more than he needed to, but knowing he had to wake her up.
“Ava?” he whispered.
“Nay.”
“Ava!” he spoke with more urgency this time.
It must have woken her, for the shouting stopped. She breathed heavily, her shoulder rising and falling beneath his touch.
“It was a nightmare, love,” he said softly. “Only a nightmare.”
“Kai?” Her voice was tremulous. He wouldn’t have blamed her for not believing he was there at all, that he might still be a dream.
“It’s me,” he assured her. “I heard ye screaming in yer sleep. Nothing will hurt ye now.” He sank down onto the pillows and wrapped an arm around her waist, slowly pulling her back against his front, wanting her to know she was safe.
At first, she remained rather rigid, then something incredible happened. She turned around and buried herself in his side. He held her close, one arm around her waist, the other hand gently playing with her hair and massaging her head.
“Thank ye,” she whispered in her sleep.
“Nay need tae thank me.” Kai knew he should have climbed out of the bed, that it would have been the right thing to do, buthe couldn’t. He held himself back from kissing her forehead and just held onto her. “I’ll stay as long as ye want me tae. I just dinnae want ye screaming like that again.”
She nodded against his shoulder.
“Stay,” she pleaded.
Kai would have given her anything she asked for at that moment. Beneath the covers he pulled her closer and held her tight.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ava rolled over, stretching her hand out across the bed, but it was empty. There was no warm body there to hold her, no hand to caress, no soft lips pressing into the crook of her neck in the night.
I dreamt it. Aye, that’s the only explanation. Opening her eyes, she sat up in bed, thinking of the dream and how in her sleep, she had imagined Kai there, holding her, keeping her safe from the nightmares.
Yet it had felt so real.
She rolled over to climb out of the bed, when she knocked a parchment down onto the floor. Scrambling to pick it up, she held it high in the air so that the morning sunlight shone through the windows onto the sheet. Written in black ink was Kai’s handwriting.
‘Ye never need fear sleep, Ava. I didnae want tae wake ye when I left. Sweet dreams.’
She held the parchment between her hands, protectively.
“It was nay dream.” She thought of the way Kai’s arm had threaded around her waist and he had nuzzled into her neck. It had been the perfect night. Once he had come, her nightmares had dissipated as if they were vapor. Free from that darkness, she had slept peacefully.
Closing her eyes, Ava thought of what else could have happened had she woken when he had slipped out. They had kissed now. Had not a wall come down between them? Hadn’t Kai kicked away any stone remnants there may have been of that wall by coming into her bed at night.
