Her eyes flew open.
For a second, she didn’t see him.He watched the terror flare in her eyes, and it made him want to dig the men who’d hurt her out of whatever hole Franklin’s men had dumped them in just so he could kill them again.Her hand shot up and fisted in his T-shirt hard enough to stretch the cotton.
“It’s just me,” he assured her softly.Although, who the hell knew if that was comforting to her after everything she’d been through?
She blinked.Once.Twice.Then she sucked in a huge, shuddering breath that sounded damn painful.And finally, her gaze locked on his.
“There you are,” he murmured.“You were having a nightmare.”
“No, I wasn’t.Because nightmares are things that didn’t really happen,” she whispered.
He’d do anything,giveanything, to take her pain away.“I know.”
“I almost died.”
“Yeah,” he rasped.
Her eyes filled with tears.She swallowed convulsively, fighting valiantly to choke back what was either a sob or a scream.But he didn’t want her to fight it.Keeping it in would eat away at her like a cancer and eventually, she’d go numb.She’d be…
Just like him.
No fucking way was he going to let that happen.Not to the woman who carried the light of the sun in every smile, every laugh.Not tohisHadley.
He didn’t waste time overthinking his next move.He just scooped her up, banding his arms tightly around her.“It’s OK,” he said into her hair.“I’ve got you.”
Cole half expected her to push him away.It’s what he would’ve done in her position, and he would’ve let her.He wasn’t about to be just another asshole in a long line of assholes who’d forced her into something against her will.
But she didn’t push him away.
Her breakdown started slowly, in stages.First came the stuttering breaths, like she was trying to fill her lungs but couldn’t quite get them to cooperate.Then came the sniffles.Just little, snuffling noises when she pressed her nose into the spot where his neck met his shoulder.And finally, worst of all, came the sobs.
The first sob broke over him like a crushing wave at sea—absolutely devastating in its power.Others quickly followed until her shoulders shook and her tears drenched the front of his T-shirt.He absorbed every sob, every tear, like a blow.
He had no idea how long they stayed like that.Time seemed to lose all meaning when he was this close to Hadley.But eventually, her sobs quieted.She eased back far enough to allow him to brush her tears away with his thumbs.She didn’t let go of his shirt, though—a fact he waswaytoo aware of.“I’m so sorry I didn’t get there faster.”
She sniffled.“You saved me twice.No one could’ve gotten to me faster.”
Which didnotmake him feel better.He wanted to move mountains for her.Pull stars out of the sky for her.Be superhuman for her.He couldn’t help but feel that he’d failed her.
Never.Fucking.Again.
If he had to stalk this woman until one of them died of natural causes in an old folk’s home, she wasnotgoing to be in that kind of danger again.He’d make damn sure of it.“Want to talk about it?I hear that helps when it comes to nightmares.”
Hadley shoved her hair back with her free hand.Her other hand remained on him.He kind of hoped she’d leave it there forever.“I don’t know about that.I told everyone when I had a nightmare about tap dancing naked in front of my entire middle school while the rest of my class threw cocktail wieners at me, and to this day, I still have that one occasionally.”
Despite his dark mood, he chuckled, because that shit was hilarious.And leave it to his Hadley to make a joke when any other person would be rocking in a corner.
When he’d started thinking of her ashis Hadley, he had no idea.“Still, though.Talking about it might help.”
She frowned at him.“Something tells me you wouldn’t talk about it ifyouwere the one having the nightmare.”
Which was probably why he’d been having the same damn nightmares for years.He’d gotten so used to them that he assumed he couldn’t have regular dreams anymore.“Trust me.You don’t want to be like me.”
She snorted.“Strong and capable and not emotionally falling apart?Being like you sounds pretty damn good right about now.”
“Youcouldshove your feelings down for a couple of decades,” he admitted.“Pretend you’re unbothered to numb the pain.Trouble is, after a while, you go numb toeverything, even the good stuff.That’s no way to live.”
A sad fact he waswaytoo familiar with.
