When she lowered her hand onto his bare shoulder, he burst up. A blade came out of nowhere, glinting in the moonlight before it kissed her neck. Both of her wrists were pushed above her head and secured with one of his large hands. He pressed against her, pinning her to the wall. His eyes, nothing but pools of shadow, stared into her.
“What are you doing in here, Charity?” he asked in a low growl.
She stood paralyzed, captured by his much larger body. Trapped by his strength and power. She started to quiver.
“I w-was af-fraid,” she stammered, her wrists aching in his grip.
He leaned in close, so close they were breathing the same air. The heat from his body shocked into her, along with the manly perfume of his skin. A moment later, he stepped away, pulling back the blade. It was only then that she realized he wore not a stitch.
“Nightmare?” he asked nonchalantly. It was almost as if he a) wasn’t standing nude in front of her, and b) hadn’t just trapped her with a knife to her throat.
She didn’t have long to think about it. Flashes of sickly green skin, fangs, and claws flickered through her mind. She glanced at his door. In her mind, it all waited out there. In here, she had him. He knew what he was doing and could protect her.
“I… Sorry, I know this is weird, but…” She didn’t know how to phrase what she needed to say without sounding completely lame.
Can I sleep at the foot of your bed like a dog because I’m afraid of being alone for the first time in my entire life?
His soft sigh rustled her lashes. As if reading her mind, he bent and scooped her up into his arms. The next moment she was flying, landing on the other side of his bed in a tangle of limbs and hair.
He slipped between the sheets with his back to her and cuddled into his pillow. “Go to sleep. You’re safe here. I sleep soundly, so snore all you want, but don’t elbow me if I do. I hate that.”
Another flashback of a monster reaching for her, claws outstretched, had her shimmying out of her borrowed sweats and hoodie and climbing into the bed beside him. She was only in a T-shirt and panties, but there was no way she was going back into her room without an armed escort. Not tonight, anyway.
Suddenly she wasn’t so confident in what she’d told Roger. Maybe she couldn’t move on from this so easily. Her life had changed in every possible way, and she was only now catching up.Chapter Seventeen“Hey!”
Charity felt a hard nudge, shaking the bed.
“Hey. Charity.”
She cracked a groggy eye open.
Devon stood at the side of the bed—his bed—with his rumpled hair and the scruff on his face accentuating his rugged good looks. It was the exact style he’d worn out the other night, except this one lacked all the polish and product. A bright halo surrounded him from the sunlight streaming in the large windows behind him.
The tightness in her chest from the night before loosened, releasing the tension in her shoulders.
Sunlight. Glorious sunlight.
She sighed. In the safety of the day, she should probably feel a little awkward about how she broke down last night and practically begged to sleep in Devon’s bed, like a child. As a rule, she didn’t open herself up to people, not even to John. When people knew your weaknesses, they could exploit you. Could wring you out and torment you. She’d seen it firsthand with how Walt had treated her mom. Charity had enough going on in her life without falling into that particular vat of slime.
But at the moment, she was too tired to care.
“What?” she mumbled, fatigue dragging her eyelids back down.
“It’s ten o’clock. Are you going to work?”
“Hmmmmmrrrrrrr.”
“I’m the wolf, not you. You sound stupid when you growl.”
“I don’t feel good.”
“Then call in sick. Are you always this helpless?”
She sat up in a grumpy rush, her hair swirling around her head like she’d been caught in a windstorm. “I barely slept last night.”
“I know. You’re incredibly loud when you toss and turn. Are you going to work or what? I’d like to go back to sleep.”
“Then go. I’ll find my way there. Why’d you get up if you’re just going to go back to bed?”
“Coffee. I planned on staying up, but I’m still exhausted. Quit asking questions and figure yourself out.”
She slapped the soft, luxurious down comforter. “Go away.” She thumped her head back into the pillow. Awkwardness could definitely wait.
His dark chuckling trailed him out of the room. “If you’re going, hurry up. There’re no buses this far. I have to drive you.”
Charity lay still for a moment. She did really hate that admin job. She’d lied to Roger when she said they let her do her schoolwork. She was kept busy enough to be marginally useful and bored at the same time. It also paid minimum wage in a place where the cost of living was high, which was the pits.