Deviant King (Royal Elite 1)

“I do.”

I don’t think he does, but I hold on to that glimmer of a voice.

It’s soothing.

So soothing.

Maybe them monsters are invisible to him.

He sees me like no one did before.

He sees ME.

* * *

“Elsa!”

Like being hauled from the depth of an ocean, I gasp and my e

yes pop open.

My vision is blurry and all I see are dark shadows. My heartbeat doesn’t calm, thinking I’m at that place again.

However, the arms surrounding me aren’t scary. If anything, they’re soothing. It’s like an escape I couldn’t find back then.

I blink the tears from my blurry vision. Furrowed dark features greet me. Strands of his dark hair fall on his forehead.

I blink once. Twice. He doesn’t disappear.

“A-Aiden?” My voice is so hoarse, I barely manage to get the words out.

“It’s okay.” He strokes my back in tiny circles. “You’re not alone. I’m here.”

I don’t know if it’s because of his words or because of the nightmares I just had.

I don’t care either.

My fingers curl into his T-shirt, my forehead falls against the hardness of his chest, and I let the tears loose.

Sobs wreck my chest, and I let it all out. I don’t even know what I’m crying about.

They were only nightmares. They aren’t real.

They can’t be real.

I curl further into Aiden’s lap and hold tighter onto him. He’s real. His warmth and the strange sense of security I feel in his arms is real.

The nightmares aren’t.

Aiden puts a hand under my bottom and pulls me onto him so I’m sitting on his lap. I wrap my legs around his waist, strangling him.

He doesn’t complain.

He remains silent, stroking my back, my hair and the side of my arm.

I couldn’t be more thankful for his calm, anchor-like presence. He’s here, but he’s not talking. He’s letting me deal with it on my own.

The last time I had an episode like this, strangely, two years ago right after my first day in RES, Aunt and Uncle freaked.