Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

I shake my head.

“Why not?”

“What if they come back?” I sniff.

“I’ll be here.” He wraps a hand around my head and places it on his chest like that’s where I’ve always belonged.

Like he can’t have it any other way.

We remain like that for a few, and I’m too tired to fight anything at the moment.

“Remember when I told you that I’ll protect you?”

I nod, my eyes starting to flutter closed.

“That includes the monsters from your nightmares, Elsa.”

I make an unintelligible sound as sleep whisks me away.

Aiden will protect me from the monsters in my nightmares.

But how did he know they were monsters?

I never told him that.

Right?

20

Elsa

When I wake up in the morning, it’s cold and empty.

I slept cocooned in Aiden’s embrace, but he’s nowhere to be found now.

No sound comes from the bathroom either.

I sit up in bed and try to fight off the wave of disappointment that hits me out of nowhere.

Where did he go?

Did I scare him off with my nightmare yesterday?

I tell myself that Aiden isn’t the type that can be scared off, but the doubts jam into my mind anyway.

My backpack rests on a chair and my uniform is neatly tucked beside it.

If he took the time to do that, it should mean that he didn’t bail on me, right?

Tucking the sheet around my body, I stand up and glimpse out the window.

There’s no trace of his Ferrari.

My chest squeezes so hard like it’s on the verge of breaking.

Aiden stranded me in the middle of nowhere.

This feels so much like the first time we had sex; he just up and left without a word.