Page 43 of Deadline for Love

I slowly approached him until I stood on the edge of the bed, my gaze fixed on his beautiful face. His eyes were closed, his long lashes curled very slightly, and the moonlight shimmered on his flawless skin—my heart beat faster at the sight; he was so handsome.

But then I noticed… His skin was pale, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and his brows were drawn together as if he were in immense pain. The blanket was pulled up to his neck, and I saw him clutching his chest with one hand.

He was having a nightmare.

There was a slight twitch in his jaw, and I automatically grabbed his other hand, which was lying at the side.

My heart tightened, and guilt spread through my whole body; I should’ve known that my questions were reminding him of the awful incident so vividly. No one can simply get over this. I shouldn’t have delved into too much detail to find out more about his sister’s murder...

I briefly let go of him to get a towel from the bathroom and dampened it, then quickly went back to Nathan and wiped to cool his forehead. I quietly sat down on the edge and then grasped his hand, which he tightened after a short while with a squeeze.

“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered, my eyes wandering to the picture on the bedside table.

Nathan stood beside Rita with their parents behind them. Rita clung to Nathan’s arm and blew a kiss to the camera; she looked incredibly young, lively, and playful in the picture. Her father kept a hand on Rita’s shoulder and looked slightly annoyed by the behavior. Her mother, however, was just like her daughter; she also had an arm around Nathan and kissed Nathan’s cheekwhile he was smiling with his eyes closed. He looked so much younger. Actually, the whole family looked like models.

My gaze drifted at the bottle of sleeping pills and wondered how long he’d been taking them. Had his world turned this lifeless since his sister was murdered? Had he been different in the past? I was interested in his life, and maybe I would get my answers if I asked him about it, but what if he didn’t want to tell me?

“Don’t... please,” a pained voice brought me out of my thoughts.

Nathan shook his head and mumbled something to himself that I couldn’t understand at first. He let go of my hand and grabbed his chest with both hands.

“Please don’t,” he mumbled again.

Seeing him like this was breaking my heart. I didn’t know what I could do to stop his suffering. Bending to him slowly, I wiped his brow with my palm and placed my hand on his again.

“Nathan, it’s going to be okay,” I said aloud, trying to reassure him somehow, but he moved his hand again, and mine landed over the blanket on his hard chest. I felt an intense pounding; his heart was beating way too fast.

I raised my hands awkwardly; I didn’t know what to do in this situation. How could I calm him down? Should I wake him instead? It reminded me of when Amara used to have something similar. I usually hugged and caressed her head, but I couldn’t do that with Nathan. Could I?

I carefully got up and walked over to the other side, then laid down and scooted closer to him to lie on my side.

Slowly, I reached out and wrapped my arm around his stomach over the blanket. I placed my other hand gently on his shoulder. My heart was pounding hard, and my cheeks were heating up. What if he didn’t want this? Maybe I was being toointrusive. But when his body started to tremble, I thought it was the right thing to do, so I tightened my grip.

I was enveloped in Nathan’s beautiful scent; his body was so close that we touched slightly but still had a slight barrier with the blanket. However, the distance was closed as Nathan moved again, wrapping his arms around my hips and pulling me against him.

He squeezed me tightly enough to make me feel like my back was snapping. I gasped for air and lifted my head a little, looking at the pained face in front of me.

“Nathan,” I squeezed and tried to pull his arms away from me, but he was far too strong. I stayed still for a moment, hoping he would stop on his own; then, I looked up at him again and noticed his features were slowly relaxing.

“Nathan,” I gasped breathlessly. I touched his arms again helplessly, but it just wouldn’t loosen.

“Nathan,” I said a little louder, and he seemed to respond this time.

He loosened his grip so I could finally breathe better, and the pressure eased. I dropped my arms weakly to the right and left alongside his shoulders and then realized that the blanket had slipped below his chest. The only thing separating us now was the thin shirt I was wearing.

My whole body ran hot, at the feeling of him pressed against me.

Sighing, I blinked a few times and looked at his relaxed face. Nathan’s eyelids fluttered open, and he looked straight into my eyes. Panic spread through my whole body. I frantically pushed away from him as if I had done something illegal, bracing myself with my arms, his gaze traveling briefly down and then back up to my face.

I couldn’t tell if he was awake because he gazed at me blearily.

“Nathan, I—”

“She is so beautiful—even in my dreams.” His deep, sleepy voice silenced my attempt at clarification.

He pulled me back down onto him and skillfully turned so that I was now lying on my back on the soft mattress.

The moon gleamed on the handsome man before me, his muscles marked with light rays. The atmosphere suddenly changed; my heart was pounding so hard I thought the whole world could hear it. The butterflies in my stomach were bursting with joy, and I could have sworn I had seen colorful lights flying around us.

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