Page 40 of Kentucky Nights
It’s hard to take a breath in here when the air is thick with fear. It’s suffocating, like breathing in a room full of cigarette smoke.
Dru screams, “No! No, please, don’t. No!”
As gently as I can, I lie down next to her. The sheets are damp from her sweat, and the shirt she’s wearing sticks to her skin. She’s burning up. Swallowing my own trepidations, I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her close to me until my bare chest is against her back.
Brushing her hair behind her ear, I whisper, “You’re okay, Dru. You’re with me. You’re safe. Come back to me, Darlin’. Come back.”
She whimpers in response, her lashes fluttering while she fights to break the hold this dream has on her.
“I’m right here. You’re safe.” I stroke my knuckles up and down her arm, hoping touch lifts the nightmare from her mind.
Another fresh dose of terror fills the room before her eyes open. She turns to me, eyes wide, pupils blown, and she screams, pushing me away by shoving me in the chest.
“Get away from me! Get away!” she shouts, but she doesn’t recognize me. “Don’t hurt me. Please, let me go!”
She’s still dreaming.
I snag her in my arms, placing my fingers under her chin, and force her to look at me. “Wake up, Dru. You’re safe with me. It’s Kentucky. You aren’t with him anymore. Come back to me. Come back.” I kiss her wet cheeks, tasting the salt in her tears. “I’m not going to let him touch you again, Darlin’. If he ever tries, I’m going to kill him. I’ll add his spine to my lasso, okay? I needyou to follow my voice. You can do it.” I stroke my calloused finger down her cheek, appreciating how someone so beautiful could ever exist.
Dru is prettier than any sunset, sunrise, or shooting star I have seen in my old age. I love the freckles dashed across her cheeks and nose, a map showing me where to kiss.
“Kentucky?”
I blow out a breath when she says my name. I hold her close, cupping the back of her head, and press her against my chest.
“I’m here, Darlin’. You were having a nightmare, that’s all. I have you.” I press a kiss to her forehead, loving how she sinks into my embrace. “You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”
“Kentucky,” she murmurs half-asleep. “So glad it’s you.” Those are her last words before sleep takes her again. She gets comfortable, lying her head on my chest, her palm lying over my heart.
But you know what makes me happiest?
Fear is no longer a ghost in the room. The air is clean with relief.
She isn’t afraid of me, and damn, that alone puts me on top of the world.
A strong scent of pine and coffee wakes me up.
My eyes blink open in sluggish flutters. The cool drying of drool has me wiping my mouth, only for my hand to hit a body.
A very firm, large body.
Oh, no.
I jolt into a sitting position, my vision still blurry with sleep. Sliding my eyes down, my mind begins to whirl with possibilities as to why Kentucky is in bed with me. He isn’t wearing a shirt. I’m able to see every square, sculpted inch of his abs, and the wide detail of his chest.
A chest that has dried drool on it.
The familiar heat I felt yesterday begins to build, but it isn’t as bad since Kentucky is next to me. The fever is more like a low simmer preparing to boil over. That’s fine. I need to buy more time to fight the way I’m beginning to feel about him.
His black cowboy hat is hiding his face, and his legs are crossed at the ankles. His feet hang off the four-post bed, showing he is too big for this queen-sized mattress.
“You’re thinking awfully hard, Darlin’.” His voice is deep and smoky with the edge of morning.
I scoot away from him, needing to give myself a small amount of breathing room because I am too close to throwing myself at him. He smells so good. His being so close to me has my heart racing, but there’s no way I’m having a conversation with him with morning breath.
He lifts his hat from his face, his tired gaze finding me.
I’ve never seen him so attractive. The way his eyes hood, the faintest hint of red in his irises from either hunger or waking up, the way his lips seem still yet full, waiting to be awakened with a kiss.
