Page 57 of Cruel Possession
“He’s killing them.” Aiden tosses to the side, curling into a little ball. “My fault. My fault. My fault.”
“For fuck’s sake.” I head into the bathroom and look beneath the sink, finding an empty acrylic container.
I fill it full of ice water before carrying it over to him and dumping it over his head.
He jerks to the side, hands swinging out again, another scream ripping from his chest.
And then he’s staring up at me with water dripping down his face and annoyance in his eyes. “What the fuck was that for?”
He seems disoriented as he looks around, his eyes narrowing. He digs his fingernails into the palms of his hands.
“You were screaming in your sleep.”
Aiden looks at me, but it’s more like he’s seeing straight through me, his face coated in a sheen of water and the color drained from his cheeks. He makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat before his gaze darts around the room again.
I crouch down in front of him. “Are you okay?”
He nods and gets to his feet, ignoring me and heading into the bathroom.
A few moments later, there’s the steady spray of the shower running, light peeking out from beneath the bathroom door. I sigh and grab the remote for the lights in his bedroom, turning them to a soft golden hue before setting the container on the dresser.
I grab some towels from the dirty laundry bin in the closet and start mopping up the water on the hardwood floors.
Aiden comes out of the shower a few minutes later, a towel slung low on his hips, his muscled torso on display.
And right along with it are all his scars and the brand Noah left.
I suck in a sharp breath. Though I had seen the brand before, something about this felt different. Maybe it was the way he had been screaming, the memory of it still sending a shiver down my spine.
Noah did that to him.
I stare at him for a moment, and the silence stretches between us.
He just shakes his head and drags open the bottom drawer of the dresser, pulling out a pair of black joggers. He abandons the towel, making a heat gather low in my stomach.
Now isn’t the time, but there’s no denying the man in front of me is attractive. But he’s also suspicious of me.
I can see it in the way he watches me as he stalks over and takes the towels from my hands, tossing them in with the rest of the dirty laundry. He comes back into the bedroom and crosses his arms.
His gaze doesn’t meet mine, instead looking just past me. “Are you going to stand there and stare at me?”
I think this is the least sure of himself I’ve ever seen him.
“Want to tell me what the hell those dreams were about?” I climb back into bed, leaving enough space for him to settle beside me if he wants.
However, he doesn’t bother, instead sitting on the couch and crossing one leg over the other. “Why?”
“I don’t know. Figure it might help to talk to someone. Does your family know you scream like that in the middle of the night?”
“Summer and Jade sleep in the other wing of the house.”
“Do they know?” I pull a pillow into my lap, holding it tight while leaning back against the headboard.
“They don’t need to know.” His eyes narrow. “And you didn’t need to know either. I should’ve left you down in the cells.”
“Well, you didn’t, and now I know. So, you want to talk about it?”
“Not even a little bit.” He looks out the window, the bright lights of the city, not too far away, drowning out the stars.
