AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, I’m the youngest, so I wound up in the attic when we moved in here,” Mattie murmured. She sighed, trying to shake off her bad mood—trying to shake off the past. “Look, I need a shower—okay? So just, uh, make yourself at home.”
She waved at the room in general and then headed for her suitcase, which her mom had thoughtfully placed by the side of the bed. She dug inside it, grabbing her toothbrush and paste and a long white nightgown.
She wished she still had her flannel pajamas—the attic had always been drafty and it seemed colder than ever, though she could hear the heater running. But she had happily discarded them after moving away from the freezing New England winters.
“Uh…there’s only one bed,” Grath remarked, stating the obvious. “Do you want me to sleep on the floor?”
“Sleep on the floor? Of course not.” Mattie shook her head. “We’re adults. We can share the bed without any kind of problem, right?”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “Just trying to give you space if you need it, little girl.”
“What I need right now is a shower,” Mattie informed him. “Excuse me.” And she ducked into the bathroom.
A long hot shower helped clear her head and as she stood under the pounding water, she gave herself a stern talking to.
You need to get over it,she lectured herself.It’s over now—it’s in the past. Don’t let the past ruin the present. You need to concentrate on your mission—making everyone believe that you and Grath are dating so you can get to Vi’ri’tex Delta as soon as you go back to the Mother Ship. Keep your eyes on the prize, Mattie and don’t let anything distract you.
The pep talk helped—a little bit, anyway—and after she had dried her hair and pulled on the long white nightgown, she felt a tiny bit more like her old self.
She came back out into the bedroom, uncertain of what she might find. Most of her was hoping that Grath wouldn’t say anything and they could pretend the encounter in the park had never happened. But a tiny part of her wished she could talk about it—she had never talked about it to anyone—not even her sister, Anna, before.
However, the big Hybrid was neither curious nor mute on the subject of her behavior. When Mattie walked out into the bedroom, she found him fast asleep on one side of the bed. He was, of course, much too long for her queen-sized bed, but he had cleverly pushed the cedar hope chest usually stored in the corner of the attic to the foot of the bed and padded it with one of the many spare pillows. This had given him enough room to stretch out and he made an enormous lump under the multicolored patchwork quilt.
Mattie felt a reluctant smile twitch the corners of her lips. Well, shehadtold him to make himself at home. And at least he had been considerate enough to stay on one side instead of sprawling directly in the middle.
With a sigh, she went to the other side of the bed and climbed under the quilt. Settling herself so she was back-to-back with the big Hybrid, she drifted off to sleep…
Only to wake up screaming, about an hour later.
ELEVEN
GRATH
What in the Seven Fucking Hells?
The piercing scream, practically right in his ear, had Grath on his feet in an instant. He turned his head from side to side, scanning the dark, unfamiliar attic for threats.
Then he realized there were no threats—it was just Madeline, thrashing around in the too-short bed they had been sharing and crying out in her sleep.
“No!” she was begging as she fought with the covers. “No, please—let me go! Don’t…don’t do that to me!Please!”
“Madeline! Baby, please—wake up!”
Grath leaned over and shook her gently by the shoulder.
She opened her eyes and nearly screamed again but then she seemed to recognize him.
“Grath?” she whispered.
“It’s me, baby,” he reassured her. “Everything is all right—you were just having a bad dream—that’s all.”
“A bad dream—that’s all. It was just…just a bad dream,” she repeated…and burst into tears.
Grath felt his heart twist at her distress and he hurried to get back into bed beside her. Without asking, he put an arm around her and pulled her close.
Madeline resisted at first—as though she didn’t want to let him see her being weak. But then she gave in all at once. Leaning her head against his chest, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Grath didn’t try to say anything or ask any questions. Now wasn’t the time for any of that. Now was the time for comfort.
