On the floor...
On the walls...
On the ceiling...
On… her family.
Oh, God, no! Mama! Susan! Nicholas!
Please, God, no!
Run! They’re coming!
Run!
Moriah jerked awake on a strangled cry, her heart racing so hard it hurt. The images clung to herfor a moment longer, vivid and suffocating, before the dim outline of the bedroom came into focus. Movement beside her registered next—quick, sharp.
KC had already grabbed his gun.
The realization cut through the haze of her nightmare as she watched him scan the room, his body coiled and ready. After a moment, something in his posture shifted. He set the weapon back on the nightstand and turned toward her, the tension easing as he pulled her into his arms.
“Are you okay?”
“Just a nightmare,” she managed, her voice unsteady, breath coming too fast. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
He pressed his lips to her damp forehead. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Swallowing several times, she leaned into his gentle caresses. One hand moved along her arm while the other rested at her side, warm and steady. The edge of the panic receded, and she slowly melted against his solid body.
Closing her eyes, she focused on his touch instead of the horror still lingering in her mind. She inhaled deeply, his scent surrounding her, soothing yet stirring something deeper. A different kind of awareness began to build, her breathing turninguneven as she tilted her head back and brushed her lips along his jaw. The scrape of his stubble sent a shiver through her, and when his mouth met hers, she kissed him back with quiet intensity. She wanted to hold on to the moment—in case everything else fell apart.
Part of her wanted to run, to put distance between herself and the danger that followed her, but the rest of her refused to let go of the man she was falling for.
Her hands moved over his chest, his back, his shoulders, tracing the strength beneath her palms as she held on to him.
“Stay with me,” she whispered against his lips.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He eased her back against the pillows, his touch gentler now, giving her time to pull away if she wanted to. She didn’t. She only held on tighter, needing the closeness, the reassurance, the warmth of him beside her.
The world beyond the room faded as she focused on him—on his presence, the way he held her, and the quiet comfort he offered without question.
Wrapped in his arms, she let the nightmare slip away and gave in to the quiet connection between them.
In the aftermath of their lovemaking, Moriah clung to him, and he kept her close. The only sound in the room was the uneven rhythm of their breathing.
KC lay there, her weight resting against him, her warmth pressed close, his mind slow to catch up. A lingering sense of heat and closeness hung between them, the kind that came after something intense, something neither of them had held back from. His hand moved slowly along her back, more instinct than thought, his body reluctant to let go of the moment.
He hadn’t planned for that. Hadn’t meant for things to go that far, not with everything she’d been dealing with. But she hadn’t been fragile in his arms. She’d been sure, deliberate, needing something he hadn’t had it in him to deny her.
And he hadn’t wanted to.
That truth sat with him, heavier by the second. Because, as right as it had felt in the moment, the timing couldn’t have been worse. He should have slowed things down. Should have been the one thinking clearly.
Instead…
A flicker of unease stirred at the back of his mind. Something wasn’t right.
