“Caroline!”
With a gasp, Caroline sat up. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, and her recently cleaned skin was now slick with sweat.
“It was a dream,” she rasped to herself, clenching her sheets with her fists. “It was just a dream.”
Then the banging started again, loud and angry enough to make her scream again and flinch. It took her several seconds to realize that she was not sinking back into the nightmare, but that someone was knocking aggressively at her door.
Her entire body still trembling, Caroline pulled back her covers, but before she could even attempt to move her legs, a loud thud erupted from the door, followed by the sound of cracking woodand whining hinges as it fell to the floor in a broken heap. Light spilled into her darkened room, along with a shadowed figure.
What just happened?
A familiar deep voice rumbled, and the sound of a match being struck was followed by a flare of yellow light. His short hair was mussed, and his sweaty, shirtless physique made her wonder what he had just been dragged from, but Damien’s chiseled features negated any look of sleep or distraction. Instead, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes were narrowed, looking as if he was ready to engage in battle with his fists curled tightly at his sides.
“Caroline. You were screaming, and I thought... I feared... Are you all right?”
“I am sorry,” she rasped, her trembling growing worse as he stalked into the room. “I am sorry.”
Tears blurred her vision as she cast her eyes to her blankets.
“Stop apologizing,” he barked. She winced at the gruffness, and a moment later, she heard a soft sigh escape him. “You do not have to apologize,” he said again, much gentler this time, setting the candle he lit atop her bedside table before sitting on the edge of her bed. “Just tell me what happened.”
Caroline shook her head, her throat feeling tight with pent-up sobs. She took a moment, working to swallow them as she willed her body to calm down.
“Youtell me what happened,” she finally said when she could speak again.
When he gave her a confused look, she glanced toward the broken door before meeting Damien’s gaze, then quickly dropped her line of sight back to the bed. Damien’s fingerscurled around her chin, and she braced for pain, but instead his hand gently coaxed her to turn her head. When she looked at him again, she realized that it was not rage in his eyes, but worry.
“Your door was locked,” he explained, his large fingers so very gently caressing her chin, as he spoke in a low, soothing tone. “I had to break it down.”
“Why?” she asked, her trembling already starting to subside with his soothing touch.
His dark brows furrowed as he frowned deeply.
“What do you mean by why? You were screaming,” he explained. “You were screaming so loudly and over and over again, as if you were being hurt, and you would not respond to the knocking. I needed to make sure you were safe.”
Caroline drew in a long, shaky breath and willed her mind to calm as she closed her eyes. Sadness bloomed in her as Damien pulled his fingers away from her chin, leaving her to have to start the process all over again. It was as if his touch had given her an anchor, and without it, she was floating away to the darkness again.
“Apologies,” he murmured. “I forgot. No touching.”
Caroline pressed her lips shut to keep from asking him to ignore her stupid rule and watched as he rose from his seat on her bed only to drag a chair close.
“It was only a nightmare,” she finally explained, willing her mental walls to go back up. “And you are a madman for breaking down that door.”
“I have been called worse,” Damien answered, shrugging his massive shoulders before taking a seat. “Do not worry, I willhave the door replaced tomorrow.”
Caroline let out a weak huff of a laugh, amazed that even though just a moment ago he had broken through the door to get to her, he was now acting nonchalant about the entire thing.
“You should go,” she told him, watching as he settled into his chair. “I am fine. Truly. It was just a nightmare. As you can see, no one is in here trying to hurt me.”
“I know, but I want you to tell me about it. What did you dream about?” Damien asked.
Caroline’s brows furrowed as she still sat up rigidly in her bed.
“It was nothing,” she replied.
Damien’s brows tensed, but his gaze did not harden.
“Do not lie to me, Caroline. Please,” he quietly insisted.
