Amara woke up with a loud scream. Sweat trickled down her spine as she panted. Eyes wide opened as she frantically looked around with scared eyes. The ability to process anything leaving her complete, the nightmare felt too real. Instinctively her hands moved to her neck as she inspected it. There was no pain, but she couldn't shake away the feeling of paranoia. She shook her head as tears streamed down her face.
Hewas here.Hewas here.
Her eyes looked around for any sign of danger but she couldn't focus.
She needed to hide dreading the man. Panic gripped her and she immediately swung her legs to the side before a pair of strong hands gripped her forearms.
"Amara!" A very familiar voice rang in her ears but her head was too messed up to recognize it. Her body reacted impulsively and she thrashed kicking her legs and flaring her arms.
"Leave me! No!" The hands loosened their grip for a small second and she felt relieved trying to move away but insteadstrong muscular arms were wrapped around her waist as she was crushed in a warm embrace. The warmth seeped through her cold body but it was not enough to calm her down. All she could hear was mocking laughs, feel the cold hands on her body, eyed bloodshot red crawling up her spine.
Kaelith tried to be gentle with her keeping his hold on her, but the more she thrashed, his grip solidified.
When she refused to calm down, he gritted his teeth and tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly to his chest. His free hand raised as he patted her head and hushed her.
His heart beating loudly along with hers for different reasons. Close.Too close.Close enough to touch his soul. Kaelith swallowed hard, the way her body felt against his was both euphoric and… wrong.
"Calm down," his soothing voice did something to her. The tears falling continuously.
"I-It will kill me! T-the nails! T-the blood-I have to go-" she cried into his chest as he kept rubbing her back. Kaelith clenched his jaw tight. He hoped it was really something that hurt her so that he could at least kill it, but her nightmares, he couldn’t see her this way. She looked like a fragile child haunted by the demons lurking underneath the bed.
Fifteenyears.Andshestillhadthatsameeffectonhim.Thisfeeling,itwasresurfacing.The feeling he buried two years ago.
She trembled in his arms and his body trembled with hers. He tried to focus on anything—chilies with chocolate, onions with cake, pizza with pineapple.World without her….
He couldn't see her like this. Every time he saw her like this, he just couldn't help but feel the carnal desire to kill every tormentor of hers. His fists unknowingly clenched.
"Hush… calmdown.You'resafe,everything'salright.Noonecanhurtyou."Herbodywasshaking in his arms. When her sobs died down a bit, he pulled away and placed both of his hands on either side of her face and made her face him. His heart squeezed seeing her red cheeks andnose and bloodshot eyes filled with fear and trauma. Shaking away the feeling, he looked into her eyes.
"Look at me," his gentle voice wrapped around her like clouds. Soft and light. Almost hypnotizing. And she obeyed. But she couldn't shake away the images in her head. She shook her head and felt her eyes tingling with more tears.
"The blood, the cries-" Kaelith placed his finger on her lips.
"Shhh," he whispered, his touch soothing against her trembling lips.
"Look in my eyes," he gently said and she looked into the warm grey pools of his. Warm as the sun and deep as oceans. There were so many emotions replenishing those swarthy orbs of his. She couldn't discern them, but they were a mixture of outrage, care, tenderness and familiarity. Her body unknowingly relaxed and she forgot everything around her for a moment. He was right. It was just a bad dream then why did it still affected her.
Kaelith held her gaze and caressed her right cheek with his knuckles as she unwinds under his touch. The room seemed to fade away as her focus narrowed solely on Kaelith. Every worry, every ounce of anxiety, melted away as she surrendered to the comfort of his touch.
"Who am I, Amara?" He asked his eyes moving low to her drenched cheeks.
"Kaelith-"
"I'm your knight, Amara. No one in this world can touch you. You are safe with me," Kaelith whispered, his voice soothing and filled with conviction. His words stirredsomething ugly inside her. And she felt like a burden to him. No matter how much he cared for her, she was just a burden to him. As the situation was leading out and reality was settling on her, she realized he was wearing his business suit and his hair looked perfectly styled. He must be going to work-
Shit.
Her cheeks immediately flared with embarrassment when she realized she was still in his arms and pulled away before turning around. She scolded herself for being so weak and helpless all the time.
Kaelith frowned at the lack of her warmth.
Kaelith could seehercontemplating,he knew what wasrunning in her head.
He could read her like an open book. The way she hide her face whenever she felt embarrassed, how the tips of her nose and ears turn into an adorable shade of pink in situations like this, the tensed posture of her back, a cute little frown on her forehead and clenching of fists whenever she thinks hard.
He wanted to console her more but decided against it. He watched curiously as she timidly got inside the sheets and covered her face with them. He could sense her vulnerability, her need for comfort. Gently, he moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed, respecting her boundaries whilemaking his presenceknown.
He leaned forward slightly; his voice filledwithempathy as he softly said, "I'm right here with you, whenever you're ready to talk.”
