Page 59 of Inflict

“Why push?” Connor frowned. “You’ll tell me whatever you want to, whenever you want to. You don’t need my help.”

She had already proven that.

Evelyn nodded absently, but her attention was already snagged by the bags. “Is this all mine?”

Her curiosity turned into unhidden joy as she began pawing through the many bags.

“All of it, yes.”

Then, she looked up at him. “But why?”

“You need it.”

“Yes, but—”

Connor could already see the wheels turning in her head, and he wanted to stop her before it got out of control. “No strings, no expectations. You need it, Evelyn.”

“Sasha,” she mumbled under her breath.

Ah, so they were heading back that way.

“Not to me,” Connor said as he walked out of the room. “I’m going to get something ready to eat. Make sure you have your own damn clothes on, when you come to the table.”

“Okay.”

• • •

Connor wasn’t a particularly light sleeper, but since he only slept alone, the moment he was no longer by himself in his bedroom, his sleep was gone. Call it a learned instinct from being awoken for years, only to be beaten by Sean, but Connor simply didn’t like another presence in his bedroom.

Not even a woman he was screwing.

Which was probably why he never let one spend the night.

Except, the second he woke up hearing the soft padding of Evelyn’s bare feet hitting his bedroom floor, Connor didn’t have quite the same reaction. He’d told her that he would leave the bedroom door open, though he had seriously hoped she would find comfort in having her own private space.

That was not going to be the case.

Connor wasn’t going to pretend that he minded.

Evelyn barely made a sound as she settled in beside his bed, and Connor rolled over with the same quietness, to find her sitting on the floor with her back facing him.

Weeks into her living in his home, and they were still doing this shite.

Jesus.

“Lass, what are you doing down there?”

“I don’t like to sleep alone.” Then, quieter, she added, “I don’t know how to sleep alone.”

The image of the pallet bed in the corner of the bedroom he’d found Evelyn in was burned into the back of Connor’s mind. He doubted she had slept every night in the Russian’s bed. The thought of her being there even once made him sick, he understood what she was trying to tell him. She had never been left alone in the dark to sleep, someone had always been close by, even if that person had hurt her.

Connor frowned, reaching out to smooth a hand down the back of her hair. Evelyn didn’t flinch away from the touch, but rather, leaned in for more. “You’re not going to sit your pretty arse down there all night, now. Come on.”

She didn’t move.

Connor wasn’t the type to repeat himself.

With a huff, he leaned down and wrapped his arms around Evelyn’s tiny waist, pulling her easily into the bed with him. A few simple shifts of their bodies, and he had her back tucked into his chest while her legs slid in to tangle with his. The softness of her skin was warm under the blankets, but he ignored that for a moment, focusing instead on how she reacted to his hands holding her hip while his other splayed over her lower stomach.