Page 99 of Sheltering You

Maybe she was thinking about them, though. Was that shiny glint on her cheeks…a tear? “What is it, Jazz?” He tried to push himself up, but it hurt too much. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She swiped her fingers beneath her eyes and turned down the covers on her side of the bed she would share with Rabie. “It has been a long day.”

He patted the space beside him. “Do you want to talk? There are extra blankets in the closet. Maybe you could just curl up with me for a minute.”

She didn’t turn back to him. Of course she’d refuse him. He didn’t even know why he’d asked.

But then she grabbed a blanket and climbed onto the other side of his bed. “It is okay, if I stay on top?”

“Of course.” His voice was suddenly husky. He shouldn’t have offered if he couldn’t handle it. He could handle it, though. For Jasmine, he would do anything.

“Khalid is going to find me.” She rested her head on the other pillow and pulled the blanket over herself. “If you hadn’t come out of the store when you did… I am afraid.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Derrick shifted and tucked her against his good side.

She curled into him. “I should not, but only for a moment.”

“Sometimes, you just need a hug.”

Her only response was the slightest…trembling.

She was sobbing.

Dang. He was trying to help, but he’d made it worse. He didn’t know what he’d said, or what he should say, so he just held her and let her tears soak the blankets that separated them.

And hoped Rabie had been wrong about all crying being girlie, because his own eyes prickled. He was tired and in pain and…and he’d almost lost her.

What if she’d been taken? What would he have done? Would he have ever found her again?

A few minutes passed before she settled, her breathing evening out. For a moment, he thought she’d fallen asleep. But then she sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? I’m sorry. I wish I knew how to help. What to say or…”

She shook her head. “It was this I needed. Just this.”

This…what?

She cuddled back in beside him.

Oh. “Hug-starved?”

“It would seem so.” Her words were light. But a moment later, she spoke again. “For years, I was not hugged. Barely touched, and never with affection.”

Derrick worked to keep his reaction calm. “That’s awful.”

“At the compound, it was only Baba, Hasan, and Khalid. Baba doesn’t feel anything toward me. Nor Hasan. Khalid’s touch was not… I should not speak of such things. Forgive me.”

Yeah. He didn’t want to hear about that. He already wanted to kill the guy. No need to add fuel to that fire. But… “If you ever want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”

Because, if it would make her feel better, he could handle the torture.

She was silent for a few moments. “Mama was very affectionate. And Leila. Even Basma and I would hold hands or sit close when we grieved or shared stories. Rabie was little then and always wanted me to play with him. It’s silly that it should matter so much. It is friendship to touch sometimes, no?”

Derrick wasn’t sure about that. He and his friends weren’t exactly huggers, but they high-fived and slapped each other on the back. And Derrick had his brothers, and his sisters-in-law, and his mother, who hugged everybody, even if she’d seen them an hour before. Even if she’d just met them.

He’d never thought much about physical affection because he’d never lacked it.

“People need affection.” He kept his voice at a whisper. “That you were denied such a basic human need…” From her father, her uncle, her husband. These men who should’ve protected and loved her had denied her. They’d treated her like property.