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“Solette, stop now!” came a booming voice.
She didn’t think, but her body came to halt. Misery washed over her. She was so easy, so obedient, so… Wait, who was that?
She came to her senses in degrees and looked around. The darkness of the hallway ebbed and flowed like a breathing beast every time lightening flashed in the giant window on the far wall. Her heart threatened to crack, but at least the thunder had taken a break for a few minutes.
Her vision adjusted to the flashes, and she noticed Cason’s bedroom door standing open. She couldn’t see him very well in the dark recesses, but she thought she made out his form as he sat in bed. He had a straight shot of her where she stood.
“I don’t need you killing yourself in my house,” he called out.
She was about to ask him what he meant when she looked down at her feet. Not even two inches stood between her and the top step leading to the first floor. If she had kept running, she would have tumbled down them and probably broken her neck. Trembling, she stepped back, but the thunder returned and roared through her. She ducked to the floor and swallowed the scream threatening to break loose.
“You’re scared of storms.” He had lowered his voice, but she heard him.
“N-not really,” she lied. In the daytime, she could cope by stuffing down her fear. Not at night. “If you want I can shut your door for you.”
She turned back and reached his room, but the storm sent her flying into it and banging the door shut with her inside. Back pressed to the chilly panels, she told herself he didn’t notice how much she shook with no light coming into the room.
“No, you’re not scared at all.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “You weren’t scared earlier. What’s the big deal now?”
He had no compassion whatsoever, but his cool attitude calmed her a bit. She pushed away from the door and approached his bed. Common sense stopped her before she reached it, and she chose a chair instead. “I wasn’t as afraid. It was daylight then. I kind of have an issue with darkness and a storm.”
“So that’s why you didn’t want to stay.”
“That’s so not why.” She suppressed a wry smile.
“If…” He grumbled under his breath. “If talking about it will keep you from falling to your death and putting a burden on my family, go ahead.”
“Thanks.”
“Do I hear a little bite in your tone? I never thought I’d hear it coming from you.”
She tugged her nightgown down and put her feet up into the chair before hugging her legs. Maybe it was the time of day and the feeling of being alone with him that made her relax just a little. Plus, while Cason was her patient, he still gave off a certain amount of strength. He might not even notice it, but she felt a tiny bit safer in here with him than in her room or in the hall alone.
“When I was a child, my dad used to come home drunk pretty often. He was angry and looking to take it out on someone. Usually, it was my mother.”
He made no sound at all, but she was sure he listened.
“On stormy nights it was worse.” Pain tightened the muscles in her chest.
“How?”
“My mother would tell my sister and me to get into the closet and stay there until she came to get us. We could hear though. All the shouting and dishes breaking. But on stormy nights, I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t tell if that was the night he would come and find us. Every time the thunder cracked, I thought it was his heavy step. Or if the slit beneath the door lit up from the lightning, I was convinced that shifting shadow was him.”
“Come here.”
“What?” She squinted in the darkness and sniffed. That’s when she realized she had started to cry. She always did when she talked about her family, but she had forgotten that in the midst of dealing with the storm.
She scrubbed an arm over her face and looked away from Cason.
“Come over here, Solette,” he insisted, not with the least amount of compassion. “I will make you feel better.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” But she slipped off the chair and approached him. Maybe just for a minute to feel his strong arms around her. He leaned against the headboard, and she tucked into a spot beside him. His left arm encircled her, and he didn’t wait for an invitation but dipped his head and captured her mouth with his own. She told herself no, but parted her lips right away. His tongue slipped inside, and she clutched the front of his T-shirt.
“I’m still a man,” he said in a low rumbling when he released her.
She swallowed. “I know.”
“Then?”
