Page 53 of Warming His Bed

My pulse picked back up a notch when my door crept open.

She inched into my room. “Drew? Are you awake?”

I lay there for a second. Considered playing possum.

The light from the hallway lit her from behind. Her face was cast in shadow. The hem of her baggy T-shirt hung at the top of her thighs, barely covering her panties. The sight of her after that dream caused a warm blossom of relief to unfurl in my chest.

I was no more ready to examine that sensation than I was for her to see me without my leg.

“I thought I heard…heard you calling out my name. Are you okay?”

Jesus.

This was exactly how I didn’t want her to see me. As some kind of invalid. As someone who was crying out her name, not because he was balls deep in her, but because he fell in the tub.

“I had a hard time sleeping too. I wondered if…if it would be okay to sleep with you.”

Her words were timid. She sounded nothing at all like the woman who told me to shut up and let her suck my cock a few hours ago.

“Sleeping only. I know you don’t want to do anything sexual without your prosthesis. But I slept so much better when we were cuddled up together. If that’s not weird.” Her forehead wrinkled.

I couldn’t say no to her, even though I hated the idea of her seeing me without my leg. I swallowed, then I lifted up the covers and nodded at her to get in.

“You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Come on. I’m letting all the cold air in.”

She slid in under the covers next to me, then curled up on her side, one arm under the pillow. She lay there quietly, looking at me as the silence stretched out between us.

I turned my head on the pillow to look at her. “I thought you wanted some cuddles.”

“I didn’t wanna push it.”

That got a soft chuckle from me. “Doesn’t seem like you’ve had a problem pushing boundaries up until now.”

She looked a little insulted.

“Get in here.” I slid my arm under her and pulled her into my side.

She snuggled in, laying her head on my chest and wrapping her leg over the top of mine.

Like everything else with her, this was a new and mind-bending experience. I hadn’t cuddled with anyone—besides her—since my accident. Gwen and I had slept in the same bed for a few weeks after, but I wouldn’t let her touch me. Eventually, the tension led to her sleeping in one of the other rooms, until she finally relented and left. I didn’t do sleepovers with hookups. Sadie was the only one I’d ever done this with. The only one who’d been in bed nuzzled up against me, without Lefty.

It wasn’t as horrifying as I’d anticipated. My pulse simmered down to a comfortable level. My breathing eased. And my racing thoughts quieted.

“Do you have nightmares?” she asked.

“Sometimes. Not as often as I used to. They’re rare these days.”

“Same.”

A piece inside me broke the tiniest bit and shifted around in my chest. I wanted to know what kind of memories or worries were tormenting her in her nightmares. As if I could somehow slay the demons for her.

But I also knew that a one-word answer meant you didn’t want to talk about something.

Best not to rock the boat.

Instead, I drifted off to a dream where Sadie never left Kelly Bay.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com