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“Yes. Please do.” I laugh delicately, my chest feeling bubbly and light. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“I’ll always take care of you, Lay.” Rhys scoops me up in his arms bridal style, rubbing his nose against mine. “You’re mine.”
Chapter Eight
Rhys
Alayna sleeps beside me, her naked, warm body cuddled into my own. Breathing in her scent, I inhale deeply, letting the floral aroma of her hair sear itself into my mind. It doesn’t feel real that this absolutely stunning woman loves me. No one loves me, save my best friends. Not even my mother loved me, her love was always reserved for my brother instead.
Now isn’t the time to think about my fucked up upbringing, the pain still raw as if it was yesterday that I cut them off and not nine years ago. Time is supposed to heal, is it not? Why do I still feel the sting from the look of indifference on my father’s face? My mother screamed at me, wishing me dead because I dared to call her a bad mother. She never wanted to see or speak to me ever again, I was a shitty failure of a son that deserved to get the worst of life. My brother just looked on, a smile on his face at my misery.
They were awful parents growing up, always favouring my brother for everything. If I got a good grade in school, they shrugged it off, sometimes even shaming me for still not doing better. My brother got a barely passing grade? He was given dinners out and praised out the ass. He could do no wrong, and all I could ever do was wrong.
When Lay told me she was proud of me, it was honestly the first time outside of my therapist that I had heard those words. I wasn’t prepared for how they would hit me straight in the fucking gut, ripping open the wound that my parents left me. It’s not her fault for dragging up that feeling, I actually appreciated and loved that she so easily said it to me.
Brushing my nose through Lay’s hair, I pull her a little tighter against me, relishing the feeling of her in my arms. The love I feel for this woman is far beyond anything I ever thought was possible. She snuck into my heart, wedging herself in there so tightly it hurts to breathe sometimes. If I couldn’t feel her against me or smell her everywhere, I would think this has to be a dream. There’s no way she chose to love me, I’m not worthy of love. Love is something I thought I never deserved.
Besides my parents, my grandmother was the only other person in my life. She loved me in her own way, too jaded by life to give me all the love I was missing at home. She did her best, though, which is more than my parents can say. When I walked away from my parents, she welcomed me in, giving me a place to live and money to get by. When she passed, she left me almost everything, including her house, with my parents and brother getting a small sum each so they couldn’t contest the will.
Her one request was that I sell her house and buy one for me so I had something that was just for myself. That’s the house that the guys and I were living in when we met Lay. Kevin Jennings may have completely ruined that for us now. Clenching my teeth, I push thoughts of that bastard out of my head, not wanting to get my anger riled up while I lie here with Alayna.
Alayna groans slightly, her face turning to rub on her pillow as if to wipe away the bad memories filling her head. This is always the first sign of a nightmare for her. Next would be a few words scattered between heavy breathing just before the screaming started. Humming under my breath, I hold her as tightly as I can without hurting her, trying to let her feel that she’s not there and she’s not alone.
“I’ve got you, Lay. You’re not alone, you’re with me in bed.” My leg slides between hers, trying to find as much skin contact as I can to try to soothe her. “You’re with me, baby. No one will ever touch you again. I love you, Lay. I love you so much.”
Alayna settles a bit, her head turning to me and pressing against my lips. “Thank you,” she whispers, her voice raspy with tears. “Your voice broke through, fading the nightmare before it hurt me.”
“No need to thank me, baby. I will always do everything in my power to help you.” I press a kiss to her cheek, enjoying the small smile that graces her perfect pink, bow shaped lips. “Now try to get some more rest, it’s been a long day.”
“Understatement,” she mutters, snuggling back down into the pillows and pulling the comforter higher on us. “Night, Rhys.”
“Goodnight, Lay.”
Kissing the back of her head, I do my best to follow my own advice and get some rest as well. Filling my thoughts with images from tonight and how utterly perfect she looked coming undone around me, I doze off finally. While I hate that I couldn’t have the childhood and parents that I should have, I’m thankful for everything that’s happened. It brought me to this moment and this woman, two things that I would never take for granted.
Alayna
A deep scream wakes me from a dead sleep, making me shoot up in bed, dislodging the arm wrapped around my waist. It takes me a minute to understand where I am and what’s going on. Another scream rings out, Adam’s voice more clear than it was before. Jumping out of bed, I grab Rhys’ shirt off of his chair and toss it on as I run out the door. Rhys is hot on my heels, pulling on a pair of sweatpants as we move towards Adam’s room.
“Be careful, Lay. Adam can be very aggressive when he’s in a PTSD episode. It’s not quite like yours,” Rhys warns me, placing his hand on the door past me, holding me back until he sees my nod in understanding. “I may have to hold him tightly, I need you to talk to him and get him to follow your voice back to us. Can you handle that?”
“I’ve got it,” I say nervously, my body on edge with the smashing happening behind the door. I can handle myself in a fight if I needed to, but this was Adam. He wouldn’t hurt me, not anymore at least.
Opening the door, Rhys moves inside first, talking to Adam in a calm voice, trying to grab his attention without spooking or triggering him further. Adam’s face is frantic, his eyes unfocused and manic. He hops around the room on his one good leg, his prosthetic leg nowhere to be seen. He looks at Rhys, his face turning murderous as he tries to attack him and falls, his body crushing something loud beneath him, making him scream out again.
“Adam,” I murmur gently, trying to pull his attention to me so that Rhys can secure him to stop him from hurting himself anymore than he already has. “Adam, love. Look at me. You’re not there, you’re with me and Rhys in the cabin. You are safe with us.”
Rhys nods in encouragement, standing just behind Adam but not moving. Adam looks towards me, his body still and tense as his hazel eyes look all around where I’m standing.
“Alayna,” he whispers wildly, a desperate plea in his eyes. “You can’t be here. You’re going to get hurt! They’ll kill you if they find you here.”
“Love, I’m not where you are in your memories, I’m at our house. You need to come back to me. Come back to the safety of our cabin. You just need to follow my voice,” I say as softly as possible, moving very slowly to get down on his level so I can look directly in his eyes. “Adam, come back to me, love.”
His hazel eyes are still unfocused, his hands gripping the rug beneath him. Slowly, he loosens his grip, the unsteady look in his eyes fading as I continue to talk to him, bringing him back to the present one word at a time. When he smiles tiredly at me, I know we have him completely back with us.
“You’re back.” I deflate, the anxiety finally loosening its grip on my chest, making it easier to breathe. “Thank god.”
Adam pushes his arms up, trying to move to a sitting position. He winces in pain, his arms shaking with the effort. Rhys steps in then, helping him sit up and lean against the bed beside me. Placing his head back on the bed, he closes his eyes, rubbing the sweat from his brow. Grabbing a shirt from the floor, I dab the remaining sweat on his face and arms, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
