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“I’ve got you,” Noah whispered, sliding his arms under my body. He lifted me out of the car, and I rolled into his body, letting the tears fully take over.
“Jesus,” Jamie’s voice said from somewhere.
“Get these damn things off her wrists,” Noah ordered.
His words made his chest rumble.
I pressed my face into the crook of his neck. Jamie was as gentle as anyone could be as he cut the rope, but the burns on my wrists were so painful, I couldn’t stop myself from crying out.
“The ambulance is almost here,” someone I didn’t know said.
Noah didn’t respond, and I bobbed as he carried me somewhere. I wanted to stop crying but I couldn’t—everything hurt, from my head to my toes. My head was a pain I’d never felt before, and it almost felt like I was going to throw up.
“I’m sitting down,” he whispered, slowly lowering us to the ground.
His hold on me never wavered, and he tucked me right against his body, gently wrapping his arms around me. I felt like a baby curled against him, crying and heaving out each breath, but he never faltered, not a single time.
“It’s all right,” he whispered, softly running his hand over my hair. “You’re safe. It’s over. I’ve got you, Lots.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and just held them there.
“I… I…”
“Shh. It’s okay.”
His voice was the most beautiful sound.
Soft. Warm. Soothing. Like a warm breeze and a fluffy blanket all at once, wrapping itself around me, sinking into my pores, slowly settling me into something on the calmer side of my hysteria.
And his touch…
Safe.
It was safe.
Noah was safe.
Terror lived in my veins, but I knew nothing would happen as long as he was here. Nothing could happen. He wouldn’t let it.
He was safe.
He was… home.
That one thing, that one calming point in the entire universe.
That was Noah.
“There,” he whispered, lips moving against my hair. “It’s fine. The ambulance is here.”
“No. No.”
“I’m sorry, Lots.”
Lots.
Not that one.
Anything but that name.
“No.” The word broke out of me on a sob, and I buried my face in his neck again, grabbing his shirt in my fist.
