AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, baby?”
She didn’t say anything more as she continued to sleep. I was in her dreams. Fuck, that made me happy. Closing my eyes, I inhaled her sweet scent.
When I opened my eyes again, it was dark outside, but I could see Aspen’s gaze on me.
“Hey,” I said, realizing I’d fallen asleep. “How are you feeling?”
She winced slightly as she shifted closer to me. “I think I need some Tylenol.”
Shit. How long had she been lying here, awake and in pain? I got up quickly and went to get her glass of water and the meds on the dresser.
“Are you hungry?” I asked her.
“A little.”
“What do you want? I’ll go get it.”
I took the water over to her as she sat up.
“I can go down to the kitchen and fix something.”
I shook my head. “No. I need you to stay in my room.”
“You need me to?”
“Yeah. That shit today was too much. Keeping you in my room is a requirement for my sanity.”
She laughed, and the sound of it made me smile. Damn, I loved her laugh.
“You think that’s funny?”
She nodded.
“My possessiveness is amusing, huh?”
She took the water and pills from me.
“A little,” she admitted, then swallowed the meds.
“I guess I should be glad you find it funny and that it doesn’t scare you.”
“Why would that scare me?”
I leaned over and took the water from her. “If you knew the fucked up shit going on in my head right now, you’d understand.”
She dropped her gaze. “I don’t … I’m not sure how to feel about you. About who you are. What I saw today, it was terrifying. But here, with me, you’re a different person.”
I’d expected this. Sitting on the bed, I put my finger under her chin and made her lift her head to look at me. Those fucking green eyes of hers were so easy to read. She wore her emotions right there. No hidden truths. Nothing.
“What I do and who I am with you are two different things. They always will be. I’m sorry you had to see it, and I want to swear to you that you’ll never see it again. But I can’t. If your life is in danger, then I will react. You’re … you’re my world now, Aspen. No one is going to hurt you or take you from me. I’ll always protect you. The man you saw today was what I become when I have to. It’s not all the time. This is my life. It’s who I was raised to be. My family has been a part of this for a hundred years. We’re a family. You’re a part of that family now.”
She blinked, but said nothing. I knew this was a lot for her to take in. Her world had been so sheltered before me. I needed her to tell me she could accept me. This. She had to. My sanity depended on it.
“It’s a lot,” she whispered.
“I know.”
My chest was so fucking tight as I watched her, waiting on some kind of reassurance that she could handle this. That she still wanted to be here with me. That she could … fuck. I wanted her to love me. Realization that I needed that slammed into me so hard that I shot up and shoved my fingers in my hair as I walked across the room.
