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He put his hand over her mouth, stilling her words.
Oh, thank God. Because she really needed to shut up.
“Breathe,” he told her in a low, steady voice. “In. Out. That’s it.” He dropped his hand. “I’m not mad. Just surprised. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt . . . well, since I had much to smile and laugh about. That’s all down to you, Pequeña.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “You’ve helped me so much, I’m glad I could make you smile.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Time for you to go potty, then get into bed.”
“Potty! I’m not a baby, Papi.”
“Of course not. If you were a baby, you’d be in diapers.”
Oh, dear Lord.
32
Guns fired.
She screamed in fear.
Her breathing came in hard pants as the car spun.
Her seat belt. Why wasn’t she wearing her seat belt?
“Cat, you have to help!” someone yelled.
What? Help?
Alejandro placed a gun in her hands. “Fire back!”
She couldn’t. She couldn’t do it. She hated guns.
“I can’t! I can’t!
“You have to! Or you’ll die!”
She took a sobbing breath, then she took hold of the gun. But as she did, it went off in her hands. She screamed as she saw Alejandro slump back.
Dead.
He was dead.
The car started shaking. Why was it shaking?
“Cat! Cat! Wake up, right now!”
Something shook her, and she opened her eyes with a gasp.
Not something. Someone.
Alejandro.
He’d gone to sleep with her. He’d wrapped himself around her and sang her an old song that his mama used to sing to him. To her shock, she’d gone straight off to sleep.
She’d thought that between having Roger and Snuggly on one side of her and Alejandro on the other, that she might escape any nightmares.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that way.
She heaved for breath, staring up at him. He sat up and drew her onto his lap, holding her tight.
“Fucking hell. You scared the fuck out of me.”
“I’m sorry.” She was trembling. She felt off. As if the room was moving and she was staying still. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths. “Nightmare.”
Why would she have a nightmare that she’d shot Alejandro? She guessed it was just all jumbled from what happened today. She’d been scared that he was going to get shot.
“I guessed that. I couldn’t wake you, you just kept crying out, screaming.”
“I have trouble sleeping, but when I do I can be a deep sleeper when I feel . . .” Safe. “Sometimes, when I have a nightmare, I get stuck in it. I’m hard to wake up at the best of times.”
“Fuck. I don’t like that. We need to stop you from having nightmares.”
She gave a dry bark of laughter. “Couldn’t agree more. When you find the cure, let me know.”
He kissed her head. “What do you need? A shower? A drink?”
“Just . . . just you to hold me. Is that okay?”
“Fuck. Yes.” He lay on his back and moved her over him.
“I never pegged you for a cuddler.”
“Never been much of one. Do you not like them?” he asked in a deep voice, running his hand up and down her back.
“Oh no, I like them. A lot.” There was something off, though. She couldn’t settle. It felt like the shirt she was wearing was stifling her.
“Can I . . . would you mind if I . . .” She tugged at her shirt impatiently. Off. She needed it off.
“You want it off?” he asked calmly.
“Yes. It’s strangling me.” It wasn’t, really. It was all in her mind. But she just couldn’t help the way she felt.
“Shh. Here you are.” He rolled her over so she was lying on her back with him kneeling next to her. Then he gently pushed her trembling fingers away and undid the buttons. His fingers brushed against her nipples as he took the shirt off.
She didn’t know if he did it on purpose or not, but she let out a small whimper of pleasure.
Now that she was naked with him staring down at her, she knew what she needed to get back to sleep.
“Can I suck your cock? Please?”
Fucking hell.
He stared down at her in surprise.
That wasn’t what he’d been expecting her to say. Actually, he’d been about to offer to eat her pussy. To see if that would help her relax back into sleep, to forget the nightmares.
“I said it wasn’t tit for tat.”
“No, that’s not . . . that’s not it. I just . . . I want to. Please? I mean, unless you don’t want me to.” She curled in on herself, trying to make herself small.
He didn’t like that.
He was starting to see that for all her bravado, his girl had some deep insecurities. She worried about things. About his reaction to things she said or did. He wondered what she was like when she felt fully secure, when she felt invincible.
