Текст книги "Willing Captive "

Автор книги: Belle Aurora

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

His face turns confused. “Side– side-” Lifting his hands to his head, he rubs his temples slowly as if he’s getting a headache and mutters, “I’m not sure I wanna know, but what the fuck is side-boob?”

Rolling my eyes, I respond, “So you saw the side of my boob. It’s all good. I’ve seen you’re your ass, so we’re even. C’mon.”

Walking toward the door, Nox says firmly, “I’m serious, Lily. You’re not goin’ out like that. It’s just askin’ for trouble. Put on a damn bra.”

Who knew Nox was a prude?

I shoot back, “I don’t have a damn bra! If you remember, I didn’t exactly pack for this trip!”

Visibly calming himself, he breathes deeply and replies on an exhale, “Fine. That’s fine. Then you’ll just have to wear another tee or somethin’, because I can see– see– your– uh– side-boob.”

Score one: Lily.

Smiling angelically, I take the tee from his outstretched hand. My fingers brush his and I ask sweetly, “Why didn’t you just say so then?”

My brain claps and pulls an impressed face.

Did I just flirt with Nox?

***

Another big breakfast this morning goes down well. This time, I order the tomato and cheese omelet and it’s moist and fluffy. Just heavenly. Chasing that with Nox’s pancakes once again, and a glass of OJ, I watch while he orders yet another platter of sandwiches and flirts with the sweet waitress from the day before.

Why doesn’t he flirt with me like that?

I fight the urge to pout and let him drag me along. My belly’s getting the better of me again, half way there, he has to piggyback me. He says, “Maybe I should just buy you a wheelchair.”

I can’t help but laugh and laugh right in his ear.

It seems that food, mixed with copious amounts of horny, equals drunk.

Which brings us to now. Third day in our little love shack. Minus the love.

I’m secretly looking forward to going to bed tonight, just so I can feel those arms around me again. My mood has improved three-hundred percent. Nox’s by about thirty-seven percent.

That’s a fact. Don’t question my calculations.

A little joking over breakfast has set the speed for the day, and my heart skips a beat when I see him grabbing things from around the place. He puts some bills in his pocket and says, “Don’t go anywhere. Be right back.”

But... but… what?

“Where are you going?” I don’t even try to mask my fallen face.

“Out. Be right back.”

I’m suddenly fuming. “And what, Nox? I’m just meant to play the willing captive while you’re gone?”

Confusion mars his face and he mutters, “What the f-” Shaking his head, he places a hand on his hip and utters, “Let me put this in a way you’ll understand.”

Putting on his best bimbo, he bounces on his heel and says, “Like, tryna keep you safe here!”

Biting my lip to stop myself from laughing, his eyes darken as he strides over to me, trapping me between the door and his chest. He mutters, “Maybe you want that. Maybe you like the idea of being a captive. Being helpless.” Leaning forward, the tip of his nose brushes my earlobe and he whispers, “Does that turn you on, princess?”

I’m not sure what’s happening here. My hormones have gone haywire and my brain is drooling again. I manage to whisper back, “Now you’re just being a jerk.”

His body turns rock solid before he sighs, reaches for the handle, and leaves me in our honeymoon suite.

Alone and lonely.

Chapter Ten

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Lily

Three days have passed and I’m back in the safe house slash safe mansion slash pentagon.

Not long after our close and extremely awkward encounter, Nox came back into our room and advised me to pack my shit. I told him I had no shit to pack.

He responded with, “Great. Then you’re ready to go.”

I asked, “Go where?”

Holding my eyes, he replied softly, “Home.”

And somehow, I just knew he meant my home away from home.

In saying that, nine hours later, we were back. And it’s good to be home.

Is it weird that I feel like this is home?

No. I don’t think so. Not when we arrived back and Boo ran over to me, hugging the life out of me for a solid minute, stroking my hair like long lost sisters being reunited. Not when a seriously relieved looking Rock picked me up and swung me around, telling me, “Great to have you back, babe.”

Nox spoke to them both for a moment in whispers and riddles, and I knew better to ask about what happened the day the alarms went off.

Which brings us to now.

Three days later and completely Nox free. Again.

I have a feeling he’s avoiding me. Again. But I’ve been spending most of my time with Boo, and that makes me happy.

“Oh, you bitc– Motherfu– Shitballs!”

Boo chuckles, “Oh relax. It isn’t that bad.”

I scoff, “Yeah, right, you freakin’ harlot.”

Boo laughs. I cringe and whimper, “Oh God. You’re actually enjoying this.”

When she stops, she asks, “Your sister never tried this?”

Fisting the sheets, I reply through gritted teeth, “Oh, she tried. I karate chopped her ass.”

She says, “I don’t get it.” I open my eyes to find her looking down at me, “The whole you don’t have friends thing. You’re pretty cool, Deedee.”

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I explain, “Well, Dad was always overprotective. Then it got worse. We weren’t allowed to go anywhere without him or Mom. I never really understood it.” Till now, I think.

“I mean, what’s the worst that could happen from me going to a sleepover?” I sigh, “Eventually, the little friends I had stopped asking me to come over and drifted away from me. My sister was always there for me, though. She had this way about her. I guess she still does. She’s always been popular, so no one questioned why she wasn’t coming out to parties and stuff. She’d just pass it off with ‘I’ve got a better offer’ or ‘Nah, it’s not really my thing’. Well, Terah got sick of Dad’s rules and started sneaking out and I– I didn’t. I’d stay at home with my book boyfriends and that was fine by me. Ow! Stop that!”

Plucking another stray hair, she pulls back and says, “Done.”

Standing, I walk over to the mirror and check my newly shaped eyebrows.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

I look back at her through the mirror and state, “So much pain for this? It doesn’t even look like you plucked anything.”

Lying back on the bed, she says, “Oh, it’s noticeable, alright. You’re lucky. You’ve been blessed with a great shape. You should see mine when I don’t pluck.” She lifts her head and looks at my reflection in the mirror. “Scary. I’d have a unibrow in the shape of the McDonald’s m.”

Turning around, I lean back on the dresser and ask, “Why do you even bother? You work with men, and I’m sure they don’t care that you pluck.”

She smiles slyly and bats her lashes, “Oh, but my man would.”

Eeek! Her man! Swoon.

Bouncing over to the bed wearing an annoyingly cheeky smile, I ask in a sing-song voice, “Oh, yeah? Who is he?”

Her answer shocks me so much my mouth gapes. “Rock.”

Leaning forward, I whisper-hiss, “No way!”

Chuckling, she replies, “Way, baby.”

My mouth hangs open and she laughs. I sputter, “B– b– but you guys act like you don’t even like each other.”

Nodding, she smiles sadly, “Technically, we aren’t allowed to see each other. It’s...” She actually lifts her hands and does slow quotation mark actions with her fingers, “…fraternizing. Nox knows, but he said he can’t really do anything about it unless it affects our work, which I would never let happen anyways. And what with Rock and Nox being best friends, I think Nox is actually happy to see that Rock’s got something good in this life.”

Confused by that last statement, I ask quietly, “What do you mean in this life?

Boo searches my face a while. She looks unsure before answering me quietly, “Babe, we don’t exist.”

Confused even more now, my brow furrows as I ask, “Come again?”

She lies back down with her arms resting behind her head. Looking up at the ceiling, she explains, “This thing – what we do – protection and elimination. We don’t work for anyone. We work for ourselves. I guess you could call it a made-up business. We all have titles within our sector, but the sector doesn’t actually exist. We’re all privately employed and we get paid a lot to do what we do. The condition of being employed this way is to be unseen, and our circle to be impenetrable. So everyone you’ve met here, they don’t have any form of real identification. Every document, ID card, and bank account we have is under a false name.” Turning her head to face me, she finishes with, “We don’t exist.”

Holy shit, that’s insane.

Staring right back at her, I surmise, “So everyone I’ve met here is going under a fake name?”

She nods and I ask, “What happened to who you were? You know, who you used to be?”

Smiling a sad smile, she responds quietly, “She died, babe. We all did.”

My heart squeezes as I whisper, “Well, that sucks.”

Boo turns to her side and we look at each other for a moment. We’re having a silent conversation.

My mouth droops and I frown slightly. I’m sorry, boo. That really does suck.

She shrugs slightly and winks. It’s okay. I’m okay with it.

Playing with my fingertips, I blurt out, “Constance? You chose the name Constance?”

She bursts into laughter and I do, too. We laugh together a short while before her face softens and she replies quietly, “It was my mom’s name. My way of never forgetting her. She was a Connie so it never felt right calling myself that. One day, Rock told me I was quiet as a ghost so he nicknamed me Boo, and I’ve been Boo ever since.” Suddenly sobering, she asks, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Shaking my head, I tell her, “Not unless he’s the fictional kind. It’s just me and my books.”

Her face turns thoughtful, her eyes sad. She murmurs, “Must get lonely.”

Smiling, I say just as quietly, “I could say the same for you.”

She smiles back. “Touchй.”

We both lay back down on the bed with a sigh. I guess my life isn’t so bad.

At least I’m not dead.

***

Excusing myself to get something to eat for me and Boo, I run into the kitchen and my sock-covered feet, and slide to a stop only an inch away from Nox.

His blue eyes flash. “Where you goin’ so quick, princess?”

Today is one of the rare days he doesn’t have on a shirt.

My eyes strain as I beg them to remain fixed on his face and not his broad and solid chest, which is deliciously damp with perspiration.

Yum.

“Just getting something to eat.”

Nodding, he says genuinely, “Glad your appetite’s back.”

Nodding in return, I respond sincerely, “Me, too.”

And then nothing.

Awkward silence.

A loooong awkward silence.

Moving around him to the pantry, my brain reminds me that we have something to discuss with him. Just as he moves to leave the huge kitchen, which suddenly feels about as big as a mailbox, I call out, “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask if you spoke to Mitch about me talking to my sister.”

Face void of emotion, he leans his hip on the counter. “No. Not yet.” Reaching over the counter, he picks up an apple and plays with it.

I’m a little pissed at this. He said he would try. My face turns to steel. I walk around the kitchen slamming the pantry shut, and open and close the drawers far too quickly, wanting the noise to convey my mood right now.

Nox sees right through me. “Why’re you pissed, now?”

Bombs away!

Losing my patience, I shout, “Know what would make me happy, Nox? Knowing my sister is okay! I like Boo, no, I love Boo, but she isn’t my sister, and you think I don’t know what you’re doing, and that makes you so much more of a dick! Know what would make me better than happy? Actually speaking to her and hearing for myself that she’s alive and well. Not shoving a substitute under my nose.”

A silence passes over both of us. Nox breaks it by crunching into his apple. His detachment breaks my heart.

I whisper hoarsely, “I miss her, okay? She was my only friend and– and I miss her.” I don’t dare look up at him. If I see sympathy in those deep blue eyes of his, I may just attempt to claw them out.

After a moment of getting my shit together, I shake my head to clear it and another approach comes to mind. Walking around the kitchen counter toward him, I decide to try something drastic. When I’m only a foot away from him, I jump up onto the counter and sigh deeply. Chewing his apple, he turns his bored expression over to me and I say softly, “You could be nicer to me, ya know?”

He shrugs and continues eating.

I want to throw that apple across the room.

No more playing nice. Time to turn on my wily charm. I bat my lashes at him in a most southern darling way and say a hushed, “I could be nicer to you, too.”

Have I mentioned that I’ve never flirted before? Ever?

Nox’s brow furrows and he mutters, “You got somethin’ in your eye or some shit?”

Jumping off the counter to hide my flush, I stomp out of the kitchen and shout, “Ugh!”

And I clomp off to the sound of Nox’s deep, sexy chuckle. Half way up the stairs, I remember something.

Fuck my life!

I forgot the damn food.

***

You know what I love about Boo? I love that she doesn’t take anything to heart. Thinking about my sister got me down. Really down. And I didn’t really want to spend any more time with Boo because I knew my company would be less than stellar.

When she asked me what was wrong, I told her I was tired and might just read a little then go to bed. Without a peep, she hugged me, told me it was good to have me home, and left to do her nightly duties.

So here I am, in bed, pretending to read while totally moping. My brain, preoccupied with thoughts of my family, didn’t even alert me to the fact that Nox was standing at the door watching me in silence.

When he cleared his throat, I wondered just how long he was standing there watching me watch the wall.

Looking up at him, I ask, “Everything okay?”

Nodding, he walks across the room and sits on the edge of the bed. “Yeah.”

I’m sure there’s nothing but confusion written on my face, but he doesn’t say a thing. Just pulls out the sleek, black cell phone and dials a number. Putting it to his ear, he speaks into the cell, “Ready? Yeah. Thanks.” Then hands me the phone.

Cautiously taking it from him, I slowly place it to my ear and listen. I hear people chatting, laughter, and music being played softly. A girl comes on the line giggling, she sounds confused. “H– hello?”

Holy shit! I know that voice!

“Terah?” I almost shout this.

“Lily!” She almost blows my eardrum when she squeals excitedly.

Her enthusiasm is obviously catching, because without thinking I throw myself into Nox’s lap, bouncing.

Thank you, God!

Nox expels a strained, noisy breath with every bounce as if I’m suffocating him, but I ignore it and ask my sister in a rush, “How are you? Are you safe? Do you know where you are?”

Terah chuckles, “Good to the first, yes to the second, and you know better than to ask me the third thing.”

I sigh, “I know, I know. I just thought-” Cutting myself off, I shake my head and mutter, “Doesn’t even matter anymore, I’m so damn happy to hear your voice! You have no idea!”

She teases in a baby voice, “Aww! Did you miss me?”

Without thinking, I tease back in my own baby voice, “Yeah. I miss you lots.” I say lots as wots.

Nox chuckles at our stupid conversation, but I don’t even care. In my elated state, I pull down my barriers and lean back into him. And I could almost swear that Nox inhales deeply, smelling my hair.

Right now, I don’t give a shit.

I’m so happy that if he asked, I’d take off my panties for him to sniff.

Terah spends the next few minutes filling me in on our time apart.

The person who took her from our house that day is a guy called Jonathon. And Jonathon is an absolute sweetheart. He and Terah are close. They’re good friends according to my sister. Which, in Terah speak, means she’s head over heels for the guy.

This should worry me because I don’t know this guy, but right now, I’m just so happy for her that the only advice I give her is to be careful. Terah tells me about Jonathon’s second, Takeshi, and his third, Sean. They’re also good guys. Good guys who are laid back and from what I hear, absolutely nothing like Nox. They let her pick out movies for movie nights, and they let her blast music if she’s in the mood; so basically, she feels like she’s on vacation.

Knowing Terah, an hour after she was taken, she would’ve made friends with everyone. We’re different like that. My dad’s constant paranoia has rubbed off on me.

After telling me all about her new home, she asks, “So, how’s your safe house? Are the people nice?” Suddenly serious, she adds, “They’re treating you okay, right?”

Filling her in on almost every detail, I tell her about being blindfolded and my lashing out, not trusting the people here, and about Nox being a hardass. I tell her about my foiled escape attempt, minus the hair pulling thing, and that the people here are really cool too; it just took me a while to notice. I mention that we had a small scare the other day to which she freaked out a little, but I reassure her I’m fine.

She asks quietly, “So, do you know why we’re here?”

Knowing I should tell her, I fight myself for only a second before I lie in perfect calm. “Not a clue.”

She sighs, “I miss you more than anything, Lil, but I know that dad wouldn’t do this unless there was a good reason.”

Oh, honey. You don’t know the half of it.

Agreeing with her, I mutter, “Yeah. I know. I love you, Rahrah.”

Chuckling, she whispers thickly, “Yeah, babe. Love you, more.”

Then she’s gone.

My smile melts into nothing. The void in my chest opens, sucking me into nothingness. Nox wraps an arm around my waist, holding me tight. Grounding me.

He continues to hold me while I cry through most of the night.

Chapter Eleven

Time flies when you’re having fun

One month later…

Lily

Holding the offending product in my hand, I storm down the hall muttering made up cuss words to myself. As soon as he hears me coming, he tries to shut the door on me, but I bolt and make it in the nick of time.

Nox sighs loudly before asking in that deep husky voice, “What is it, princess?”

I know he says this in a way that’s meant to be derogatory, but I don’t care. If I tell him how much I like that he calls me that, he’ll stop on principle.

And I can’t have that. The only thing that stops me from going crazy in this safe house is my daily argument with Nox.

His hair’s grown out in a way that looks so mouth-watering that I have to mentally remind myself that I mustn’t touch it whenever I’m near him. Because that would be weird, and I would then have to explain that I don’t have a hair fetish and…

Ugh, never mind.

Nox isn’t the best looking guy I’ve ever seen, so why does he have this stupid freakin’ hold on me?

You know why.

I mentally rip my hair out and shriek to high heaven.

I do know why, dammit.

He’s like a fairy-tale hero for Christ’s sakes. I know he’s ordered to protect me and all, but he does such a great job of it. He makes it look effortless. He’s all like ‘C’mon, pack your shit’ and I’m all like ‘No, I like it here’ and he’s all ‘Not safe here, princess’ and I’m all like ‘Sigh. Okay.’

That’s the basic conversation every freakin’ time.

All he has to do is princess me and I’m tripping over my own feet. I don’t know how he does it.

He’s old!

Okay, twenty-eight is not old, but he acts like a fifty year old!

Yeah, a fifty year old with ripped abs and arms that could crush a man’s skull, and those strong thighs… bet he’s hung like a hor-

Do not go there. Just– do not. You’ve been warned, brain.

Who knew a virgin could be this horny?

I know. I suck.

Raising the plastic wrapped package up past my shoulder, I clear my throat to capture his attention. He looks up at me with those icy-blue eyes and I feel like I’m going to catch a cold. The man doesn’t do happy often.

As in, never.

Okay, so that’s an over exaggeration, but I’m pissed right now. And with good reason.

He looks from me to the package and says stonily, “What now?”

Throwing the package onto the desk, I tell him, “They aren’t the right ones.”

He scowls and picks it up to get a better look at it. He reads for a moment then says, “Yes. They are.”

Unable to mask my look of disbelief, I ask sweetly, “And how would you know?”

He looks up at me, throws the package towards me and says, “That’s what it says it’s for.”

I cross my arms across my chest, lean my hip on the desk and retort, “Well, it’s not the right one. I would know. I’m the one who uses them.”

His shoulders slump and he sighs. Taking another look at me, he scowls again before picking up his handheld two-way radio and presses the button, causing a static noise to sound. Someone at the other end says, “Vito.”

Nox continues to glare at me while he speaks into the radio. “She says they aren’t the right ones.”

Vito doesn’t answer for a moment before he responds, “Come again, boss?”

Nox lowers his head, shaking it and repeats through gritted teeth, “They aren’t the right ones, Vito.”

Vito utters, “But it said on the pack-”

Nox cuts him off with, “I know! I know what it said. She says no.”

Vito sighs, “What the fuck does she need, then?”

Nox’s eyes widen at me in an expression that shouts well?

I snatch the radio out of his hands, press the button and almost shout, “Heavy flow! You know? For heavy flow, because I flow heavily during my menstruation cycle, because I’m a girl and that’s what we do.” He doesn’t respond, so pressing the button again, I add, “Bleedin’ for days here, Vito. I need comfort.”

Nox chuckles his deep sexy chuckle, and I throw the radio at him. Hard. He catches it without effort, smiling. I stomp out of his office muttering, “Freakin’ pussies.”

As I exit the room, I hear Nox buzz the radio again and ask Vito, “Got that?”

Vito responds immediately, “Every gross detail.”

I hear Nox laugh from all the way down the hall.

I won’t ever tell him how much I love that sound.

***

So a month has passed. I’m surprised by how quickly it actually went.

It was a total blur. All I really remember is training every day with Boo, Rock, or Nox.

That’s right. You heard correctly.

Nox decided he wanted to be part of my training. At the time, I thought this was a good thing, but whenever I have a Nox training day, I normally have to crawl the next day because my legs become Jell-O.

I feel fitter. I feel healthier, and I’ve even been in good spirits.

One night a few weeks ago, at dinner, I brought up the subject of me being able to speak to my family on a regular basis. And it went a little like this.

Nervously moving my food around the plate, Boo asked, “Everything okay, Dee?”

That’s the cue!

Placing my fork down, I cleared my throat and announced, “Actually, no.”

Nox and Rock stopped eating and gave me their full attention. Mind you, this was all planned beforehand. Rock and Boo knew exactly what was going on. They even had lines to remember.

Rock encouraged, “What’s the problem, Lily?”

I began, “Well, I was hoping to talk to you all about my family.”

Immediately, Nox shook his head and I added in a rush, “I’m not asking for anything huge here, Nox, just a little talk-time here and there. That sounds reasonable. Right?”

Looking to Boo and Rock, they both answered at the same time, loud and animated.

Boo nodded vigorously, “Yeah, of course!”

Rock agreed, “Sure. I mean, it’s not like you’re asking to see them or anything.”

Boo added, “It’s definitely not unreasonable.”

Rock muttered, “Not unreasonable at all.”

Then all three of us turned our pleading faces to Nox.

Looking at the three of us through narrowed eyes, he grinned when he knew he’d been had and announced, “I’ll think about it,” then left the dinner table chuckling.

The three of us huddled together, talking in a hush.

I whispered, “Okay, you know him better than I do. Was that a good chuckle or a no-way-in-hell chuckle?”

Boo said quietly, “I’m not sure. It definitely wasn’t a no, but with Nox, you never know what’s coming.”

Rock grinned, “Oh yeah, babe. You got it. I know him well enough to know he was impressed that you took initiative. He might not give you a lot, but he’ll give you something. Ya know? For your efforts.”

And wouldn’t you know it, just the next night, Nox came to my room to tell me that he’d let me talk to my parents once every two weeks, and to my sister every week.

He said the calls were to be five minutes and no longer.

Now, I don’t know much about negotiating, but I know you gotta start high.

“Half hour. Minimum.” I offered.

Nox shook his head and made a sound of disbelief. “Um. No. Five minutes.”

I tried harder, “Gimme somethin’ I can work with, Nox. Twenty minutes.”

A small smile tugged at his lips, but he said firmly, “Five minutes.”

My bravado failed slightly when my next offer sounded more like a question, “Eighteen minutes?”

His voice turned soft. “Lily.”

My heart pounded and my nose tingled, the stupid shake in my voice sounded as I asked quietly, “Fifteen minutes?”

More softness. Softer than soft. “Lily.” His voice pleading me to not push this.

Defeat evident, I dipped my chin to stop my quivering lips from showing as I whispered, “Okay. Five minutes.”

Moving closer to me, he caught my chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it. My watery eyes met his icy blues. I was momentarily stunned when I saw something akin to sympathy there.

Using his free hand, he stroked my hair once, dropped his hand to his side and explained, “I’m not an unreasonable guy, Lily. I know you think I’m a dick and that’s cool. But I need you to know, I’m not unreasonable. Not ever.”

It took me a whole thirty seconds to get what he meant.

Meaning if there was leeway to give, he would consider what I was asking. But he can’t offer me leeway when there is none.

Breaking my thoughts, he offered, “Calls made once a week. Five minutes with your parents.” Holding my chin firm, his eyes bore into mine. “Fifteen minutes with your sister.”

When I flung myself at him and buried my face into his neck, he held me tightly. My stupid tears flowing freely.

He never rushed me.

He wouldn’t drop me.

He was my shield.

He would protect me.

Against almost anything.

***

So I guess you could say that things between Nox and I have both improved and declined. In the month that passed, I managed to pry some information out of him.

Regardless of how minimal the stupid facts are, I feel victorious.

Fact.

Nox loves iced tea. It reminds him of home.

Once, I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted sugar. He responded immediately, “Sweet tea’s for pussies,” then walked away.

Fact.

Nox is fluent in three languages and passable in six others.

He won’t tell me which ones.

Fact.

When Nox was sixteen, he was caught drunk as a skunk at a strip club. The owner called his mama and she dragged him home by his ear.

Fact.

Nox hasn’t been with a woman in close to two years.

According to Boo.

Fact.

Getting Nox to reveal pieces of himself is harder than pulling a tiger’s tooth.

Fact.

Delilah Flynn prefers to sleep with a strong arm around her waist.

A few weeks ago I woke in a cold sweat with my heart pounding out of my chest. When I opened my eyes, I looked to the doorway and for once, I wished I’d seen Nox sleeping there.

Since we came back from our first motel room adventure, Nox had left me alone. And although I was glad he put his trust in me, that first night back, I missed his presence and the comfort it brought.

Since that first adventure, there have been two more.

Both included shrieking siren alerts. Both included me being thrown into the back of a creepy black van. Both included me being blindfolded. Both included finding the most obscure, small motel to stay in, hours away.

Both times, it was just me and Nox.

Both times, Nox slept pressed into my back with an arm around my waist.

You wouldn’t hear me complaining.

In fact, my rigid body would turn soft at the contact.

I missed that.

So when I woke in a cold sweat, heart racing at almost four in the morning, it was clear what I needed. A shower, you say?

Hell no.

I needed a strong arm around me.

Slipping out of bed, I threw off my soaked nightie, replaced it with a tee and tiptoed out of my room. Creeping down the hall, I reached the door at the very end, wrapped my fingers around the door knob, and twisted.

Only to feel resistance.

Damn it to heck!

Nox locked his door at night.

My gut sank.

I stood there in the hall, dressed in a baggy white tee and underwear, contemplating what to do next, when something clicked and the door opened. Nox stood there in boxers, looking tired and just woken. Without a word, I pushed my way inside, walked across the room, climbed into his bed facing away from him, and covered myself with the covers.

Laying my head down with a sigh, I waited.

And waited.

Patiently, I waited some more until I finally felt it. The bed depressed, and Nox slid in beside me.

Turning to me, his arm wrapped around my hips, and he pulled me back into his body.

Not a single word was spoken.

And that was okay.

We didn’t need ‘em.

***

That was not the last night I’d spent in Nox’s bed.

In fact, more often than not, I slept in his bed rather than my own. He’d even started to leave his bedroom door unlocked, knowing that in the wee hours of the morning, I’d be making an appearance.

Rock walked in on us sleeping one morning, and when we both lifted our heads to look up at him, he looked like he’d just found out unicorns were real.

The best part of the situation?

Nox grumbled, “You need somethin’?” Like it was no big deal.

Rock’s eyebrows lifted so fast, I thought they’d fly off his face. “Nah. Just wanted to see if you wanted to spar before work, but,” Smirking like an ass, he finished with, “I see you’re tired.”

Backing out of the room, he shut the door and Nox tucked me into his side, mumbling, “Ass.”

I wrapped my arm around his side and sighed quietly, “Mmhmmm.”

Then we slept for the better part of the morning.

It was peaceful.

It was quiet.

It was perfect.

***

Fast forward three weeks…

I vaguely hear something penetrate the depths of my deep sleep.

“Boss?”

My dream pulls me back in and just as I get to the good part, static sounds, then I hear a little more clearly, “Boss? Come in.”

Peeking through one eye, I check the clock on the nightstand.

7:47am.

Oh, for the love of God. Why are people awake at this time?

Getting more of my bearings, I roll over on the bed. I do this with ease which immediately alerts me to the fact that Nox is already awake.