Page 48 of Possessive Alpha

I shake my head.

Relief softens his harsh expression, and he sighs again, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You shouldn’t come in here when I’m having nightmares, Martha. It’s not safe.”

His voice is quiet. The house is the same way, and it feels like we’re the only people in the world. It’s a strangely perfect feeling.

Those just keep on happening around Ty. I wish they wouldn’t, but I keep hoping for another one every day.

“Because you have nightmares bad enough that you hurt people in them?”

His fingers brush the baby hairs from my face, and I hate to think how crazy I must look. All I thought to do was roll out of bed and make sure Ty was okay. At no point did I think to check in with a mirror.

“I could.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” I have never been more certain of anything in my life. “I’m always safe with you.”

And I realize why I would be so sure and how I could be.

Mate.

His eyes soften and his thumb sweeps over my bottom lip. “You don’t know what it does to me to hear you say that, sweetheart.”

I think I know.

“Are you okay now?” I ask quietly, knowing I should go back to my bed if he is.

“No,” he says blankly.

“No?”

“You see, I have a beautiful woman in my bed.” His head lowers and his lips touch mine. “A woman who is my mate, and I think I need to make love to her.”

He moves to kiss me again.

I grip his wrist and hold on. “Stop.”

He does. Immediately. “Martha?”

“I should go back to my room.”

“Because?”

“It’s the middle of the night and I need to sleep,” I say as if it isn’t obvious. But mostly, to remind myself that I can’t stay in this bed with Ty and expect nothing to happen in it. Especially after the way we christened his door.

I’ve not nearly had my fill of Ty. With the way he’s studying me, I don’t think he’s had his fill of me either.

“You spend a lot of time running from me, mate.” His expression is impossible to read. “And I’m not sure I know why when you want me as much as I want you.”

I stare up at him, aware he’s waiting for an explanation. That he deserves one, and I don’t know how to tell him, or even what to tell him.

He lowers his head and gives my forehead a lingering kiss. “Next time you think I’m having a nightmare, do something for me.”

“What?” I frown.

“Stay away. I don’t know what I’m doing in them, and I never want to hurt you.”

I’m still absorbing his warning when he releases me and turns to lie on his back. He doesn’t speak for several seconds. “I had a nightmare, and you came in here to wake me. Why?”

“You were in pain and I couldn’t leave you in it.”

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