Page 100 of Love Me Fearless

He nuzzles my ear. “Fucking beautiful. I love that song of yours.”

I rub my ass against his erection. “I love the way you touch me. Like you’re never in a hurry.”

With a groan, he cradles my hips and gently spins me around. “Every moment with you is precious.” He kisses me, his tongue flicking against mine.

I kiss him back and reach between us to stroke him. He’s so thick and smooth andready. With the water crashing down and our bodies pressed close, his every breath and moan and tremor becomes a part of me. He grips my hand, urging me faster as his lips crash into mine. With a low groan, he comes, painting my belly. It shouldn’t turn me on, but it’s the opposite. I wrap my arms around him and sigh into his shoulder.

Every moment with you is precious.

How can he say things like that to me, knowing what’s waiting for us?

Chapter Twenty-Four

“No,”Ava groans in her sleep, snapping me awake.

“Stop, stop!” she cries, her breaths fast.

Quickly, I shift positions so I can caress her shoulder. “Ava, sweetheart,” I say in a soft voice. “It’s okay.”

She blinks her eyes open. “Hutch?” She sounds confused, and scared.

I stroke her brow with my thumb. “I’m here.”

She inhales a shaky breath. Her eyes slowly focus, like she’s still partway stuck in the dream. “I was in my apartment. The man was there. On my bed. It was awful.”

She starts to cry.

“Come here.” I pull her to my chest. Her heart taps wildly against my ribs, like she’s been sprinting. I rub between her shoulder blades down the curve of her back. “You were having a nightmare.”

“Why is this happening to me?”

I reach to my nightstand and snatch a couple of tissues then press one to each corner of her eyes. “Your nervous system is getting hijacked.”

“It makes no sense.” She takes the tissue and blots under hereyelids. “I wasn’t this scared when he was physically in the room with me. Why am I so scared now?”

“Sometimes when we aren’t able to process things in the moment, they get buried, only to surface in the future.” Whether we’re ready for them or not.

“You’d think I would understand this, given the gazillion hours I studied developmental psychology.” She goes limp against my chest. “I guess when I woke up to find him there, I was too focused on survival to panic. I remember being worried about my roommates, especially Becca, who was kind of fragile.”

“Bingo. But that panic your nervous system suppressed doesn’t magically disappear.”

“How do I make it stop?”

“For sure we need to get to the bottom of whomever is harassing you.”

“That’s why all of this is happening now,” she says with a heavy sigh. “It’s so unfair.”

“I know this isn’t easy to talk about.” I stroke her silky hair. “But sweetheart, I feel like I need to know if he hurt you.”

She releases a slow breath. “No. But he…when I woke up…”

I reach for her hand and bring her fingers to my lips to let her know that I’m here, that I’ll wait as long as she needs me to.

“…he was…straddling me.”

I wince. “Fuck, Ava.”

“His knees were against my sides. I couldn’t move.”

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