Page 33 of Chasing Amber

I nod. “Yeah, but…”

“But what, baby?”

“Please, will you stay?” It doesn’t seem fair to ask him, but I really need him with me.

“Of course, baby.” He rounds to the other side of the bed and climbs up to settle next to me over the covers like he did earlier.

I turn my head toward him. “Under the covers, Daddy.” I know I’m hovering in Little space, but I can’t help it. I’m not asking him to fuck me. I’m asking him to hold me.

He lifts his torso and tugs the covers out from under him before pulling them up over us. When he’s finished, he drops onto his side and reaches for me. He turns me so I’m facing away from him and drags me into his arms, spooning me.

No one has ever spooned me like this before. I feel ten times safer and more relaxed with his arms around me, holding me close. I’m also aware of his erection against my ass, but he doesn’t mention it.

It occurs to me that we’ve never kissed. Isaac is in my bed, holding me. Very little clothing exists between us, but we’ve never kissed. We’re way out of order. Then again, everything about our relationship is out of order. Or maybe it’s just on the slow track.

Two years we’ve been together and never crossed the lines we’ve stepped over a dozen times since last night. So many things have happened today that I’m exhausted. I don’t even know what time it is. Maybe it’s tomorrow, but I don’t think I was asleep very long before I slid into that dream.

“Do you want to tell me about the nightmare, baby?” he asks softly against my neck.

I lick my lips and whisper, “Sometimes, I dream about what happened that week.”

He strokes my hair. “When you were kidnapped?”

“Yeah. Lately, I’ve been having those dreams more often. I guess because Jacob was released.”

“Are you scared he’ll come after you, Amber?”

“No. My intelligent mind says no. I don’t think he’ll seek revenge. I don’t think he ever liked what his brother and hisfriends did to me. He went along because he didn’t have a choice. He was just a kid. I don’t know why I wake up in a cold sweat over it. It’s not logical. I have no reason to be afraid.”

I love how he drags his fingers through my hair over and over. “Nightmares are rarely logical. Your subconscious mind has every reasonable right to be nervous about the release of one of your captors, no matter how kind he might have been.”

“Yeah, Millie said the same thing.”

“Millie is smart,” he teases.

Neither of us says anything for a while, and then I murmur, “I’m not being fair to you.”

“That’s not true. What do you mean?”

“It’s not nice of me to ask you to sleep with me if I’m not intending to have sex with you.”

He cups the opposite side of my face, careful not to touch my booboo, and turns me so that he can look into my eyes. “There is no place in the world I’d rather be than nestled up to you in bed, Amber. I don’t care how long it takes for us to move our relationship into something more physical. We’ll get there when the time is right. In the meantime, if you let me, I’ll sleep with you every night for the rest of eternity.”

I purse my lips and stare at him for a long time, trying to read him. Is he bullshitting me? It doesn’t seem like it. I finally say, “Okay. I’d like that, please.” After having him next to me earlier, my bed felt empty and lonely without him.

“Sleep, baby,” he murmurs against my hair. “I’ve got you.”

CHAPTER 13

Isaac

I can’t believe I slept as well as I did. I woke up one time when my arm started tingling. It was asleep under Amber’s neck. I carefully extricated it, shook it, and fell back asleep.

Now, it’s morning. Amber is still asleep, her pretty lips parted as she breathes shallowly. I’ve been awake for a while, but I can’t bring myself to move. For one thing, I could stare at my girl for hours and not grow bored.

Even though I’ve known Amber for two years and have lived with her for half that time, I have never had the freedom to stare at her like I’m doing now. It wouldn’t have been appropriate. I’ve always kept my eye contact with Amber to the exact amount any employee would have with their boss.

This morning, the game has changed. From now on, I will stare at my girl as often and as long as I please. She might not like it, but I’m going to do it.

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