Page 24 of Chasing Amber

It’s the best hour of my life, and I pray to all that is holy that I get to experience more hours like this in the future.

CHAPTER 9

Amber

I groan as I blink awake. My face hurts, and when I reach up to touch it, my fingers land on a bandage. The events of the day flood back into my mind, and I jerk my gaze to the side when I remember Isaac was next to me when I went to sleep.

He’s not here now, and I can’t decide if I’m glad or sorry.

I stare at the ceiling, taking deep breaths. Holy fuck. Holy fuck, fuck, fuck. I lift a hand to my hair and run it through the locks until I come up short at the band hanging on to the tips. I tug it out and take another deep breath.

What have I done? It’s like I was in someone else’s body for the entire day. Or someone else was in my body. The sun is going down, so I assume it’s evening. I would guess I’ve been asleep for a few hours. I feel heavy and groggy. My chin aches.

My bedroom door is open a few inches. The lights are on in the apartment, and the scent of chicken soup fills the air.

What do I do?

While I’m still staring at the door, Isaac eases it open. He smiles. “You’re awake,” he says softly.

“Yeah…”

“Can I come in?” he asks, still holding on to the doorknob and the frame.

I nod. There’s no need for me to be a bitch even though my head is spinning. Memories bombard me. I spent a few hours being Little with Cassandra. It was so much fun. I’m aware that when I fell, I couldn’t shake myself out of that headspace. Lord knows I tried. It’s like I was stuck.

When I looked up and saw Isaac leaning over me, I didn’t know what to do, but then he took over, Daddying me, and it was so easy to let him.

He comes to my side now and sits on the edge of the bed, notably not touching me. He does reach across and set his palm on the other side of me. “How do you feel?”

“Like I fell and cut my chin open.”

He chuckles. “At least your memory is intact.”

I nod. “It’s totally intact,” I inform him.

His expression turns serious. “You okay?”

“I don’t know.” That’s the truth.

He smiles. “That’s fair.”

“Could you just…” I don’t know what I want to say.

“Yeah…” he answers.

I think that’s a pretty good response.

“Why don’t you come to the kitchen and try to eat something?”

“It smells good.”

He rises and bends over to kiss my forehead, lingering a few seconds with his nose against my hair. “It’s going to be okay, baby. I promise. One day at a time.”

I hold my breath as he quickly leaves the room, pulling the door shut. I stare at the closed door for long seconds, processing what just happened. So much was communicated in those fewwords. The feel of his lips against my skin. The way he inhaled my scent. The way he called me baby so softly.

There was a lot unspoken, and I hope I’m reading him correctly. I don’t want him to pressure me. I need to sort out my feelings in my own time, and I believe he will give me that.

I wince as I push myself to sit up and groan as I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. What I want to do is change into some comfortable clothes and take off this bra and these tight pants. I’d like to put on a tank top and loose shorts, but that’s not something I do in front of Isaac, and I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.

---