Page 65 of Finding Forever

Messy, complicated, fucking chaotic Fern… he couldn’t leave her like this. He smoothed a hand over her brow, finding it cold and clammy.

“Hey,” he whispered, hovering, not sure what to do, but hating to see her so agitated and clearly terrified. “Hey, Fern. It’s okay. You’re okay. It’s a nightmare. Wake up now.”

Cade went rigid when he heard the wordsGranger, please no, sprinkled in among the incoherent ramblings. It infuriated him to know that she still feared Abernathy even here.

She was supposed to feel safe in his home. Protected. Protected byCade. Why the fuck was she still so afraid of Abernathy? Didn’t she trust Cade to keep her safe?

“He’s not here, you’re okay, Fern. Come on, wake up.”

She inhaled sharply, and for a second, he was certain he’d gotten through to her, but instead, her exhalation was a scream of pure terror that made his blood curdle and his hair stand on edge.

He impulsively toed off his shoes and lifted the comforter, to crawl in behind her. She was curled into a compact little ball and he wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her back against his front, conforming his own lean, hard edges along the curve of her spine and tucking his knees in behind hers until he was spooning her tightly. His primary goal now to comfort her.

“Fern,” he said, his voice a harsh command directly into her ear. “Wake up.”

She jerked, and shuddered and he felt consciousness returning as the stiffness in her small body was replaced by a different kind of tension.

“Are you okay?”

She sobbed, clearly her dream still vivid in her mind.

“He took my baby. I couldn’t stop him,” she whimpered, her agitated hands plucking at his fingers on her waist. “I couldn’t stop him. I was so scared.”

“He can’t hurt you, Fern,” he promised, his voice fierce. “He has no power over you anymore. You’re safe here. He can’t hurt you and he sure as hell isn’t getting anywhere near our baby. I’ll fucking destroy him or anyone else who tries.”

She sobbed again, but some of the tension eased from her body, as her hand went to stroking the backs of his fingers.

“You trust me to keep you safe, right?” he asked, but she was going limp as sleep reclaimed her and he recognized that she’d barely been awake in the first place.

He tightened his hold around her slender body and buried his face in her silky, fragrant hair. Her soft warmth, and gentle breathing having a somnolent, relaxing effect on him. His eyes started to drift shut as his headache eased.

It wasn’t until the last vestiges of consciousness floated from his mind like smoke, that he recalled how he’d referred to her baby asours.

Chapter

Sixteen

Fern sighed deeply as consciousness returned in luxuriously slow stages. She was so warm. And comfortable. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed or so safe.

She opened her eyes, shocked to find the room dark. Why was it dark when she felt so refreshed, like she’d had a full night’s sleep?

She blinked into the darkness, not quite able to get her bearings. The source of all that delicious heat was all around her, but seemed concentrated at her back.

She was so unused to sharing her bed with anyone that it took her a few moments to understand that there was someone laying behind her. Someone big and hard.

Cade…of courseit was Cade. There was literally no one else it could be.

Fern was so confused, not sure why he was there, why he was holding her so close. It made no sense. Not with the way things had been between them this last week.

She blinked a few times, trying to orient herself. Maybe shewas still asleep. Or dreaming. Her dreams had been disturbing lately, but none of them had been this vivid. Or this pleasant and comforting.

He was snoring slightly, just a quiet soughing sound on every second inhalation. Her imagination surely wouldn’t conjure up such a random detail?

No. There was definitely no denying the reality of her situation.

Her husband was in bed with her. His hard chest was plastered against her back, his long legs entangled with hers. He had his nose buried in her neck—she could feel his warm breath wash over her sensitive skin with every soft exhalation—and his arms wrapped around her. One had woven its way under her arm, across her torso, and between her breasts, with his hand tucked into the curve of her neck. The other arm was under her, the audacious hand of which had crept beneath her T-shirt and was spread possessively over her abdomen—his warm skin on hers making her feel a little lightheaded.

And while that was alot, it wasn’t even the most shocking thing going on right now.

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