Page 41 of Rock

He’d lost contact with her brother at the same time. It wasn’t like they’d had email and cell phones. He hadn’t even known where her parents had moved.

Rock had been the constant. After his internship, he’d returned to Shadowridge, taken a job in town, and never left. Yes, he’d lived. He’d met and married Kathy. He’d had two amazing kids with her and loved her to pieces. Losing her to cancer had been rough. She’d been his Little and his partner. She’d now been gone for twenty years. So long.

Rock had never remarried or even dated. He’d hooked up with women from time to time, but nothing serious. Oddly, in recent years, he’d found himself thinking about Lyla more and more. Foreshadowing?

And now she was here.

Forcing himself to close his eyes, he took deep breaths. Part of him feared he would wake up and find out this entire evening had been a dream. He wouldn’t wish harm on Lyla for any reason, of course, but the fact that she’d been attacked was the reason she was in his home.

He reached out with his hand and set it on one of the bears. He didn’t want to touch her and risk waking her, but he wanted to feel connected to her through the bear. If she moved, he would know.

And he did. Some time later, the bear was yanked out from under his palm; at the same time, a piercing scream filled the room, and the entire mattress moved.

Rock bolted upright, panic consuming him.

Lyla was next to him, sitting up, breathing heavily. For a moment, she stared at him, fear making her eyes wide.

He slowly reached out and cupped her cheek. “Nightmare?” He realized he must have been asleep a while because the sun was starting to come up.

She blew out a breath and nodded. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Baby girl.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Understandable.”

“That guy…” She shuddered.

“He’s gone now. He can’t hurt you.”

“What if he comes back? What if he still thinks I have something of his?”

“He doesn’t know where you are. I won’t let him get near you, Little Lyla.” He set his hand on her shoulder. “Lie down, Baby girl. Turn onto your other side.” He guided her back to the mattress and rolled her away from him before wrapping his arms around her and spooning her.

“Deep breaths. I’ve got you.” He stroked her hair, her arm, her hip.

She snuggled into him. “Rock…” She patted around on the mattress.

Confused, he gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m right here.”

“No… The bears.”

He chuckled. “Ah.” He lifted onto his elbow and looked around until he found the two stuffies, reached out to snag them, and tucked them in her arms. “I think you’ll need to name them something other than Rock. I’m going to get confused.”

She gasped. “You can’t give stuffies new names. Rock has been with me for years. That’s madness.”

He chuckled, loving the way it felt to laugh with her. “Good point. Maybe Rocky? Or Rock Two and Three?”

She giggled. “I don’t think that will work, either.”

Fuck, the sound of her laughter was musical. He pulled her closer, if that was even possible. If he had his way, he would never let her go. “How’s your head, Little one?”

“Mmm. It’s okay.”

“And your arms?” He stroked gently over her bicep.

“Fine. Can I ask you something?”

“Lyla, you can ask me everything.”

“Have you been in Shadowridge all these years?”

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