Page 68 of Being Bold
Bo’s nightmare of the suicide bombing four years ago played out in its usual fashion with one notable exception. When he spotted the Tango in Martyr’s Square, it wasn’t the Afghan woman he faced across the roadway. No, this bomber had Selene’s face.
Tears trailed down her cheeks as she begged, “Help me!”
The noise of the busy square faded until the single sound he heard was a ringing in his ears. Desperate to change the outcome of the dream, he charged forward only to be thrown backwards as the bomb went off and Selene disappeared.
“Nooooooo!” Bo’s yell ripped his mind from sleep as he shot upright in the hotel bed.
His heart raced with adrenaline, sweat slicked his skin, and he couldn’t catch his breath. Pain mixed with panic. His leg was on fire, but that’s not what concerned him.
Where’s Selene?
His eyes blurred. He could see nothing in the blackness of their room.
“Bo!” Selene’s hands cupped his face.
He gripped her wrists and croaked, “Turn on the light.” He needed to see her. To verify she was unharmed and prove the nightmare wasn’t real.
Light from the bathroom flooded the room, washing over the bed. He’d scooted to the edge, and when she turned on the lamp beside it, she knelt in front of him. “Are you okay?”
He couldn’t speak. He raked his gaze over her body. She was still naked. They’d ordered room service, then fallen asleep after he’d taken his time making love to her in the bed.
He’d never done that before—made love. But it was exactly what they did. It was so much more than fucking, than chasing mutual release. Not that he didn’t enjoy the hell out of making her come, but his getting off was secondary. She stirred something in him that made him want to give her everything she needed and more. How the fuck was he supposed to let her walk into danger and even worse, walk away?
As if the emotional pain connected to the physical torture from his nightmare, the burning moved into his gut and then his chest.
Unhurt.
When his mind registered that Selene was in one piece, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Holding her, his whole body shuddered with relief, and the burning subsided.
She returned his hug, her hands caressing his back in slow, soothing circles. “What was it?”
He didn’t want to think about his nightmare. Couldn’t entertain the idea that he wouldn’t be able to save her. If he did . . .
Fresh sweat broke out on his skin, and he swallowed hard.
I can’t lose her.
If anything happened to her, he didn’t think he’d come back from that. The pit in his chest would swallow him whole. Before Selene, he’d been merely existing, not even surviving. Each day had been a struggle to keep his head from sinking into the cloying pool of guilt and misery. But she’d given him a reason to live. If Dao took that away . . .
“You won’t lose me.”
Fuck, had he said that aloud? Hoping she’d let it go, he closed his eyes.
Selene reached up and tilted his face to hers. “Look at me, Bo.”
She wasn’t supposed to know how he felt because it didn’t change things. He would still walk away as soon as she was safe from Dao.
Because he was broken, his nightmare proved that.
Nugg’s death might not have been his fault, but it didn’t change the fact that he’d lived, and his friend hadn’t. Wincing at the stab of pain that truth brought him, he obeyed her, lifting his lids to gaze into her gray-green depths.
The swirl of colors was a mesmerizing blend of warmth and resolve as she said, “We’re making it through this, okay?”
She would. Even if he had to die to make it happen. He nodded. “I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
A tiny frown clouded her gaze as if she understood that he hadn’t agreed he’d survive—only her. When she opened her mouth to protest, he kissed her.
It was gentle. Meant to soothe as much as distract. Her lips against his never failed to make his heart beat faster as if heknew in touching her, he was taking a risk. Like handling a grenade. She was just as fragile and just as deadly. At least when it came to his heart, because that thing had been under siege since the moment she crashed into his cabin.
