Page 52 of Bound by Vengeance
The more I try to untangle myself, the deeper I seem to pull myself in.
C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E N
Screaming tears from Austyn’s room in a murderous cry. I jump up from the couch, gun in hand, and charge down the hallway.
Her door is locked, so I kick it open. The wood goes flying, smashing into the wall behind it just as Austyn pops up from bed, fear and worry on every bit of her face. Her breathing is hard and ragged. Sweat glistens off her, making her hair stick to her body.
Glancing around the room, I find everything is secure.
I rush to her, sitting on the bed. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes are glazed over. She’s here, but she’s not.
“Austyn!” Her name said loudly snaps her into the present, the fog evaporating. She looks at me panicked, but it’s not from me; it’s from her dream. It has ahold of her still.
I pull her stiff body into my arms, wrapping her in my warmth. She doesn’t do anything except breathe, her body stiff. She’s remembering, and I hate that I can’t wipe those memories away and take on her pain.
Rubbing her arms up and down, she begins to get her breathing regulated. I maneuver us so my back is to the headboard and her body is against my bare chest.
“You’re alright, beautiful. I got you.”
She nods absently.
We sit there for a while, me rubbing her back in even strokes and her coming out of wherever her mind had taken her. Not wherever. I know where it took her. I hate that I can’t go inside her head and erase those memories for her.
Her head comes up and she sits up on the bed next to me, her head in her hands. “Sorry,” she whispers.
“I’ve slept in this bed numerous times, and you didn’t have any nightmares.”
Her vacant eyes rip my soul in half, but her words gut me deeper than a blade ever could. “That’s because you were with me.”
That’s enough of this.
I lie fully down on the bed and pull her to my chest. She doesn’t fight, just relaxes against me.
“Sleep, beautiful. I got you.”
She finds sleep, but I have a difficult time.
Damn woman is driving me crazy. I’ve given her two days. That’s all she’s getting. I’m not sleeping on the fucking couch one more night. Being patient and gentle is only getting me so far. She needs to get over this hump she’s trying desperately to put between us. Tonight is the last straw. No more sleeping alone for her.
The wall she’s wanted to put in place isn’t working. As much as Austyn wants it to, it’s not. When she doesn’t think, she leans into me or touches me like it’s the most familiar thing she’s ever done in her life. Those are the times, the unguarded, that tell me how she really feels. Those are the ones I’m listening to now.
She can fight it all she wants, but she’s not going to win this battle. Her brain just needs to catch up with her body and heart so we can be on the same page.
THIS IS A LONG SHOT, but I’ve been to the gym with Austyn and seen she can kick some serious ass, so this should be a walk in the park for her.
“Come on; put some tennis shoes on and let’s go.”
She looks up from the magazine she’s been staring at aimlessly. “Where are we going?”
“Surprise. Let’s go.”
Her hand goes to her hip in that sexy stance that she thinks intimidates me. “I don’t like surprises.” This is so untrue. The past three years for her birthday, her mother has given her little things from out of left field that she never would’ve thought of.
One was a locket that used to be Ma’s, then Princess’, and now Austyn has it. She loved it so much she cried.
“Bullshit.”
