Page 76 of Blackstone's Heart
"Well, I mean you took care of me in the bath so it's only fair I..."
Ethan turned down the bed before moving her against the pillows. "Krista, I wanted to do that for you. Plus, to be honest, I'm not sure I could keep it up, even for you."
They both laughed. He stripped off the towel, pulled hers off, clicked off the light, and then slipped under the sheets tucking her against him. Krista softly laid a kiss over his heart. "I love you Ethan."
"I love you too Krista. Let's get some sleep. It's been a long ass day and I just want to shut down for a few hours."
"Yeah, I'm with you there."
Ethan just held her as she drifted off to sleep. Despite how exhausted he was, he stayed awake. Cain and Jimmy arrived about half an hour later, followed by Wilson. He, Krista and Gage told them what happened. Wilson, Cain and Jimmy had asked question after question about the shooting. Ethan was so glad when the three men had left.
'This fucker is getting desperate. If we don't stop him soon he's going to kill either one of my guys or even...'Ethan couldn't finish the thought.
When Krista sighed and snuggled deeper into his arms he forced his brain to finally shut down. Tomorrow they would need to better prepare their plan for the book release and come up with something in case Krista's stalker made his move before then. Ethan's eyes slid closed and he followed his woman into sleep.
Chapter 21
Krista slowly came awake. Ethan's room was still dark so she looked at her phone on the nightstand beside her. It was a little after five. She was about to close her eyes again when she heard the sound again. Frowning, she clicked on the lamp and looked around the room. The house was silent, the room empty except for her and Ethan. What was that sound?
"Hendrix...move... we gotta move now."
Krista's head snapped over. The sound was coming from Ethan. In the low light she studied him. His handsome face was contorted as if he were in pain. His body tense, his head rolling side to side. It was then her sleep muddled brain realized he was dreaming.
"Ethan? Ethan baby, wake up." She said softly.
"We gotta move." He grunted, his whole body twitching now.
"Come on Ethan, you gotta wake up now." She pushed, her voice getting louder.
"Look out! No, Hendrix. No!" He cried, his arms thrashing.
"Ethan!" Krista yelled.
On a strangled cry, Ethan jerked upright, nearly knocking Krista off balance. She moved to his side, rubbing his back gently as he caught his breath. She frowned at feeling him trembling under her hand. She didn't like that. Not one fucking bit. She patiently waited as his breathing slowed back to normal.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't Ethan. It's okay."
"Dammit. I hate this."
Before Krista could say anything, Ethan threw back the sheets and climbed out of bed. He walked from the room, his shoulders drooping, as if he were Atlas carrying the world on those broad shoulders. Without hesitation, she was out of bed. She scooped up one of his t-shirts from the floor and followed him. She found Ethan in the living room standing at one of the large floor to ceiling windows that looked out over his front yard.
"I don’t know what’s triggering them."
"When did they start again Ethan?"
He sighed. "The morning your dad came to Blackout. For the last year or so they seem to be happening more and at random. It’s been three years since…"
"Since you and your guys were ambushed." She finished.
He nodded. "Three years ago..." He paused and faced her. "Yesterday."
Now she understood. Understood why he flipped out the day before when she fired at her stalker. It had to have brought back memories of the ambush that cost him the lives of four of his men. She moved to him and slipped her arms around his waist. As Ethan's arms came around her, she could still feel the tension in him. Suddenly inspiration struck.
"Ethan?"
"Yeah?"
