Page 38 of Unforgivable

Ezra

She comes awake with a scream on her lips.

"Love, calm down, beautiful." I cut through the bullshit and slept right next to her last night. If we're pushing this relationship forward, then I get to sleep curled up with my female.

Thankfully, my words seem to cut right through the fog of fear Lyri is trapped in.

"Ez!" She gasps out my name in between shallow, terror-filled breaths.

"It's OK, love. Just a nightmare. It's alright. I'm here with you. You're safe." She collapses onto my chest, letting me wrap my arms more securely around her.

"You OK?" I ask softly. I can't make out much of her eyes as I stare at her in the dark. It's a new moon tonight. The sky is cloudy, so the room is inky black in the corners, with only a small sliver of light coming in from the hallway nightlight.

"Yeah," comes the soft reply in a raspy voice. Tiny tremors still wrack her body.

"Here, love," I hand her a glass of water. She takes a few sips before giving it back to me. I set the glass back down on the side table and gather her a little closer to my chest. "Can you tell me about it? Was it... was it from earlier?" I ask. Fuck us all if we triggered her fear. We thought... it's been over two months, but how do you put a time stamp on that sort of trauma?

"No, not exactly." She sounds firm, sure of herself. It makes me relax a little. She doesn't seem angry or hurt with us. "Well, sort of. It started off good. You and Thjis were... with me. Then..." her voice trails off.

"Then, what, love?" I encourage her. My wolf wraps around her, pushing me to protect his female with his teeth and claws.

"Um... we were caught."

"Caught?"

"Having sex," she says quietly. Her words catch a little, breaking up. She's terrified. I slowly blow out my breath, unsure of what to say. She's upset about having sex with us. Fuck me.

Lyri fills in the silence, "a wolf caught us, and I was in trouble again. I... nothing happened in the dream after that. I just remember thinking that I was in so much trouble."

"You're not in trouble, love."

"I know," she whispers. Her trembling is back with a vengeance, head to toe.

I desperately seek out something to say, anything, to keep her from falling into her nightmares. Old habits die hard, and my inappropriate humor comes bubbling up.

"So, in this dream, how was I? Was my dick huge? I hope so. I wouldn't want to have a small-"

A delicate hand comes over my mouth, stopping my words. "Stop!" Lyri laughs. "You're an idiot. I don't know how big your dick is!"

She laughs louder when she realizes what she just said. Behind her hand, my shoulders are shaking. I gently remove her hand so that I can keep her precious laughter going.

"Well, big. Just so you know. It's a very respectable size."

"Respectable? Sounds like you're not too sure," she teases me.

I pat myself over my shorts. "No, no, he's big."

"OK, Sunshine. Whatever you say."

Happiness blooms. I nuzzle her head, a spark of excitement zipping through me. She called me Sunshine. It's not even a good endearment. What male wants to be called Sunshine? I'll take it.

I can feel her uncertainty, her withdrawal, as her laughter comes to a stop.

I won't let her just forget me. "You're OK, love? You're sure?"

"I'm fine," she reassures me in a sad voice.

I snuggle her closer. "Back to sleep, then. I can only shine in the morning."

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