Page 66 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“Are you sure?”

He glanced over my shoulder to Asher. “Yeah, you take care of Gimpy. I’ve got this one.”

I had been hoping for a reprieve from Asher’s presence for a little longer, but couldn’t avoid him forever. I walked back over to him, but he was already standing.

“Are you ready for bed?” he asked, yawning wide.

I wasn’t ready at all for bed. I hated that room, the idea that I would have to go to sleep at all freaked me out. Every time I closed my eyes, I was terrified I would wake up back in the cell or in that room. But it wasn’t like I could stay down here forever.

“Sure,” I said, trying to hide my panic. I was actually exhausted from the day, from all the worrying about every last thing running through my head. I knew I’d fall asleep quickly if Asher was beside me. The question of how long I would stay asleep was another question.

To my surprise, he took my hand in his and led me through the house, nodding to Lock as we passed. “We’re in for the night.”

“I’ll lock up.”

I hid my eyes from Lock and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. My slow steps were hidden by Asher’s limp. But with every step we took up the stairs, panic engulfed me. I knew I was squeezing Asher’s hand too hard. But the blood rushing in my ears as we approached the room made it impossible to focus on anything other than the very thing that terrified me.

We stepped into the bedroom I woke up in this morning and I froze. It was easier to reconcile myself with where I was in the daylight, but now, everything was cloaked in darkness. My heart hammered in my chest and if it weren’t for Asher stepping in front of me, holding my face between his hands, I might have passed out. But his touch helped me focus on the goal, which was simply to get ready for bed.

I quickly grabbed my pajamas and rushed into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I slid down to the floor, letting the cool tiles take the heat from my body.

“You can do this,” I reminded myself. “You’re just going to sleep. You’re safe where you are,” I whispered. I buried my head in my hands and took deep breaths. I wasn’t in that cell or in that motel room. I was in this beautiful house, surrounded by men that vowed to keep me safe. No one could get to me here.

A knock on the door jolted me out of my pep talk. I quickly stood and wiped my sweaty palms on my clothes, trying to look as normal as possible. “Just a minute,” I called out, but my voice cracked, betraying what I hoped would be my cool demeanor.

“Are you okay in there?”

“Just getting ready for bed,” I called out.

I couldn’t stay in here any longer. I needed to just get this over with. I changed and washed my face, taking an extra long time to splash cold water on my face. Then I finished up and finally opened the door. Asher was sitting on the bed waiting for me, dressed only in his boxers. Compared to him, I looked like a monk. I scurried around the bed and slipped under the covers while he went into the bathroom.

I stared at the ceiling, refusing the look around the room as I laid there. When he came out, he flipped off the light and I instantly stiffened.

“Can you turn on the light?” I asked, my voice cracking and painfully terrified.

“What?”

“The lights! Turn them on!” I shouted, sitting up in bed and pushing back against the headboard. The lights flashed on in an instant and Asher watched me carefully as I sat there, holding myself and nearly rocking from fear. He slowly crawled onto the bed and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me down against him. I clung to him like my life depended on it, because right now, it really felt like it did. I couldn’t seem to get close enough to him, though. I wrapped my legs over his, and found comfort when he placed his leg over mine, sandwiching mine in-between his. And that’s how we laid as the minutes ticked on in what felt like the longest night of my life.

25

ASHER

I didn’t sleep a wink as I held her in my arms. I was terrified to close my eyes, that she would wake up screaming and I wouldn’t be there to immediately comfort her. She finally fell asleep sometime in the early morning hours, but by then, my body had decided it really didn’t need any sleep today. So, instead, I laid in bed stroking my hand up and down her back.

I could feel the raised scars through her shirt, and it was only in moments like this when she wasn’t aware of what I was doing that I could truly feel what torture she’d already been through. Chase was right. We needed to have a discussion about what happened, but also about her past.

It wasn’t long after she fell asleep that I felt the first whimper leave her lips. At first, I thought maybe she was just squirming in her sleep, but then her fist curled up against my body and she nearly hit me in the face. I grabbed her wrist and whispered to her that it was okay, but that only made it worse. She started thrashing around, kicking at me and punching with everything she had. Her foot landed right against the wound in my thigh and had me seeing stars.

I had to take control of the situation. I rolled over her and pinned her body to the mattress. Wrong move. She started crying out for help. Her wrists jerked in my grip until she was practically screaming in her sleep. Nothing was helping.

Against my better judgment, I got off her and left her alone. Her body writhed helplessly on the bed as she cried out, getting louder and louder with every scream.

“Jade!” I shouted, trying to break through her dream. At first, I thought she heard me, but it just continued to get louder. The door opened and Lock stormed into the room, his gun raised as he looked for the threat. Patrick was right behind him, his eyes scanning the room. But they both lowered their weapons when they saw it was just Jade.

“I’ll get a sedative.”

“No!” I snapped, “not yet.”

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