Page 49 of Erik's Salvation
The second he touched her arm, she reacted, screaming and shooting in a life-altering fraction of a second.
Hannah’s eyes flew open, and she jackknifed into a sitting position. Sweat beaded her forehead, and her hands were clammy.
A dream. It was just a dream.
But it wasn’t really. It was the merging of two memories, each one changing her, molding her into something different. Something a little more scarred.
Footsteps sounded from outside her door before Erik flew into the room. A gun was gripped firmly in his hand, aimed, and the expression on his face…it was so dark and dangerous, she almost shrank back. He scanned the room like he was looking for a threat. When his gaze eventually landed on her, he scanned her body, probably looking for injuries even though half of her was hidden beneath the blanket.
When his gaze settled on her face again, questions darkened his eyes. “Are you okay?”
She swallowed, the wordnocrawling up her throat, clawing to break free. “Just a bad dream.”
If he was relieved, he didn’t show it, just continued to look at her with his beautiful hazel eyes, so intense her breaths almost stopped in her chest. Then, slowly, he crossed the room. The pistol made a soft thud as he placed it on the bedside table then sat on the bed beside her. She wanted to lean closer. Burrow into him and take some of his warmth and strength. Because at some point during the month she’d known him, he’d become her safety net. Maybe even her sanctuary.
“Was the dream about today?”
She wanted to lie, but for some reason she felt like she couldn’t. Not to him. “Yes, but it was also about a different day.”
His brows slashed together. “The other day must have been pretty damn shitty if it rivaled this one.”
“It was.”
One of the defining moments of her life.
Erik seemed to wait for her to give him more, but she couldn’t. She’d never told another soul about that day, about what she’d done…except one man. The only person in the world who’d known was the same man who’d saved her. But he wasn’t around anymore.
She absently brushed her fingers over the cloud charm he’d given her.
Erik’s gaze lowered to the bracelet. His frown deepened. “What does the cloud mean?”
For the first time in hours, she smiled. “Nico used to call me Cloud because I was always staring up at them. He gave me the charm on my eighteenth birthday.”
The good memory of that day started to push away the nightmare. She lifted her gaze but stopped at Erik’s bare chest, her belly doing a funny little flip. “Were you in bed?”
“No. I just got out of the shower.”
Her gaze caught on a scar on the left side of his chest. Without thinking, she lifted a hand and traced it. Immediately, the muscles beneath her finger bunched.
“How’d you get this?” she asked.
“Knife wound on a mission gone wrong.”
She swallowed. “Sounds dangerous.”
“They were all dangerous.”
Her finger trailed up his neck, finding another one. “And this one? Another mission?”
“No. That was during my cage fighting days.”
A shudder rolled down her spine at the thought of this man in a cage fight. God, it’s like he’d sought out as much danger as he could find.
She should pull her hand away, but she couldn’t. Because touching him brought her that warmth and strength she so desperately needed. “You’re fearless.”
“I have fears.”
She reached his cheek, finding another small, faint scar near his hairline. “Will you tell me one of them?”
