Page 26 of Split You Open

“Blair?”

After a beat, I manage to find the switch and the warm glow of the string lights fills the space.

I lean over Blair to find her trapped in a nightmare. The tendons in her neck are straining; her jaw is clenched tight. When she gasps again, her lips peel back just enough to let the sound out through gritted teeth. Her body is rigid and trembling. Sweat is beginning to bead on her forehead, and a tear slips free from beneath her eyelid, and trails down her cheek.

“Blair!” I grab her shoulder and shake her. “Wake up.”

Her eyes fly open with alarm, as does her mouth as she gasps for air. She lashes out but I grab her wrist before she can hurt either of us. The touch doesn’t drag her out of her nightmare’s clutches. There’s still panic in her eyes—bright and wild. Her gasping grows more ragged and intense.

“Blair, it’s me. It’s okay,” I promise vehemently. “You’re safe.”

Recognition softens the fear in her eyes and her body sags. The way the tension recedes from her body is so dramatic that she looks smaller now.

“Rhett…”

My name comes out broken and full of despair, and I can’t take it. Blair’s not one to break down, but right now she’s lost and afraid, trapped in the fringes of a nightmare that I can only assume was about her time before she came to Gnarly Pines. This woman has lived a life of torment wrapped in the pretty lie of being cared for.

Inwardly, I vow that we’ll kill whoever is sending these people after her, and once they’re gone, she’ll never suffer again.

I won’t let anything happen to Blair—not anymore. She’s mine to take care of. Just like Santi, Wes, and Led—I cut the last name off. Ledger can go fuck himself now.

“I-I’m sorry,” Blair says in a broken whisper as her eyes mist over.

If I could change how things were, I would. Anything to make her happy. But I’m just… me. I have no soft words to offer her like Wesley would. I don’t have jokes or know how to lighten the mood like Santiago. Desperate to stop the tears shining in her eyes, I do the only thing I can think of.

I lean down and kiss Blair.

The brush of my lips is light; a reassurance—not a claim. It’s a wordless decree letting Blair know that I’m here and I won’t let her face these days and nights on her own.

That’s how it starts out, anyway.

Yet the moment I press my lips against her soft, full ones, time freezes.

A conglomerate of emotions gathers in the middle of my chest, churning violently together, then erupts in a frenzied explosion. My heart quakes under the intensity and my lungs seize in surprise. It feels like every piece of the puzzle that makes up my life is clicking together.

This is it.

I’m whole.

Time starts up again.

When I pull away from Blair’s lips, it’s just a scant inch and it’s only to process how fucking desperately I need her. Most human beings need food, water, and shelter to survive. But me? I need those things plus Blair.

A hard tremor rushes through me as I realize I’ve been starving a part of myself. Now that I’ve gotten a taste of what I need, I know that I will die without more of Blair.

Before I can get a grip on my new reality, Blair props herself up on one elbow and reaches forward with her other hand. Her palm slides across my cheek in the softest caress before moving behind my head, her fingers diving into my hair.

With a gentle tug, she pulls my head toward her.

I’m surprised but not enough to deny her anything.

There’s no holding me back as I dive forward and devour the feast laid out before me. This time, when our mouths meet, I swear I can hear a clap of thunder as fate blesses this union. Gently, I suck on her bottom lip and when she gasps, my tongue snakes into her mouth.

Blair groans as I deepen the kiss.

The blood rushing through my veins sounds like the roar of a river after a storm.

I lean forward, forcing Blair back down onto the mattress. My hands find her waist but don’t linger there. They slide down until I can feel the hem of her shirt. My fingers curl around it and I tug it up. Our kiss breaks only for her shirt to be pulled over her head. Blair’s hands slide under my shirt, but rather than pull it off, her palms slide over my stomach and chest, caressing and exploring.