Page 144

“It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real,” I chanted, over and over again, like somehow if I said it enough it would be true.

“Baby—fuck, Sienna.” Sterling scooped me up against his chest, and his arms banded around me like steel, crushing me close. His fingers tangled in my hair, cradling my head against his shoulder as he rocked me back and forth, and his heart pounded fierce and fast beneath my ear. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re safe with me.”

I clung to him desperately, squeezing him so hard it must have been painful, as my tears soaked his shirt. The scent of him, clean and masculine and not Tom Ford, wrapped around me, chasing away the last clinging shadows of the nightmare.

He’s here. He’s real. And he’s not David.

Sterling pulled back just enough to cup my face, and he wiped away the tears streaking my cheeks with his thumbs as his gaze searched mine with that intense focus that always stripped me bare. “Tell me,” he demanded softly. “What was it? Who hurt you in that dream?”

I swallowed hard, and it felt like the words were stuck in my esophagus like shards of glass. “My…my ex,” I managed haltingly, my voice cracking on every syllable. “David. I dreamed he was here—in the room. Standing over me. Choking me. It felt so real. Like I couldn’t get away.”

Tears were still spilling down my cheeks as I buried my face in his neck again, clinging tighter. “It’s not real,” I continued to whisper.

Sterling’s arms tightened until I could barely breathe, but I didn’t care…I needed it. I needed him to hold me together when everything inside felt like it was falling apart. His hand stroked down my back soothingly, but I felt the tension in him, the way his body was ready to fight ghosts for me.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured against my hair as he brushed my temple in soft, frantic kisses. “He’s not here. You’re safe, baby. You’re mine. He won’t ever touch you again. I’ll make sure of it.”

I nodded against his skin, knowing he was right.

He wasn’t here. And there was no way for him to find me.

My sobs eased into shaky breaths as his words sank in, my body softening against his as the tightness slowly drained out of my chest. His possessiveness wrapped around me like armor, chasing the last of the chill away.

I pulled back just enough to look up at him, tears still clinging to my lashes, but something hotter burned beneath the fear…a desperate need that clawed at me, demanding to be fed.

His eyes searched mine, worry etched deep in his gorgeous face, the red scratches on his cheek a brutal reminder of how far the nightmare had pulled me under. He was so beautiful like this, though, so protective and fierce, like he’d fight the world to keep me safe.

“Sterling,” I whispered hoarsely as my hands slid up his chest to fist in his shirt. “Make love to me.”

He stilled, his breath catching as his gaze darkened, but he didn’t move to claim me like he usually would. Instead, his hand cupped my cheek gently, and he stroked away a lingering tear. “Baby…you’re shaking. You just had a nightmare. I can hold you. We don’t have to⁠—”

“No,” I cut him off insistently, shifting to straddle his lap. My thighs bracketed his hips as I pressed closer, feeling him harden beneath me despite his hesitation. I tangled my fingers in his thick hair and pulled him down until our foreheads touched. “I need you inside me. I need you to make me forget everything but you. Please.”

His jaw clenched, that possessive fire lighting his eyes even as he held himself in check, his grip on my waist betraying how hard he was fighting himself. “Sienna…I don’t want to hurt you. Not tonight. Not when you’re⁠—”

“You won’t,” I breathed, rocking against him slowly, feeling him throb through his jeans. I nipped his bottom lip desperately, my voice dropping to that husky plea I knew drove him wild. “You make me feel safe. Alive. Wanted. Fuck me until I can’t remember his face…his touch…until all I feel is you. Please, Sterling. I need this. I need you.”

His restraint shattered.

A moan tore from his throat as his hands slid to my hips, his fingers digging in with that perfect, bruising grip that made me ache for more. He flipped us carefully, lowering me onto my back like I was something precious he couldn’t bear to break. The mattress dipped under his weight as he settled over me, caging me in with his body, his forearms braced on either side of my head like he was shielding me from the world.

Sterling’s eyes searched mine, checking for any sign I needed him to stop. But…I didn’t—I needed him closer, deeper, until there was no room left for the nightmare.

“Please,” I breathed, arching up to brush my lips against his, my hands sliding under his shirt to feel the hot, hard planes of his back. “Touch me. Please. Make it all go away.”

Our lips met in a slow, devastating collision, not a crash but a surrender as he sealed his mouth over mine like he was breathing life back into me. He kissed me tenderly at first, then with a hunger that built like a wildfire, his tongue stroking against mine in long, possessive sweeps that tasted like forever, like every promise he’d ever made wrapped in heat and salt from my tears.

He kissed me as though he was memorizing every gasp, every whimper, and he could erase the nightmare with his lips alone.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against my lips as his free hand trailed down my side, his touch featherlight over my ribs and my waist. “My strong, perfect girl. Let me take care of you.”

I melted under him, and fresh tears pricked my eyes, not from fear this time…but from how gently he was handling me, how carefully he was loving me even when I was falling apart. I stared up at him desperately, memorizing his face. What if this was all I got? What if my secret ripped him away before I could keep him forever?

I couldn’t lose this. I couldn’t lose him. Not when he was the only man who’d ever made me feel whole.

His hands slid to the hem of my tank with trembling fingers as he peeled it up and over my head, exposing my skin to the cool air. Goosebumps raced across my body, but his touch immediately chased them away.

He paused when his thumb brushed the faint, silvery scar curving along my rib cage. It was old and healed…but the memory of how I got it wasn’t.