Page 22 of Stirring Attraction (Second Shot 2)
Oh, Lily. His heart broke for her.
“I’m afraid to go out alone. And I’m terrified to stay in by myself,” she said, the words pouring out one after the other, faster and faster. “You want to know how I feel? Paralyzed by fear. And I hate him. Whoever he is, I hate him for doing this to me.”
I’m going to kill him. When I get my hands on the man who did this. . .
She let out a bark of laughter. “Hate and fear. That’s my life. Is it any wonder that I want to add an orgasm to the mix?”
“No, it’s not surprising. But I’m not your guy.”
She shook her head. “There’s never been anyone else. Not for me. And that scares me too.”
Reach for her. Pull her close. Kiss her.
His mind issued the commands in rapid-fire succession. His body responded to those words. And his hands moved. He set the coffee mug on the table and . . .
No, he couldn’t touch her. She was hurting and broken—and so was he.
“Sounds like Ted’s a good guy,” he mumbled as he lowered his hands to his lap.
“He is.”
Shit, those two little words reawakened the monster. Big. With green eyes. Hell, it was the stuff of her nightmares. And his too, when he thought about it long and hard. The idea of Lily with another man would leave him screaming with rage in his sleep. If he ever bothered to close his eyes long enough to dream . . .
“But he failed the ‘keep me safe from the dark’ test when he didn’t think to camp outside in his car,” she added.
“Sometimes all those fancy teaching degrees don’t translate to real-life applications.”
“No.” She cocked her head. “You’re not laughing at me. Or telling me there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“I told you. I believe you.” He reached out his left hand and clasped her right, the one still resting in her lap after holding her dress down to tease him—or just plain drive him crazy. “And, Lil, don’t ever let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t fear.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. Then he released her and pushed to his feet. “I’m going back to my post in the car.”
“Dominic—”
“Thanks for the coffee.” He lifted the mug off the table and held it up in the air as if toasting her. “I’m going to grab a refill on the way out. That way you don’t need to worry about the dark tonight. I’m going to watch over you. And after two cups of this brew, nothing will get past me. I promise.”
“YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!”
The voice echoed in her ears. The hot breath touched her neck.
Someone screamed. The high-pitched sound reverberated against the walls.
Walls?
She was outside, her body pressed up against pavement. He was on top of her. Breathing . . . touching . . . cutting . . . screaming . . .
No, she was screaming.
But someone had spoken. And she knew that voice. She’d heard it before. Somewhere. Outside of her nightmares. A room filled with desks . . .
No, that was her classroom. She was outside.
Bang. Bang. Bang!
The knocking pulled her back. She wasn’t outside. But this couldn’t be her classroom.
Her hand reached out. The surface was soft. Familiar. She opened her eyes.
