Page 61 of Delirium
Tiptoeing toward the door, I kept the light turned off. As soon as I opened the door, the light from the hallway almost blinded me, a complete contrast to the darkness inside.
But the light wasn’t what had me stopping dead in my tracks. It also wasn’t what had my heart racing in my chest, pounding rapidly, slamming against my ribcage.
“Storm?” I whisper-hissed, seeing him on the floor right in front of the door, with his arms across his chest, a frown etched on his face even in his sleep.
His eyes opened, his entire body on a high alert when he saw me standing there, jumping almost immediately.
“What… What’s wrong? Are you okay? Are the kids okay?” he blabbered, lines of exhaustion prominent around his eyes.
He hadn’t left. He stayed in front of the door, keeping me safe, when he could have gone to any other room to sleep. And even though it looked as if he was sleeping, I could recognize tired eyes even if he tried to hide it.
His hands landed on my upper arms, then on my shoulders, my neck, dragging over my sides, his eyes searching for injuries, distress, or anything wrong.
“Why are you here? I thought you were sleeping. Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can bring you something up if you want to, it’s not—”
“Storm,” I cut him off, stopping his rambling. “I’m okay,” I said, squeezing his hand. “Kids are okay, I just… I couldn’t sleep.”
He took a step backward, holding my hand, looking me over as if I had grown two heads.
“You couldn’t sleep?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “And it’s all your fault, you know?” I bristled, dropping his hand.
“Is it now?” he asked, suppressing a smile that was threatening to erupt on his face. His legs spread apart, and he crossed his arms over his chest again, silently laughing at me.
“Yeah, it is,” I murmured. “I’m pregnant, and hormonal, and happy and sad, and I worry, okay? I worry about these kids. I even worry about you!”
“You worry about me?” he asked smugly. “Why? I thought you wanted to kick my ass.”
“I do!” I bellowed. “God, I want to hit you, to slap you, to show you how furious I am with you. But I can’t. I can’t do that because I told myself I would be an adult now. I can’t just stab people because they piss me off.”
“Yet, you stabbed me.”
“I’m about to stab you again if you don’t come inside.”
He looked inside the room, seeing the unmade bed. “Why?” he asked, looking back at me. “There’s no danger in there, right? You asked for space, and I’m giving it to you.”
“Storm,” I growled.
His eyes flashed dangerously, the smug smile he wore slipping off of his face, replaced with a somber look in his eyes. He crossed the distance between us, putting him right in front of me. His finger danced over my cheek, dragging down to the column of my throat, pressing softly, before his entire hand wrapped around my throat, pulling me closer to him, pushing me to get on my tiptoes.
Warm breath washed over my lips, his nose rubbing against mine, both of our eyes closed, as if we could erase the time, the past and everything that bothered us just by standing here like this.
“Why do you need me to come inside, Sunshine?”
“I-I…” I stammered, my fucking ego blocking the words that wanted to tumble out.
Because I needed him to hold me. Because he was the person I wanted to have with me. Because I wanted him to tell me everything was going to be okay.
But I also wasn’t ready to forgive him. I wasn’t ready to let him in that easily, not after everything. I had to guard my heart better this time. If we were going to end up together, then it would be forever.
I thought I loved Kieran, but he was just a person I thought I could trust in that world. He was just the person who knew what it was like being thrown into something you hated.
But Storm… Storm was my always and forever. He was the soulmate I never wanted to find, yet I dreamed of him, hoping that I would find him one day. He was my beginning and my ending. My dawn and my twilight, and nothing made sense if I couldn’t have him with me.
But I wanted him to show me that he was in this with me. I needed him to prove to me that I wasn’t just something that he wanted to own.
“Sunshine,” he murmured, teasing me with his lips as his thumb rubbed in circles over my pulse point. “You gotta tell me what you need. I don’t want to assume.”
