Page 73 of Ballistic

I finished my cigarette, tossed it into the designated cup we’d set out, and headed back inside.

While Nicoleta lay asleep, I shed my pants and crawled into bed next to her. Small tremors still wracked her body, but less than before. Without disturbing her, I positioned myself along her back, slinked my arm around her body, and closed my eyes.

Couldn’t tell if I’d actually fallen into sleep, or not, when a scream echoed inside my head. Eyes flipped open, I lay disoriented for a moment, double-blinking against the surrounding darkness, until the dull white ceiling came into view. Whimpers drew my attention toward the foot of the bed, and I sat up, finding Nicoleta curled up in the corner of the room, her pale, naked body glowing in the darkness. With her knees bent into her chest, she looked like a frightened animal. No doubt, another nightmare in play.

Slowly, so as not to startle her, I slid over the edge of the bed and crept toward her, noticing her eyes screwed shut and her hands covering her ears.

“Nic? What’s going on?”

“Shhhh.” She removed her hands from her ears and scanned the room. “They’ll hear you,” she whispered, leaning forward as though looking for someone.

Made my skin crawl every time she had an episode.

“Who?”

While frantically shaking her head, she whispered something I couldn’t make out. For about thirty seconds, that went on, until I got down on all fours and reached out to touch her hand.

She stilled.

Her eyes popped open. Her body no longer trembling, and she frowned, lowering her hands. “Dax?”

“You had a nightmare?”

“I don’t … I don’t remember anything. I got up to use the bathroom, and … I don’t know what happened.”

I kept contact with her skin, rubbing my thumb across her forearm. “Think you might’ve blacked out?”

“If I did, it’s never happened before.”

Sitting back onto my heel, I hiked up a knee and rested my elbow on it. “You said, they’ll hear you. Who were you talking about?”

A frown flickered across her face, and she rubbed her forehead. “I have no idea.” She pushed to her feet and ran her hand through her hair. “I’m fine now. Whatever it was.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Light tiptoes took her back to the bed, where she scrambled beneath the covers, her face still smacked with confusion.

Unsure if she wanted physical contact right then, I opted for the chair by the window, where I could watch her.

The second I plopped down on the seat, she sat up on the bed. “Will you … will you lay with me?”

The question sounded foreign coming from her, and as if I’d taken a hard fist to the brain, I sat dumbfounded for a moment, staring back at her with no response.

“Please?”

Sliding into the bed beside her, I maintained my distance, letting her decide what she wanted from me.

She turned into my chest, tucking herself close to my body, just like a kitten, and as soon as she’d settled, I smothered her inside my arms.

Up until that point, our affections toward each other had been an awkward dance of upholding boundaries, but for the first time, it felt easy. Felt like she was truly mine and no one else’s.

She ran her fingers over the hairs on my chest, her light touch stoking up urges I didn’t need to act on right then, as my mind searched for distraction.

“So, what do you know about the second guy?”

“His name is Kenny Robicheaux. A real weasel of a guy. He’s on Tesarik’s payroll.”

“Doing what?”