Chapter 45

Bridget writhed, tossed, and turned. Pain. There was
pain again. A lot of it. And screaming. Screaming
that wasn’t screaming. She’d heard the noise before.


What was it?

Tires. That was it. The sound of tires screeching.
It was dreadful. She covered her ears to block the
noise, but it only got louder.

***

The noise woke Trent. An ear piercing scream.
Simultaneously, his eyes shot open and he bolted out
of the chair. What was going on? His head whipped
toward the bed. There was Amy, curled up in a fetal
position, her hands clamped vise-like over her ears,
screaming at the top of her lungs.


Immediately, he was at her side. Taking a seat on the
edge of the bed, he petted her head. “Sh. Amy, it’s
okay,” he said softly.


His words made no difference at all. She was still
screaming, and it was starting to hurt his ears. He
curled his palm around her shoulder and gave her a
gentle shake. “Amy.”


Nothing.


He tried again. “Amy.”


Amazing. She was still asleep. At least he thought
so. He took a moment to get a better look at her.
Yep. Sleeping. She must be having a nightmare. He’d
dealt with her nightmares before, though he wasn’t
sure that this one was anything like the ones she used
to have. And his gentle shushing wasn’t having the
desired effect.


There was nothing else to do. He had to get her
quieted down. He didn’t want to wake any other
tenants and get the management involved. He would
worry about what had caused the outburst later. He
took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth,
whispering assurances. Slowly, her screams died down
to a soft whimper. Her shoulders shook, and he
realized she was crying. The crying escalated into
full sobs. He continued to hold and comfort her as
best he could, until eventually the tears stopped and
with one last shudder, she exhaled heavily.


Trent heaved a sigh of his own. “Okay now?” he asked
quietly.


Amy didn’t answer. Her soft breaths, even and
regular, were warm and tantalizing on his neck. He
tipped his head to the side, and couldn’t believe what
he found.

She was asleep. Again. Or had she ever woken up
through the whole ordeal? He couldn’t say. Well, at
least it was over now.


Trent drew a deep breath. And inhaled a scent that
transported him back in time. Back to another hotel
room – one much nicer than this one. But that was
several months ago. He shook his head to clear it.
He supposed that he should get up. There was no
reason to stay next to her, as long as he ignored the
pounding of his heart. His fingers curled tighter
around her shoulders.


He really needed to get up before he changed his mind.
It probably wasn’t a good idea for him to remain
where he was. He’d have to be careful though: he
didn’t want to wake her up. He was just about to make
his first move when Amy snuggled closer to him. Ah
heck. Now it was going to be even harder. To get up,
that was. But it was still possible. And he was
still determined to do it. Until her arms twined
around his waist, and her leg hooked one of his.
Then…well, then it was nearly impossible. So he might
as well stay where he was, right?

***

Oh, that felt good. Trent’s lips curved into a smile
as he stretched and rolled over on to his back in
order to afford better access. He felt Amy’s hand
stroke him again. Damn, he couldn’t get enough of
her. He only wished that she’d move her hand under
the sheet not on top of it. That would feel even
better.


His arousal grew harder, thicker. Slowly, he realized
it wasn’t a sheet that separated her flesh from his.
It was his trousers. And how did he get his trousers
on? He could have sworn he’d taken them off after
breakfast. He sighed. Oh, well. No trouble. He
stretched again, pushing against her hand. He heard a
soft whimper and he chuckled. Tightening his arm
about her shoulder, he prepared to roll over. But as
soon as he opened his eyes, he knew something was
wrong.


They weren’t in Houston.


In fact, he didn’t really know what town they were in.
Damn! He’d been dreaming that he was back in Houston
in the hotel room with Amy. That in itself was
nothing new. He’d had that dream several times over
the last few months. But this particular episode had
seemed so real. He actually thought for a moment that
it was.


Immediately, he realized why it felt so real - because
Amy really was beside him in the bed of this cheap
motel room. And she really was stroking him.
Stifling a groan, he reached to still her hand. She
snuggled closer to him. As usual, she wasn’t making
it easy for him to keep his distance. He managed to
lasso her wrist between his thumb and forefinger and
move it firmly away from the danger zone.


“Amy.”


His voice was gravely and unsteady. Her only response
was a muffled noise and repositioning of her head on
his chest. That was when he realized that she was
still asleep. Damn. The woman could do more damage
in her sleep than ought to be allowed.


This time he shook her gently. “Amy.”


Slowly her eyes opened: two shining slits of emerald
in the dim light. She looked disoriented and glanced
quizzically at her wrist still caught in his hand.


“You were having a dream.” He swallowed. “I came
over to make sure you were all right.”


“Oh.” She continued to look up at him, straight into
his eyes as if trying to read something there. She
didn’t look afraid or confused anymore. In fact, he
wasn’t quite sure what that look on her face was. But
her “Thank you,” was breathy, husky,
indecent-thought-provoking.

He thought she leaned in toward him. Or maybe that
was he leaning down toward her. Her mouth was so
close that he could feel her warm breath on his chin.
Her lips parted. His throat went dry. And for a
fleeting moment, he allowed himself the fantasy of
kissing her again, making love with her again.


Then his grip tightened around her wrist, and he
pushed himself away. No. He couldn’t do it. Not
when he couldn’t really trust her. No matter how much
he wanted her.


=====
Kat Hillcrest

Sons of Thunder Fan Fiction Treasury
http://sot_treasury.tripod.com

Thunder Chronicles
http://www.geocities.com/thunderchronicles

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