Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“Immy! Immy, baby, you’re having a nightmare.” He grasped hold of her shoulder and gently shook her.
The last thing he wanted was to give her a fright, but he also didn’t want to leave her stuck in a nightmare.
With a gasp, she sat up, looking around. “Where am I? Who are you?”
Shit.
Sometimes this happened when she woke up suddenly. Immy was a deep sleeper. So it could take her a while to fully wake up.
He had to admit that sleepy, half-awake Immy was his favorite.
“It’s Jenner, baby. I’m here. You’re safe.”
“Jenner?” she asked in a high-pitched voice.
When she was in her half-asleep state, she often sounded and acted younger than her years.
It was like all of her defenses were eroded. So there was just Immy.
“Yes, baby.”
“Where am I? I don’t think I like it in here. I want to go home.”
Immy crawled out of bed and over into his lap. She wrapped herself around him, her legs straddling his hips and her arms tight around his neck.
“Don’t wanna stay here. Wanna go with you. It’s too dark and scary.”
He ran his hand up and down her back, hating the way she was shaking. She was scared of the dark, which is why she slept with a nightlight. He didn’t know why exactly, but he guessed they’d all been left with demons from living at the Camp. As much as they had tried to protect Immy, they hadn’t been able to shield her from everything.
At least he hoped there wasn’t something she was keeping from them.
Don’t do it.
Don’t ask.
“Immy?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Why don’t you like the dark, Twinkles?” He’d given her that nickname because her eyes always twinkled with happiness.
She tightened her hold on him even more. “Don’t like it. Just don’t.” She let out a sob.
Fuck. He was an asshole. How could he be pressing her like this when she was clearly distraught?
“Hey, hey, it’s all right. Shh. It’s okay. Jenner is here. I’m going to take care of you.” He rocked her back and forth, humming his song for her.
Even though she didn’t know it was her song.
He knew it would help her calm down.
Slowly, she relaxed against him. “Jenner.”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
She was coming back into the here and now and he couldn’t help but feel a stab of sadness. It was wrong. He didn’t want her to be afraid and distressed. But he’d miss their closeness. The way she clung to him.
How much she depended on him.
Was it wrong to like that so much? To like how much she needed him for everything. To keep her safe, to protect her.
She leaned back and looked up at him. “I’m so sorry.” Her eyes widened, distress filling them.
Fuck.
He quickly cupped her cheeks between his hands. Damn it. She was cold. How had he not noticed how cold it was? Immy had always felt the cold. Which is why they kept the inside temperature at seventy-eight degrees. The rest of them were always hot. But he didn’t care.
Immy came first.
Always.
He had to get her calmed down and under the covers.
“Hey, listen to me. Listen,” he urged. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“What did I do? Did I wake you up? Oh no, I did, didn’t I? Was I having a nightmare?”
“You didn’t wake me up. I came in to check on you when I noticed you were having a nightmare. If anyone needs to apologize, it’s me for coming into your bedroom when you were asleep.”
“Oh, I didn’t wake you?”
“No, baby. No. I just wanted to check on you as you were so quiet at dinner tonight. That’s all.”
“Did I climb onto your lap?”
“Yes, but that’s okay.”
More than okay. Don’t ever leave.
Urgh, he was fucked.
“It’s not really. You need your sleep.” She tried to get off his lap, but he held her still.
“Immy, you’d tell me if there was something wrong, right?”
She smiled at him. “Of course I would. I don’t even know what the nightmare was about. But really, everything is fine.”
Right.
That was why she couldn’t look him in the eyes as she said that. And she was fiddling, like she needed to pee.
Which was Immy’s tell for when she was lying.
“You’re lying to me,” he said. “And I don’t like it.”
She sighed. “I’m all right. Really. I just needed to get away from here for a while this afternoon. So I went for a drink. It’s really no big deal. Isaiah met me there and we came home. There’s nothing to tell.”
“All right.” He still wasn’t sure that was everything, but he couldn’t force her to talk. Much as he wanted to. “We better get you back into bed.”
With a nod, she climbed off him and into bed and he drew the covers around her.
“You might need to switch from silk pajamas to warmer ones,” he told her.
She was wearing pale pink and white polka dot silk pajamas. Ones that he’d also bought her for her birthday. He liked her wearing things he’d purchased for her. It must be some sort of caveman instinct or something.