Saving Bennett Reid (Book 3)

Hush

(Bennett)

Against my will, my eyes flew open.

My senses were alert as an unsettled flutter flowed through me. Something wasn't right.

Blinking once, then twice to rid away the sleep, night vision kicked in a moment later. Carefully, I surveyed the dark bedroom taking in everything, paying special attention to the darkest corners. Propped on my elbows, my eyes fell to the bedroom door that was closed and no light was peeking in through the cracks underneath and at the sides. That told me that at some point between when I fell asleep and now, Carter had gotten up and taken off the lights.

But that was when I realized something.

The room was warmer than it had been earlier and there was no gentle whirring coming the air-conditioning unit. That was probably the reason I suddenly awoke, and I tried to convince myself of that. But a nagging voice at the back of mind told me it wasn't so.

My eyes flitted over to the window. It was shut and the curtains were drawn down.

Obviously, nothing was out of the ordinary. So, what the hell awoke me?

Carter was dead asleep, lying on his back. His head was tilted my way, an arm tucked beneath the pillow and the duvet pulled low over his hips.

Just once. Was it too much to ask that I have one sleep-filled night? With no dreams, and no sudden jolts of waking up?

Expelling a deep breath, I scratched at my nose in frustration knowing that the air-conditioning would probably need to be reset. The room was still cool, but not like before. And I was feeling a little too lazy to go snooping about to reset the thermostat and air-conditioning.

Shifting closer, I laid my head against Carter's chest, draping an arm across his waist. As if feeling me there even in sleep, the hand that was tucked beneath the pillow, came around to hold me against him.

A small smile graced my lips. Even unconscious, he was aware of my presence and proximity.

I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and resumed my position, curled up next to him. Waiting for sleep to return.

After a few minutes had passed by, I exhaled frustratedly, tilting my head up to glance at the bedside digital clock. The red numbers glared back at me through the darkened room.

2:53, it read.

Come on. Can't I have two more hours of sleep? Due to my injury and that I'd spent the night outside of Black Rock, I could afford to sleep a little late, and skip training. Of course, I'd still have to do my meditation.

A daily requirement. Two times per day. Or really...whenever else I felt extreme frustration and stress.

Resting my head back against Carter's chest, I resorted to lightly drawing circles on his chest with my fingers so as not to wake him. I counted how many times I did it, hoping it would tire me mentally enough to fall back asleep.

Eventually, I started yawning. A sign that sleep was steadily returning.

And yet, something was keeping me awake. No matter how many times I yawned, feeling the burning ache in my eyelids to rest, I couldn't fall asleep.

It reminded me too much of the cabin. Three sleepless nights chained to a bed. With no covers and barely any clothing to fight off the night's chills. I never knew when they'd return, and survival kept me awake.

Until the wee hours of night three approached. The biting night air nipping at my bare skin, a chill had descended upon me and I was sure, I'd freeze to death. Scuffing and hurried footstep approached from outside the cabin, the sounds of heavy footfalls climbing up the steps and pounding on the wooden floor. I remembered, my heart rate had spiked so quickly, I thought I'd go into cardiac arrest.