Chapter Fifteen: Nightmares
Lincoln
Thirty minutes being at the club felt like a lifetime after what Sienna and I did in the car. Gone was the cold shoulder I received earlier, and now I'm having to endure the lust in Sienna's eyes every time she looks my way.
I order a shot of whiskey as Sienna approaches my side, tapping her fingertips on top of the bar.
"Would you like a drink, Sienna?" I ask as I send her a smoldering stare.
She shakes her head. "It's probably best if I stay sober tonight."
The bartender slides the shot towards me, and I throw it back quickly, slamming it down on the bar before I wipe away the beads of sweat on my forehead. It's hot as hell in this club, the crowds of people and loud music becoming overwhelming.
"Why won't you agree to the deal?" I question. "All I'm asking is to ensure that we'll remain in business even if we wind up sleeping together."
"Because I'm not letting another man be in control," she says. "I'm not going to let someone dictate my future, not even if they're good at making me orgasm. I will have the right to terminate our contract, regardless of whether or not we sleep together, just as our law-binding contract currently states, Lincoln. There will be no changes."
I nod, slightly impressed. She truly is a businesswoman at heart, and I despise that I find myself more attracted to her than ever. To take this risk, to continue even further with her could jeopardize everything my father worked for. Is she really worth it? Our connection is so fucking strong, but I barely know her.
A man approaches the bar, smiling too excessively at Sienna. He's tall, dark, and handsome, looking almost identical to Reed's build. Exactly her type. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asks, even when I'm standing right here. I clench my jaw but say nothing. Sienna isn't mine. She's made that clear. Not that I want her to be mine. I've never had someone be mine. Why the fuck did I just think that?
She sends him a smile that could make all men drop to their knees. "I don't accept drinks from strangers," she says.
"Fair enough," he replies and extends a hand to her, "how about a dance then?"
After contemplating it for a few seconds, she finally places her hand in his before she sends me a wink and follows him out onto the dance floor. She wants me to give in, she's trying to make me jealous, but it's not going to work. I can't risk losing my father's company. I just can't. No matter how damn intoxicating the woman might be.
I order another shot of whiskey as Archer approaches my side, his face red and sweaty as Carmen is wrapped tightly under his arm. "I think we're going to head out," he says with a laugh. A laugh that lets me know exactly what's in store for him tonight. "Do you want to share a cab back?"
I give him a pointed look, not trying to rub it in his face that I have a driver on standby for me, but he seems to get the hint and claps me on the back as Carmen stares at Sienna on the dance floor. "I can't believe she's dancing with someone," she says, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion as if it's shocking to her.
"She doesn't dance?" I ask.
Carmen shakes her head. "Not since..." And then she stops herself and clears her throat. "Will you make sure she gets home okay for me?"
"Of course," I say, not wanting to cock-block Archer, "you guys go. Have a good night."
The other shot lands on the bar in front of me as Archer and Carmen disappear into the crowd, and after I slam the liquor back, I glance behind me and narrow my eyes at Sienna on the dance floor.
Her ass is pressed up against the man's front, his hands running up her thighs a little too high as she grinds on him. She's moving her hips in circles as her hands run up into the random guy's hair, and this shouldn't make my blood boil. This shouldn't make me fucking pissed, but it is.
It's not until the guy tries to move his hands up farther that Sienna attempts to move away from him. The guy continues to hold her against him, not letting her move, and the panic that sets off in Sienna's eyes is all I need to see before I'm storming across the dance floor to them.
I'm seeing red from how pale Sienna's face is. The terror in her eyes, as she tries to move out of his grasp, sets a rage off inside of me that I didn't know I had. "Get the fuck off of her," I seethe and push him backward, the security in the club already heading over to us from the gasp of the surrounding crowd. "You don't get enough pussy so you have to force yourself on someone? You fucking prick."
I would beat him into oblivion, but Sienna is shaking from head to toe, her face still pale, and tears streaming down her cheeks. She looks... traumatized. And not to say that what just happened to her wasn't scary, because it was, but this reaction is...severe. Almost like something more happened.
"Sienna." I bend my head down to catch my gaze with hers, snapping her out of whatever she was just thinking about. "Come on, let's get you out of here."
I'm not sure whether or not to touch her, but she moves against my side, so I wrap an arm around her shoulder and lead us outside. The July heat slaps us both in the face, but there's a slight wind that makes it feel like Antarctica compared to the club.
We only make it halfway down the street before Sienna spins around and wraps her arms tight around my waist, nuzzling her head into my chest to let out her sobs. "T-thank you," she cries, and my stomach balls up into a tight knot from her pain.
I hug her close, burying my head into her hair and squeezing her until I feel like she's getting the comfort she needs. Her body is shaking like a leaf, so I hug her tighter until the shaking slows up and her breathing starts to become more regular.
I'm not sure how long we've been standing here holding one another when she finally pulls away, still shaking slightly, and wipes at the remainder of her tears.
"Are you okay?" I finally ask.
"I just w-want to go home," she replies, "and I don't want to talk about it, okay? I don't want to talk about anything."
"Okay," I say and pull my phone out of my pocket, "let me call my driver for you."
Eyes frantic, she looks at me like a deer in headlights. "Can you please come with me? I-I know what we said tonight, and I know it's weird for me to ask, but Riley is away visiting her parents, and Carmen is with Archer, so I don't want to bother her, but I can't be alone right now. I can't. I...I don't have anyone else."
Her voice cracks, and it's like my heart is being ripped open from the inside out. To see this normally feisty, independent woman be so...broken is making me break, too.
"I'll come with you, Sienna," I reassure her without a second thought. Like I don't even have to think twice about it. "Fuck the contract and the deals tonight, okay? It's fine. This will just be a friend helping out a friend. Not a client."
She nods, not even mentally able to make a snide remark at that as she allows me to call my driver to pick us up. Her driver is all the way on the Upper East Side, so mine is closer.
Robert arrives in less than five minutes, giving me an odd glance when we both climb in the backseat. I have never taken a woman in this car twice with me before, and Robert, who is normally great at being expressionless, can't hide the shock from his eyes as I give him her address.
Sienna nuzzles her head in the crook of my neck as I keep my arm around her small frame, holding her to my side so tightly that I fear she might break.
"I know what you're thinking." She sniffles. "I'm supposed to be this independent woman, yet I'm begging you to come home with me."
"I don't think that."
She shrugs. "Even if you did, I'd understand. There's a lot of shit that's happened to me though that I...I can't talk about it. I get nightmares about it sometimes, and what just happened triggered everything I've tried so hard to forget."
She said all she needed to say. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but at some point in her life, someone forced themselves on her. I'm not sure how far it went, but I don't need to. She doesn't need to explain. Not at all.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you," I say lowly, "you didn't deserve that, Sienna."
"And I'm opening up to someone I hardly know." She heaves out a sigh. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry. It's fine. I think we all have things that have happened to us that make us fucked up, you know? Sometimes opening up to a stranger is easier than opening up to someone you've known forever. Less pressure. Less judgment."
She nods, and for the rest of the ride to her house, we don't speak another word to each other. She remains pressed against my side, my head resting on top of hers as I try to ignore the fuzzy feeling flowing through my body. It's never felt this good to hold someone. It's never felt this satisfying to be this close to someone without having sex.
When we get to her townhome, she inputs the code and I follow her into the elevator to head up to her bedroom. My hand hasn't stopped touching her, a reassuring gesture to make sure she's okay.
I hate that she's still shaking. I hate that some asshole scarred her for life like this. I hate that every instinct is telling me to go right back to the club and beat that idiot until he can't see anymore.
"Oh, don't mind—" She freezes when her cat crawls between my legs, nuzzling his head on my calf. I bend down and scratch his head, confused as to why Sienna's mouth is dropped open in shock.
"What?" I ask.
"Uh...Nothing..." she says, "It's just that Muggles despises everyone he meets. He hisses at everyone, even Riley and Carmen."
I shrug and continue to scratch behind the cat's ears. "You named him a terminology from Harry Potter?"
She raises a brow. "Is that a problem?"
"No," I reply with a smile, "I love Harry Potter."
I wait on her bed while she goes into her bathroom and changes into pajamas and brushes her teeth. She comes back into the room wearing a pink nightgown that barely grazes her thighs, her nipples erect underneath the fabric.
Letting out a breath, she smiles, seeming to read my mind. "I'm feeling a lot better, so if you want to leave I'm not going to make you stay. I'll be fine."
"Do you want me to stay? Would it make you feel better?"
She shrugs. "I'm indifferent. Do you want to stay?"
Standing up from her bed, I shrug my shoes off and glance around the room. "I think it'll make me feel better to stay. To make sure you're okay. I'll sleep on the couch. Can I take my jeans off, or will that make you uncomfortable?"
"It's fine," she smiles softly as she watches me remove my clothing, leaving me in just my briefs in front of her, "Lincoln?" she asks when I'm about to go into the living room. My stomach lurches from my name on her lips.
"Hm?"
"Do you think..." She sighs and clears her throat. "Do you think it'd be okay if you slept with me? In my bed?"
Oh, fuck.
I stare longingly at the king-sized bed, gulping loudly from the pressure I'm facing. I've never stayed the night with anyone. Ever. But Sienna needs me, and it's not even a thought I have to worry about for longer than three seconds before I climb underneath the covers and slide in beside her.
My arms instinctively pull her to my body, her head resting on my chest as her leg hooks with mine. She's still shaking, but her breathing seems to slow as she focuses on my heartbeat.
"I don't get how you do that," she breathes.
"Do what?"
"Make me feel so...safe," she admits again, and it takes on a whole different meaning after learning about her past. "I just haven't trusted someone like this, someone I barely know, in so long."
I kiss the top of her head without thinking. "You won't ever have to worry about being unsafe with me, Sienna. I'll make sure you're always in control, okay? With everything. Including the contract. Whatever happens between us, you will always retain the right to end this."
She rests her chin on my chest and blinks up at me with tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispers.
I kiss her forehead, then the top of her head again. "You're welcome, now get some sleep for me."
***
I wake up in the middle of the night to Sienna thrashing beside me. Her body is soaked from sweat, beads traveling down her forehead as she mutters, "no, please, no."
My heart lurches from the pleading of her voice, so I pull her thrashing body against me and coax her awake with my voice gentle and reassuring.
"Sienna," I plead, "wake up for me."
"Stop," she cries, going frantic, "stop!"
Her thrashing gets worse, and I blink away tears as I gently shake her. "Sienna," I say hoarsely, "come on, wake up. It's just a nightmare."
I rub up and down her back in gentle strokes, and finally, her eyes shoot open, gasping for breath as she looks around the room. She lurches when she sees me staring at her, but when she realizes I'm not a threat, her body goes limp, and then she rolls over and starts to dry heave over the side of the bed.
Whatever she went through, whatever the hell happened to her...
I shudder at the thought as I retrieve a trash can from the bathroom and place it on the floor for her. She doesn't throw anything up though, and after she regains control of her breaths, she collapses on her back again and wipes away the remainder of her tears.
"Come here," I soothe, "I'm here, Sienna. It's okay."
She buries herself into my body once more, crying softly into my chest until she falls asleep again.