Chaos by J. M. Madden

Author:J. M. Madden [Madden, J. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780999574997
Amazon: 099957499X
Publisher: JM Madden
Published: 2018-07-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

For a several long beats of time, Angela didn’t think he would answer her. His throat worked and his eyes grew slumberous.

“I uh…” he cleared his throat. “I’ve been alone a long time. Would you be willing to just … lie down with me? Next to me? I just want to know I’m not alone for a few minutes or an hour or whatever.”

In her career she’d seen a lot of heart-breaking things, but his words touched her more deeply than anything else she’d ever heard. “Absolutely,” she told him, no hesitation in her voice.

There was no hesitation in her heart, either. This man had been turned away from by everyone in his life that he’d ever been connected to. His mother had given him up, his government, his friends, in a way. She could totally understand why he hadn’t gone to his brother yet. Even though she could see he was a vitally important person in Aiden’s life, even peripherally, that space gave him the protection he needed to not be turned away.

After a dog has been kicked so many times it learns not to be friendly.

Angela felt honored that he trusted her enough to bare himself to her that way. She was no one special, but she felt more than she should for this lost man. And she found that she didn’t pity him in any way. No, she admired his heart in asking for what he needed. So many soldiers that returned from war never asked for anything, even what they really needed, and they suffered needlessly.

Holding her hand out to him, she gave him a smile. “I warn you, though, sometimes I hog the blankets.”

Aiden stared at her hand for a long moment, his dark eyes inscrutable, as he decided whether or not to go through with what he asked for. Then, with a sigh, he took her hand, his fingers clutching her own.

Angela led him to his bed. She crawled beneath the sheet and light blanket, then held a corner open to him. Shucking his jeans to the floor, Aiden crawled onto the mattress and turned, laying upon his back. Angela mirrored his position, but her right hand reached across the space between them to clutch his hand. There was a tremor in his fingers.

The warehouse wasn’t completely dark. There were a few peripheral lights on. Just enough for her to see his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. Tension held his body rigid and she wondered what she could do for him. It didn’t seem like this was working for him.

“I’m sorry, Aiden, maybe I should go back to the couch.”

“Don’t you dare,” he whispered. “Just give me a minute to get used to this.”

Maybe it would be better if he didn’t feel her eyes upon him. Curling onto her side she backed her derrière up to his side, then rested their joined hands on her hip. His heat radiated through the thin clothing layers between them, from his shoulder against her back to his hip against her butt.

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