Pearl (GEM Book 2) by Freya Barker

Author:Freya Barker [Barker, Freya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-24T18:30:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

Lee

I grind my teeth.

For the past hour or so, I’ve been listening to her restlessly moving about in bed. Finally, ten minutes ago it got quiet, but not long after that the moaning started.

I’m starting to regret my decision to give her space after her profound reaction to seeing the close-up picture I took of the chains. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me it might trigger that kind of response. She looked shaken, physically ill, and the way she recoiled from my touch clued me in she might be reliving an experience of her own.

So I’ve been battling my instincts to wrap her in my arms and hold her close, thinking she probably wouldn’t welcome my touch right now. But it’s been torture.

The moaning turns into mumbling, and then the thrashing starts.

I whip my sleeping bag open and sit up, dropping my head in my hands.

The keening builds slowly, the sound cutting me to the bone. I can’t fucking sit here and listen to this.

I get to my feet and, in two steps, bridge the distance to the bed.

“Janey,” I try on a whisper first, but she wouldn’t be able to hear me over the sound of her own voice.

So, I try again, this time louder.

“Janey!”

I narrowly avoid getting kicked in the junk by grabbing her ankle when one of her feet shoots out. Her movements still instantly.

“Hey, Janey, it’s me. You’re dreaming.”

Abruptly, her head lifts up from the pillow, her wet eyes wild as she looks straight at me.

“Lee?” Her voice is raspy.

“Yeah, just me.”

She blows out a sharp breath as she sits up and rubs her face with her hands. Then she’s suddenly on the move.

“Excuse me,” she mumbles as she tries to get out of bed.

I take a step back, only to have her dart past me into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Standing here for a few moments, I realize it’s a little creepy, hovering outside the thin door and listening to her go to the bathroom. I return to the couch, lie back down, and wait.

The door opens a few minutes later and I hear the squeak of the bed when she climbs back in. Shortly after the rustling of her sleeping bag starts up again.

It only lasts for a few minutes when it suddenly goes quiet, and I’m starting to wonder if she’s fallen asleep again. I roll on my side, pull my sleeping bag up under my chin, and close my eyes.

“Lee?”

Her voice is no more than a faint whisper, but it may as well have been a foghorn, I shoot upright so fast.

“Right here.”

“Are you tired?” she asks.

Exhausted, but I’m not about to tell her that. It doesn’t sound like she’s ready to try sleep again.

“Not really.”

“Why? Is the couch not comfortable?”

I sit up and look in her direction. I can see the outline of her head and shoulders framed against the soft moon filtering through the curtains behind her.

“Janey?”

“Yeah?”

“Ask the question, Tiger.”

She takes her time responding and it takes every ounce of patience I possess not to fill in the blanks for her, but I need to hear her ask it.

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