Buttons and Hope: Beyond Buttons #12 by Sky Penelope

Author:Sky, Penelope
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hartwick Publishing
Published: 2018-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

I was dead asleep when Mia started kicking me.

“Stop!” She threw her arms hard against me, punching me right in the stomach.

My eyes flashed open, and I prepared for danger, my mind immediately awake and prepared for battle. I spotted Mia beside me, her eyes shut. There was no one else in the room. Two seconds later, I realized she was having a nightmare. “Sweetheart.” I grabbed her wrists so she would stop punching me. Tears streamed down her face, and she whimpered in pain, the nightmare torturing her. “Wake up.” I shook her hard, trying to get her to snap out of it.

She finally stopped fighting me, her eyes snapping open and her breathing deep and irregular. She yanked her wrists away from my grasp and immediately sat up, her eyes looking around the bedroom for her assailant. She gripped her chest and felt her own heartbeat against her palm. “Oh my god…” Bathed in sweat with messy hair, it seemed like she just finished a real battle.

“Sweetheart, it’s me. It’s just the two of us.” I kept my hands to myself, giving her a second to realize her surroundings. There were tears in her eyes, and they weren’t the kind of tears I liked to see. “It’s just a dream.”

“A dream…”

“Yes.” My hand moved into her hair, and I pushed the strands back, revealing her tear-stained cheeks. “I’m here. Nothing is going to happen to you while I’m here. You’re safe.” I didn’t need to ask what her nightmare was about. There was only one person who ever tortured her. She was free from him, but her trauma would be there for a long time.

“Okay…” She wiped her tears with her fingertips and sniffled. She stayed still for a long time, slowly making sense of what just happened. She breathed deep and hard until her breathing returned to normal.

My hand rested on hers, reminding her I was there if she wanted to talk about it.

It didn’t seem like she did. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Don’t apologize.” I gently tugged on her arm and brought her back toward me.

She moved into my chest and hugged me, cuddling into my body for protection. “The nightmares started after you rescued me. I know he’s gone, but…I guess I haven’t moved on yet.”

“It’ll take a long time before that happens.”

She rested against me, and the longer I held her, the calmer she seemed to be.

I didn’t want to be like Egor. I didn’t want to torture this woman and give her nightmares. Mia was a beautiful woman who deserved more than that. “I know I said I would save you if you did something for me in return. But, Mia, you don’t have to stay. You’re free to leave whenever you want.” I wanted to keep her as long as I wanted, to tie her up and whip her on the nights I was in the mood for something darker. But I’d grown to care about this woman, and I wanted her to have what she deserved—freedom.

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