Wake Me Up (Love Knows No Boundaries) (15 page)

Even though I feel absolutly horrid, his words settles deep inside of me, warming the darkest parts of me.

~*~

I
stay exactly the way he puts me down on the bed. I don’t move. If I move I’m going to be sick.

“Can I get you somethin’
?” he asks.

“C
ould you close the curtains, please. I feel like a bat.” I’ve resorted to mumbling into the pillow.

“You don
’t look good. Please will you let me take you to a doctor?” It’s the second time he’s asking.

“No, it will pass.
” I have to stop talking. I’m going to start drooling on the pillow if I don’t keep my mouth closed. “It’s just withdrawal symptoms.”

The bed moves as he sits down
, and my stomach heaves.

I jump
up and my head splits open. I run into the corner of the shower, stagger back and arse-plant on the floor. Luckily the loo is close to me. I hunch forward and my body heaves. It hurts my head and stomach, and I start to cry, which makes it worse. Nothing is coming out. It’s only dry heaving, and it’s making me feel terrible. I feel hot and cold all at once.

“Is there nothin’
I can do?” he asks, from next to me on the floor.

I shake my head
slowly, so I don’t make it worse. It feels like my stomach has settled a bit, and I slide back, lying down on the cold tiles. I need to lie down. 

Aiden’s phone rings
, and the sound is loud. “Not now,” he whispers. “Can I take you back to bed?”

“I don’t w
ant to move,” I mumble miserably, but I reach for him anyway. “Thank you for caring. I’ll make it up to you.” And I will. I’ll help him solve his case.

~*~

Chapter Twelve

Aiden~

Seeing
Emma with Katia damn near gave me a heart attack. Seeing Emma so pale makes me hate her mother even more. Hate is a strong emotion. One I’m getting to know because of Emma. My parents taught me how to love. Emma’s teaching me how to hate. But that’s not entirely true. A woman I’ve never met face to face is teaching me how to hate. Not Emma. I’m not sure what she’s is teaching me yet.

I watch her sleep
after the long night she’s had, and I open her laptop. I click on her media player and select the first song, so her personalized album will start playing. We haven’t talked about simple stuff like music and movies yet.

That song she likes so much is up first.
Wake me up
. I let it play while I stare at her paper. The next song is Passenger’s,
Let her go
. It’s a sad song.

I start to type on her paper.
Just something for her.

If you want to forget something or someone, never hate it, or never hate him/her. Everything and everyone that you hate is engraved upon your heart; if you want to let go of something, if you want to forget, you cannot hate ~
C. JoyBell C.

Hate creates. Fr
om hate revulsion and revenge are born. From hate death is born. Hate creates devastation and heartache. Hatred consumes until there is nothing left but an empty shell of the former self. From there outrage and brutality are born. Hate creates an act of violence be it against another or yourself, because somehow, somewhere, something dies.

“What are you doing?” I hear her groggy voice next to me.

“Just writing something for you.”

She sits up next to me and I wait while she reads it.
She nods and leans in to me, pressing a kiss on my cheek. “Morning. Can I bring you some coffee while you listen to the next one?”

I smile and bring up the media player.
Imagine Dragons,
Demons

I listen to the song while she’s busy in the kitchen.

‘I can’t escape this now unless you show me how.’
It’s the sentence that sticks. Is this her way of telling me she’s ready to fight?

~*~

Fight. That’s what we do the second she tells me she’s seeing Katia later for some girls’ night out.

“Dammit,
Emma. There is no way,” I say again. We’re in the living room and she’s still pale. I want her in bed, but she won’t budge. “You’re not going out with that woman. Do you not understand? Must I spell it out to you? I am working here. They are dangerous. Women go missin’, as in we haven’t found them. I’ve stood in front of their parents while Zac told them there’s no news. Do you know how long we’ve been working this case?” I don’t wait for her to answer, but launch right back in, “A whole year! First South Carolina and now here. It’s the only reason we’re here, workin’ it. Cause it started in our county. This thing is big, bigger than us. We’re talkin’ about people’s lives. It’s lives, Emma.”

“I can help. You’ll have someone on the inside with Katia.” She must
be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.

I pace the living room.
I’m pacing like Zac.

“How am I going
to make you understand?” I take her hand and pull her up. “Come here.” I lead her to my room and sit her down on the bed. I open my laptop and type in the password. The screen lights up. Frustrated, I log into the missing screen and bring up the girls.

“Look at
them, Emma. I don’t want your face next to theirs. I need to focus. I don’t want another face added to this screen. I need to wrap this up. I have two more fights. Actually one, then I’m at the one where this happens, where they go missing. Just three more weeks and this is done. Stay away from them unless I’m with you.” I really hope I’m getting through to her now.

“Yes, Aiden,” she looks up at me, “but what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Who will cover you?” She really looks worried
.

“Zac, my brother. L
ike he’s been doing all along. I have a partner, Emma. You don’t need to worry,” I say, trying to ease her mind.

“Alright, so
you have a partner, but I didn’t see him at that fight when that bloke got beaten halfway to the heavens and back. If that was you, then where was he?” She gets up and stares down at me. “I’ll be bloody damned if you’re going to be lying there and I’m here, and I can’t help you. You don’t get to come into my life and then do something like this and expect me to just stand by the sidelines and hope to God you don’t get hurt. Not when I can help.”

I stand up so I can face her.
             

“It’s my work. You can’t always be there,
Emma. Things might go wrong and they might not. This is what I do. Life is a gamble,” I try to explain.

Her face pales even more
, and it looks like she just realized something big.

“My mother
said those same words,” she murmurs. “I think I understand.”

She starts to walk away
, but I reach for her hand.

“You und
erstand what?”

“Life is a gamble
, and you can only win if you’re a player. I’m not a player. I can’t sit and worry whether you’ve been shot or whether you’re … I’m selfish. I need to know you’re safe.”

I pull her to me and wrap
my arms around her. She’s scared, and I don’t want her being scared.

“Let’s forget
about this for now.” I drop kisses into her hair, but I know there’s no forgetting. My career has just become an issue, again.

~*~

The week goes by fast, and my side heals some more. The next Saturday comes cloudy and windy, and I feel uneasy.

Things have been great
between Emma and me, we’ve even gone to the movies once. She made me eat candy with my popcorn. It tasted damned weird.

I’ve been up since three a
.m. I’ve learned that’s when she starts to dream, and if I catch her in time and kiss and soothe her, she seems to skip the nightmare altogether and just ease into a peaceful sleep. I couldn’t go back to sleep.

I’m up against Colton. I’ve watched him. He fights reckless
ly. He fights for Katia. Whoever wins will go through to the finals, and I haven’t told Emma, but they’ll be watching her. If I lose they’ll go for her, and Zac just better be ready, or all hell will break loose.

I just need to get behind Colton. I have training and patience.

“You look so worried,” Emma whispers behind me. When she leans over the couch, her hair falls over my shoulder. She trails her fingers down my chest and I close my eyes, so I can focus on her touch only. “Don’t be worried. Relax,” she whispers, her breath warming my neck.

She moves. For a second she breaks contact before she climbs on top of me. I can’t help but smile when she
straddles me. Her fingers start at my temple and trail down the side of my face over my day-old stubble.

“You look your age when you don’t shave. You look rea
lly mean at the moment. All ink.” Her voice is husky, and my body comes alive. Damn, her voice is such a turn on. She could give my brain an orgasm. “Why do you look so worried?” She breathes the question against my neck, and I take hold of her hips.

I don’t want to think about tonight
any more, not with her on top of me. I push her down, hard, and her breath rushes out over my collarbone. She drops her head against my chest and I keep her there. I keep her still for a moment before I sit up straight and hug her to me.

“I’m up agains
t Colton tonight. I’m just going over all his moves, trying to find his weak spot,” I say into her hair. She pushes back and frames my face with her hands.

“Katia
is. Let me go with. I can help. She cheered him on. He was watching her, the way she was with me, as if he’d get off on the idea of the two of us getting all heated up. Maybe if I grab her, he’ll be distracted enough.” She’s serious.

I stare. Because that’s all I can do.

“You’re willing to get it on with a woman so I can win a fight?” I ask, flabbergasted.

“If it means you can beat the
bloody hell out of Colton,” she pauses, “but then you better move your arse and get her off me before she takes it far.” She smiles as if she has just solved all my problems.

“You’re s
o hot right now, and that might be many a man’s dream, but I don’t want another person touchin’ you. You’re coming with, though, so I can keep an eye on you. I need to know you’re safe.”

She leans into me
, and her lashes lower over her eyes as they drop to my mouth.

“I’d like to do something, but you have to promise me something first,” she says.

“What?”

“
I have this curiosity, and I was wondering if you will just let me explore it? she asks, and there’s a faint blush on her cheeks.

“That depends on what it entails,” I say
, a little breathlessly as her hand starts to drop down to my abs.

“You just have to sit still,” she whispers as she scoots back. “But you have to promise not to break my concentration.” She smiles timidly.

“Okay,” I breathe.

H
er hands press hard into my hips. My head takes on that spinning thing it was doing a few weeks back, and when her fingertips slide into my waistband I’m back to feeling like a damn headless chicken. Her eyes instantly dart up to mine and she smiles a tad wider.

Do I look
nervous? Me, Aiden, nervous? Seriously! I’ve faced a war-ridden country. I’ve been shot. I’ve watched my sister die. I’ve certainly done this before.

Still.
Emma on my lap has my heart going a mile a minute.

She lets go of my pants and cups my face. Her eyes are a soft, moist green when they lock
onto mine.

“You. Are. The. Most. Stunning. Being. I. Have. Ever. Seen.” Her lips are a mere feather touch against mine and, dammit – I’m not allowed to break her concentration
, so I’m stuck just sitting here, taking what she’s giving.

I’m all about control
, and as amazing as this is, I really want to crush her mouth to mine right now. But she continues her feather kisses up my jaw to my ear, and I close my eyes so I can find a little self-control and not grab her.

Her teeth tug
at my earlobe, sending shivers racing over my skin, and my fingers curl into her hips, digging into her skin.

Dammit. This is going to be all kinds of hard.

And then she hums lightly as she continues to press kisses down the side of my neck, and I can’t help but lean toward her. Her hands come up against my chest and she presses me back. I feel her smiling. I grab her, pulling her against me. Because damn, just damn – her tongue darts out and it’s just ahh ….

“Uh-huh,” she breaths against my neck
, and she tugs at my arm.

I chuckle,
she’s just being plain wicked. “You can’t tell me to not touch you.” I breathe hard into her hair. “Let me at least hold you?” I groan.

“No. If I give in
, then you might keep asking for liberties, and this is about you, now ease back, Mister,” she says in a demanding little voice, and I melt at the tone.

“Yes, ma’am,” I drawl
, and she grins.

She resumes her sweet torture and scoot
s back, sliding hard over a way-too-ready me, and I’m back to grabbing her hips.

I clench my teeth
and exhale hard, blowing wisps of her hair into the air, but she doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. She pushes against my hands, and her teeth sink into my neck.

DAM-MIT
!

All my blood rushes
right on down, and I press against her. If we weren’t wearing clothes right now, it would be over in seconds.

She moans against my throat and I feel the vibration, and again I move. You can’t damn
well blame me. I’m a man. She’s hot and moaning on my lap!

I grip
her hair, and I tug her back so I can crush my mouth into hers. This time she doesn’t stop me. Thank you for divine intervention!

I plunge my tongue in
to her mouth to get to her sweet taste, to fall and not get back up. I just want to stay like this until tonight, glued to her. Her arms come up behind my neck, and she lifts herself off my lap, taking control of the kiss.

I’m going to explode right here. She bites at m
y bottom lip, and then lightly pushes at me to fall back against the couch. It’s so the last thing I want to do. Her hands drop to my shoulders and she pushes at me again, and I go. Then her mouth leaves me, trailing over my jaw, down my neck and chest.

I groan when she kisses
my pecs, and then my eyes shoot open. Oh. Sweet. Hell. She’s moving down south.

OH.
HELL. OH. HELL. OH. HELL.

Breathe. Aiden.
You just need some blood and air in the rest of your body.