“Add another long to the fire, then you may take your leave,” Tarass ordered and turned and left the room, taking the stairs to his bedchamber on the above floor.
With the night cold and the wind howling outside, Nettle added three more logs. One would burn fast, but three would take more time and keep the room warm. She walked quietly to the bed and adjusted the blanket over Snow’s shoulder and smiled when she saw that Thaw was cuddled against her sound asleep. She tiptoed out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar so when she returned in the morning she could enter without disturbing Snow, if she still slept.
Snow struggled to make her way through the snowstorm. She couldn’t see anything in front of her, but she heard Thaw barking and she had to get to him. She kept her hands stretched out in front of her and stopped abruptly when she heard a growl. Her hand went to her cheek, having thought she felt something wet at her face. Or was it the snowflakes hitting her cheek?
She saw it then, the dark shadow beside her, not a blurry gray shadow, but one as dark as night and she screamed, “Tarass!”
Tarass woke with a start, sitting up and glancing around his bedchamber. All was quiet, the fire low, which meant he had been asleep for some time. He couldn’t understand what woke him, then he heard it.
A bark that drew closer until it was outside his door.
Snow!
He rushed out of bed and wrapped his plaid around him as he hurried to the door. Thaw continued barking and when he opened the door, the pup ran to the stairs, stopped, and looked back at him.
“I’m coming, Thaw,” he said and rushed down the stairs behind the pup.
“Tarass!”
Fear like he hadn’t felt, since the day he had learned of the attack on the village where his parents had been visiting and not knowing if they had survived, ran through him when he heard Snow scream his name in terror. He jumped over the pup and ran for her room.
He snarled as he flew into the room, ready to rip apart the person who dared to attack Snow and in his home where he’d told her she’d be safe. He was relieved to find no one there and hurried to the bed, seeing Snow was caught in a nightmare, battling the blanket caught up around her.
Thaw jumped on the bed, this time whimpering, worried over Snow.
Tarass yanked the blanket from around her and wanted to grab her and hold her tight, but he didn’t, fearful it would continue to make her feel confined.
“Wake up, Snow, it’s Tarass, you’re safe. Wake up,” he said and shook her gently by the shoulders.
Snow’s eyes opened wide and she was ready to scream, seeing the shadow hovering over her.
“It’s me, Snow. Tarass. I’m here. You’re safe,” he said quickly, seeing the fear that consumed her face.
Snow jolted up, her hands stretching out, connecting with his bare chest and hurrying to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him tight.
Tarass’s arms instinctively went around her, hugging her to him just as tight. “A nightmare. You had a nightmare.”
“I was caught in the snowstorm again. Someone touched me. It wasn’t a gray shadow I usually see. This one was a dark blur, as dark as the night, and I knew it was evil.”
“You’re safe. You have nothing to fear here,” Tarass assured her, though he didn’t like that she had dreamt of a dark evil shape. Dreams could sometimes warn of things to come.
Snow’s breathing began to calm, though her heart continued to thunder in her chest and her arms remained firm around Tarass.
Tarass kept tight hold of her. She wore a soft pale yellow nightdress that was a thin barrier between her breasts and his bare chest. Fear had puckered her nipples hard and they poked at him through the soft wool. And he silently cursed himself for even letting himself think about it.
Thaw crawled over, from where he waited at the foot of the bed, to nudge his head under Snow’s arm. She let one arm fall away to rest on the pup’s head and let him know all was well, then she hurried it back around Tarass’s neck.
“You are safe with me. I’ll let know one harm you,” he assured her again.
Safe. How long had it been since she felt safe? When she had her sight. She hadn’t felt safe since losing it, not knowing who was in a room with her, who approached her or how to simply maneuver through a room. She certainly hadn’t felt safe in the snowstorm and if it hadn’t been for Tarass, she would have never survived.
At the moment, with his arms tight around her and her body pressed firmly against his, she felt safer than she had ever felt since going blind, and she couldn’t imagine letting go of feeling that secure, at least not yet.