I clamber to my feet and run through the snow, not even caring that I don’t have any shoes on or that I’m not dressed for the frigid temperature.
I don’t care because I hurt him. I marred that perfect face of his.
I’d thought he was one of those animals from my nightmare, from my past.
I fucked up and hurt him again and now he’ll never forgive me. I’ll never forgive myself.
And it’s all because let my guard down and fell asleep.
“Stupid,” I mutter through clattering teeth when I finally come to a stop. I bend over and inhale shakily. My lungs aching, and my eyes stinging. “Always so fucking stupid.”
“Emery!” August shouts in the distance, and I look behind me and see the movement of a flashlight piercing the darkness.
I inhale shakily and realize that I’m wet all over, and my feet sting. I can’t feel my fingers. How long have I been out here?
“Em!” August shouts, sounding panicked, and I want to run away, but I just stand immobile until he appears right in front of me. I close my eyes, so I don’t have to see him––see what I did to him.
“Em,” he says softly, and then he’s pulling me into his chest. His hand is in my hair, his mouth on my neck and his body heat warms me. “Come on. You need to come back. We need to go back.”
When I don't move, he squats down and picks me up, trudging us back to the SUV. He doesn’t even struggle with my weight, just carries me like I belong in his arms. He’s so strong, so capable, so level-headed. So unlike me.
I turn my face into his neck and I have an overwhelming feeling like he’s done this before, but I can’t quite remember when.
I’m gently lowered into the back of the SUV, and I hear the back slamming shut.
August is breathing heavily, but I still don’t look because if I do, I’ll cry.
“Gotta strip you,” he says softly as he carefully removes my wet clothes one by one. I hear them plop in a pile near my head.
Then I feel it.
Naked skin against mine.
My eyes shoot open, and I see August watching me carefully. Red lines still track down his cheek, his lip still swollen, and the sight breaks my heart, so I slam my eyes shut again.
“Hey, Em. You’re okay. We gotta get you warm,” he says, pulling the sleeping bag over us and then the emergency blanket. “I’m naked. Is this okay?”
I huff a mortified laugh because,I may be a complete emotional train wreck and quite possibly dying of hypothermia, but my dick is still trying to rally against his thigh.Is this okay?He asks.Of course, it’s okay. If I hadn’t mauled him, this would be a dream come true.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
August wraps his thighs around me, and with a slight roll, he pulls me on top of him.
A grunt escapes him, and then those hands of his are rubbing up and down my back in an attempt to warm me.
But he doesn’t know.
He doesn’t know that just being here with me, despite it all, is enough. No one’s ever held me like this. No one’s ever cared for me like this.
“What happened?” he asks after a moment. “Why’d you run?”
“I hurt you,” I croak out, and I still can’t look at what I did.
“It’s okay, Em. You didn’t mean to.”
“It’s not okay. I’m so sorry, August. You don’t even know how sorry,” I say, clenching my fists tightly and turning my face into him.
“Hey,” he says, and when I don’t meet his gaze, he grasps my chin and tilts my face up. “Hey. I’ll be fine. It’s no big deal. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”