I blush. “It’s sweet of you, but it doesn’t hurt that bad.”
“I don’t care if it hurts a little or a lot; I want to take care of you.”
“You’re far more hurt than I am, and you don’t let me take care of you.” I motion to his shoulder.
“That’s because I don’t feel pain.”
I frown. “Of course—”
He motions to his shoulder. “It doesn’t hurt at all. Trust me.”
I want to ask more questions, but I yawn and decide it will have to wait for tomorrow.
Lennox helps me undress—pulling the sweatshirt over my head and then very slowly peeling my leggings from my body as I try not to wince.
It does sting.
“Lay down on the bed,” he commands.
I lay on my stomach and feel the bed dip as Lennox climbs in next to me. Then he gently rubs cream on my sore ass.
I moan quietly.
“If you keep doing that, I’m going to fuck you. And I don’t think you want that, considering your sister and brother-in-law are downstairs and could hear everything. And your ass is far too sore for what I want to do to you,” he hisses in my ear.
“Then stop rubbing me and hold me.”
He immediately does. His arms drape over me protectively, and I know the second I close my eyes, I’ll sleep peacefully through the night.
I wake up drenched in sweat and sick to my stomach. Lennox’s arm is draped over my waist, and it’s still dark out.
I jump up out of bed and race to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time to vomit the contents of my stomach.
A second later, I feel Lennox’s hand on my back, rubbing gently.
“I get nightmares too. I can’t tell you they’ll go away anytime soon, but the physical reaction you feel usually goes away after a while,” he says.
I nod, but it wasn’t a nightmare. I feel physically ill.
No…
No.
No.
No.
No, no, no.
No—it can’t be.
“Rialta, are you okay? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost,” Lennox says, rubbing his hand over my forehead.
I give him the smallest smile I can force on my face.
“You don’t feel hot.”
“It was just a nightmare,” I say, but I’m still lost in my own thoughts. Even though I know it’s true, I can’t help but do mental math, searching for proof to make it impossible.