Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(74)

She cried some more.

Each teardrop fell for a different reason. A few dozen for the night’s events. A handful more for the loss of her brother. She even shed tears for her mother and her father. For Kayla. She cried for Logan and all the misery he’d been through since making a horrible mistake three years ago. But mostly she cried for their lost relationship.

Logan held her through it all, a silent fount of protective support. When she lifted her face from his shoulder, she felt drained.

“I want to lie down,” she slurred.

He nodded instantly. “Okay.”

He shifted them to the bed until he was easing her down. When he tried to step back so she was lying by herself, she tightened her hold on him. “No. Please. Stay.”

Again, he nodded. As he hesitantly stretched out on the narrow mattress beside her, she curled close. Trusting him implicitly, she relished the feel of the blankets at her side and his warmth at her cheek.

She nestled close. “I didn’t think I’d ever feel warm again. I was so cold.”

He rubbed her arm, warming her even more. When she used his shoulder as a pillow, he kissed her hair.

“Rest,” he murmured gently. His breath on her cheek didn’t feel at all like Dorian’s had because it was warm and scented with Logan’s dragon-defeating spearmint gum.

Smiling with the memory of their morning together at the children’s ward, she closed her eyes and relaxed against him, soothed by his presence. He coaxed her into sleep, stroking her arm through all the layers of clothing separating them.

“Don’t leave,” she mumbled, her brain already fogging into a lovely oblivion.





She woke once in the night to a nightmare. Phantom hands groping her, crawling up her skirt, nipping at her neck. Cold air seizing her thighs.

Paige whimpered and flailed. When she struck something solid and fleshy, she slashed toward it again, intent on defending herself.

A grunt and curse followed, and suddenly it was gone. Then something grasped her shoulders. “Paige. Paige, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

The dream didn’t let her go easily. Her brain kept dragging her back into the dark torments of hands over her mouth, arms pinning her own immobile. She cried out, afraid.

“Paige!”

She gasped into consciousness and was instantly hugged to a solid, familiar chest. “It’s okay,” he assured her, smoothing back her hair. “Just a dream. You’re okay.”

She gulped and panted as she tried to regain her sanity. Logan disappeared for a second only to reappear and thrust a cup of water into her hand. She drank gratefully.

It cleared her brain until she could think rationally. “Did I hit you?”

He ran his fingers over his hair stubble and shook his head. “Just my arm. I’m fine. Are you better now?”

She nodded and returned the empty cup to him. He straightened and carried it to the sink where he must’ve found it.

All the lights blazed in the room. She soaked up his face, immediately feeling better. She wanted to reach out and smooth her fingers over his buzz cut as she’d just watched him do.

He was so Logan, and she was so relieved he was here.

“I should probably go.” His blue eyes looked worried as he backed away from her.

“What? No!” She launched herself off the bed and clutched him close, clinging shamelessly. “Don’t leave me now.”

“Okay, okay.” He patted her hands, reassuring her. “I’ll stay. No problem.” But his gaze strayed toward Mariah’s side of the room. “Do you think your roommate would mind if I crashed on her mattress?”

The idea of him anywhere near Mariah’s bed sent irrational jealousy through her system. In fact, the idea of him anywhere right now, except wrapped around her, sounded downright intolerable.

“I promise I won’t punch you again in my sleep,” she blurted.

His eyes flared wide with surprise. Then he sputtered out a laugh. “Paige, you can punch me in your sleep as much as you need to. I just thought you wanted me out of your bed. I mean, I scared you and caused you to have a nightmare by being beside you, making you think I was him.”

She frowned. “No.” Shaking her head, she tugged him closer. “No, you didn’t cause the nightmare. I swear. He caused it. Not you. I don’t think of any of that when you’re holding me. So come back to bed. Make it go away again. Please.”

He shook his head, looking amused. “You don’t have to beg, you know, because honestly, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Good.” She tugged on him harder.

As they settled back on the mattress with him spooned on his side behind her, she curled up her knees so he could do the same.

He rested his face by the back of her neck, his breath stirring her hair with a pleasant spearmint warmth.

“Do you want the lights off?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Okay.” He relaxed his muscles, and all was right in the world again. Snuggled into him, she closed her eyes and sleep immediately claimed her.

At some point during the night, she managed to wiggle around on the two foot of mattress space she had until he was trapped between her and the wall and she was facing him. Though they were both still fully clothed, their legs had intertwined so their knees bent in toward each other to stack his leg, then hers, then his, and hers again.