Triple Beat-nook(15)

“Time to bleed for Daddy.”

“God, please. Let me go!”

Sudden bright light blinded her, but Dani was too focused on the ironclad grip he had on her. She had to get away. She had to run.

“Dani!” The strong arms tightened around her as she punched, scratched and flailed wildly.

“No. Goddammit, no! You won’t get me!”

“Jesus, baby. Dani. Wake up. Fucking hell, please wake up!” Aiden’s voice broke through the nightmare.

Dani’s eyes flew open, blinking against the light. She panted painfully, her breath coming hard and heavy, the air not quite reaching her lungs. She stopped trying to escape when she realized it was Bryson who was holding her. His arms were wrapped around her from behind, her back pressed firmly to his chest.

Aiden was kneeling in front of her, a scratch down his right cheek.

“D-did I do that?”

Aiden reached up to touch the red welt. “It’s nothing. What the f*ck was that?”

She shook her head, trying to force the memory of her father’s voice, his hands away. “N-nothing.”

Bryson released her as she turned to face him. She saw the slight swelling under his eye.

“Oh my God. Did I hit you?”

He gave her a crooked grin. “You got a lousy right hook. I took harder punches in preschool.”

She barked out a loud laugh that morphed too quickly into a cry. “Shit. I’m s-sorry.” Tears streamed down her face. Dani was helpless to stop them.

“Aw f*ck, I was just kidding.” Bryson pulled her into his arms, letting her cry against his chest. “Jesus, Dani. You’re tearing my guts out. Please don’t cry. I can’t take it.”

She’d never cried in front of them. That was all she could think as sob after loud sob roared out of her. After a few minutes, Aiden reached for her, tugging her away from Bryson to offer his own comfort.

While Bryson had held her tightly, squeezing her as if his life depended on it, Aiden’s embrace was softer as he stroked her back and her hair, repeating a steady stream of “shhh, it’s okay” until she managed to calm down and slowly find her breath again.

When she felt steadier, she pulled away from Aiden, sniffling and wiping her face with her hands.

Bryson grabbed a box of tissues from the nightstand. “Here.”

She plucked three free and tried to wipe away all evidence of her crying. How the hell was she going to explain this to them?

“Nightmare,” she whispered before they could question her.

“Yeah,” Bryson said sardonically. “I figured out that much on my own. What was it about?”

She shook her head. “I can’t remember.”

Bryson narrowed his eyes. “Bullshit.”

Aiden grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. “Might help to talk about it.”

She knew with a hundred-percent certainty it wouldn’t, but instead she just shrugged. “It was nothing.”

There was no way in hell she could tell them what she’d dreamed about. Even now, she was still shaken by how real it had seemed. Dani glanced around the room in an effort to convince herself that her father wasn’t really there.

Aiden sighed. She’d hurt him again. She was batting a thousand this week and hating herself for it.

“I’m sorry.” She knew neither man understood her need to apologize, but they smiled anyway. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“We’d only just crawled into bed,” Bryson said.

“What time is it?”

Bryson looked at the alarm clock. “Little after midnight.”

She’d woken from her restless napping at six and they’d all gone down to a little restaurant across the street for a quick bite to eat. After that, they’d returned to the room and watched a movie on TV before she’d said good night around ten. She had a big day tomorrow and she wanted to be well rested for it.

Despite that desire, Dani knew she wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon, which meant she had a long night ahead of her.

Aiden ran his hand through her hair kindly. “I guess we’ll go back to our room if you’re sure you’re okay.”

They both stood from the bed and that was when she realized they were in their boxers, their hair messy from sleep. They’d lied. She had woken them up.

As they headed for the door, panic gripped her, especially when Bryson flicked the lights off.