“It will take a good deal of time before you do. You shouldn’t press yourself. Dylan and I are both here, to answer any questions you
might have over the next hours and days, weeks, and months. Years, if necessary,” Sidney said.
“Do you have any questions now?” Dylan asked.
She had a million questions. There were so many, but they were all caught up in the spinning maelstrom of her mind. She couldn’t extricate them, couldn’t focus.
“Not now,” she said. She put her hand on Dylan’s hard jean-covered thigh, and before he could stop her, she stood. Dizziness assailed her. Dylan flew up next to her, his hands gripping her upper arms. She focused with all of her will, and his chest solidified before her eyes.
“I’m really tired all of a sudden,” she said. Her throat felt raw, like it’d been scraped.
“I think a rest might be just what’s called for,” Sidney said pointedly.
Dylan nodded. “I’ll take her up,” he said to Sidney, putting his arm around Alice. “Are you going to stay?”
Sidney shook his head. “Call me just as soon as she wakes up. If need be, I can come back. Do you think you might need any medication?” he asked Alice.
“For what?” Alice asked, confused.
“You’re in shock,” Sidney said.
Alice shook her head. “No. I’m just tired. I don’t need any medicine.”
She saw Sidney and Dylan share a glance.
“This is going to take time, Alice. You know that you’re safe here, in the meantime?” Sidney asked kindly. “Dylan really is your champion knight. He always has been.”
Alice looked at Dylan’s face. He was right there, solid and beautiful. He steadied her, as always. What would she do if he wasn’t here?
She wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for him, she realized with numb disbelief. She pushed the impossible thought from her brain. Once again, fatigue pressed on her. She hadn’t thought it was possible, to be so tired when she’d just slept a few hours ago.
“Lie down with me?” she asked Dylan.
He nodded soberly. “I’m not going anywhere else.”
THROUGH her oppressive exhaustion, Alice recognized that Louise had straightened Dylan’s suite in their absence. She’d closed the drapes Alice had opened earlier, and the room was dim and cool. She and Dylan paused next to the great bed, and he drew down the duvet and sheet. He turned her to face him and began unfastening her shorts.
“You’ll be more comfortable out of them,” he said gruffly a moment later as her shirt joined her shorts on the carpet.
She curled into the opening of the bedclothes wearing just her bra and underwear. The cool sheets felt wonderful on her tingling skin. Dylan came in behind her, his front to her back. He hadn’t undressed. She wished he had. She shut her eyes tight, overwhelmed when his arms came around her. He pulled her against him. She gripped at his hands where they joined around her waist. Perhaps he felt her spasm of emotion.
“Alice? Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she gasped softly. “Just …”
“What?” he asked when she faded off.
“Hold me tighter,” she whispered.
SHE came back to consciousness to the sensation of him still embracing her, his presence the first thing onto which her consciousness latched, as if she’d awakened on a tossing sea and grasped for a solid hold. How long had she slept? she wondered muzzily. She squinted at the light glowing around the drawn drapes. There was a rosy quality to it. Her fingers moved on Dylan’s knuckles, and he turned his palm, her hand sliding into his.
“How long did I sleep?” she asked in a muffled voice.
“It’s almost eight o’clock.”
“At night?” she murmured, confused. It must have been no later than two o’clock when they’d got into bed. She tried to turn over in the circle of his arms. He loosened his hold, and she flipped over onto her other hip, facing him. His whiskers had deepened into a sexy scruff that highlighted his mouth. He nodded, his face shadowed and unreadable in the dim room.
“Did you sleep?” she asked, reaching to touch his jaw with her fingertips.