Looking down at her, Drake watched as she slowly moved her feet. Her eyes were still closed, and her chest rose and fell with each rapid breath. She kept her head angled downward, a look of intimidation upon her face.
Without warning her, Drake once more placed his hands upon her shoulders. Again, she flinched, every muscle in her body tensing. Her eyes pinched shut, and her teeth dug into her lower lip. “Breathe,” he reminded her. “In and out.”
When she had sufficiently calmed, Drake slowly increased the pressure upon her shoulders, urging her backwards. She complied, her hands falling from her arms and working to maintain her balance. Step-by-step, she allowed him to force her back until the wall stopped her retreat.
Her breathing had increased with each step while her eyes remained closed.
His hands pushed her against the wall, preventing her from escaping. He leaned closer until he knew she could feel his breath upon her skin. He could not see the look in her eyes, but he did not need to. Panic was etched into her face, and every breath attested to the memory she was reliving this very moment.
Drake knew that she was close to breaking, could feel it in the slight rumbles underneath his hands. Nevertheless, he leaned closer still, trailed his breath over her cheek and along her jaw until he paused right next to her ear and whispered, “Now...fight me!”
Instantly, Drake felt her eyes fly open in stunned shock. Her whole body tensed, but in a different way than before. It was as though she suddenly came to life, shaking off the paralysis she had felt before.
Drake had no time to retreat for she moved fast. A sharp breath escaped her lips, and he felt it against his skin only a second before her hands shoved hard against his chest.
He stumbled a step backwards, pleased by her reaction, then barely caught sight of her fist as it came soaring toward him. It landed exactly where it should, and Drake felt the air knocked from his throat.
The force of her punch sent him spinning, and his hand flew up to clutch at his throat as he began to cough. For a moment, his lungs strained to draw in air, but there was none. He sank down, one knee braced against the floor, as a dull pain spread through his throat and chest. The coughing continued, and Drake closed his eyes to remain calm and wait out the moment.
It would pass. He knew it would pass.
And then suddenly he was no longer alone. Soft hands brushed over his face and trailed past his neck to settle upon his shoulders a moment before a blurred face appeared in his line of view. Blue eyes looked into his, wide and alarmed. “Are you all right? I’m so sorry. I did not mean to hurt you.”
Focusing his gaze, Drake looked at her as she knelt before him on the floor. The coughing had eased, and air slowly found its way back into his body. “I’m fine,” he croaked, trying to clear his throat, slightly cringing at the pain as he did so.
Shock clung to Lady Leonora’s face as her hands continued to touch him with a gentleness and care Drake had never before been the recipient of. “Why did you do that? Why did you tell me to—?” Gritting her teeth, she shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
Drake could not help but smile at her in that moment, well aware that she was touching him of her own accord, equally well aware that she had yet to notice. “There is no need to worry,” Drake told her as his chest began to rise and fall with regular breaths once more. “I’m perfectly fine.” Watching her most carefully, Drake lifted a hand to place it upon one of hers still lying on his face.
Lady Leonora did not flinch, did not even notice as her gaze continued to sweep his face as though looking for injury. “But I punched you!” she exclaimed as the tips of her fingers traced along the line of his jaw and she ducked her head to look more closely at his throat. “I punched you! In the throat! I’m so very sorry.”
Rather belatedly, Drake realized that he was all but holding his breath, his full attention on the soft touches of her hands upon his skin. He felt her hand move beneath his, and a deeply overwhelming need to keep her close suddenly washed over him. It startled him in such a profound way that he suddenly surged to his feet.
Gasping in surprise at his sudden movement, Lady Leonora almost fell backwards, but caught herself in the last moment. She looked up at him, a puzzled look upon her face, then rose to her feet as well. “Did I hurt you?” Again, she ducked her head to peer more closely at where her punch had landed. “You will have a nasty bruise.”
“It is nothing,” Drake insisted, trying to regain his composure. Indeed, he should be focusing on her, not himself. After all, she was the one who had come to him for help. “And how are you?” he inquired, gazing at her curiously.
To his surprise, she looked quite collected. Fear no longer darkened her eyes, and the tremors had ceased. Her cheeks even shone in a rosy color, and she stood before him with her chin raised, her eyes unflinchingly meeting his. “I was not the one attacked,” she told him with a bit of a teasing smile upon her face as though nothing much had happened.
Sighing, Drake looked at her closely, then said, “You were not?” His gaze remained upon hers, and he saw the very moment her mind recalled everything that had led them to where they were now. She drew in a shuddering breath as her cheeks suddenly paled, and her hands once more rose as though looking for something to hold onto.
“Breathe,” Drake told her yet again. On a hunch, he held out his right hand to her, an offer of comfort and support.
Lady Leonora glanced down at it, but hesitated.
“I shall not take affront if you refuse my offer,” Drake told her earnestly, reminding her that she was the one to dictate the terms.
Looking up at him, Lady Leonora nodded in acknowledgment, then ever so slowly, her right hand moved toward his. No more than a hair’s breadth away, she once more hesitated, her blue eyes rising from where they had lingered upon his hand to look into his eyes. Drake did not know what she saw there, but whatever it was, it reassured her somehow because in the next moment, he felt her skin against his as her hand settled into his own. “Breathe,” he told her as much as himself.
For another moment, Lady Leonora continued to stare down at their linked hands, a fascinated look in her eyes as though she could not believe that what she was seeing was true. He felt her move her fingers, grip his hand tighter, then lessen her hold.
“You did well,” Drake told her, seeing how overwhelmed she was, but needing to remind her of what she had just accomplished. “It is no small thing to relive a nightmare.”
Her blue eyes were wide and began to mist with tears as she looked up at him. “I knew it was only in my head, and yet, it felt so…” She shook her head, at a loss for words.
Drake nodded. “I know,” he whispered, his hand tightening upon hers not because he wanted to offer comfort, but instead because he needed some for himself. “Sometimes the nightmare can be a thousand times worse than the moment we first walked through it.”
Unbidden, a memory from his own past resurfaced in that moment. It was as though he had merely blinked, and all of a sudden, his eyes were seeing something completely different. Once again, he saw blood pooling on white sheets, its color enhanced by the golden rays of the sun reflected upon it. He felt the same cold spread through his body that he had experienced the first time and—