I swallowed hard. Nodded. And somehow managed to say, “Okay.”
Marco squeezed my shoulders, then released me. “It’ll get better, Natalie. Just have faith.”
Faith was all I had left. I just hoped it didn’t fail me.
“Come on.” Felicity pushed back from the table. “I’ll take you up to a room. There are lots of suites in this old castle, all with super comfy beds.”
I followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, and when she turned into a different wing from where Luc was staying, it was all I could do not to protest. But I didn’t, because I was willing to do whatever it took to bring my Luc back to me. Including give him space even though my heart screamed that was the wrong thing to do.
I just wasn’t sure how long I could stay away from him.
As it turned out, I wasn’t able to stay away long.
I couldn’t sleep not knowing how Luc was doing. So after two or three hours of tossing and turning, I threw back the covers and crept out into the dark hallway.
Marco and Fee had gone to bed sometime after me. I didn’t know which room they were staying in, but I figured it was probably close to Luc in case he needed Marco’s help in the middle of the night.
Moving as quietly as I could down the hardwood floor in my bare feet, I reminded myself that everything was going to be okay. I had faith. I believed in us. I wouldn’t let Luc’s family break us, no matter how hard they tried.
The doors in Luc’s wing were all closed, and I held my breath as I stopped outside his room. A shiver racked my spine, one that made me wish I’d tossed a sweater over my tank in this cold castle, but I didn’t want to waste time and go get one now. I just wanted Luc.
The knob squeaked as I turned it in my hand, the sound sending my pulse up even higher. Moving quickly so the hinges didn’t wake anyone, I pushed the door open only a few inches, slipped into the room, then quietly shut it at my back.
Only a sliver of moonlight shone through the upper windows along the wall not covered by curtains. My gaze swept over the dark room and landed on Luc lying facedown on the bed, the sheet low across his hips to reveal the fresh bandage across his back, one bare foot hanging off the end of the mattress.
My heart bumped. His hands were up near his face, and as I rounded the mattress, I realized the pillows were half covering his head, either to block the light or drown out sound.
Memories of the way he’d looked on the bathroom floor flooded my mind—memories of him bent over and shaking, his voice raspy and deep, sounding nothing like him.
I stopped at the side of the bed, still couldn’t quite see his face. Indecision warred inside me. More than anything, I wanted to touch him, to wrap my arms around him, to slide between those sheets with him and hold him to me, but if he freaked out again, if I somehow triggered the same kind of reaction—
His head shifted my way, pushing the pillow partway off his face so I could see his nose and lips and the sexy scruff on his jaw I loved to run my fingers over. “Ang...letto?”
Warmth flooded my chest. “Yes,” I whispered, dropping to my knees beside his bed. “I’m right here.” I slid the pillow the rest of the way off his handsome face and brushed the soft hair back from his forehead. “I’m right here.”
He didn’t open his eyes, but I didn’t need him to. The way he angled his face toward my hand told me he sensed me. I blinked back happy tears.
He lifted his muscular arm, grimacing with the motion, and wrapped it around my shoulders. “C’mere.”
When he pulled me toward him, I didn’t resist. I climbed beneath the covers with him, fixed the pillow at my back, and let him drape his big body over mine. And when his head was resting on my chest and his legs were entwined with mine, I wrapped my arms around him, careful not to graze his wounds.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered, holding him close, sifting my fingers through his silky hair. “You’re all mine.” I pressed my lips against his forehead, hoping he felt all the love I held inside for him. “I’m not letting you go.”
He sighed and relaxed against me. As his weight pressed me deeper into the mattress and his warmth and strength surrounded me, I closed my eyes and was finally able to drift to sleep.
Felicity was right. All we needed was faith. We could survive anything so long as we held on to each other.
Voices woke me. Angry voices. Well, one angry voice. The other sounded... frustrated.
I struggled to pull my eyes open. A door slammed somewhere close, followed by that same angry voice yelling, “Just get her the fuck out of here!”
Blinking several times, I looked up and around. Luc’s room. I was in Luc’s room. I’d gone to him in the middle of the night.
Pushing up on my hands, I glanced across the empty bed toward the closed bathroom door. Marco dropped his hands from the doorframe and turned my way with a perturbed expression.
Unease filled my belly as I brushed the unruly curls back from my face. “What’s going on?”
“He woke to find you in his bed, and he’s not happy. That’s what’s going on.”
My gaze shifted to the bathroom door. “He wanted me in here last night. When I came in to check on him, he wouldn’t let me leave.”
“Is she gone yet?” Luc called.
Marco frowned and glanced back at the door. “Not yet.”
“Get her the fuck out of here because I’m not coming out until she leaves,” Luc snapped.
Marco moved to the side of the bed, leveling an apologetic expression at me. “That’s the pain talking. He’s due for his next dose of meds.”
I wasn’t so sure. Unease rolled through me as I threw the covers back and pushed to my feet. After rounding the bed, I stopped next to the bathroom door and knocked. “Luc? What’s going on?”
A muttered “Merda” met my ears. Then louder, he said, “I don’t need your help. I want you to leave.”
Panic churned in my gut. I glanced once at Marco, then looked back at the door. “I don’t believe you.” My hand moved to the knob, and I tried to turn it, but he’d locked the door. “Luc, let me in.”
“Get out of my room, Natalie. I don’t want you near me.”
“You did last night.”
“Last night, I was fucking drugged.”
My heart felt like someone drop kicked it.
“Luc—”
“Cazzo. Just go already,” he growled. “Or I’m going to lose my shit like last time!”
I dropped my hand and stared at the door, my heart pounding double time. There was so much anger in his voice, he almost didn’t sound like himself. And memories of the way he’d been on that bathroom floor last night flooded my mind all over again.
Marco’s hand landed on my shoulder, and he gently turned me toward him. “Just give him some space,” he whispered. “I’ll talk to him.”
I swallowed hard and stepped back from the door. But my hands shook as I turned out of the room and headed back to my own.
Alone, I sank onto the end of my bed and just stared at the carpet beneath my bare feet. It was some floral wool rug with blues and golds and oranges that blurred in my vision until it all kind of ran together as one color.