Storms and Dreams (Becoming Jane Book 3) Read Free Page B

and stung my skin.
    It was too late to turn back now, to pretend I hadn’t seen him, hadn’t witnessed his pain. The only way out, was through. So I spoke again.
    “If you’d like to talk, I’ll listen.”
    He blinked and shuddered, as if my words had punched the air in the space between us.
    “I’m sorry I woke you,” he said, and taking a step towards me, extended an arm, ready to usher me inside. “You’re getting wet, let’s get you back in bed.”
    “I cry in the shower,” I said, ducking around him, and out onto the balcony, into the rain.
    “What?” He turned to me, his lips set in a thin line, a muscle tensing in his jaw.
    Tread carefully , my head reminded my mouth. But it needn’t have bothered. My heart was in control now, and it was bleeding for him.
    “When I need to cry, I do it in the shower.” I pulled the sheet tighter around my body and moved to the railing, my back to him, and looked out over the water. The sea was choppy. Great foaming waves writhed on the beach far below us, its surface pebbled by the rain. “It’s hard for me to cry. And sometimes you just need to, ya know? So I cry in the shower. In there I can’t hear myself, can’t see myself, and there’s a good reason for water to be running down my face.” I laughed softly. My thinking was that if he wasn’t ready to talk, that maybe I could still help him by sharing a little of myself. Maybe that would open him up.
    He didn’t say a word.
    “I imagine it’s the same in a rain like this,” I said, wondering if I should continue. Were my words helping or harming? Should I just leave? No , I thought. Give it just a little longer. “I should try it,” I said. “It’s probably better in the rain. With the storm raging, thunder shouting, and great fat drops of water falling on your chest, it’s almost like the sky is crying with you. Maybe, if I cried in the rain, I wouldn’t feel like I was alone.”
    His hand covered mine on the railing, his body a granite wall against my back. He curled his free arm around me and pulled me to him, his lips brushing softly over my ear.
    “You astonish me,” he whispered. “I adore you.”
    My heart fluttered at his words. I twisted in his arms, looking up at him, and when his gaze locked with mine I could see he was as consumed by this moment as I was. His eyes were red rimmed and raw, his pupils great black pools so fathomless and restless, they seemed to surge and break with the waves below us. I didn’t speak, only lifted my fingers to stay the tremble in his lips. He kissed the tips, his eyes boring into mine. I was lost in him, falling. If I stared long enough I knew I’d fall apart, so I closed my eyes and pressed my face into his shirt, cold and wet and stretched thinly over his hard chest.
    “I…I’m here,” I stammered. “If you need me.”
    “Thank you,” he said. Taking me by the hand, he led me back into the bedroom, closing the door behind us so that the sounds of rain and wind were shut out, and we were blanketed in an awkward silence.
    “Oh, the power’s back on,” he said, leading us towards the light that streamed from the bathroom door.
    “Yeah, um…” I followed, my hand still in his. “It came back on a little bit ago. That’s what woke me.”
    “Come here.” He settled me in front of him and began peeling the sopping bed sheet from me. “Let’s get you warm.”
    I let him unwrap me, then stepped forward into the thick downy robe he retrieved from a hook on the wall. He attended to my comfort. He tied the belt around my waist, brushed my hair back from my shoulders, and rubbed my arms vigorously, all the while his eyes carefully avoiding mine.
    “Now, to bed, darling. I’ll join in a moment. I just want to hang the wet things up to dry,” he said, kissing me on the nose. He turned me gently towards the door with a nudge.
    I left him to it, understanding that he was rattled, and in need of a moment to compose himself. So was I.
    Snuggling