Page 105 of A Stop in Time
Smoothing back her hair that’s stuck to the sides, a crimson color from all the blood, I try like hell to piece the damn puzzle together. My voice is raspy, like it’s been raked against coarse sandpaper. “Fuck, baby. What’d you get into?”
She rears up suddenly, eyes flashing open, and hurls her body weight against me, pinning her forearm beneath my chin.
“Mac. It’s me.” I grunt out the words. Jesus, she’s fucking feisty.
Eyes blank and face expressionless, her almost robotic nature freaks me the fuck out. She presses her arm harder against my throat, still caught in the throes of whatever nightmare she’s in, and I flip her onto her back and restrain her.
“Mac— Fuck!” I barely dodge her attempt to headbutt me. “Mac!”
Pinning her body with mine, I hold her hands firmly above her head with one hand while pressing the base of my palm against her forehead. She thrashes beneath my hold, but I keep repeating, “Look at me, Mac! It’s just me, Daniel.”
As if someone’s snapped their fingers, she goes still, then blinks rapidly. Body relaxing beneath me, the haze of panic recedes from her eyes as recognition fills them. “Daniel?”
Goddammit. It’s like looking at somebody who’s been to war. Hair matted with dried blood, thick smears of it on her face and body, I don’t even want to know what kinds of bruises will be revealed once it’s all cleaned off her.
Warily, I ease my weight off her and help her sit up. She winces with the movement before glancing around and wrapping her arms around herself protectively.
“What the hell happened to you?”
I swear, she’s more unguarded in this moment than ever before, but with another blink, the walls come down.
She shakes her head slowly, averting her eyes to peer down at her hands. “I don’t know.” A crease forms between her brows. “I guess I was sleepwalking again and…fell.”
“This is a whole hell of a lot more than a fuckin’ fall, Mac.” I gesture to her bloodied hands. “You went at somebody or somethin’ with your fists.”
Nothing. Not a flash of recognition or awareness creeps into her expression. She just mumbles numbly, “I don’t remember anything.”
And the hell of it is, I fucking believe her. The look of utter confusion and disbelief is written all over her face. Not an ounce of it is forced, either.
None of this makes any goddamn sense. “How long has this been happenin’?”
She expels a breath before meeting my gaze with her troubled one. “A while.”
Christ. I sit back on my haunches, carefully gauging her while my mind races with possible explanations and reasoning.
She sleepwalks and ends up getting hurt. Badly. But there’s no trace of blood anywhere around where I found her. So, where the hell did she go while she was sleepwalking? And who the fuck would go at a woman like this in the middle of the motherfucking night?
“Sorry.” She winces and glances away. “I never know when I’ll have an episode like this, so…it’s why I don’t normally spend the night with anyone.”
I gently pick a few leaves and twigs from her hair, barely suppressing the urge to wrap her in my arms. This woman brings out a fiercely protective side of me I never realized I had. But how can I protect her when we don’t even know what I need to protect her from?
“You steady enough to get to your feet?”
She nods, and I witness the strength in her grow tenfold. Determination tightens in her jaw. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Goddamn, she’s tough. No doubt, she’s had to be, being on her own and dealing with shit like this.
I help her to her feet, bracing an arm at her back, but she’s not the least bit unsteady. She peers down at herself, inspecting her bloodstained arms and hands. “I need to get cleaned up.”
“Yeah.” That’s all I’ve got, because I’m still dumbfounded. This is what she deals with on a regular basis. Not knowing when it’ll happen, no idea where she goes, and no recollection of what happens.
Talk about a goddamn mindfuck.
She turns away, her booted feet moving quickly across the yard to disappear around the corner. I don’t move; I just stand here for another minute, scanning the area while I wrack my brain, trying to figure out what the hell happened to her.
I drag a hand over my head, my fingers threading through the longer section and pulling tight. “Think. What the fuck is goin’ on here?”
Not one damn revelation strikes me, though. I’m still at a loss when I climb the stairs, step back inside her place, and follow the sound of the shower inside.