Page 63 of Protected

“Chels,” Parker murmured and turned onto his back.

Her favorite part of his body was on full display though he wasn’t at the ready like usual, but that was all right. They didn’t have time for a quickie, even though it wouldn’t take long to get him ready.

“Hey, I thought you were asleep,” she said when she moved closer but frowned when realizing his eyes were still closed. Maybe he’d been talking in his…

“Chelsey!” he screamed, startling her, and she froze.

Panic clawed through her body when he kept screaming her name as he thrashed back and forth in the bed.

Whoa!

“Parker, baby wake up.” she said again as she tried to shake him awake. Normally, he was a light sleeper, but whatever he was dreaming had him deep in…

“Chelsey!” he cried out, and her heart leaped into her throat when he bolted upright in bed.

He barely missed from slamming his head into hers and was looking around frantically. Eventually he zoned in on her, and his whiskey-colored eyes met hers. They were red-rimmed, and she didn’t miss the fear she saw in them.

“Chels. Oh, thank God.” His frantic gaze traveled over her before he pulled her roughly into his arms, holding her tight enough to crack her ribs.

“Parker, you’re scaring me. Are you okay?”

She wrapped her arms around him and his body trembled against hers. His breathing was ragged, and whatever he’d been dreaming about had clearly freaked him out.

“It was just a dream,” she said, rubbing his back, hoping to help settle him. “Do you want to talk about it?” That had been more than a dream. It had been more like a nightmare.

When he didn’t respond, just continued holding her close, she kept quiet. Minutes ticked by before his breathing eventually began to slow, and he loosened his hold.

He cupped her face between his large hands and kissed her lips. “Come back to bed,” he said, and kissed her again, while ignoring her question about the dream.

“I’d love to, but I need to get to work.”

She glanced at the bedside table, noting the time. It was ten after eight. Thankfully she only lived twelve minutes from Supreme, which was a miracle within itself. It was almost impossible to get anywhere around Atlanta in that short amount of time, but she had lucked out by living so close.

“Talk to me,” she whispered, caressing his stubbled cheek with the pad of her thumb. “Tell me about the dream.”

Parker dropped back down on the pillow and reached for her hand as if afraid she’d move away from him.

“It was nothing. Just a reoccurring dream of when my mother died.”

He positioned his other arm over his eyes, which wasn’t unusual since it was often how he fell asleep. She thought about what he’d said; that the dream had been about his mother, but he’d been screaming her name.

Knowing it was a bad idea she readjusted her position on the bed and pulled the sheet up over his lower body. Then she stretched out next to him and rested a hand on his flat abs.

“Parker, you screamed my name several times in your sleep.”

He lifted his arm from his eyes and sat up slightly to look at her. “I said your name?”

“Yeah, multiple times.” She propped up on her elbow. “Tell me about the dream. Something terrified you and it had to do with me.”

He shook his head. It took Parker so long to respond, she thought he wouldn’t tell her, but then he said, “Instead of me holding my mother in my arms while she was bleeding and me begging her to wake up…it’s you in my arms.”

Yikes. No wonder he’d been shaken up. “Have you had the dream before?” she asked.

“Yeah, the first time was the night I pulled the gun on Terrance at your place. The dream freaked me out, but I haven’t had it since. Not until now.”

“What do you think it—”

“Chels, can we not do this? I don’t want to talk anymore about the dream or what it means. I’d rather make love to my sexy fiancée.”