“No, this just won’t do,” he whispered, bending over her,brushing her hair away from her face. She really was lovely tobehold. It was no wonder he was all out of sorts. All he knew atthat moment was he couldn’t let her spend the night on that chair.It couldn’t be comfortable and she would be in no shape to take onthe sights tomorrow.
With a sigh, hepulled aside the coats and very gently plucked the girl from thechair. She didn’t wake and he was glad of it. His only intentionwas to place her down on the bed. Once he’d done that, he thenhopped over her and made himself comfortable. Turning on his side,facing her, he leaned up on his elbow and watched her. He should bemore upset, but truth be told, he had long gotten over it. Whateverher reasons for attaching herself to him didn’t matter, except forthe fact that he was very curious. Curious to know the mystery thatwas Gwen Mathewson.
As if sensinghis eyes on her, she stirred awake. For a moment, she didn’t knowwhere she was and he smiled at the look on her face. Then suddenlyshe panicked and the tiniest of whimpers escaped her lips. He couldtell she was frightened by the way she tensed and searched thedarkness for something familiar.
“Right here...” He placed a hand on hers.
“Crispin?”
“Who else?” He chuckled, amused at her confusion. “Go back tosleep.” He rested his head down on his pillow while lazily undoingthe belt of her robe. When she tensed but didn’t protest, he partedthe robe and helped her off with it. “Might as well getcomfortable.”
At first, Gwenthought she was dreaming, but Crispin was way too real to be adream. She quite happily complied with him, pleased he was nolonger angry. At least, that’s what she believed since he’d kindlyplaced her in bed. After discarding the robe, she rested back andwaited to see what he might do next. When he didn’t make a move,she turned and for reasons unknown, she wrapped her arm aroundhim.
He tensed andtore her arms from around his neck. “Do not cling to me!” he hissedangrily, startling her in the process.
At hisunexpected reaction, she flinched and backed away from him,suddenly scared, and embarrassed. Should she get up? Should she goback to the chair? Seconds later, he was once again right by herside, a sorrowful look in his barely visible eyes.
“Aw... come here.” He then tugged her close and adjusted her soshe lay with her back to him, his arm wrapped around her middle.“Okay?” he murmured into her ear.
She could onlynod thoughtfully. So clinging to him was off limits, yet he wasquite all right with holding her? She supposed it could be worse.We all have our quirks, she thought with a sigh. Too tired to dwellon it, seconds later, she once again fell asleep.
Hours later,perhaps only two or three in the morning, Gwen awoke unable tosleep any longer. Must be the jet lag, she thought to herself. Shewould have gotten up if it were not for Crispin’s tight hold onher. Then again, she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else at thatmoment. She was safe and warm... yet so far away from home and allthings familiar.
Once again, theidea of having come alone seemed so ridiculous. How many timeswould she have lost her mind had it not been for Crispin? Just theidea of being there on her own started her heart racing.Unfortunately, her anxiety had a way of creeping up on her in thestrangest of places, in bed being one of them. In her mind, shepictured it all over again only this time she was on her own. Whata nightmare! She would never have survived the plane let alone thetrain ride or the endless staircases. She visualized dropping hersuitcase, to then watch it knock people over as it careened to thebottom of the steps. It didn’t make sense to dwell on what neverhappened, yet she couldn’t get the visuals out of her mind. What ifit had? What then? By now, she was practically hyperventilating.She didn’t want to wake Crispin and that only made her worrymore.
“What’s the matter?” he murmured groggily, tugging her closerinto his chest. He was still half asleep but he felt her heartbeating and her erratic breathing pattern. Thinking it was hisdoing, he relaxed his grasp and started to pull away. “Am I holdingyou too tight?”
“Not tight enough,” she gasped, grabbing his hand and placingit back on her belly.
Well now, thatgot his attention and suddenly he was wide awake in more ways thanone. If it were not for her excessive trembling, he would have beenon her like a bear on honey. Drawing himself closer to her, herested his head on his elbow and spoke softly into her ear. “Whatcan I do for you?”
She wasclinging to his arm so tightly, she couldn’t even answer at thatmoment. Her irrational mind was all over the place. Gwen would beever grateful for what he did next. He rolled her onto her back andclimbed on top of her, nudged her legs apart and rested his weighton her. He took hold of her hands and pressed them down either sideof her face, trapping her in place. He then watched her... for thelongest time without speaking. He just watched her.
A moment later,she let out a heavy sigh and felt herself relax as if the heavenlyweight of him cancelled out the weight of all her worries. At thesound of her sigh, Crispin relaxed his grip on her hands withoutreleasing them. He brushed his cheek against hers and whisperedinto her ear, “Talk to me, Gwen. Tell me what just happened.Wanting me here is more than just you needing an escort, isn’t it?”He then slowly rolled off of her and positioned himself at her sideawaiting an answer.
“Fear...” she said without hesitation. “Of the unknown, theunrehearsed.”
“I don’t understand,” Crispin said, placing his hand down onher belly once again. For whatever reason, it’s where he felt itneeded to be and from the look
