Malia tossed in the bed. The grips of the dream holding on tight, strangling her in her sleep. The shadow wouldn't let go. No matter how many times she tried to cast it off, all she saw was the park again, and she could feel the air squeezing out of her.

She could smell his whiskey-soured breath. See the rotten crevices of his teeth. Feel his rough hands on her skin. See the flat coldness in his gaze.

"Malia. Wake up."

Her eyes snapped open, and she sat upright in bed. "Oh my God. Help me. He's going to kill me."

Zephyr shook his head. “You're safe. I'm here.”

She blinked rapidly, trying to bring the dark room into focus. “It—it seemed so real.”

Zephyr stood at the edge of the bed, staring down at her. "You were having a nightmare or something. You were screaming."

She scrubbed a hand down her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

His voice was soft. “About the other night?"

She nodded, her throat too constricted to form words.

His frown deepened. The streaks of moonlight seeping into his bedroom made him look harsher. Sort of like an avenging angel.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry I woke you.”

"You keep saying that. But I don't believe you. We can talk about it if you want."

Instinct told her to push away. To insist that she was fine. But she wasn't. “I just—I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there.”

He eased down on the edge of the bed. "That was a dream Malia. You're safe now. Between me and Emily, you don't have to sleep in the park anymore. No one is going to hurt you now."

Malia hesitated a moment but then reached out her hand. “Would you— could you stay with me for a while? Just until I fall asleep. I just don’t want to be alone right now."

Zephyr looked at her outstretched hand and a myriad of emotions played across the beautiful face. Concern, worry, and then longing. "Of course. Move over. King-size bed so you may not even notice I'm here. "

She nodded. "I feel safe here."

He nodded even as she scooted aside to make room for him. "Because you are safe."

Zephyr wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. She stiffened. But his voice was low, calm. "Just give me a hug. I made you a promise. This is completely platonic. I know what it's like to be completely alone and scared and worried. I think that you have no one and nowhere to go."

He was so warm, and she was tired. So damned exhausted, her eyes drifted shut. She could have sworn she heard him whisper, 'The sweetest torture.'

* * *

Zephyr woke to the scent of vanilla and berry surrounding him. Nothing in the world was better than that scent. Instinctively, he wrapped his arm around the soft, feminine waist, pulling the scent closer. His brain tried to focus on reality and wake him up. But this felt too good.

The woman in his arms moaned. And then his brain stuttered into total alertness. He knew who he was holding. Knew who was rocking her ass over his dick. Fuck. God, that felt good. Too good. But he slid his hand off her waist. But all that did was make her snuggle closer. She rolled over and lazily wrapped her arm over his neck and nuzzled closer. No. No. No.

Zephyr tried to focus. He tried not to think about the blood rushing to his dick or just who the hell he was holding. But it was impossible. Her nipples pressed into his chest. His hand smoothed over her warm, soft skin. When she mumbled something incoherent, he cursed low under his breath, and then tried to scoot away. But she whimpered, mumbling something like, "Please don't leave."

Fuck, he'd made her a promise. It didn't matter how good this felt.

"Malia. Wake up. You're driving me crazy right now."

She mumbled something else unintelligible. He couldn't help the gentle tap on her ass to wake her. With her hair tickling his nose, her lips against his neck and his hand over her ass, he was starting to think this was heaven … or hell.

And then she groaned low, fluttering her lashes against his skin. Immediately, Malia stilled. Her sharp intake of breath told him she'd registered everything that was happening.

He cleared his throat. "Relax. You were asleep. It's fine. I'm just moving my hand now and we'll head to our separate corners."

"I suppose it's too late to not be mortally embarrassed right now?"

"You were sleeping. It's cool.” The lie nearly choked him.

She glanced down at his cock, which at the present moment was poking her in the belly, insisting she give it attention.

“You sure about that?”

Fuck. “Yep. Just ignore him. He'll go away.”

She scooted backward, and he told himself he wasn't going to sneak a peek at her nipples. Tight buds pebbled under her tank top. Still hard. Still off-limits.

"You sleep okay?" he asked, deliberately shifting his gaze.

"Yeah, better than expected, I guess."

"So let's get a shower and go get some breakfast maybe? I don't have a ton of food in the house. We can order something too, if you prefer."

"It's fine. I'll just get a shower and head to campus. I have an economics class anyway."

"You're sure you're not just running?”

She shrugged. "Maybe a little. I feel awkward. Can we just pretend none of that happened?"

He nodded. “Sounds like a good plan." Except he knew he was never going to be able to forget.