✓ HIS ENIGMA| JAY

43- demons ²

Demons inside my head

Her body was afire, her limbs scorching as she thrashed against layers of cloth holding her down. She felt hands, all over, prodding along her legs, fingers digging, searching. A bolt of alarm shot through her as she tried opening her eyes.

They were so heavy, a black heady cloud kept her motionless, unable to respond. She drifted in and out of oblivion, struggling against the hands moving over her heated flesh.

Her mouth felt raw and dry, as if sand had been poured down her throat but the scream came easily to her.

Her body arched on its own accord, thrashing against the hands to hold her firmly in place.

Confusion and fear collided within her mind as her eyes flailed in a feeble attempt to ward off her many attackers.

"It's okay. I am here." That voice, so dark yet beautiful like black velvet came to her, calming her fears. She felt that familiar strength wrap around her, pulling her close against something solid and warm.

She wanted to fight, fearful that her demon would come for her, its obsidian eyes and wicked sneer revealing its malicious intent.

She would never be safe.

l am here. The voice had said. Her fear lessened with the reassuring notion that her savior had returned, that no harm would come to her so as long he was near.

He moved and settled on the mattress beside her and reached out to brush a dark strand from her face. As if sensing his touch, she turned her cheek into his palm.

She had been having nightmares since the day she came they saved her for two days, her body fighting a fever that would not submit. Her mouth parted on a gasp and Jay stiffened as her head jerked against the pillow.

Beads of perspiration gathered along her forehead,bbathing her throat and chest. Cursing under his breath, Jay swept to his feet and moved towards the door.

He moved forward and gently seized her flailing arms, pressing them down at her sides to cease any further movement. Her skin burned beneath his fingers as she arched against the  pillows, her mouth parting.

Tatiana. Her eyes jerked open, remembering their moment beneath the terrace. She groaned as she turned her head on the pillow, eagerly pushing pass the fogey haze. Why was she clouded? Why couldn't she think straight?

Felix!

"No!" she gasped. She bolted upright in bed as her eyes moved warily around the remnants of the darkened room, suddenly aware of every shifting shadow. Had he found her?

Everything was so terribly clear. Felix had
found her! She could feel his touches on her, his screams filling her head.

Tat pressed her lips firmly together against the bile rising in her throat as her stomach churned with dread. Her hair fell over her shoulder as she jerked on the layers of coverlets

.

She reached out to grip the post of the canopy, surprised that her legs were unsteady as she gathered to her height. She whimpered as a tear streaked her face. No, she could not register the thought. If he knew where she was, he had found her.

Her knees threatened to buckle and she graspednthe post to steady her balance as she clenchedbher eyes shut against the wave of vertigo.

The tears came flooding in a rush of panic for she couldn't fight him in this weakened condition. She was defenseless.

Tat braced herself for the attack and stiffened with shock as something warm and solid slipped beneath her back and legs liífting her effortlessly. She stiffened in the solid arms wrapped securely around her and twisted
against the masculine chest, frantic and afraid.

"Easy, it's okay. It's just me Jay." That voice. She knew that voice and the relief that flooded through her was so immaculate that she began to cry, not from fear but from the realization that she was safe, safe and with Jay.

Jay settled her on the bed, clearly taken aback by the fear in her eyes and the tears that streaked her pale face. She trembled beneath his hand as he reached up to push her hair from her face and she turned her head away to shield her eyes, to hide the tears that kept coming. His jaw tightened.

Felix. The name came to him along with the tide of fury. She had uttered the name many times. He realized just how she was still horrified by the idea of Felix hurting her and kidnapping her.

He continued to stroke her hair, loving the way the silken tresses easily slid through his fingers.

His eyes drifted over her and realized in her fall the chemise had drifted lower, revealing a smooth creamy shoulder and the soft skin underneath.

He felt a groan in his throat and he shifted his eyes from the beautiful skin that had tempted him every night this past days.

"What frightened you Tat?" his voice coaxed her to look at him. When she turned her head, he was struck by how lovely she was in that moment.

Her large eyes rimmed in thick, feather lashes wet with her tears, and he resisted the urge to lean down and kiss the tears from her eyes.

She said nothing but just looked at him. He reached out to trace her lower lip and she jerked from his hand.

Jay shook his head, "I would not hurt you, Tat."

She wanted to believe him, so desperately she did. She had been so naive to let her guard down.

She had allowed herself a moment to
trust a man and it had nearly cost her, her life. Jay had come close to finding her. He saved her she can trust him, she should trust him.

Mumbling "I'm okay," she turned and made herself in his arms, the arms where she feels safe and warm. The arms where she feels home.

...