Be Mine, Always

chapter twenty seven

Xander’s POV~ Present Day

        I wake up to a violent shaking. When the sleep leaves my eyes, I notice the shaking comes from the small body tucked into mine, Melody. She's right where she fell asleep, her cheek against my shoulder and her fingers dig into my abdomen. Usually during the night she turns, but this night I know she's been like this all night and her nightmares have been haunting her. 

        Gently, I touch her soft cheek. "Wake up, baby. Wake up," I whisper. This doesn't wake her up and her beautiful face scrunches up in fear as a tiny tear falls down her cheek. I take her shoulders and lightly shake her, squeezing a little tighter than necessary to reach her in the thrall of her mind. "Melody, wake up," I say a bit more forcefully. 

        Melody’s gorgeous green eyes fly open and she gasps, sitting up abruptly, panting.

        She presses a hand to her chest and I notice the sweat beading her forehead. 

        I smooth my hand over her back, caressing her in circles. "I'm sorry, baby."

        "You were shot," she whispers. "Right in front of me." Her voice is soft and raspy from sleep. 

        The scar where the bullet tore through my body aches at the mention of it and my heart aches for a whole different reason.

        I sit up and pull her onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her. She still trembles and I can feel her heart pounding. 

        "It's okay baby, everything is fine." I press a kiss to her shoulder and she turns to face me, wrapping her slim arms around my neck. 

        "What if they try again? Especially now that your dad is in prison. What if your dad gets out?" Her voice shakes with unabashed terror.

        I squeeze her a little tighter, stroking a hand over her hair and down her back. "They've been searching for my dad for years. They're not going to let him go. And the others are being rounded up too. We're safe." 

        "I'm not worried about me! I almost lost you again... what if you hadn't been here to tell me the truth? I could’ve thought you were a criminal for the rest of my life..." new sobs wrack her smaller frame and I hold her tighter. 

        I have no answer for her. The lies were stupid, something I thought I had to do to protect her. She's right, I almost wasn't here to tell her the truth. "I'm sorry." That's all I can think to say. 

        The past month has been hard on us, but especially her. I know if the roles had been reversed and she had been the one shot it would haunt me for the rest of my days. We haven't heard anything from the FBI agents and the radio silence is fraying at her already tattered resolve. 

        "I don't want to lose you again, Xander. I Iove you..." her words tear bit by bit at my heart. 

        Instead of responding I press a kiss to her temple and hold her as tight as I can. Bit by bit her trembling stops as I rub continuous circles over her back. 

        All those weeks ago, when I'd learned they were going after Melody, I hadn't even considered what would happen if I accidentally got shot, I just knew I had to save her. The scariest part of being shot was hearing Melody’s sweet voice fret over me and I couldn't give her reassurance that I was still there with her. 

        Her heart steadies and pumps slowly against my chest, her body relaxing. I hate to think how she dealt all by herself when she woke from nightmares while we were apart.