Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,61
And there wasn’t a door to the outside from this room, no balcony that would allow the killer to gain access to the bedroom without coming up the spiral staircase.
The odds of someone else being in the house besides him and Darby had just gone down close to zero, but he still wasn’t taking any chances. He held his gun down to his side and stood to the right of the bathroom door.
“Darby, it’s Rafe. Open the door.”
Nothing, just the sound of water running.
“Darby, I’m coming in.” Still nothing. Rafe tried the knob. It wasn’t locked. He slowly turned it, then shoved the door open and ran inside.
He shined his light around the room. Clear. No one hiding, ready to jump out at him. The only place left was the shower.
He hurried over and yanked open the shower curtain.
Darby was curled up in the tub, her eyes wide and glassy.
Rafe cursed and set his gun and flashlight on the bathroom counter. He shut off the water and crouched by the tub.
“Darby? Can you hear me?” He smoothed her wet, dripping hair back from her face, but she didn’t even flinch at his touch. She stared into space, just like she had back at the hospital. What the hell had happened to her to make her this scared of dark, enclosed spaces?
He stood and reached for his gun. He shoved it into his holster, then grabbed the towel off the rack and tucked it in around Darby. He scooped her out of the tub and cradled her against his chest, grabbed the flashlight and carried Darby into the bedroom.
He put the flashlight on the nightstand with the light shining up at the ceiling and tried to put Darby in the chair next to the bed, but she made a tiny whimper and clung to him. The lost, terrified look in her unfocused eyes had him stiffening with rage. He suddenly wanted to find whoever had hurt her in her past and tear them limb from limb.
With Darby clinging to him, he made a quick decision. To hell with being a gentleman and preserving her modesty. She was scared and shivering. He was going to hold her and keep her warm, and try to make her feel safe. She could yell at him later for what he was about to do.
He held her with his left arm, and used his right arm to put his gun on the nightstand. He raked the covers back on the bed, sat, turned and stretched out with her beside him, facing him. He pulled the covers up over both of them. The room was still dark, but with the flashlight on, there was enough light that he could see her. He stared into her vacant eyes, waiting for her to come back to him.
He used the end of the towel to gently blot her hair. Minutes dragged by. The storm continued to boom overhead. Lightning flashed against the windows.
Even with the rain cooling everything outside, with the power out and the air conditioner off, the room began to heat up. Rafe threw the comforter off them and covered Darby’s naked body with the towel.
Soon he was easing away from her, pulling his shirt up over his head. He shucked off his jeans, and would have taken off his underwear, too, except that he didn’t want to shock Darby when she came out of her trance.
He wished he’d spoken to the psychiatrist at the hospital. Rafe had no idea what to do for Darby, other than hold her.
He knew the exact moment she “woke up.” Her eyes widened and she drew in a shocked gasp as her gaze fell to his naked chest. Then she looked down at her towel, and Rafe could see the memory of what had happened coming back. Her hands flew up, covering her face. “I can’t believe I zoned out like that again. I can’t imagine what you must think of me.”
He gently but firmly forced her hands back down, holding them, until she quit trying to tug them away. “What I think is that something terrible happened to you to make you scared of dark, tight places. That’s not your fault, and doesn’t make me think any less of you.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “Thank you. And...thank you for...rescuing me from the shower.” She gave him a wobbly smile.
“How much do you remember?”
Her gaze dropped from his and she chewed her bottom lip. “Everything. I always do. Later. Once I...