found attractive. He’d just held her, content that she felt safe.
His phone buzzed on the coffee table, and he glanced at the screen as he picked it up.
“Hey Raptor. Is everything all right?”
“Yep,” his team leader said. “Ghost told me what happened earlier. Clarissa used to have panic attacks sometimes when she first got back. She said she could talk to Kim about them.”
Ethan nodded. “Yeah, it might be good for her. Hailey’s coming over tomorrow, but she didn’t deal with exactly the same thing.”
“All right. Talk to Kim in the morning and shoot me a text. We’ll set up a time.”
“Does dinner work?” Ethan asked. “Ghost and Hailey are coming, but you guys are welcome.”
Raptor chuckled. “And the rest of the team? They want to see for themselves that Kim is okay now that we’re back in the States.”
Ethan smirked. Yep. That sounded like his buddies. Plus, they’d been ribbing him about Kim all week. “I’ll check with her. I don’t want to overwhelm her with the entire team showing up.”
“I understand. Let me know, and we’ll plan something. Talk to you later.”
Ethan said goodbye, shaking his head. The last time they’d all been together, they’d gotten word they were headed out on a mission the next day to rescue Kim. And now she was here. She’d met all his teammates, but he didn’t want to freak her out if she’d prefer just seeing Hailey and Ghost tomorrow night.
He turned down the light in the living room, pausing as he heard Kim mumbling in her sleep. He didn’t want to intrude, but she sounded agitated.
“No,” she whimpered. “Leave me alone. Don’t hurt me!”
Her shriek tore his heart out, and he was moving without thought into the guestroom. “No!” she wailed again, thrashing in the sheets as he moved closer.
“Kim,” he said in a low voice. “Kimberly!”
She cried out but sat up, shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks. He could barely see her in the moonlight, but the sound of her crying was like a knife to his gut.
“It’s okay,” he said softly, sinking down onto the bed and pulling her into his arms. “It’s Ethan.” It was only after he’d pulled her close that he realized he didn’t have a shirt on. He felt her tears on his bare chest, and his heart broke.
She clung to him, nestling closer, even as she apologized. “Oh my God. It was so real. I thought I was there again! I couldn’t move and they just—” She cut off, sobbing.
“It’s okay,” he said soothingly. “You’re okay. And you didn’t wake me. I was just locking up.”
“I want you to hold me,” she said, and he obliged, lying down on the guest bed with Kim in his arms. She was smaller than him, and he pulled her close, curling his larger body around hers. His arm went protectively over her chest, between her breasts as he held her tightly. He felt her hair tickling his chest, and he brushed his lips against her head.
“Shhh,” he soothed as she cried. “I’m right here. I won’t let you go.”
He held her tightly, murmuring soothing words as her tears eventually slowed. She still trembled in his arms, and pulled the blankets up over them, trying to calm her. It broke his heart to hear her like this, and he hated that the only thing he could do was hold her. He’d love to take her fear and pain away if he could. For a man used to charging in to dangerous situations, using bullets and sheer strength to fight the bad guys, he hated that her demons were ones that couldn’t be fought with those means. He’d hold her for as long as she needed, but he wished he could do something else to make it better for her. To make everything she’d suffered through just go away.
“Ethan,” she said, clutching onto his arm.
“I’m here, sweetheart. I’m right here. Go back to sleep if you want. I’ll hold you all night.”
***
Kim stirred as she awoke the next morning, sunlight beaming in through the window. She was warm and safe, and she’d slept more soundly than she could ever remember. She felt a muscular, hard body at her back, and before she could freak out, Ethan was already soothing her.
“It’s just me. You asked me to stay,” he said quietly.
“Right, sorry,” she said, rolling over to face him. She could still feel the heat from his body and almost scooted back to snuggle against him again. She