When she lifted up on an elbow and looked down at him, his hand came up and he tucked her hair behind her ear.
When he did this, her eyes slid to the pillow beside his head and she asked, “What did Yasmin have to say?”
Jack ignored the direction of her gaze and answered honestly, his words bringing Belle’s eyes quickly back to his and they’d grown wide.
“She told me not to trust Miles.”
“She did?”
“She did,” Jack replied and he saw her head tilt in confused enquiry.
“I thought you were all close,” Belle said.
“We were, once,” Jack answered. “Yasmin’s mother was a good friend of Mum’s. They were here often. When Yasmin’s Mum divorced her Dad, Yasmin was still very young. Her Mum moved them from London down here, a few miles away. We grew up together.”
“What happened to make you not close?” Belle asked.
Jack didn’t want to talk about what happened. Not at that moment. Not when Belle’s clothes were hanging in his wardrobe, her tubes and bottles were in his bathroom and her warm, soft body was in his bed.
Instead, he slid a hand up her spine and into her hair. He cupped the back of her head and put pressure there until her lips where on his. Softly, he touched her mouth with his own then rolled so she was on the bottom and his torso was mostly on hers.
He lifted his head and told her, “It’s a long story, poppet, but it’s not for tonight. I’ll tell you some other time.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?” she queried and he smiled before he dipped his face closer to hers.
“Because, now, I’d rather welcome you to your new room.” He gave her another brief kiss before continuing, “We started the day well and it went to hell. I intend to salvage the night.”
He watched her eyes grow warm and felt her hands glide along his skin as she wrapped her arms around him.
Then she whispered shyly and very sweetly, “Okay.”
Jack smiled again before he kissed her, not briefly this time and, after that, together, delightfully, they salvaged the night.
* * * * *
Jack was dead asleep when he felt Belle’s body jerk violently against his.
Seconds later, he was wide awake when he felt her jerk again then again.
In between these jolts, she was shivering uncontrollably in his arms even though her skin felt unnaturally hot.
Quickly, Jack moved away, rolling her to her back while he called her name.
She didn’t wake and instead he heard her make a disturbing whimpering sound deep in the back of her throat.
Jack rolled to his back taking Belle with him and reached a hand out to turn on the light. Then he circled her with his arms and gave her a mild shake.
“Poppet, wake up.”
She jolted again even as her head came up, her face pale, eyes sleepy but cloudy, the look in their unfocussed depths lost and frightened.
“Belle,” Jack said softly, his hand coming up to pull the hair away from her face, “look at me, love.”
She blinked and her gaze came to his.
“You’re awake,” he told her. “You’re safe.”
Rather than be assured by his words, he felt her body trembling and watched her eyes fill with tears.