Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 316

Ethan:

Her breathing had evened out.

I didn’t even count how long it took for her to get some rest, but I was glad that she finally got some sleep.

Delilah lay curled on the couch beside me, one hand resting lightly over my knee, the other tucked beneath her head. The fireplace crackled softly in front of us, casting flickering shadows over the scars on her skin, some healing, some still fresh. I hated that I knew the difference by now.

Around my fingers, through her hair, gently massaging her scalp. She sighed in contentment as she slept. But I also knew that she was not fully asleep.

She looked peaceful. Almost. But I could tell by the little twitch of her fingers that she was ready to fight. That she was just pretending to be asleep. That she was just embracing the moment. And I knew that she just didn’t want to ruin the moment. She wanted to be by my side and wanted me to hold her in my arms. And I would be more than willing to do so.

“I know you’re awake,” I murmured, brushing a lock of hair from her cheek. “You really tend to fail at pretending to be asleep.”

Her lips twitched. “I was trying to fake it. Thought I was doing a decent job. It seems to me that I did not do a good job.” “You were,” I said. “Except for the way you’ve been tapping your fingers like a codebreaker waiting for orders. And the fact that you’re breathing, though evened out, your posture is a little too tensed up, your sign in contentment as well.”

Her eyes opened slowly, and they were softer than I’d seen in days. “Habit. But for me to sigh in contentment, now that was something new for me.”

“Survival.” I said, and she smiled. “But I’m glad that regardless, you’re finding a little peace and staying with me.” “You are the one person that I can say that I feel safe or peace around. Though I might not say it much, but it is true.” Her words took me off guard, and looking down at her, I found myself staring, not knowing how to answer.

We sat in silence for a moment. I didn’t need to fill the quiet. Not with her. Her presence was enough, sharp and steady and chaotic in all the right ways.

“You’re not afraid of me anymore,” she said after a while. “You’re no longer avoiding talking to me. I don’t know how serious you are about it, or if it just is a method for you to try and make things right…”

I looked down at her. My softened as I saw the insecurity in her tone, in her eyes, and in the way that she looked away from me. “I never was. As for trying to make things right, I’m going to be willing to do so until my last breath.”

“You were. Just a little. You doubted my presence and you didn’t really like it.”

“Maybe I was afraid of how much I’d care. I was afraid of getting attached to you.” I let the words hang in the space between us. “And what it would mean if I lost you. I know that it doesn’t make sense to you, but the way that I feel for you right now, I don’t know if I ever felt it before.”

Her brow furrowed, but she didn’t pull away this time. “Ethan…”

“I know.” I leaned back, letting my arm rest behind her shoulders. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m not asking you to. I just… I like this. You here. Me not bleeding for once. You letting someone hold you without trying to stab them. Without trying to push me away again and again. I’m willing to fight for you, but sometimes I just need to know that I’m not fighting alone, that you want me to fight for you.”

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