I felt the wetness of my tears on my face. I quickly wiped at them before she could see me and then ran my hand soothingly over her head and began whispering to her that I was here. I had her and that she was okay.

“Woods?” she choked out in a sob and continued to hold onto me just as tightly as I held her.

“Yes, baby, I got you. You’re okay,” I said softly against her ear.

The tension in her body eased and she melted against me with a deep sigh. “I think my dream just got better,” she mumbled and laid her head against my chest.

I sat there waiting for her to say more but she didn’t. She stayed curled up in my arms and within seconds her deep even breathing confirmed that she was sound asleep.

I eased back onto her bed and she kept her hold on me. I let go long enough to pull the covers over us then wrapped her up in my arms again and let my eyes close. She was okay. She was safe.

Della

The warmth and delicious smell of Woods hoodie was stronger than it had been when I’d fallen asleep. I snuggled closer and the hard body and arms wrapped around me caused me to pause. I took another deep breath and realized that it wasn’t Woods’ hoodie I was smelling. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Woods’ stubbled chin. He was in bed with me. He was also fully clothed. So was I. I thought back to last night and I was positive I’d gotten in bed by myself.

“Good morning,” his sexy deep voice said startling me. His eyes were still closed.

“Um… good morning,” I replied, watching him. A smile tugged on his lips and he opened his eyes and moved his head so he was looking down at me.

“You feel real good in the mornings,” he said, slipping his hand around my waist.

He did too. But where did he come from?

“Uh, thank you. Um, what are doing here?” I asked.

The humor in his eyes was replaced by something else. I wondered if I had hurt his feelings. Had I forgotten something? Was I blacking out now? Oh God…

“I came over last night after you went to sleep,” he said.

Relief swamped me. I hadn’t blacked out and forgotten something. I was okay. But why had he come back?

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to be here when you had a bad dream. I should be the one holding you, not Tripp.”

Understanding slowly dawned on me and I began to pull away from him. His arms tightened around me and I couldn’t move. “Don’t,” he said simply. “Let me finish.”

I stayed still in his arms. My body was completely stiff. He had been here to see my crazy. Had he seen it? I hadn’t woken up. Was he leaving me now? Did he see just how insane I was? I hated Tripp. He had told him. He’d seen us together yesterday and warned him that I was crazy.

“Tripp was worried about my intentions with you. He came to my office yesterday to talk to me about it before he caught us in there together. He wanted to see how serious I was where you were concerned. He was there to warn me off. I convinced him that I was more serious about you than I had ever been about a girl and he told me about your bad dreams. I wanted to be here. I couldn’t stand the idea of him holding you. Of you going through that and me not being here for you. Don’t be mad at me, sweetheart. Please, I don’t want you ever to sleep without me beside you again. I can’t stand the thought of you dealing with that alone.”

Tears swam in my eyes and I buried my face in his chest and let out a small sob. His words were so sweet and honest. He’d been here. He’d seen me and he wanted to be here again. Why? Did it not scare him?

“Don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you cry. I just want to make you happy.”

His words wrapped around my heart and I knew in that moment I had fallen in love with Woods. It might be stupid for me to love anyone but I did. I loved him. I couldn’t tell him though. He didn’t know everything about me and telling him I loved him was unfair. But I did. I loved him so much.

I wiped the tears from my eyes before looking at him again.

“Why do you want to stay near me? You’ve seen how messed up I am. Why aren’t you running?”

Woods cupped my face in his hand and he pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Because of this. You don’t understand why anyone would want you. Do you have any idea how many Angelinas I’ve known? They expected attention and devotion. They used their beauty to control. But you… you have no f**king clue how unbelievably beautiful and desirable you are. You’re not calculating and selfish. And you make me want to be better.”

I was completely sunk. This man had the power to destroy me. I moved over him and straddled his lap. I reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head before pulling his hoodie off me. I wanted to feel his skin against mine.

I pressed my bare chest against his and moaned from the pleasure. His chest was rising and falling hard and his hands tightened on my waist. But he didn’t move. He let me do this. I pulled back enough to brush my ni**les across his hard pecs as I watched our heated skin touch.

“Baby,” he growled as his hand squeezed my waist.

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off our chests. I arched forward and ran my ni**les over his. The swift breath he sucked in through his teeth made me smile.

“Amazing,” he replied.

I loved him. I let that sink in as I ran my hands over his wide shoulders and down his arms. I wanted to kiss him everywhere. I wanted to know his body better than my own.