Read Online Snowbound by Kristianna Sawyer - Free Book Online

admitted she didn’t want him to leave.
The presence of anyone soothed her frazzled nerves, but she had to
acknowledge that having him beside her brought a greater measure of
comfort than anyone else she could think of at the moment.
    His hand was gentle on her upper arm. “You
okay?”
    Beth nodded, not sure if he could see the
motion in the dark room. His flashlight, added with her phone,
still provided only meager lighting. “Why’s it so dark?” The
pathetic tone made her cringe.
    “The storm probably knocked out the main
power. The genny should kick on soon. It’s programmed to start if
primary power don’t come back within forty-five minutes.”
    She trembled, imagining being without lights
for that long. “Why the wait?”
    “Conserve fuel.”
    Beth swallowed, her throat feeling arid. “So,
you just sit in the dark for all that time, waiting?”
    “There’s candles and such.” He leaned closer,
and though his expression wasn’t visible, his tone sounded gentle.
“You don’t gotta be scared of the dark, Beth.”
    She nodded again. “I know, but it’s a bit of
a phobia.” Biting her lip, knowing he probably didn’t care, she
found herself sharing anyway. “I played hide-and-seek with some
friends when I was about six. I sneaked up to the attic and found a
great hiding place in an old trunk.” She shivered, remembering the
fear of being in that small box that had let in only a tiny sliver
of light. “The problem was, the latch was broken, and it didn’t
open from the inside. I was trapped in there for a long time.”
    He exhaled loudly. “How long?”
    She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Hours,
maybe a day. No one even realized I was missing until my mom came
home from a shopping trip.” Beth’s mouth curled. “Dad was home, but
he was too busy with something to notice. Probably my nanny.” He
took her hand in his, and she squeezed gratefully. “That’s just a
guess, but I know I had a new nanny two days later, so she was
either fired for incompetence or for being one of my dad’s affairs.
Or both.”
    Beth took a couple of deep breaths before
loosening her hold on his hand. To her surprise, he didn’t release
her, even when she tried to tug away. “Anyway, I’m fine now. I woke
up from a bad dream to all this darkness, and it made me panic.
Needlessly.” Her voice wobbled just a bit when she asked, “I
wouldn’t say no to one of those candles, if it isn’t too much
bother, before you go back to bed?”
    He let out a ragged sigh. “Of course it ain’t
too much trouble, Beth.” The bed shifted as he stretched across
her, his chest pressing against her shoulder, to reach into the
drawer of the nightstand. Holding up his flashlight, he showed her
the two candles and the lighter he’d retrieved from the drawer.
“But I ain’t leaving you like this. You’re clearly still
scared.”
    Another shiver ran through her, as though to
prove his point. “I’m not scared, Reed. Just a little rattled
still.” She didn’t exactly encourage him to leave as he lit the
candles, providing more light, though shadows still dominated the
room. She shivered again when he returned to an upright position
beside her.
    The fear had faded, and the realization that
he was in her room, with only a few layers of clothes and her
blankets separating them, hit her. Beth gulped quietly, torn
between anxiety, anticipation, and some of her lingering anger from
his earlier behavior.
    A loud crash distracted her from all her
conflicting emotions, making her cry out and cling to him, just
like some dumb heroine in one of those old scary movies. Tears
rushed from her eyes, and she couldn’t completely identify why she
was crying. All she knew was the fear from being in darkness had
left her raw and exposed. Sniffing hard, she made an effort to rein
in her emotions, certain Reed had to be uncomfortable with the
display—though he had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her
closer, instead of pushing her