48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

L ayla was sprawled on top of Jackson when she woke up the second morning after her traumatising walk with Diedre.

Right on top, as if she had been climbing all over his naked body in her sleep.

She didn't get off him straight away. Her head was on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. It was oddly soothing. His arms were around her back, securing her in place, and her feet were tangled with his. The warmth of his body once again sent her on a weird, secure, fluffy cloud where the thoughts in her head were just a distant, unpleasant memory. His arms felt like a cocoon. She didn't want to move.

She felt safe with him.

Despite knowing what he was, and the fact that he blamed her for being attacked, she felt safe. If that didn't say she'd been drugged, then she didn't know what did.

"Good morning."

The sound of his husky voice brought her back down to earth instantly. She lifted her head and met his alert, icy-blue eyes. He looked like he had been awake for a while, and something told her he had been watching her sleep.

She rolled off him quickly and put some space between them.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"I don't mind. You can drool on me anytime."

When she met his gaze again, there was a little smile on his face and amusement in his eyes. It made him look completely different from the cold man he usually was.

"I don't drool," she muttered, looking away again.

She remained silent while she waited to see what he would do next. Lying so close to him already had her body humming, but she couldn't think of anything worse than being intimate with Jackson now. It had been days since he'd fucked her on the table; maybe he was ready to do it again.

After all, she was only there for one thing.

"I wasn't angry with you."

The quiet confession made her look at him again, but his gaze was on the ceiling.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I couldn't control my anger with those fucking..."

His voice trailed off, and his brows furrowed as if he was getting angry all over again.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

Jackson didn't strike her as the sort of person who said that word often. It would take more than that for her to forget what had happened, but this morning, for a change, none of it struck her as hard as it had that afternoon. It felt like it had happened to someone else. Her mind had disassociated her from everything, even the stuff she hadn't been able to process before with the wolves and the growling. Strange.

But she was more than happy with that development. She needed her mind clear to escape, and being on the verge of a mental breakdown wouldn't help.

"Why don't you shower, and I'll get some breakfast. We can eat on the balcony so you can get some fresh air," Jackson said, finally turning his head to look at her.

He'd kept the balcony doors locked the whole time she'd been there, so she wasn't going to pass up another chance to map out the place to plan her escape.

"Okay."

She was glad she'd gone to sleep fully dressed because Jackson watched her every movement as she walked to the bathroom. It was weird. She didn't have to look back at him to know that. It was like her body had rewired once again that she could even sense him.

She took her time with her shower, and when she finally walked out, a nice breeze came from the open balcony door. She dressed quickly in the first comfortable thing she pulled out of Jackson's wardrobe—a pair of sweats and a t-shirt—and rushed to the balcony.

Jackson stood near the railings with his hands in his pockets, looking out over the expensive grounds of the property. She joined him before he could change his mind about her being out there. She looked down at the side where she wasn't normally allowed to go and saw... nothing. There was nothing there except big, open spaces.

She sighed and looked over at the trees in the forest again, where she could see the roof of the house she had noticed there a little clearer. It seemed that was where Jackson's gaze was.

"Breakfast is ready," Jackson said as he turned to face her.

He must have showered in one of the other million rooms in the place because his hair was still damp like hers. It was funny how she hadn't bothered with her hair since she arrived but it wasn't the frizzy mess she was used to. She'd put it down to the quality of Jackson's shampoo.

She looked back at the table that had already been set and the food covered on warmers. It smelled delicious.

Maybe it was because she'd been used to eating scraps so her sister could have her fill, but she didn't remember food ever smelling so good before, even in the hotel.

"After breakfast, I'll take you out like I was supposed to the other day," Jackson said as he helped her onto a chair.

Going out? She felt safe in the bedroom, but what if going out triggered everything again? She was about to protest when Jackson continued speaking.

"I won't leave your side for anything."

And just like that, her anxiety disappeared as if he had magically willed it away.

"Is there still a lot I haven't seen?" she asked as he poured her a mug of coffee.

"There's a whole world here, Layla, and I will show you all of it."

His voice had changed tone. Sometimes she felt like she was dealing with two different people. Maybe it was the content feeling she'd woken up with, but Jackson seemed softer, more human, as if he was being considerate of her feelings. But still, there was just something about him that screamed danger.

"What are your interests?" Jackson asked. "Maybe we can start with that."

She shrugged as she watched him load up her plate.

"I didn't get much time to do anything at home," she admitted.

"But when you did? What did you do?"

"I like to run," she answered. "I like working out. I used to try to make it to some martial arts classes, too."

Though her self-defence lessons had flown out of her head when those men had pinned her down.

"I can work out with you here," Jackson said. "Until you're pregnant, of course, then I won't allow you to lift a finger."

Jackson didn't even blink an eye when he said that last part, as if it wasn't negotiable. Maybe he would put her on bedrest the moment the doctor confirmed she was pregnant.

If she got pregnant.

As she watched him eat, she put her hand over her stomach and prayed that she wouldn't get pregnant at all. After the other day, what if her child endured the same thing because the cult would hate him or her as much as they hated the mother?

And if she were pregnant, because she had to face that possibility after the number of times she'd ended up having unprotected sex with Jackson, she wouldn't leave that child here.