“Who was it?”

I close my eyes and force the name out, “Mistress Westbrook.”

I hear River gasp and then the weirdest thing happens. She gets up and falling to her knees beside my chair she grabs hold of my hand. “Look at me, Jack!”

My eyes meet hers and I see them shimmer. I don’t understand why she’s sad.

“That woman is pure evil. Did she use those bands on you?”

I nod. River gets up and she shoves a hand behind her neck, looking flustered and angry. “That bitch!” Her eyes come back to me and she says pleadingly, “That had to be so awful for you but please, Jack, you have to know that it’s not your fault. You did nothing wrong!”

A tear rolls down her cheek and I get up. I walk closer to her and looking down at the tear rolling over her chin, I ask, “Why are you crying?”

She takes my hand and holds it in hers. I like it when she holds my hand. “I’m crying because I’m hurting for you, Jack. I wish I could have saved you from all the horrors you’ve seen and were made to endure.” She drops my hand and then her arms go around my waist and she presses her face into my chest. At first my body stiffens, but then she whispers, “I’m crying because I care about you and I hate to see you feel ashamed for something that was outside of your control.”

I lift my arms and for the first time since Momma died, I hug someone because I want to and not because I was told to do so.

~*~

Chapter Twelve

River~

In the early hours of the morning I’m woken by someone screaming. I throw the covers back and run out of my room. Some of the doors open and one after another heads pop out to see what’s going on.

“Get back to bed!” I snap and then I open Jack’s door. I close it behind myself and switch on the light. I rush over to his bed. I sit down next to his thrashing body and shake his shoulder. “Jack, wake up!”

Another scream tears from him and it instantly brings tears to my eyes.

“Jack,” I shake him harder. “Please wake up!”

His whole body jerks and then he shoots up. Our bodies collide hard and his arms go around me. He holds me with a death grip, his face buried in my neck. I can feel his tears wetting my skin and it makes my own fall.

“It’s okay,” I hold him tightly, offering him all the strength I have. “It was just a dream, Sweetheart. You’re safe.”

He shakes his head and then chokes out, “It wasn’t a dream, River.”

He just said my name! My happiness is short lived when he sobs, “I keep seeing it. I keep seeing them burn Momma.”

“Oh no!” I pull him back so I can see his face. “Jack, they made you watch?”

“It was right before they put me with the other slaves. I thought she was sleeping, but she had died during the night. Cameron and his guards came in and took her. They burned her body. I tried to save her.” He lifts his left hand and I see the faint burn marks.

“I’m so sorry, Sweetheart.” I pull him into a hug again and just hold him.

His voice is muffled against my neck as he whispers. “I saw you tonight. They were burning you.”

“That will never happen!” I press a kiss to his ear and whisper, “We’re safe here, Jack.”

We sit for a while longer when I pull away. “You need to try and sleep some more.”

I get up and switch the light off, when Jack whispers, “Will you stay with me?” I hear him hesitate. “Like you did the night of the party. That was nice.”

I walk back to his bed and crawl in next to him. It’s a single bed so there’s not much space.

“We had a huge bed to work with that night.” I pull his arm around my shoulders and place my head in the crook of his shoulder. I have to press close to him so I don’t go falling off the side.

Jack turns on his side and both his arms go around me. The lengths of our bodies are pressed tightly against each other, and his chin is resting on top of my head.

We cling to each other until we fall asleep.

~*~

Jack keeps having those nightmares and it keeps waking everyone. At dinner I decide to approach the subject carefully.

“Do you have the nightmares often?”

He nods and then says, “Sometimes they aren’t as bad.”

“I was thinking,” I push the peas around in my plate not sure I should ask, but then I throw caution to the wind, “do you want to share a room with me?” He looks at me with a dark frown and I hope I didn’t just ruin all the progress we’ve made. “I mean just to sleep. I have to get up when you have a nightmare and that way I’ll be right there. It’s just to sleep and so you won’t be alone at night.”

A smile tugs at his lips and it makes him look gorgeous. He’s healed a lot in the three weeks he’s been here.

He looks at my plate and then says, “Are you going to have your peas?”

“Ahh …” I look down at my plate and then shake my head, “No, I don’t like them.”

“I don’t like the lemonade that much. I’ll swap you.”

My mouth drops open. “But you’ve been drinking it for weeks!”

“You gave it to me.”

I quickly take his glass of lemonade and place my plate in front of him, then I get up and pour him a glass of orange juice. “Wait, do you like OJ?”

“Yes,” he nods excitedly. “Very much.”

I place the glass in front of him and then drink the lemonade. When we’re done with dinner and we get up, I nervously ask, “So you’ll be sleeping in my room tonight?”

He nods again before he leaves the kitchen.

I need some alone time to get over the nervous feeling fluttering inside my chest. I have no reason to be nervous around Jack. I run to get my shirt and shorts I sleep in and quickly duck into the bathroom. I take my time in the bath, shaving and washing my hair.

I get out of the bath and towel myself dry and then smear some body lotion on. Midway with my left leg I freeze. Why did I shave? I only shave once a week, because I never cared what I look like before.

I look in the mirror and for the first time ever I wonder how others see me. Am I pretty to them?

~*~

When I come out of the bathroom, Jack’s sitting on the side of the bed. He quickly stands and runs his hands over the front of his thighs. It’s a nervous habit he has.

The first night I slept with him, I found out that he sleeps in the nude. I made him wear boxers the following night.

I walk closer and look over his legs. There are still lots of scabs, but their shrinking every day.

“You’ll be as good as new in no time,” I say and then I throw the covers back. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Jack. If you want to sleep here then get in, if you would rather sleep in your room then go sleep there. You always have a choice.”

He looks around the room and then says, “Your room is very purple.”

I start to laugh at his statement. “I like purple. Not dark or overly bright, but a soft purple. It’s actually more a violet than a purple color.”

He gets under the covers and moves closer to me. I reach over and put the lamp off just in time, when Jack takes hold of my hips and pulls me right against his body.

“The bed is big. We don’t have to lie so close to each other.” I don’t want him to feel pressured in any way.

He places his chin on top of my hair, and his arms wrap tightly around me. “I like sleeping like this.”

~*~

Chapter Thirteen

Jack~

Over the weeks I’ve fallen into a routine of some sorts. Every day I have brunch with Miss Ella and Sophia. In the late afternoon I have my writing and reading lessons and then dinner with River. I don’t talk to the others much. I get to see Sophia at brunch, so we catch up then.

Sometimes I’ll run into Adam and he’ll ask me how I’m doing, but other than that we don’t talk. I’m glad everyone is leaving me alone.