Wholehearted by Cate Ashwood Page A

to normal, for the both of us.”
    “Fine,” Declan retorted, but really that was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want to go back to his normal life. His normal life sucked. He liked Lucas, and despite the man’s reticence to open up, the moments when his defenses weren’t up, Declan really liked him. There was something about him. Something special that shifted Declan’s world into focus.
    “I’m really tired,” Lucas said, the hinting tone in his voice heavy.
    “Okay, yeah. You should get some sleep.” Declan rolled his body from the bed and stepped across the room in the dark.
    “Good night, Declan,” he heard Lucas say from the bed. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”
    Declan’s anger melted a little at the apology.
    He slipped from the room, saying good night quietly as he closed the door behind him. He made his way to his room, reluctant to brush his teeth, still able to taste Lucas on his tongue. He stripped down and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up over him. He replayed the night’s events through in his head, gauging both his actions and Lucas’s reactions. The equation came up skewed way out of proportion. He had been an ass. It wasn’t Lucas’s fault, and he was being stubborn and pigheaded. Patience had never been his most prominent personality trait. He needed to school his impatience and wait for Lucas to become comfortable around him. They’d only been under the same roof for a few days. If he’d had someone nosing around about what happened in Texas three days after the fact, he would have gotten snarky too.
    The frustration he had felt moments before morphed into heavy guilt at his lack of understanding. Above all else, Lucas was a victim. He needed to be treated with care and understanding. Declan had gone so far into the masculine protector mode, he had forgotten about caring about how Lucas was feeling.
    He was no longer tired. He counted backward from one hundred, hoping for sleep to come before he reached one. There was no such luck. It would be a long time before he would be able to drift off.

Chapter 11

     
    D ECLAN LAY in bed for a long time trying to sleep. It was almost two in the morning before he gave up and rolled out of bed, then walked to the kitchen to make himself some tea. Lying in a dark room replaying the night over and over in his head was doing no good. If he was awake, he might as well be doing something productive.
    He picked up the blue aluminum kettle from the back burner of the stove and held the spout under the tap as he turned the faucet on to fill it. As he returned it to the stove, he clicked over the knob to ignite the burner when he heard a shout coming from Lucas’s room.
    After Declan quickly turned the gas off, he darted down the hall to the guest room. He opened the door, the light from the hallway spilling in and illuminating Lucas’s nearly naked form, which was thrashing and kicking at the blankets.
    Declan ran over to him and firmly grabbed his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up, worried that the violent spasms might tear loose stitches or jar broken bones out of alignment.
    Lucas’s eyes shot open, his pupils blown wide in fear. He had stopped thrashing, and Declan cupped his jaw, forcing their eyes to meet. “It’s okay, Lucas. You’re fine.”
    “What happened?” he asked
    “I’d hazard a guess that you were having a pretty vivid nightmare. I was worried you were going to hurt yourself.”
    “Oh, shit. Did I wake you up?”
    “No, but it wouldn’t have mattered if you did. Are you okay?” Declan asked, the concern heavy in his voice.
    “I think so.” Lucas’s voice was shaky, his breath coming in pants as if he had just run ten miles.
    Declan ran his hands down from Lucas’s face to his shoulder, feeling for any protrusion of the joint from the socket. It seemed to be in place.
    “Close your eyes, I’m going to flick on the light for a minute.”
    Declan climbed off the bed and reached over to