Secrets of Mine

Chapter Six - Oz

Oz's POV

I wake up to Freya screaming. Ice seizes my veins and I grab my gun off the bedside table, flicking on the light. A quick scan of the room assures me no one is here but Freya thrashes in her sleep. I put the gun back down and pull her into my arms.

"Shh, shh, it's okay."

She keeps screaming, bucking against me. I dodge a fist to the face and cup her cheek firmly. "Freya, wake up," I order, panic fizzing against my skin. I know Freya has a haunted past, but I've never seen her this way. This is worse than the flashback she had when we first met. "Freya!"

Her eyes open on a gasp. She arches into me and blinks rapidly. Her hands settle around my neck, shaking fingers gripping onto my hair. "Oz?"

"I'm here, mo leannan. You're all right."

She wets her lips. Her skin glistens with sweat and the sheets beneath her are soaked. "What happened?" She asks, breathing like she's just run a marathon.

I press my forehead to hers. "You tell me, sweetheart."

She swallows and her hands drop to my shoulders. She pushes me back and I let her, even though all I want to do is wrap her up in my arms so nothing can ever hurt her again. She drags herself up and leans back against the headboard, brushing her fingers through her tangled curls. "A nightmare, I guess."

I place a hand on her thigh, trying to give her space but still needing contact. "What happened in it?"

She drops her gaze. "I don't remember."

I pinch her chin between my thumb and fingers and lift her head up, so she has to look at me. "Freya," I warn. I don't do dark and dominating as well as River or Eli, but I can be stern if I need to be. And I know when I'm being lied to. "Was it your father?"

She bites her lip.

I lift my thumb and tug the soft pink flesh free from her teeth.

She relents. "Sort of. I think–" She glances away for a moment and I squeeze her thigh, drawing her attention back to me. "I think my mom was there."

"Oh." Despite knowing Maxwell had a daughter we never managed to find any trace of a girlfriend or a wife. Maybe she's dead but her body has never been found. It's something I dread to think about - the number of women he might have killed that we don't know about. "Do you remember her?" I ask.

Freya shakes her head. "No. Not at all."

I open my mouth to ask what happened in the nightmare, but she pulls away again, speaking before I can.

"What time is it?" She asks.

I let it go for now, not wanting to press her when she's still shaken. I reach for my phone and the screen lights up. "Five thirty. You want to try go back to sleep for a bit or get up now?

"I'll get up. I don't think I could sleep right now, not without..." She trails off, her gaze going distant as she relives whatever had her screaming. I climb out of the bed and reach a hand out for her. "Come on, let's go shower."

Everyone else is still asleep as we pad on bare feet down to the bathroom. I turn the water on hot and ease the tension in Freya's body by lifting her against the tiles and sliding into her.

"Please, Oz."

"Shh, I've got you." I rock into her with a slow and steady rhythm, bottoming out with each thrust.