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Sylus had been in the middle of a very tasteful dream about closing the deal on a fist-sized ruby when the first dregs of wakefulness began to trickle in, like the thermostat of his subconscious was suddenly turned from cozy to frigid. As his mind started to register the trickle of wrongness, he heard the first out-of-place noise.
A whimper.
Shooting up in bed, he reached blindly for his pistol on the bedside table, immediately on high alert for who or whatever was in his house. As his brain came back online, he realised that he was alone in the bed. He gently dropped the gun back into place and tugged the blankets aside, swinging long legs out of bed and moving towards the source of the noise.
As he rounded the corner of the bed, he found MC curled into a ball on the floor, face hidden in her knees, shoulders shaking with the force of near-silent sobs.
His heart sank . What had happened? She had fallen asleep in his arms, cleaned up and massaged after an intense scene. Was she dropping?
He fell to his knees with a thud, scrambling to understand what had gone wrong to lead to her being in such distress, and how he could fix it.
“Hey, hey, it’s alright my love, you’re alright. Nothing bad is going to happen, I’ve got you, hey…”
He paused, hands an inch from her skin, searching her face for any signal that contact wouldn’t be appreciated right then.
“Sweetie, is it alright if I touch you? I want to hold my favourite girl right now, but if you’d rather not I need you to tell me. Tap your hand once for no, and twice for yes. Can you do that for me? Can you let me help you?”
It took almost a minute before her response came, with two almost imperceptible twitches of her finger against her arm.
Sylus didn’t hesitate to scoop her up into his arms, manhandling her limbs so that she was straddling his waist on the edge of the bed, head tucked under his chin and his arms a vice rubbing up and down her back. Tears soon soaked into the neckline of his sleep shirt, and he manoeuvred her around to slip off the offending item of clothing, returning her into his embrace mere seconds later. The heat of his skin against hers seeped into her bones, gently releasing tensed muscles until she was nothing but a quietly sobbing puddle against his chest.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me, what happened? Why were you on the floor?”
She flinched, shaking her head and whining into Sylus’ throat, anguish evident in how her posture changed as he spoke.
“No? You don’t want to tell me? Or are you not sure?”
The more questions he asked, the more upset she became, face scrunching up in confusion and distraught.
“Ok, ok, I’m sorry, shhhh, I’ve got you. You don’t need to tell me anything, I’m right here for you love. I’ve got you, pretty girl, don’t worry. I’m right here.”
He whispered sweet nothings into her hair as his palms soothed up and down her spine.
“That’s it, let it all out sweetheart. I’ve got you, just breathe for me my love. You’re always so good for me, you can do it, follow my breathing, okay?”
Slowly, the tension started to bleed out of her again as Sylus murmured more comfort.
“You’re safe, here with me in our bed, nice and warm. I’ve got you, you’re doing so well for me now honey. We’re okay, everything is good, I’m so proud of you. You’re so precious to me, beloved, nothing will ever hurt you again. I’m here, sweet girl. Do you want anything? Water, a snack, anything else? You don’t have to speak but if there’s something you need I’d love to get it for you. We don’t even need to move, I can carry you if i have to get up. I’m not letting you go, baby. I’m staying right here with you all night. Tell me, can I do anything to help?”
Sylus cupped her cheek in his hand, pressing their foreheads together and searching her eyes for anything he could do to fix this.
MC leaned her face into his touch, eyelashes fluttering shut as his thumb stroked over her lips, tongue darting out to taste his skin as her brow furrowed.
“Oh, is that what my precious girl needs? Do you need to feel me here with you? It’s okay, baby, go ahead. I’m all yours, forever, okay?”
He slipped his thumb into her mouth, resting its weight gently on her tongue. Almost immediately, she settled, humming in appreciation as her breathing evened out, tears finally slowing.
“That’s it, I’m right here. I’ve got you. You did so well for me. You always do so well for me, my good girl. You can rest now, I’ve got you, precious thing.”
…
And rest she did.