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Chapter Five
Ariella
I rubbed the sleep from my tired eyes and stumbled into the kitchen, the bright lights and wide-open blinds cast in the morning light.
I squinted.
My eyes didn’t adjust fast enough and made it difficult to see.
My autonomic nervous system sucked. I was one of the unlucky few with a disorder that doctors struggled to understand.
“Are you okay?” Jaxson’s warm voice met my ears as he wrapped his arms around my waist, steadying me.
My body melted into his embrace, his touch warm and inviting.
I didn’t want to get ready for work.
“Just my vision.” I could feel his look, the concern weighing heavily on both of us. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
The last thing I wanted was to worry him.
I wanted to climb back into bed, more specificallyhisbed, but we were careful. With Skylar visiting indefinitely and his little girl constantly inviting herself into the bedroom, I’d slept in the guest room more nights than I liked.
“Just your vision?” Jaxson repeated. “I don’t like the sound of that.” He backed me up several feet, cradling me against the cabinets.
His body trapped mine.
“Jaxson?”
He raised his right hand up to my eye level. “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked.
My eyes had already adjusted by the time he’d trapped me against the counter, but I hadn’t wanted to admit it.
I liked being pressed up tight against him, his guard down as he focused on me.
“Ariella?” He sounded worried that I hadn’t answered him fast enough.
“Three fingers,” I said. “My vision just takes a little longer to adjust than other peoples does. Bright lights or going from a dark room to somewhere bright is difficult, and heaven help me if I go back to a dark room right after.”
He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, his touch stirred a desire he fueled within me.
“What happens then?” Jaxson asked. His fingers played in my hair and slid against my neck as he held me close.
I wanted to kiss him, but we had agreed to take things slow around Izzie and Skylar, not to mention we were hiding our relationship from our work colleagues, the guys at Eagle Tactical.
“I start seeing these weird shapes, and it makes me nauseous.”
Skylar breezed into the kitchen, oblivious to the intimate moment between us. “I get those too. Auras are the worst. Well, technically the migraines are the worst, but I can’t stand when I get one of those visual trips,” Skylar said.
Jaxson untangled his hand and pulled it away before he stepped back from within my personal space.
I whimpered in protest, and he locked eyes with me.
I hated that we had to play this game, a dance of what we could and couldn’t do around others. I wanted to throw my arms around him, plant my lips on his, and not worry about who saw us or what they thought or felt. We were grown adults.
“Are you having an aura now?” Jaxson asked.
“No, I’m fine now. Thank you.”