She couldn’t see. Couldn’t breathe. But she had to try. She had to keep trying. Diving deeper into the darkness, fumbling to find him. To help. But she was useless. Useless against the weight, the lack of light, the burning instinct pushing her to the surface… She woke—gulping in a deep breath, her lungs screaming to burst. But she wasn’t screaming aloud. She’d not been able to scream. It had all been blocked inside. Her screams had only sounded in her head. Wide-eyed she stared in front of her, her fingers twisting on the sheet at her side. Light. It was light. Reality—the day—flashed back. Her decision to work from home. Lunch. Xander. She flinched again, then froze. He was right behind her—a furnace of heat and hardness. Oh hell. A different panic washed over her. Please, please let him still be asleep. Please don’t let him have woken when she’d stiffened as she’d woken. She didn’t want to admit to the nightmare, definitely didn’t want him to think she was a total nutjob.
