Free Shadows by Paula Weston Page B

out. He pats it.
    ‘Don’t you have a bed?’
    ‘Sure, but the fire’s in here.’ He gives me that slow smile.
    I take a breath. I am not making a fool of myself again.
    He watches me wrestle with his offer. ‘I may have the hormones of an eighteen-year-old, but I can control myself. Unless you don’t want me to.’
    ‘What I want,’ I say, walking over to him, ‘is a night where you don’t harass me in my sleep.’ The best form of defence is attack, right?
    I lie down on the couch and pull my blanket around me, careful not to touch him. Rafa has positioned a cushion as a pillow and I jerk it forward so there’s enough for me.
    ‘Doesn’t sound like me.’ His mouth is close to my ear. ‘I prefer my women awake when I harass them.’
    ‘No, smartarse, you keep showing up in my dreams. And not those sort of dreams either. The kind where you’re cutting the heads off hellions.’
    He’s quiet for a few seconds. ‘Is that how you know about the Rhythm Palace? You dreamed it?’
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘That story, it’s like it was Jude’s version of what happened. We got there late and came in through the back door, just like you wrote, and we helped turn the tide in the fight. But you didn’t write it like he would have.’
    ‘In what way?’
    ‘Well, for starters, he would have called them hellturds, not hellions. And, secondly, he wouldn’t have noticed my aftershave.’
    I close my eyes. There’s just no way I can throw this guy off balance.
    ‘And that website—Dark Thoughts—how did you know it existed?’
    ‘I don’t know. I must have heard about it somewhere.’
    He moves around behind me, getting comfortable. ‘I figured Jude must have told you about it. He’s the only person who knows I read that stuff.’
    ‘If you fight real demons, why would you want to read made-up stories about them?’
    ‘Some of it’s hilarious. And not all of it’s made up.’
    I pull the blanket tighter around me. It’s the middle of the day at home, but I’m tired enough to sleep.
    ‘You still having those dreams?’
    ‘Not since you showed up at the bar.’
    We’re quiet for a moment. And then: ‘Why did you call me Matt?’
    ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that I know you, I realise I should have called that character Dick.’
    He laughs, and the couch shakes. ‘Honestly, Gabe, I forgot you could be this much fun.’

FILL ME WITH EMPTINESS
    Church bells wake me. Loud, clanging bells that sound like they’re inside my head. I don’t even have the brief luxury of disorientation. I know exactly where I am. Well, sort of.
    Rafa’s arm is draped over me, his body pressed against mine. There’s no way he can be sleeping through this noise, but he’s giving no signs of being awake. Maybe he’s pretending to sleep so he can keep holding me. But that kind of thinking will only lead to me feeling stupid again. Rafa’s got his own game going on here. If I had more experience with men, I could work it against him. But no matter what he says, I’m only eighteen. And while I’ve come close, I’ve never actually been with a guy. Before the accident, there were plenty of close encounters, but afterwards, I didn’t want anyone to touch me. And thenalong comes Rafa…But if what he says is true, and I’m a hundred and thirty-nine years old, then clearly I’m not a virgin.
    I’ve only been awake a few minutes and I’ve managed to tie my brain in a knot again.
    The bells finally stop. Behind me, Rafa stirs and draws me closer.
    ‘Morning, Gabriella,’ he says, his voice still heavy with sleep.
    ‘Where are we?’
    ‘Same place we were a few hours ago.’ He nuzzles the back of my neck.
    I push his arm away and sit up.
    ‘Hey.’ He grabs me. ‘Come back here and keep me warm.’
    His grip is light, so I slap his hand away and stand up. The room might be musty, but it’s a vast improvement on Rafa’s shack in Pan Beach. The walls are white and clean, and the couch looks