Under My Skin A Stark Novel [Paperback]

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There is peace in these moments between sleep and wakefulness. In the soft minutes that seem to stretch into hours, warm and comforting like a gift bestowed by a benevolent universe.

This is a world of dreams, and right now it is safe. It is right. And I want to stay here, wrapped tight in the comfort of his arms.

But dreams often turn into nightmares, and as I move through the corridors of sleep, dark fingers of fear reach out to me. My pulse pounds and my breath comes too shallow. I curl toward him, craving his touch, but he is not there, and I sit bolt upright, my skin clammy from a sheen of sweat. My heart pounding so hard I will surely crack a rib.

Jackson.

I’m awake now, alone and disoriented as a wild panic cuts through me. I’m afraid, but I don’t remember why.

Too quickly though, it all rushes back, and as the memories return with wakefulness, I long to slide back into oblivion. Because whatever horror my mind would fabricate in dreams couldn’t be any worse than the reality that now surrounds me, cold and stark.

A reality in which the world is crumbling down around my ears.

A reality in which the man I love desperately is suspected of murder.

With a sigh, I press a hand to my cheek, my memory sharpening as I shake off the haze of slumber. He’d brushed a kiss over my cheek before slipping out of our warm cocoon and into the chilly morning air. At the time I’d been content to stay behind, snuggled tight in the blankets that still held his scent and radiated the lingering heat from his body.

Now I wish I had roused myself when he did, because I don’t want to be alone. Alone is when panic creeps closer.

Alone is when I’m certain that I will lose him.

Alone is what I fear.

And yet even as the thought enters my mind, the solitude is shattered. The bedroom door bursts open, and a dark-­haired, blue-­eyed bundle of l£"