Read The Cabin: Chloe's Story (Book Two) (The Cabin Novellas) for Free Online Page A

doorway.

Seven
     
    Ben
     
    I woke to the sound of heavy breathing, gasping, and panting. I sat up, the firsts rays of morning light creeping into the room via the window. The noise came again, sounding muffled as if coming from the other side of the wall. The pain in my head had gone, and I shook it from left to right, trying to shake off my deep sleep and get my bearings. Where was I? The hotel room. Yes, I remembered now. Chloe and I were on the way to some cabin she had booked in the Cumbrian Mountains. I had my own mountain to climb and that was the report I had to get finished before Monday morning and my return to work. How had she ever persuaded me to go with her? She had threatened to leave me. That was how she got me to leave the work behind.
    The sound of moaning and groaning came again and I looked about the room, still feeling half dazed. It was then I saw Chloe lost amongst the bedding beside me as she twisted and turned, as if lost in some violent dream. I peeled back the duvet to find her covered in a glistening coat of sweat. Her eyes were tight shut and she wriggled from side to side like a snake. She gasped, frowned, then murmured again. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I shook her gently awake.
    “Chloe, what are you doing?” I whispered in her ear. “What are you dreaming about?”
    Gasping, she snatched my hand away and shot up. For a moment she sat staring at me, a blank look on her face. She swallowed hard and gazed about the room, looking lost and confused.
    “Chloe, what’s wrong?” I asked.
    Breathing deeply, she pulled the duvet up, covering her breasts. Reaching out, I mopped the sweat from her brow with the back of my hand. Although she was sweating, Chloe’s skin felt cold and clammy.
    “Were you having a nightmare?” I asked her.
    Glancing about the room, as if looking for someone, she nodded slowly.
    “What was it about?” I pushed softly.
    “Can’t remember,” she whispered, looking back at me.
    “Well, whatever it was about, it was just a dream. There’s no need to feel scared,” I told her.
    Slowly, Chloe swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, dragging the duvet behind her like a long white robe.
    “Where are you going?” I asked.
    “To pee,” she said, still sounding half asleep. She closed the bathroom door behind her.
    Shrugging, I crossed the room and switched on the kettle. I dropped a couple of teabags into two cups and added milk and sugar. Sitting back on the edge of the bed as the kettle started to boil, I couldn’t help but wonder if coming away to the cabin that Chloe had booked was a bad idea. I thought of the work I had to do before Monday morning, and even thinking about it made my stomach knot in dread. But I knew I couldn’t turn back now, however much I wanted to. I knew that Chloe would leave me if I did, and I desperately didn’t want that to happen. In some respects, I felt like I was trapped. I wanted to do the right thing by Chloe, but there was also my career, and both of them went hand in hand. No career, no future for Chloe and I.
    I heard the toilet flush, then the shower started to run. I looked across the room at the closed bathroom door. How long had it been since Chloe and I had stayed in a hotel room together? How long had it been since we had been away together? Three years ago? Perhaps four? I couldn’t be sure. But one thing I could remember was the last time we’d stayed in a hotel together, I had crept into the shower with her. Chloe’s back had been turned towards me, and she hadn’t heard me creep in at first. I had squeezed some shower gel into my hands, then slipping my arms about her, I had slowly started to soap her breasts. We had ended up making love against the shower wall like a couple of horny teenagers. But that seemed like a lifetime ago. I looked back at the bathroom door and pictured Chloe in there alone, water running down the length of her body as she gently washed herself. I imagined her pert