Dungeon Games (Masters and Mercenaries #6.5)(25)

“No. Fucking no.” He grunted the words quietly.

Poor baby boy. Her heart ached for him because she understood. She might not know the hows and whys, but she hurt for him.

“Derek, sweetie, wake up.” She reached down to press her finger to Derek’s chest in hopes of waking him.

His hand shot out, caging her wrist, dragging her down. “No. Fucking no. No. No. No.”

And she was dragged into his Hell. Which would be horrible if she wasn’t so competent. She immediately twisted her wrist and dragged her hand away from the big bad Dom.

He seemed to struggle with that. He sat straight up and turned her way, his body aggressive in his pursuit of her. His hand came out, capturing her wrist again and dragging her toward him.

“You don’t get to kill me. Do you know what I’ve f*cking been through? Do you think I’ll let you have me?” His voice was like gravel, like he hadn’t had a drink in weeks.

What had he been through? She knew he’d been stationed in Afghanistan at the beginning of the war.

He needed her. That much was clear. He needed her strength. He needed someone who understood how shitty it had been, not someone who cried and hoped he woke up.

“Derek.” She used her best alpha voice.

Derek reached up and grabbed her throat. He was damn f*cking serious. She felt every inch of his will.

“No.” His hands closed around her.

And she decided to put him on his ass.

Karina dragged him up. She wasn’t stupid. She had a few minutes of adrenaline rush plus good training to know how to save herself. She knew just how to work him. She pulled and pushed until he was on the floor in front of her. She took a deep breath as she looked down at him.

“No.” Despite the fact that he’d fallen, he was still insistent. He reached up for her. He clawed to get to her. He was determined that she not get away. She let him grasp her wrist, knowing she could free herself at any moment. She had the upper hand. She was fully conscious. She truly understood where she was and he was fighting demons he saw in his nightmares.

“Come on, Brighton. It’s time to wake up.” She started to squeeze his hand, gently trying to bring him out of the nightmare.

And she found herself on the floor. The big guy was strong even in his sleep.

“No.” He held her down with his body, his weight making a cage she couldn’t easily break. His chest was against hers.

“Brighton, I don’t want to hurt you.” But she was beginning to think she would have to.

His hand moved to her throat and his eyes were open now. There was a vacancy in them that disturbed her. He was staring down at her, but obviously not seeing what was right in front of him.

“Hush. You have to be quiet. You have to f*cking shut up. You know they’re right outside.”

“I’ll be quiet.” She needed to calm him down. She wasn’t really afraid of him. Her knee was in the proper position to wake him up very quickly if she had to, but she preferred to help him. He might hold it against her if she shoved his balls into his body cavity.

His head came low. He spoke right into her ear as though he was terrified someone would hear him. “They’re right outside that door. You can’t make a sound. I know it hurts, but you can’t imagine what they’ll do to you if they catch us. I’m going to get you out of here, Jones. I’m going to get you back to your family but you have to be quiet.”

His hand slowly came up, about to cover her mouth. She couldn’t be sure what would happen next, but she knew she had a shot at changing the script playing out in his head. She was betting Jones wasn’t female.

She brought her mouth to his, catching him in a kiss.

His head immediately came up, his eyes flaring. “What the hell?” He stared down at her, obviously back to his normal, taciturn self. “Karina? What are you doing?”

She bit back a giggle because she wasn’t sure how he thought she’d managed to get underneath him to “do” something. “Welcome back to the real world, Brighton. That was a hell of a dream you were having.”

He shook his head and finally managed to roll off her. “I was dreaming about something that happened a while back.” He shoved a hand across his hair. “Did I hurt you?”

Karina moved toward him. It was instinctive, she told herself. She comforted people and Derek was obviously in need. It had nothing to do with how much she wanted to put her hands on him again, how much she longed to be close to him. “You didn’t hurt me, Derek. I’m fine.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, but he was on his feet in an instant, looking down on her, his eyes narrowed. “You’re just lucky. You can’t be anywhere near me when I get into that state. I could have hurt you. You have no f*cking idea what goes through my head.”

Oh, she’d heard enough, knew enough about his history to guess. “You were going to put your hand across my mouth to keep me quiet, Brighton. It wasn’t exactly a vicious attack.”

His jaw hardened, every word coming out of his mouth in a harsh grind. “So you thought it would be a good idea to try to get some? What the f*ck was that, Karina? If you want a little cock, all you have to do is ask. I already told you I’m more than willing to f*ck you while we’re on the case. But I don’t like being manipulated.”

Oh, she was done with him. “You know what, Brighton? Screw you. The next time I hear you crying out in the middle of the night, I’ll ignore it and let you stay wherever the hell it is you go. I was trying to help you.”