“Oh, angel.” He chuckled, the rumbling sound echoing around the room. “You’re a little mouse in a big, bad world. Do you know what I am?”
I shook my head.
“The mouse trap.”
I began to cry, the sobs wracking my body until I was a trembling mess of emotion.
“Ye’ s-said ye’d n-never hu-hurt me.”
“We have both said things we didn’t mean … Isn’t that right, Lana?”
I jumped about a foot into the air when a loud bang sounded from my left, and when I swung my attention in that direction, my knees finally gave out, and I dropped to them with a thud. Before me were the Slater brothers, all tied up, cut, and bloody … just like they were in the sketch I drew. Five pairs of grey eyes cut into me, pleading with me to help them, and I didn’t know how to.
“No!” I wailed. “No, don’t hurt them, please.”
“I have to hurt them.” Morgan chuckled darkly. “I’m a Miles, and hurting the Slater brothers is what we do.”
“No, please,” I begged. “Don’t hurt them … Hurt me instead.”
“You?” he repeated, a quizzical look roaming over my body. “You want me to hurt you?”
Damien screamed around the cloth stuffed into his mouth as Morgan lowered to his hands and knees and approached me. His violet eyes never blinked, and once they locked on mine, they didn’t stray. Tears flowed down my cheeks, and hiccups escaped my mouth, but my breathing stopped when Morgan climbed over me and pushed my legs apart.
“You don’t really want Damien,” Morgan said, then suddenly, he wasn’t Morgan anymore; he was Dante Collins. “Ye’ want me.” His smile was so welcoming, and I wanted to feel relaxed in his presence … but I couldn’t. “Ye’ want me in your bed just like ye’ had me there for four long months, workin’ every knot out of your body with me cock and fingers. D’ye remember how loud I made you moan, Alannah? Ye’ want me and not Damien because ye’ can control how ye’ feel about me. Ye’ had me under your thumb, but ye’ could never control how ye’ felt about Damien. Isn’t that right, beautiful?”
I closed my eyes, put my hands over my ears, and screamed. My hands were quickly pulled from my ears, and when I opened my eyes, Dante was gone, and Morgan was back. His smile was sinister, and I knew deep in my heart that he was going to hurt me.
“You can never get rid of me, angel,” he said, moving his head closer to mine. “I’m inside your mind, and I’m always going to be there.”
I whimpered.
“You’re mine, angel,” he almost growled like an animal making a claim. “You’ll never be Damien’s, not truly. You’ll always be mine.”
“Please,” I pleaded. “Just let them go. If you’re gonna hurt someone, hurt me. They’ve been through enough!”
Morgan blinked, and suddenly, a large blade appeared in his hand.
“Your request is a noble one, angel,” he said. “And I’m going to grant it for you because you’re precious to me.”
I heard Damien’s scream and the roars of his brothers when the sharp silver blade was placed on my throat and pressed roughly into my skin. It didn’t sting or hurt in any way, but I felt the pressure of it when I swallowed.
“You’ll never get rid of me.”
With those words spoken, Morgan yanked his hand to the right, and when I tried to draw in a breath, I found I no longer could. I felt something wet run down my chest like a stream, and I could hear nail-biting, muffled screams fill my ears. I touched my hands to my chest and stomach, and when they came away stained with blood, my world went black. The last thing I saw was a grinning Morgan mouthing one word to me.
Mine.
I came awake with a start, and my hands instantly went to my neck. I felt nothing except the star pendant necklace that Damien had gifted to me six months prior. I touched my skin, feeling for a cut of some kind, and when I felt nothing, I sagged back into the mattress with relief. Realisation dawned on me that what happened wasn’t real; it was just a nightmare. Morgan wasn’t back, and Damien and his brothers were safe. I turned my head to my right and relaxed even more when I heard my love’s soft snores. I couldn’t see him because of how dark we needed our room to be able to fall asleep, but I could hear him, sense him, feel him.
When I shifted my body, he moved in his sleep and wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging me against his side. I loved that about him. No matter what, Damien had to have his hand on some part of my body as we slept. He had admitted to me that he sometimes woke up, and for a few moments, he felt like he dreamt of our coupling, but when he felt me under his palm, he knew I was his. In a way, I felt the same. It wasn’t until I heard his snores after I awoke that I relaxed, knowing he was by my side.
Though after my nightmare, not even Damien’s presence could comfort me.
I lifted my hand to my face and covered my mouth when tears welled in my eyes, and a soft cry escaped from my parted lips. I knew what happened was a nightmare and not real, but it had triggered a slow building panic attack. My heart pounded so fast against my chest that I could feel each thump as if it were a wallop. Fear wrapped around me as tight as Damien’s arm, and I began to feel like the area around me was closing in. I roughly pushed Damien’s arm away from my body, and the action caused him to wake instantly.
“What?” he said, groggily. “What’s wrong?”
Without a word, I kicked away the blanket that covered me, got out of my bed, and blindly rushed over to the window. Pulling back the curtains, I unlocked the balcony door and opened it wide. The cool air that slammed into me felt like a smack in the face. I stepped out onto the balcony, but before I could touch my fingers to the rail, strong hands clamped down on my shoulders, and held me in place.
“Alannah!” Damien grunted as he roughly shook me. “Wake up.”
“I’m already awake,” I said, my breathing laboured. “But I can’t breathe. I need air.”
Damien stepped out onto the balcony with me, and when he looked down at me, he squinted his eyes as he used the street lamp light to see me. He frowned, lifted his hand, and used his thumb to swipe away the tears from my cheeks. I hadn’t realised I was still crying.
“What’s wrong, Alannah?”
I hesitated. “I had a nightmare.”
There was no way I was going to tell him the content of my nightmare because Morgan Allen was always on Damien’s mind, and I didn’t want him to worry. If he knew I was having issues over him, he’d stress out more than he already was. I couldn’t protect Damien from Morgan before, but I would do everything I could to protect him now.
Damien’s frown deepened. “About what?”
I stepped forward and pressed my face against his hard chest, feeling soft chest hair brush against my skin. I wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed in contentment.
“I don’t remember,” I lied. “It was just a bad dream.”
Damien’s arms came around me. He rubbed his palms up and down my back and kissed the crown of my head.
“We’re lucky we didn’t have sex before bed,” he commented lightly. “We’d be standing out here butt ass naked otherwise.”
When I chuckled, Damien gave me a little squeeze.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “You’re ‘ere with me, so I’m fine.”
We went back into our room, closing the balcony door behind us. Damien flipped on the light and then sat next to me on our bed. My hands were trembling, and he noticed. He kneeled before me and took my hands in his. I watched as he lifted them to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles. The gesture and being in his presence began to calm me, and it didn’t take long for my shaking to stop. I had been having nightmares about Morgan on and off for a few weeks now, and each time, my thrashing woke Damien. He never complained, not once. He would just hold me until I relaxed. He seemed to know that he had to have his hands on me and be in my space for that to happen.