I startle awake, feeling the sweat pour off my forehead and stick to the blanket wrapped around me. What an intense dream. My hands shake and I roll onto my back, staring into the shadows above me. I have no idea what time it is or how long I’ve slept, but there’s no way I can go back to sleep after that.
Sitting up, I pull on my new boots and stand. My legs feel a little shaky as I squint outside my room. Cole practically smacks into me and I panic.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, babe. It’s just me.” He puts his hands on my shoulders to calm me before I scream.
“God, you scared me. I had a bad dream and—”
“I know. I could hear you screaming from my room. I knew it was you. I’d recognize your scream anywhere.” He pulls me into his arms and I relish the warmth of his chest, his arms, and his body against mine.
“I screamed? That loud?”
“Scared the crap out of me. I thought… I thought something was happening to you. I was terrified.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” He kisses my forehead and I melt. There’s something about his lips touching my forehead that sends me over the deep end.
“What were you dreaming about?”
“Can we talk about it later? It’s too much right now.” I look up into his face, admiring his strong jawline and dark eyes. When was the last time we were alone? I run my hands over his chest and then pull his head down to meet mine. “Please, I need you right now.”
His lips touch mine and electricity surges through every vein in my body. I need him to erase all the bad images from my dream. My hormones take over and next thing I know, we’re stumbling to my cot and kissing passionately as he lays me down and positions himself on top. His hands grab at me, desiring more and more. They wander up my shirt and rip it over my head so my bare skin rubs against his. Then he unhooks my bra and I let him ravish me with his mouth.
He moans when I kiss his neck and run my fingernails down his back, pulling his hips into mine. His closeness intoxicates me to the point of irrationality. It’s a race to the finish and neither of us wants to slow down. His hands fumble with the button on my pants.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispers in my ear. “I want you. I want you so bad.”
“I’ve missed you more.”
“I doubt that.” He kisses my lips and goes back to my ear.
“Please, come here.”
Just then, the lights in the hallway brighten and Cole jumps off my cot with alarm. We scramble to pull our shirts back on, and I button my pants, feeling frustrated.
“Damn it! You’ve got to be kidding me! Do they have a sex radar or something? I mean seriously, are we ever going to have time alone?”
Just as I put my hair into a ponytail, Keegan storms in. His expression tells me he’s not happy to see Cole in my room. “What are you doing here?” he says.
“She was screaming. I came to make sure she was all right.”
Keegan squints his eyes and clenches his jaw while deciding whether to believe Cole.
“I had a nightmare. Apparently I scream during them.” I put my hand on his chest and force him to look into my face. “Seriously, he’s being honest, Keegan.”
He scrutinizes me and exhales. “From now on, I’ll be the one looking after my sister, not you. Stay out of her room.”
At first, I want to punch Keegan for treating me like a child. He hasn’t been around for years and now he thinks he can just waltz back into my life and tell me who I can talk to? But then I see the anger flashing through Cole’s eyes and know I have to deflate the situation.
“Please, don’t be angry, okay? He was just doing his job.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet he was.”
“Look, man, I don’t want to cause any problems… but I’m still her guard.” Cole relaxes his fists and tries to placate me. He knows I wouldn’t want them to fight.
“Yeah, her guard up there. Not here. She doesn’t need your protection when she’s with me, and I can assure you no one down here will lay a hand on her.”
“Okay, enough. You were coming here for me—what for?” I say to distract Keegan from blowing a fuse.
His stiff jaw loosens and he breathes deep, trying to calm down. He reminds me of a caged cat, wild and unpredictable with his moods. “It’s training time.”
“Okay, then let’s go.” I gently tug at his arm to break his trance.
“Can I ask why she’s training? I mean, it’s not like she’s going to fight, right?” Cole asks.
The expression on Keegan’s face turns livid. I just got him somewhat calmed down and then Cole had to stick his foot in his mouth.
“Of course she’ll fight. We all are.” Keegan steps closer to Cole, and the air thickens with hate. I come between them, sensing the tension rising twofold.
“Oh no, she’s not! Sending her into war isn’t exactly what I call protecting her. I’ve worked my ass off to keep her safe—alive and in one piece. And you’re going to throw her into combat? Something she knows absolutely nothing about! You’re going to kill her!”
“You better watch what you say.” Keegan pushes me to the right, but I step back between them.
“Both of you, stop,” I beg. I don’t want to see them come to blows. I just know it won’t end well.
“If you really care about her, you’ll protect her,” Cole says as spit flies out of his mouth. His fists clench at his sides and his eyes darken.
“Protect her? Like you have? What—try to get in her pants? Try to schmooze your way into her heart just to tear it to shreds? Don’t think for one second that I haven’t noticed what’s going on between you two. You’re the one treating her like a slut!”
Then Keegan shoves me onto the cot and fists begin swinging. I start screaming for them to stop, but no one listens. Cole knocks him to the floor, straddles him, grabs his collar, and sends his fist straight into Keegan’s jaw. Keegan returns the punch, forcing Cole backward onto his side. Cole moves to hit him a second time, so I throw myself between them just as he swings a punch that lands in the middle of my back.
I land on Keegan. I try to inhale when a sharp pain shoots down my back, making me arch.
“Lexi,” Cole says, rolling me over onto my side. I curl into a ball. “Damn it. I didn’t mean to hit you.”
“Get off of her, you idiot.” Keegan shoves him into the wall with a burst of speed.
I’m immobile on the ground. I look up just as Keegan moves toward Cole and delivers a head-swerving hook. Blood spurts from Cole’s nose and drips off his face. I feel warmth overtaking my body and my vision blurs at the edges. Blackness seeps into my field of vision.
CHAPTER 18
The noises of grunting and barking bring me back, and I open my eyes in time to see Bruno charge into the room, closing the door before Zeus can enter. He pulls Cole away, and they both fall down. He curses under his breath. Blood trickles from Cole’s nose as he covers it and his eyes hold hatred that I’ve never seen before. Keegan bolts to my side and lifts me up.
I groan while digging my fingers into his arm. The pain on my right side cripples me.
He puts his strong arms around my waist and pulls me upright. “You make me sick,” Keegan says to Cole. He sets me on my cot. “Who the hell do you think you are?” he yells.
Cole turns to him, wiping his nose with his shirt. “Who the hell do I think I am? Who the hell do you think you are? What, her brother? The one who walked out on his sister when she needed him the most? Face it, Keegan, you don’t have the slightest clue who she is now. The woman she’s become. But I do. I know everything about her.”
“You prick.”
“Stop it! Calm down, both of you!” Bruno commands.
Bruno plants himself between them before another fight breaks out. He takes Cole’s arm and drags him away.