Page 58 of Rogue Games

He still wants me. I’m not going to let him pretend he doesn’t.

“It doesn’t matter.”

I’m not sure how to take that.

I stew over his words as I stare at the next item of clothing I need to tackle. Determined not to ask for assistance, I manage to shimmy my way into the shorts with difficulty, trying my best not to give him a glimpse of my still dripping pussy at the same time.

Angrily, he yanks a T-shirt over his head, making it look so easy with two hands, that I’m pretty sure he’s mocking me, and crosses his arms, features dark.

“We need to get back. Everyone is waiting on us.” The muscles in the side of his jaw work, his anger clear.

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise everyone was waiting for him back at the packhouse.

“Fine by me.”

Did me, almost dying out on his stupid obstacle course, at the hands of one of the many, many people who just hate rogues for no reason, somehow inconvenience him?

“Are you going to tell me how you ended up on that ledge?”

Who did this to you? A memory of his whisper words floats through my mind, a deadly promise mingled with raw fear.

I stare at him, trying to work out if that was a memory or a dream. Dean scowls, impatient when I don’t answer immediately and I’m back to wanting to kick him in the shin.

“If you just fell…”

“I didn’t fall off the fucking rope. Samuel cut it. While I was standing on it. And Joel blocked me from getting off the other side.”

Dean goes deathly still, but his entire body seems to swell, and the air in the cabin becomes so choked with rage, it’s stifling. A vein bulges in his forehead, and I think he’s stopped breathing while he processes my words. Tendons stand out in his neck that I didn’t even know a person had.

“Samuel cut the rope?” He asks slowly, his voice eerily quiet.

“They were being jackasses, shaking the bridge, and it started to fray. He just decided to help it along.” I shrug, downplaying what happened now because of the murderous look in Dean’s eyes. “I knew he’d try something else after tripping me up but…”

“Shaking it… while you were on it,” he repeats, still way too calm. It’s unnerving.

I nod once, knowing that right now is not the time for smart comments or sarcasm.

“Okay.” Dean nods slowly and stares out the window, in the direction where the packhouse must be.

Okay has never sounded so terrifying.

As the silence becomes more and more uncomfortable, I can’t stop myself from speaking.

“Does this mean I’m out?”

The rules were simple. I never made it home.

“Out?” Dean turns to me, his head tilted to one side, every inch the dangerous predator now. His demeanour is menacing, still angry about what happened out on his course, but now, all that pent up emotion is directly squarely at me.

I nod, and keep my feet planted to the floor despite the overwhelming urge to back away.

“You want to know if you’re out of the Alpha Games? More than you want to know where Samuel and Joel are? More than you want to know about your injuries?”

I didn’t notice him moving, but suddenly, he’s in my personal space. As he peers down, those smoky eyes trying to peer into my very soul, I decide I don’t like how he towers over me. Even though it makes my pulse quicken, and every girly part of me swoon.

Stubbornly remaining standing, I’m trapped between him and the sofa, and I have to crane my neck to meet his eye.

“Yes. They only did this to knock me and Wyatt out of the competition, and I don’t want them to get their way.”

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