Page 120 of Kings & Corruption

“You know where to find us,” Oscar said.

Us. I liked the sound of that, and not just because two protectors were better than one.

* * *

I raced through the woods, the branches slapping at my naked body, scratching my face.

My pursuer was close enough that I could hear his breath, close enough that I could smell the tang of his sweat.

I tried to make my legs pump faster, but I seemed to slow down instead, the trees tunneling in front of me, receding instead of growing closer. I was running as fast as I could, sweat dripping from my face, but I wasn’t moving.

Then the man’s arms were around me, lifting me off the ground from behind, his breath in my ear as I kicked and flailed.

A scream lodged in my throat, my vocal cords paralyzed as I fought, panic rising in my chest.

This was it. I was going to die. Like Emma.

A whimper tore from my throat, a far cry from the scream I was aiming for, and then a voice.

“Shhh… you’re okay. I’ve got you.”

My eyes flew open and I was suddenly back in my dark room at the Kings’ house, sitting up in my bed, strong arms clasping me to a manly chest.

The nightmare receded, and I pulled away to see whether Rock or Oscar had appeared in my room right when I’d needed them.

Except it wasn’t either of them. It was Neo.

He looked down at me, his expression unreadable, his eyes liquid in the darkness. “You were having a nightmare.”

“I was back in the woods,” I said, too stunned by the fact that Neo Alinari was comforting me for the second time that night to say anything else. He smelled like sleep and fire smoke and the faint vestiges of cologne, his chest bare over basketball shorts.

My nipples were hard under the T-shirt I’d worn to bed, and I was all too aware of the fact that I was in nothing but that and underwear, Neo and I as close to being naked together as we’d been since that moment on the road.

My pussy — the fucking bitch — reacted like it always did to Neo, and I fought against the impulse to pull him into my bed.

“You’re safe here.” There was a promise in his voice, something I was almost willing to take to the bank.

“Was I screaming?” I asked.

He hesitated. “Not exactly.”

I pulled away a little more and he dropped his arms. I already wanted them back.“Then how did you know?” I asked.

“I’ve been sitting.” He nodded to the chair against the wall next to my bed. “Over there.”

My brain misfired as I tried to make sense of what he was saying. “You werewatchingme?”

“Watchingoveryou is more accurate,” he said, rising to his feet. “Can I get you anything?”

I shook my head, exhaustion washing over me as the adrenaline from the dream drained from my body.

He started for the door, then looked back at me. “You look… peaceful when you sleep. When you’re not having a nightmare, I mean.”

I thought I read something like longing in his eyes, but I couldn’t be sure. I was still trying to think of something to say when he slipped from the room a second later.

All the air left my lungs and I flung myself backward on my bed, feeling like I’d dodged another bullet.

Neo was tangled up in my thoughts, my dreams, my recollection of the chase through the woods. I’d been terrified until I’d felt his arms around me, his voice soothing in my ear.

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