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There is a click of a phone’s camera, and then I’m jostled into someone’s arms.
“I’ll take care of this guy. Get her back to the barracks.”Evan.
“Stay with me,babe,” Dante says, “just so you can tell me not to call you that anymore.”
I try to push on his chest, but I can’t even feel my own hands.
“You haven’t sampled my cookies either,” he jokes, but I hear the concern in his playful taunts.
I must be badly off.
I slip into darkness, thinking I’m done for, then I dream of bright, glowing lights and a buzzing in my tummy.
* * *
I wake in someone else’s room, in someone else’s bed, in someone else’s T-shirt. The captivating smell of sandalwood and cloves fills my senses.
I look over and meet Dante’s soulful gaze. He has been watching me sleep. “Hi,” he says sleepily.
Damn all my traitorous parts. He is sexy, but I don’t need to complicate our already awkward work environment by being distracted by his magnetism.
I try to sit up and regret it. Pain shoots from my torso to my toes.
He places a gentle hand on my shoulder and presses me back down. “I don’t think you should move until I do another healing round on you.”
I trail my hand across my body to touch the spot where Billy stabbed me. The skin is closed. “You healed me?”
“Yeah.”
“And who stripped me down, changed me into your shirt, and put me in your bed?”
“Well, I couldn’t have you ruining my sheets with your blood.”
“Which again begs the question, why put me in your bed?”
“I’ve been trying to get you in my bed since you ran into my chest.” He boops me on the nose.
“Yeah, that whole twenty-four hours of not getting what you wanted must have been agony for you.”
“It was torture.” He nods solemnly. “But this wasn’t how I expected to have you in my bed.” His voice has a worried tone.
“I really appreciate you healing me, but it makes it creepier when you pretend you want to have sex with me after you just undressed me while I was knocked out.”
“Well, okay, I see your point when you say it likethat.” His brow furrows. “But why do you keep saying I’m pretending?”
“It’s obviously part of my hazing ritual. I can’t trust anything you three say.” I sigh. “I can’t tell if Kurtis is even that much of an ass.”
“Oh, he is.” Dante smiles. “You’ll realize that in time.” He gets quiet and then finally asks, “Is that why you ran away? Because of… my advances?”
“Yes and no. I didn’t want this life. I get that hazing and harassment are all part of my initiation. I can usually roll with snarky remarks and even outright attacks on my character, but my life has been turned upside down twice in the last month.” My eyes sting with unshed tears, and I sniff them back. “I don’t enjoy being out of control, and that’s all I’ve been lately.”
Dante strokes my cheek and makes me look at him with the nudge of his finger. His sky blue eyes pierce me, probably reading my soul. It feels so strange being in such an intimate moment with a stranger.
“I know how you feel,” he says, “Just hang in there. You will get your bearings.”
I nod, not trusting my voice.
Dante grins, showing off his dazzling smile. He holds up a finger as if making me hold that thought, and then he jumps up to retrieve a container from his desk. As he opens the Tupperware, his grin widens even more. The tantalizing aroma of freshly baked cookies fills the air.
