Lina :Nemesis Inc. Alpha Team

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

“Dalton, she’s okay?”

Jeez, Rex had fucked up timing. He was going to kick his ass. Lina had been just getting comfortable enough to let him close. He didn’t know who had hurt her, but he wanted to find the fucking bastard and show him what it meant to be the one who couldn’t escape the pain. Hearing her almost silent inhale of breath behind him made his guts scream for vengeance. He didn’t know why, didn’t care either. His guts told him to protect her, so protect her he would. “I think so.”

“Let me see.”

Nope, don’t touch her!

Holy fuck, what was the possessive shit going on in his head? Seriously, this was Rex. He had Aria waiting for him in Zurich. Maybe he’d hit his head during PT today. That had to be it. He had a concussion. That’d explain his stupidity over this woman he’d just met.

He barely resisted the urge to jump when fingers wrapped into the back of his t-shirt at the command in Rexar’s voice. “Lina?”

“No. Don’t let him touch me.”

He felt the words against his back, where her face pressed against him, more than heard them. Reaching a hand back, he petted her fingers, and did an inward happy dance when she didn’t jerk away from him. “Shh, it’s okay.”

“Don’t—”

Ah fuck, the fear in her voice was enough to make his knees want to buckle. It booted every promise he’d made himself out of his head, even the ones he’d reminded himself of less than an hour ago. Every protective instinct he had came screaming out of the box in his heart he’d buried them in, when he’d decided he would never care about a woman again. “No one touches you,” he promised her. “Only me if you’ll let me.”

“Dalt—”

“Enough, leave.” He didn’t give a shit that he was growling at his friend as he pointed to the door. Rexar would just have to deal.

“For fuck’s sake, I only need to know that she’s okay and if I should call the EMTs,” Rexar grumbled, but still turned to leave. “You have ten minutes.”

“Asshole.” Dalton pointed to the door. “Leave.”

“I’m going, I’m going.”

“I’m sorry,” Lina said softly as the door closed behind Rexar. “I?—”

“It’s okay.” Dalton turned to face her. The idiot inside him did a fist pump when she didn’t step back from him. He enjoyed having her this close to him. He used his finger to tip her face up and waited until she raised her eyelids to look at him. “You always get final say on who touches you and who doesn’t. Anyone who says differently, you send them to me.”

Whoa up there, buddy. Slow that pony and be careful of the direction you are going in. You won’t be around for more than a few days. No making promises you can’t keep. But he pushed the errant thought aside. It didn’t matter that he may not be here, but God help them all he wanted to be. It was official; he was insane. Five minutes with this woman and his heart put itself back on the table, taking over from his brain cells and wanting to decide what happened from here on out. This right here was why he kept getting hurt.

“You should get checked by EMTs or a doctor.” He already knew what her answer would be before she shook her head. But he had to try anyway. “We don’t know what he used until the police reports come back.”

“Police?” Lina jerked away from him. “You called the cops?”

He immediately felt the loss of her warm skin under his fingers. He pointed his finger toward the door, “Rexar will have,” he told her. “There is no way he let the dude run free. He called the cops for sure. He drugged you in Rex’s family bar. That shit doesn’t fly.” Damn it, there he went, swearing again. Seriously, he was taking the idiom of ‘swearing like a sailor’ way too literally.

“I’m not talking to cops.”

Well shit.

He winced internally at the vehemence in her voice. “You may not have a choice.” If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he would have missed the moment the shutters came down on her emotions and a rod of steel straightened her spine, fueling her determination. Crap, if she’d intrigued him before—now—like this, she called to the possessive bastard that lived in his soul.

“I’m leaving.” She pushed past him. “Leave me alone.”

Oh no, honey, I ain’t gonna do that.

He did the only thing he could do in this situation and followed her to the door. Reaching over her head to hold it open as she went through into the bar. No, he wouldn’t agree to leave her alone.

That’s kinda stalkerish, dude.

He gave an inward shrug. If making sure Lina was okay made him a stalker, then maybe it would look good on his resume. Although he doubted the US Navy would see it the same way.

“Miss.” Rexar pounced the second Lina was through the door. “The police need to tal?—”

“No.” Lina refused to even hear what Rexar had to say. She stepped around him and headed around the bar top to where she had been sitting.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” A cop stepped forward. “We need to talk to you.”

“I can’t help you,” Lina pulled a purse off the back of the chair. She’d obviously bolted for the restrooms without taking it with her. “It wasn’t me.”

“These men all say you consumed the drink with the drug in it.” The cop frowned at Dalton when he moved closer to Lina, forcing the cop to keep a slight distance from her.

“Nope.” Lina glared defiantly at Rexar over the cop’s shoulder and shrugged. “He must be mistaken. I’m going home.”

“Ma’am—”

Lina cut off whatever the man was going to say. “Am I under arrest?”

“Well, no?—.”

Jeez, that spine of steel was really in force, Dalton clamped down on the inside of his cheek, to hide the smile his lips insisted was an appropriate response to her defiance. Lina stepped back when the cop reached for her arm, putting herself out of his reach. “Is there a legal reason I have to talk to you?”

“Well, no?—”

“Then I am leaving. Goodnight, gentlemen.” Lina turned on her heel and marched toward the door. Dalton was way more than a little proud of how his warrior princess kept her head held high. His dick took notice of the sexy way her hips swayed as she moved. He really should kick his own ass for that. But dayum… He was human, and saint was never ever going to be on his calling card.

Wait—she’s your warrior princess now? No, she wasn’t… yet. She was fiery, vulnerable, and with a backbone of iron when she needed it. Add in that she was sexy as fuck. Consider all his buttons pushed. Every. Single. One. She may not be his yet, but even a dumbass like him could admit to himself that he wanted her to be.

It took a couple of seconds before he realized she was leaving without him. “Fuck.” He made a couple of hand gestures to Noble, telling him he was leaving. He barely waited for his commander’s nod of acknowledgement before he followed her out the door.