Chapter 34
Yasmine
Pete James snarled, his big meaty fist heading straight for her face.
Yasmine tried to bring her arms up to defend herself, but it was as if she was tied down to something.
She couldn’t feel anything around her wrists, yet she couldn’t move.
Her legs tried to kick, but there was something wrapped around them.
Pure panic ripped through her, and she screamed, but no sound came out, so she tried harder, straining to cry for help, for someone… and she heard the scream, but it sounded so far away.
That’s weird.
Was it even her? Or was it someone else?
The sound of her scream and the feeling of her throat trying to produce the noise slowly melded together as she managed to dodge the attack at the last second, not entirely sure of how she got out of the way.
“Yas! Yas!” Hands grabbed her shoulders, and she screamed, and this time it was easy to scream. The sharp noise pierced the air, and she floundered in the sheets, gasping for air as she came up out of the nightmare, fleeing the terror for the safety of Zeus’ arms.
Tiger jumped off the bed as her legs kicked, then right back on as Zeus slid onto the bed beside her, wrapping her up in a hug.
“It was just a dream,” he murmured, holding her tightly against him as her tears wet his bare shoulder.
She gasped for air, clinging to him. She could feel and hear Tiger snuffling beside them, his nose seeking a way into the middle of them.
“It was just a dream. You’re safe.”
“I dreamed I was at home and he came.” Yasmine choked the words out. “He came, and he was coming after me, and I couldn’t get away fast enough. He cornered me, and he was about to hit me, and I tried to dodge, to scream, and I couldn’t move properly.”
Zeus’ hand stroked over her hair, his arms tightening subtly around her.
“You’re safe,” he repeated. “Trust me, that asshole isn’t getting in here, and even if he did, Tiger would rip his arm off before he let him touch you.”
“I think Tiger might have been why I couldn’t move in the dream,” Yasmine said, reaching out her hand to pet the dog’s head.
She leaned into Zeus’ shoulder at the same time, not wanting to give up the sense of safety she felt with him holding her.
Even if it had just been a dream. “I’m not used to something weighing down the sheets on top of me. ”
As if to punctuate her statement, Tiger gave a happy little huff as she pet him and settled down right next to her legs, curling his body and leaning against them, basically trapping her under the covers.
“Yeah, he’ll do that.” There was a tinge of amusement in Zeus’ voice. “You’re okay, though.”
“I’m okay.” She let out a shuddering breath. “I’ll be okay.” She felt him shift, not as though he was letting go, but it was still a change in movement, and she dug her fingers into him. “Can you stay? Just until I fall asleep again?”
Which wasn’t going to be easy. Her heart was still racing, her breathing still felt weird, and she was flushed all over. Sleep wasn’t going to come quickly, but it might be faster with him there rather than being alone in the dark. Even with Tiger by her side.
She felt him hesitate a moment, then his muscles relaxed.
“Sure. I can stay.”
Yasmine scooted to the side so he could have more room on the bed. Tiger gleefully took the opportunity to shove his body between them.
“Damn dog,” Zeus muttered, pushing Tiger aside so he could get under the covers.
The sound Tiger made was so close to Zeus’ tone, it was all Yasmine could do not to giggle. Owner and dog were annoyed with each other.
Huffing, Tiger jumped off the bed.
“Oh, Tiger…” Yasmine started to sit up, but Zeus pulled her back down.
“He’ll be fine, trust me,” he said. “He’ll be back up here in less than a minute, so make sure you’re comfortable now before he returns and you have to fight him for where you want the covers or your legs.”
That made sense. Yasmine lay back down. Zeus wasn’t close enough to be touching her… but almost. She was hyperaware of his presence beside her, between her and the door. And also aware of how much more relaxed she was, just knowing he was there. Even if he was mad at her.
“Do you think they’ll catch him?” she asked in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper.
Tiger hopped back up onto the bed, just as Zeus had predicted, and settled in at their feet with another long, huffy sigh that made Yasmine smile despite her anxiety.
“I don’t know. He’s got some connections that have kept him out of trouble in the past,” Zeus said, his voice just as low. “He’s escalating now, though. I’m going to check in with Claudia and Drew in the morning. He’s shown up at Drew and Naomi’s house, too.”
All of Yasmine’s muscles tensed.
“Shit, I should have reached out to her.” Yasmine covered her face with her hands. “I’m a terrible friend.”
“You’re not. You’ve just been going through it. She didn’t reach out to you, right?”
“Well, no,” Yasmine said reluctantly, rolling onto her back and letting her hands drop back down.
“But I’m just someone who occasionally teaches classes at the shelter.
I’m not one of the main workers, and I’m definitely not the face of the shelter.
I guess… I guess I thought that since I hadn’t heard anything about him harassing the actual shelter, that maybe I was the only one who he knew where they were. ”
Plus, Naomi had Drew. And, if Yasmine was being completely honest with herself, she hadn’t wanted to tell Naomi about Zeus.
Especially after hearing the difficulties Zeus had been having with Drew.
If Naomi had been at that game night… but she hadn’t been, and it had been easier to let it all slip to the back of Yasmine’s mind afterward.
Especially since Claudia had said to keep it from the rest of the Black Fox team.
It had just been easier not to say anything to Naomi.
Which still made her feel like a shitty friend, no matter what Zeus said. She was going to call Naomi tomorrow and tell her everything.
“There’s been a lot going on,” Zeus murmured after a long moment. “And you didn’t know she was in any danger. From what Drew said, they weren’t. I’ll find out tomorrow if he’s been back, but since you’re a woman living alone, you’re the more attractive target.”
“Oh, good, now I feel so much better.” Strangely, snarking at him did make her feel a little better. Just for a moment.
Especially when he chuckled, and for just a second, it felt like things were back to normal between them.
Except that he wasn’t touching her.
“Get some sleep, Yas. We’ll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.”
She let out a long sigh, but she knew he was right. Obediently, she closed her eyes. She thought she was too wound up to fall back asleep, but the sound of his even breathing and Tiger’s little snores slowly lulled her back down.
When she woke up, Zeus was gone, as if he’d never been there at all.
Zeus
Although he’d fallen asleep in Yasmine’s bed, Zeus had woken up before her and made himself go back to his room. He wasn’t really all that tired; he’d just been tempted to keep lying there because she was there. Not a good reason. Not after last night.
So, by the time she came out of the bedroom, he was already up, dressed, and in the middle of making breakfast while talking to Claudia, who he had on speakerphone. Yasmine wasn’t that far behind him, so she hadn’t missed much more than the preliminaries.
“Yasmine is here,” he told Claudia through the phone. Yasmine gave him an odd glance, which he couldn’t interpret, before leaning on the side of the counter.
“Morning, Yasmine,” Claudia said immediately.
“Good morning, Claudia.” She yawned, looking around the kitchen.
Today, she wasn’t dressed for work; she was in leggings with an oversized, slouchy t-shirt that hung off her shoulder, showing off the bra strap.
Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun.
It was a more put-together outfit than what she’d had on during her spa night, but a far cry from what she wore outside the house.
She met Zeus’ gaze and her chin lifted almost challengingly. “Can I help with anything?”
“If you want to get Tiger his food, it’s in that bin there.” He nodded at the plastic bin.
“I can do that. So, what’s going on?”
“I was just giving Zeus an update on your house last night,” Claudia said. “No sign of Pete James last night or this morning. We got everything cleaned up as best we could, though some things are going to need replacing… some frames, glasses—”
“My mattress,” Yasmine said sadly and shuddered.
Zeus clenched his jaw. Knowing the asshole had peed on her bed made him want to punch something. Preferably Pete James. Repeatedly. Granted, he wanted to do that for multiple reasons, but peeing on her bed was that little extra bit that threatened to tip him completely over the edge.
“Your mattress,” Claudia repeated after Yasmine. “Lincoln took yours in his truck. He said he can get it cleaned, or he can take it to the junkyard.”
“Junkyard,” Yasmine said immediately. “I won’t be able to sleep on it without thinking about what it’s been through. I’ll order a new one today.”
“I’ll let him know. Everyone sends their love, and they’re worried about you. Are you coming to game night tonight?”
“I… don’t know.” Yasmine put Tiger’s food bowl down and straightened up, glancing at Zeus. “I don’t have my car.” She also sounded reluctant to go.
Zeus kept his gaze on the eggs in the pan in front of him.
“I can take you to get it today.”
“Mmm.” Her response was noncommittal.
“There might be some questions you’ll have to answer if you aren’t,” Claudia said. “I think everyone assumed you went to my house last night, and I didn’t disabuse them of the notion.”
“Pretty sure I’m going to have to answer some questions, anyway. I never told Naomi about Pete James showing up at my house.”
“Ah.”
“I’m going to call her this morning and tell her everything.” Yasmine sounded almost fierce. Now she wasn’t looking at Zeus; she was staring at his front window, very pointedly not looking at him.
“Everything?” Claudia asked.
“Well… everything about Pete James,” Yasmine conceded.
“Uh huh. Anyway. It’s up to you and Zeus how much you want to tell the rest of the team.”
“Why?” Zeus couldn’t help but ask.
“Because you two crazy kids deserve time to figure things out for yourselves. And if the team knows, they’re all going to get involved and put their two cents in.
You only have a limited amount of time as it is…
especially if Yasmine tells Naomi about you.
At some point, someone is going to slip up and mention it to their partner. ”
“So, you think it’s better to keep it to ourselves?” Zeus asked dubiously, although she was making sense. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from Yasmine right now, but he did know he didn’t want his entire team sticking their noses into it. And he didn’t want to disappoint Lincoln.
“You should tell them eventually, preferably before it slips out,” Claudia explained.
“But you don’t need to today. And I feel like things between you two aren’t quite settled.
Personally, I think you two would make a decent match if Yasmine can get her head out of her ass about the curse, and you can get your head out of your ass about whatever hangup you have. ”
“I am cursed!”
“I don’t have any hangups.”
They spoke at the same time, looked at each other, then immediately looked away.
“Everybody’s got hangups,” Claudia said reasonably. “Even me. Granted, I know you had some good reasons not to trust the team right away, Zeus, but I also don’t think you would have been willing to trust us even if we’d welcomed you with open arms.”
Zeus started to open his mouth, then closed it, clenching his jaw and feeling the little pop in his cheek.
He couldn’t deny what she was saying, even if he wanted to.
He hadn’t fully trusted Devlin or Devlin’s team, either.
Granted, he’d turned out to be right about that, but Zeus couldn’t remember the last time he’d really trusted anyone.
Not the way Claudia trusted the rest of the team. Or the way Yasmine trusted Claudia.
Lincoln was about as close as it came, but he wasn’t sure Lincoln would be there for him in the long run, either. If it came down to the team or him, Lincoln would choose the team. Zeus didn’t hold it against him. It was the obvious choice.
Okay, so maybe he had a few hangups.
“Anyway. You two get at least a few days to figure things out, by my estimation. I’m putting my money on Audrey to be the first slip-up, especially once she finds out that Yasmine is in danger. She’s still got a lot of guilt over stealing Yasmine’s fiancé.”
“She didn’t steal him. I gave him to her,” Yasmine replied indignantly, putting her hands on her hips. “They were a better match, and there was no way I was marrying a man who was pining for someone else.”
“That’s one of the things I love about you; you know what you’re worth,” Claudia said. “Most of the time. Anyway. I’ll let you two get on with your day. Zeus, can I have a private word real quick?”
“Sure.” He handed Yasmine the spatula and gestured at the two plates next to the stove, which were waiting for the sausage and eggs he’d been cooking.
Picking up the phone, he turned off the speaker and took several steps away, turning his back on Yasmine as he pressed the phone to his ear. “You’re off speaker.”
“Good. I’m not saying you have to get together with Yasmine. If this was a deal breaker for you, that’s fine. But if things do get serious after this, and then you hurt her—”
“I know, they won’t find my body for months,” he replied dryly.
“Oh, no. They’ll be finding your body for months, pieces of it, once a week… and you’ll be alive for at least two of those months.”
She hung up the phone before he could respond, which was probably for the best because his head had gone completely blank. She really was fucking Scary.
Turning back to Yasmine, he saw her standing there with a raised eyebrow, but she didn’t ask about what Claudia had said to him.
“Don’t you have any fruit or anything?” she asked instead.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, there’s some melon in the fridge.” He went to get it while she waited.
Yeah. They were going to need to figure things out. Before the rest of his team found out. Claudia was right; he didn’t want them weighing in on his and Yasmine’s relationship, regardless of which way it ultimately ended up going.
This was one of those cases where it would be better to ask forgiveness than permission.