Her Lucky Number Thirteen (The American Soldier Collection 13)

Vincent ran his fingers along her body. She was tied to the bed, exposed to him and shivering with pain and fear. She felt battered, weak, broken.

“No. No, get away from me. No more. Don’t touch me anymore,” she screamed at him and he straddled her body. He was naked and she was pulling on her bindings trying to get free. She screamed for help and struggled against the bindings on her wrists. He grabbed her throat and stared down into her eyes with his dark evil expression.

“I say when it’s over. I own you, Nalia. Now and forever.”

She screamed at the top of her lungs and cried out in pain as he assaulted her body, took what he wanted despite her begging for him to stop hurting her. Her heart was racing and felt like it could leap from her chest, and then she couldn’t breathe and she felt more hands on her and couldn’t see. It was so dark suddenly but she knew others were touching her. Oh God, no. No!

* * * *

“Nalia, please wake up. Please wake up,” Boian begged of her but she was lost in a nightmare and flopping around on the bed begging for help and for the pain to stop. She was calling out Vincent’s name and screaming.

Cosivan grabbed her from Boian and pulled her against his bare chest. She was practically naked, only wearing a flimsy tank top in black and some kind of boy shorts panties that barely covered her ass. He held her arms up against his chest so she wouldn’t break the stitches in her side. “Nalia, open your eyes. Open your eyes now,” Cosivan demanded as the rest of the team stood there with no shirts and pants on not even zipped up. They ran to get to her, guns drawn and ready for action.

She blinked her eyes open, the tears spilling from her eyes. She was sniffling, gasping for breath.

“Easy. You’re safe,” he told her and Boian caressed her back. She jerked away from him and clung to Cosivan. He pulled back.

“You’re okay. It was a nightmare,” Boian said to her as he knelt on the bed behind her.

She swallowed hard and lifted her head up to look at Cosivan. He was pissed off and angry, but also way too aroused and feeling protective to remain holding her against him.

“It’s okay now. Let’s make sure the stitches are okay,” he said and lowered her to the bed, rolling her to her back. In this position her breasts pressed against the sides of her tank top and appeared to be escaping from the sides. It was pulled up to her belly and he placed his palm on her belly to look at the bandage. Carefully he lifted the bandage up and was relieved that no blood seeped through and no stitches were torn. She shivered beneath his touch. He held her gaze. “You’re safe, so remember that.”

She nodded. He started to sit up and she grabbed Cosivan’s hand.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. That sadness and insecurity in her eyes pulled at his heart. A heart he conditioned to be Teflon tough.

He reached up and glided a finger along her jaw. She covered his hand with her own and it felt so feminine and delicate.

“You need us to stay?” he asked. Not even thinking first but including them as a team. It kind of made him stop a moment to process what came naturally. He was just as needed as his brothers. He couldn’t face handling Nalia alone, not in an intimate setting like this and her so vulnerable and scared.

She looked around them and then rolled to her side, taking his hand with her and forcing him to lie down behind her. He got comfortable and wrapped her in his arms as he inhaled her shampoo and the scent of her skin. With every breath he took Cosivan began to understand why Boian was having such a difficult time keeping away from her. Nalia was special indeed.

* * * *

It quickly turned into a nightly thing. Whoever brought her up to bed was the one to stay with her and hold her at night. Chatham lay with her now and knew exactly why his brothers were feeling so on edge and snappy. They desired Nalia just as he did. She was sexy, curvy, and sweet. During the day they kept busy talking, asking questions, and learning more about her and her training. She spoke very little about how she survived and not at all about how she got away. She wouldn’t talk about her mother either. She excused herself to walk out of the room. Which led to him coming in here and holding her now.

Chatham figured with time she would heal and maybe open up to them.

“You don’t have to stay here with me,” she whispered, looking away from him.

“If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave,” he whispered and he begged inside that she wouldn’t tell him to go.

He heard her sigh and had a feeling that she didn’t want him to leave.

“Nalia?”

“Stay, Chatham. I feel better when one of you is here watching over me.” She chuckled low. “Isn’t that so silly?”

He ran his hand along her waist and under her t-shirt. She felt warm, feminine. “Not silly. You’re being honest,” he added.

She was silent a moment. “It must have something to do with

you being soldiers. You know, that whole protective thing. Having capabilities to do things and survive,” she whispered and her voice cracked. She was having a hard time, and he couldn’t help but to think she was suffering from traumatic stress. She went through hell from what they gathered.

He moved her to her back and he lifted up to lean on his forearm as he used his hand to caress under her shirt. “You are safe with us, and in our arms probably the safest,” he teased then smirked. Her cheeks turned a nice shade of pink and she closed her eyes and turned away.

He reached up and clasped her chin between his fingers. Her dark blue eyes were glossy and filled with emotion and even fear. She was so beautiful, his heart was racing.