Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,76

its destructive force would touch Buchanan or Foster.

Then it squirmed in his grip, becoming larger, turning into an enemy warrior. That man laughed and Damon locked his hands around his throat, squeezing the life out of him for what he had done. He laughed until the blood ran from between the other man’s teeth, until it leaked out his ears, until it ran from his eyes, until he laughed no more. Still he kept squeezing, demanding a due for Foster and Buchanan and all the others...

“Damon.”

A voice summoned him back from the abyss.

A familiar voice that didn’t belong in Afghanistan.

“Damon!”

Damon opened his eyes, panting, in a cold sweat, and found himself in his darkened bedroom with his heart racing. He realized he’d shredded the life out of a pillow.

And Haley was silhouetted in the doorway, staring at him.

She’d said his name.

She’d called him back.

He exhaled and surveyed the room. He was on the floor. He’d seized the pillow from the bed and slaughtered it in his dream.

If Haley had been beside him, he could have killed her, without even realizing what he was doing until it was too late.

This had to stop.

Now.

Before she paid the price for his sins.

Eleven

Haley had a very bad feeling about Damon’s nightmare.

It was horrible to watch. He was muttering under his breath, his head jerking back and forth. His hands were clenched into fists and his teeth were bared. He’d kicked his way free of the blanket and his whole body was tense.

Vibrating.

She could feel the tension emanating from him in waves. She wanted to intervene, to help him, to wake him up, but was afraid she might make it worse somehow. She’d never seen someone so tormented.

Then he yelled someone’s name, shouted it loud enough to raise the roof—or raise the dead. Had it been Foster? Haley wasn’t sure. He flung himself from the bed, almost catapulting into the air before he landed in a crouch on the floor. She was reminded of Spider-Man for the barest instant. She could have sworn he was awake, because he was surveying the room for whatever villain he fought.

But his eyes were closed.

He was breathing heavily and the light glistened in the perspiration on his back. The pillow had fallen from the bed when he erupted from it, and he suddenly fell on it as if he meant to crush it flat. He gripped it with his hands, twisting it with terrifying force.

Like he was wringing someone’s neck. He was shredding it, savage in his efficiency.

Haley took a step backward. Would he injure himself? She couldn’t bear it if he did, and she couldn’t stand to see him suffer so.

“Damon,” she said softly.

His head jerked up immediately.

She said his name again, a little louder.

His eyes flew open and he looked at her as if astonished to find her there. He scanned the room and rose to his feet with athletic grace, then seized his underwear and jeans. He dressed with such relentless speed that Haley’s dread rose. He was walking toward her as he hauled on a clean shirt, but he didn’t stop. He just touched her elbow and led her toward the stairs, marching her toward the foyer. His lips were set in a grim line and he didn’t meet her gaze.

“What’s going on?” she asked when he didn’t say anything.

“You’re going home. I’m taking you there.”

“Don’t I get a vote in this?”

“No.” She saw the furious flash of his eyes before he bent to tug on his boots. He grabbed his jacket and put it on, then glared at her, probably because she hadn’t moved.

Haley folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t want to go home.”

“I’ll walk you wherever you want to go.”

“What if I want to stay here?”

“You’re out of luck.”

Haley shook her head. “Because you have nightmares, I can’t stay here?”

“That’s pretty much it, yes.”

“That’s stupid and you know it.”

“Stupid!”

Haley took a step back as Damon lost his temper for the first time in her experience.

“Stupid!” he repeated, then flung out a hand. “Did you see what I did up there? What’s stupid is any suggestion that you stay!”

“I don’t agree. I think you need company.”

“No!” Damon ground out the words. “That’s the last thing I need right now.”

Haley felt her own eyes narrow. “You’re trying to protect me from yourself again.”

“Yes, I am, and with good cause. If you’d been asleep, I could have killed you. There would have been nothing you could do about it, and I wouldn’t have even