Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Redemption for Misty (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Pierce Securities Book 5) by Anne Conley Read Free Book Online

later the putting up the chips and leaving. Still, he sat.
    Thinking.
    Mostly, he thought about Crash. Dude would be more than pissed if he came home to find out he’d been unable to keep his hands off his kid sister. They’d gone through BCT together, and Chris didn’t think he’d have made it without Crash’s encouragement. Chris hadn’t wanted to be there. His dad was career Army and believed every young man needed to serve his country in at least one tour before going on to manhood, or some shit. Chris was born with a dick, so he enlisted at his dad’s insistence. Crash was the one who wanted to be all he could be. Crash was the one who convinced him to apply to Ranger school, and lord, it had made his dad proud.
    In Iraq, they’d been beside one another for some pretty hairy shit—roadside bombs, kids with guns, women being treated like abominations. They’d come out of it brothers. And Crash was trusting him to take care of his sister without fucking her.
    He couldn’t let his brother down.
    Going inside to clean up, Chris’s thoughts continued to wander. He opened more windows to let out asswipe’s cigar smoke and continued along his same train of thought.
    Gollum was right. He did like Misty. A lot. He loved her brother, but his feelings for her were different, and he couldn’t explain it. But he would do anything for her he would do for her brother. Dodge bullets? Check. Dart into traffic? Check. Sacrifice himself for her safety? Absofuckinglutely.
    She’d been weird with him since he’d burned her. Chris supposed she was still mad about it, even though she’d said it was okay. Typical female—saying one thing and meaning another. But that thought felt shallow. Deep down, Chris didn’t think that was it. So that meant there was something else bothering her, and since she’d been so standoffish with him, it had to be something Chris had done. Right?
    But what had he done?
    He slammed the dishwasher shut, trying to avoid his own thoughts. What the hell? He’d never been in love before and didn’t know that’s what was happening here, and if so, what the next step was supposed to be. Their situation was unique, and he was prone to overanalyze on a good day. He didn’t know what to do with his feelings right now.
    He was overwhelmed to say the least, and the woman he hadn’t seen since her shower was feet away, sleeping soundly.
    Which was what he should be doing, too.
     
    Chapter eight
    Misty knew this dream, and as soon as the dirty clothes filled her vision, she screamed at herself to wake up, but she couldn’t move. Couldn’t talk. Couldn’t make a sound.
    The dirty bandana filled her mouth, and had for days, the duct tape keeping it from slipping. Her mouth was beyond dry, and her gag reflex had given up a long time ago. Her jaw was probably dislocated, too. Her arms and legs were bound, so as much as she struggled, she was pinned. Panic rose from her insides, radiating outward in a debilitating wave.
    She couldn’t move if she wanted to because everything hurt. Every part of her body seemed bruised or broken, her insides and her outsides. She was beyond hungry and thirsty. The worst part of this was she had no idea what had happened to her. She knew she was dreaming, but that didn’t make it any better. When she was awake, she knew what had happened. In her dream, she didn’t. She couldn’t remember anything.
    She fucking hated this dream.
    Misty couldn’t tell where she was, nor could she remember what had happened. All she could do was look around her limited view. She was on the floor, a cold one, concrete by the look from her peripheral vision. Smells assaulted her, too. Not pleasant ones. Sweat, grime, stale, musty odors, like the bottom of a gym bag. She’d tried to roll over yesterday, onto her back, so she could at least see the ceiling, but sharp stabs of pain had flown up her arms and legs, ending in her torso to radiate outward, pulsating like electromagnetic waves.
    So