Free Guard (The Underground Book 3) by Becca Jameson Page B

with hers from the back of her hand. He held her arm against her chest between her breasts. “Try to sleep, Haley. You’re exhausted. You’ll feel better in the morning after a good night’s rest.”
    “Isn’t it almost morning now?” she muttered.
    “Do you need to be any place at a specific time?”
    “No.”
    “Then, no. It’s not almost morning. Sleep.” He kissed her neck, sending a chill down her body. “Sleep,” he repeated.

Chapter Six
    Mikhail stared down at the amazing woman sleeping next to him. It was almost ten in the morning. He had eased back a few inches to keep from smothering her, but he didn’t dare move more. The bedframe of the pull-out couch would squeak loudly and wake her up.
    And she needed to sleep. He didn’t think she’d slept this many hours in a row since he’d met her.
    Fear constantly ate at the corners of her consciousness, even when she was asleep. He hated that for her.
    It wasn’t true that he didn’t know her. He could hear the passion in her voice every time she spoke to her boss. He’d watched her hover over her computer with her brow furrowed in concentration. She would sit at the kitchen table with one leg lifted, her foot planted on the seat, her knee against her cheek.
    It was adorable.
    Her gorgeous red curls made her crazy when they were loose and untamed by her hair dryer. She constantly tucked an errant lock behind her ear to no avail. It would spring back into her face almost instantly.
    There was no doubt she was disconcerted with her fear, but it was understandable. A vile man snatched her off the street, kept her sedated, and drugged her with who knew what. That would instill fear in anyone.
    When she buried herself in work, typing furiously, she would forget her surroundings. He’d learned to stay very still. But inevitably she would jerk her gaze his way, eyes wide for an instant until she remembered why there was a man in her space.
    He was falling hard for this slender redhead. His heart had raced out of control when his lips met hers a few hours ago. It had been unexpected. Although he’d longed to reach out and haul her against him for days, he hadn’t wanted to take that risk.
    She needed him. And he would stay for as long as necessary under whatever terms she preferred.
    But that kiss… God. And her hot body squirming underneath him…
    He understood she was generally strong and competent. It was obvious. But was that the authentic Haley?
    He wasn’t sure. And the answer to that niggled in his mind several times a day.
    Oh yeah. He wanted her. More than he’d ever wanted anything. But he was a dominant man. Controlling and demanding. He’d held back and bit his tongue several times in the past three weeks, when what he really wanted to do was order her to chill or sit or rest or sleep or take a hot shower to ease her tension or any number of things.
    It was his nature. Maybe something about the way he was raised, or more likely the company he’d kept since arriving in the US had formed him into the man he was. All five of his friends were similar. Dominant.
    What would she think if she knew who he really was?
    What would she do if he topped her?
    With each passing day, as he got to know her better, his suspicion increased that she would let him dominate her. Hell, she might even let him command her outside the bedroom.
    She didn’t realize it, and she couldn’t have known something like this about herself before he came on the scene, but she was crying out for a firm hand to step up to the plate and erase her fears by taking charge. His only hesitation was wondering if she would have seen him in the same light a month ago before she was abducted.
    And did it matter? People changed. Evolved. Became more authentically aware of themselves.
    Perhaps she had been a little lost for several years, fighting forward every day without understanding her inner needs. He’d seen it happen. It had happened to Lauren after she met Dmitry. And Katie