He brushed his gloved fingertips along her bare neck. The sight of her without his collar was like a knife to the heart. It was obvious she had removed it after their argument. There had been no mistaking how upset she was with him back in the elevator. Was she angry enough to want to end their bond? After the wives’ meeting she would know that it was a relatively simple procedure to get rid of him.
The thought of losing her punched him in the gut. Sliding his arm across her chest, he pulled her back against him in a public sign of possession. “Collar or no collar, she belongs to me.”
Dizzy clasped his forearm in a display of agreement. His fear of her leaving lessened. Hopefully she had simply removed the collar in a fit of anger and not because she truly wanted to leave him for being such an asshole in the elevator.
“He has my collar in his pocket. He took it from me.”
Venom loosened his embrace of Dizzy and stalked across the room. He ripped the front pockets on Axis’ uniform shirt and Dizzy’s collar tumbled into his hand. “You haven’t earned the right to the responsibility that comes with one of these.”
Gripping the bridal collar, Venom returned to Dizzy. She clung to his side and he soothingly caressed her back.
“Mayhem, how did you get tangled up in this?” Raze turned his attention to the busted-up soldier hoping to make the next SRU team.
“I was on my way to the gym upstairs and thought I would drop in to talk to you about the upcoming trials. I heard a commotion and found him on top of her. I figured any woman hanging out here had to be the mate of one of the SRU men.” Mayhem narrowed his eyes and ran a hand along his swollen jaw. “Mated or not, she needed to be defended from that piece of trash.”
“I didn’t even hurt her!” Axis continued to dig his hole. “I just wanted to scare her a little.”
If Dizzy hadn’t been clinging to him Venom would have given in to the desire to slam his fist right into the man’s nose. “Get him out of here before I do something very stupid.”
Raze nodded. “Secure him in the weight room until the MPs come for him.”
Fierce jerked Axis to his feet and roughly shoved him toward the door. “Move.”
“Ma’am?” Cipher came forward with a clean shirt he’d grabbed from his locker. “Would you like this shirt?”
Dizzy smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
Venom took the shirt and pulled it down over her head. Though Cipher wasn’t quite as tall as he the length of the shirt was more than enough to cover her ripped skirt. He cupped the back of Dizzy’s head and gazed down into her watery brown eyes. She still seemed a bit dazed by the terrible experience.
Her lower lip trembled. “I want to go home.”
Venom’s gut clenched painfully. Of course she did. After the way he had snapped at her in the elevator and then left her exposed to that brute Axis, he couldn’t blame her for wanting to bail on him. If their situations had been reversed he probably would have wanted to return to his planet too.
But he couldn’t let her go without a fight. “I can’t let you go now.”
Her brows knitted. “Please? Just get someone to escort me to our quarters. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
The painful ball in his belly stopped throbbing. She didn’t want to go home to Calyx. She wanted to return to their home. Maybe there was still time for him salvage this. “I would prefer for you to wait here while I debrief.”
“She can wait in my office,” Cipher offered. “It’s comfortable and quiet. We’ll take turns standing guard if that will make you feel more secure, ma’am.”
Dizzy hesitated but eventually nodded. “Okay.”
Raze led the way out of the gear room. Venom kept his arm around Dizzy’s shoulders while Cipher trailed them. Threat stayed behind with the rest of the team to put the room back together.
Venom’s stomach soured when they stopped at the office he shared with Raze to gather Dizzy’s things. Seeing the furniture moved haphazardly around the space told him the story of the altercation Dizzy had survived. Raze touched his desk that had been shoved about four feet out of the way and shot a questioning glance her way.
“I was hiding under there,” she explained quietly. “I had been listening to a message from Ella when I heard someone at the door. I thought maybe it was you,” she looked up at him, “but then he tried the handle and I knew it was someone trying to break in to the office. I couldn’t get out so I hid—but he found me. I threw that chair at him and ran.”
Listening to Dizzy recount her ordeal only added to his guilt. He pressed his lips to the crown of her head in a silent apology.
Raze picked up her bag and tablet and handed them over. “Get her situated in Cipher’s office and then meet me in the debriefing suite.”
When they were alone, Venom tried to wrap his collar back around Dizzy’s neck. Her hand flew up and blocked him. “No, Venom. I can’t stand it anymore.”
Taken aback, he reminded her, “Dizzy, this is the way we do things here.”
“But it hurts me.”
At first he thought she meant it was hurting her emotionally or mentally but then she gestured to her neck. The red, irritated skin surrounding her scars just added to his pile of guilt. How the hell had he missed that?
“I’m sorry.” He carefully brushed his fingertips over her chafed skin. “I didn’t realize—”
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” she interjected. “I thought I could get used to it.”
“You never have to get used to pain, Dizzy. I should have recognized that your scars and the collar weren’t going to play nice but apparently I’m dense. Next time you have a problem like this you tell me.”
“I will.”
“Hold out your wrist.” When she followed his order, he wrapped the collar around it twice before securing the latch. “We’ll make do with this until I can figure out something else.”
“Maybe I could only wear it outside our home?”
He didn’t like the idea of her skin being irritated and chafed every time she left their quarters but it was the easiest solution. “We can try that.”
Her small hands moved across his tactical vest, tracing the ammo magazines and cuffs and other gear tucked into the myriad pockets. “You look really scary in this getup.”
His cheek twitched. “That’s sort of the point.”
Her lopsided smile melted some of his tension. “I figured.”
When her gaze moved to his shoulder he sensed she wanted to ask about the rifle strapped to his back but she didn’t. She rubbed his chest. “You should go to your debriefing. I’ll be fine in your friend’s office.”
He didn’t want to leave her but it had to be done. Holding her hand, he led her to Cipher’s office. He spotted a bottle of berry-flavored rehydrating water and a candy bar waiting for her on the desk there. That was just like Cipher to be so considerate and accommodating.
“I won’t be long. An hour tops,” he said while guiding her onto the small couch along the wall. He picked up the snack and presented it to her. “Eat this. I’m sure you’re hungry after missing lunch.”
“Thank you.” She set aside the bottled drink and bar and reached for his gloved hand. “Venom, are you mad at me?”
“What?” He crouched down in front of her and put both hands on her thighs. “No, of course not! What happened with Axis wasn’t your fault. Collar or no collar, he had no right to attack you like that.”
“It’s just that you seem very…cold. I thought maybe you were mad at me for embarrassing you with the collar thing or—”
“No.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb, all the while wishing the fabric of his glove wasn’t between his skin and hers. “The call we were on didn’t end well.”
“Oh.” Her eyes sparked with understand. “Oh.”
“After a call like this, it’s better for me to disengage myself from you until my head is back in the right space.”
“Okay. Whatever you need, just tell me, Venom. I can’t even begin to understand what you’re feeling but I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
Her sweet kindness made his heart swell. She didn’t seem horrified by the revelation that he had just ended a man’s life. Perhaps her experiences during the bombing had given her a glimpse of the awful choices that often had to be made to save innocent lives.
Even so, he didn’t want her exposed to any more harshness today. She had seen enough. The last thing she needed to hear were the details of the hostage situation he had ended with deadly force.
“I’ll be back as quickly as possible.”
She leaned forward and captured his mouth in a tender kiss. “I’ll be here waiting for you.”
As Venom backed away and left the office, he wondered if Dizzy would ever comprehend how much those six simple words meant to him.
* * * * *
Later that evening Dizzy reclined against a pillow and tried to focus on the book opened up on her tablet. She was reading a title Raze had recommended on understanding siege-shock and trauma bonds. Her worried gaze flitted from the screen to the open doorway of their bedroom. Venom still hadn’t come to bed and she was concerned about him.