Page 3 of Derius

The room was illuminated by a lamp beside the bed. The man she still only knew as Soldier lay tangled in his sheets, trapped by them, eyes closed, sweating, calling out orders and warnings to invisible comrades. He thrashed against the pillows, hands in fists.

Caught in a nightmare, she realized with dismay. He’d been a soldier so it wasn’t much of a leap to guess this was a serious episode of PTSD happening. Leonie had no experience with such things but there was a vague instinct in her mind it was a bad idea to try to wake the person. She couldn’t bear to walk away and leave him. Even though she was full of rage over how he’d acted at the end of their one night together, she couldn’t abandon him to what must be an extremely painful memory.

She went to the bedside and touched his shoulder. “Soldier?”

He cringed away from the touch and yelled at her to take cover.

“It’s a dream, Soldier,” she said in a soothing voice. “You’re here on Resort Planet, in the hotel, not in combat. No one’s in danger. There’s no battle going on.”

“Must get to the stairs before the tangoes take Nikko out,” he said in a tense voice.

“I’m sure you did get to the stairs in time but it’s all over. Tonight you’re safe and so is everyone else.” Leonie rubbed his arm, feeling foolish. “You’re caught in a dream, that’s all.”

Her voice soothed him a bit so she kept talking, keeping her voice calm. “You’re safe—you obviously survived this event you’re dreaming about. You’re here with me and years have passed. Take a deep breath, okay? In for four, hold for four, out for four. I’ll do it with you.” She had to repeat the instruction a few times but then had the satisfaction of watching his bare chest rise and fall in the rhythm she was suggesting. “You’re safe and I’m here with you.” Repeating herself so much was uncomfortable but it seemed to be helping Soldier come out of the nightmare so she kept talking.

Finally he lay still. His eyes opened to stare blankly at the ceiling fan above the bed and then he turned to her. His gaze was glassy and Leonie was pretty sure he wasn’t truly awake yet but at least the dream had ended.

“You’re here,” he said in wonder, as if they hadn’t met each other at the club a few hours ago. “My angel. My lady.”

“Can you sleep now?” she asked. “Close your eyes and try?”

Obediently he lowered his eyelids and a snore filled the room.

Shaken, Leonie stepped away from the bed and tiptoed across the rug to the door, easing her way outside and closing the portal softly. She hoped with all her heart he could sleep the rest of the night dreamlessly and if he failed to remember her intervention that would be perfect. She didn’t want him drawing any wrong conclusions from her simple act of charity. She’d have done the same for anyone in such distress, even a man she despised.

Re-entering her own room Leonie shed the bathrobe and ate two of the chocolate candies the hotel staff had left on her pillow, needing to do something for self-care, even if it was consuming sweets. She went to bed, leaving one nightlight burning low in case anything else happened before dawn came.

Her dreams were restless and mildly disturbing, centering around being lost in a gigantic hotel and unable to find her way to her own room, trying her key in many wrong doors and taking gravlifts that delivered her to the wrong floor or refused to work, trapping her in the silvery stream. Finally Soldier appeared, in his uniform, looking the way he had when they first met and as she stepped toward him, the dream faded and she descended into deeper sleep.

Chapter Two

In the morning Derius ordered the deluxe room service breakfast for two and when the food was delivered he knocked on her door. “Lady? The breakfast is here if you’re hungry. We have time to eat before we go meet with the resort manager.”

He received no response at all and stood there outside her door for a minute or two, irresolute. Surely she was fine but it went against his nature to ignore the fact there’d been no response. He knocked again. “I’m going to take a shower so you’d have the sitting room and the food all to yourself. And then you can have the bathroom after. I can go roam the hotel for a few minutes while you do your morning thing.”

The door opened suddenly and she stood there in the hotel’s big fluffy robe, a hint of a rose colored silk nightgown peeking through the closure. “I’ll take the bathroom first and yes, offer accepted for you to make yourself scarce for at least an hour. And the name is Leonie, by the way, Leonie Bradnum, if you didn’t hear me tell the desk clerk last night.”

Derius was tongue tied but managed to stammer out his name. “I’m Derius Tate.” He began to raise his hand as if to shake with her but her pointed glare froze him in mid motion. He backed away, Leonie watching him like a hawk. “I’ll throw together a breakfast sandwich from what room service delivered, grab my coffee and go then.” He did as he’d promised and left the room with food and drink in hand, wandering down to the patio beside the pool on the ground floor, where he sat and ate and sipped his coffee.

One of his friends had come down early to swim laps and now Braden left the pool wrapped his hips in a towel and sat next to him. “Did you straighten everything out with your date?”

“Leonie? Not hardly. We have a meeting with the resort manager in about an hour and a half and she wants out of her contract and to leave today.”

“Did I hear you two right last night, was she the mystery girl you ran out on when the last deployment hit?”

“Yeah.” His closest friends knew the whole sad story so Derius confirmed the information. “She won’t even let me explain or apologize or anything. I know I don’t deserve a break after what I did, but if only she’d listen to me⁠—”

“Asking a lot, pal,” Braden said, rubbing his hair dry. “You still came out better than me, at least you have a date. Mine was a total no show. Got married on her home planet.”

Derius stared. “That’s rough. Can IDA fix you up with someone else?”

“Apparently not in time although Delain said they tried but I might have a solution.” His friend grinned. “Tell you later. Good luck with your situation.” He left and Derius finished his coffee in a few gulps.

When he returned to their suite, he could tell from the room service cart Leonie had eaten and the bathroom was all steamy. There was no sign of her but he heard sounds from her room as he passed through the sitting room to take his shower. It was impossible not to think about her having been naked in this same space a few minutes ago. As he stood under the stream of water, he remembered how good the two of them had been together three years ago and Derius had no choice but to put his hand to work, stroking his hard cock, to get some relief and not go to this damn meeting with a hard on.

She was waiting in the sitting room by the time he finished and ducked into his bedroom to get dressed. She’d put on a cute green and white sundress with hot pink ribbons and sandals with matching trim and had a straw hat in her hand. She was tapping her fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair as she waited for him and rose the instant he walked into the room fully dressed in his own cargo shorts and a short sleeved resort shirt.

“We can’t be late,” she said, turning on her heel after one rapid glance at him and heading for the door.