“Don’t. He’s dangerous,” Taggart said. “Do you see that light in his eyes? He’s not with us anymore.”
Sure enough, Jesse started to fight, but not in the controlled way soldiers did. He thrashed, bucking Ten off him and rolling to his knees. He looked up at Ten, snarling like an animal.
“Everyone move back,” Taggart said in a calm voice. “Si, if you can work some magic here, I would appreciate it.”
“You’re being a little overdramatic,” Case Taggart said with a roll of his eyes. “Step back, boss. I’ll handle him.”
Before anyone could say a thing, Case stepped close to Jesse and Jesse pounced. He was on the bigger man, wrapping his hands around Case’s throat and saying something in a foreign language. Phoebe didn’t speak any of the Middle Eastern languages. She’d concentrated on Chinese and Korean and all the subdialects.
“Jesse!” She called out for him when Ten jumped back in.
“You’re making things worse,” Weston growled.
“What’s he saying?” Phoebe winced as Ten got Jesse in a chokehold. At least it would be over soon.
Or not. Jesse managed to move his head and catch Ten’s arm, biting down enough to draw blood. Ten shouted and dropped back.
“He’s saying he’d rather die,” Taggart explained. “He’d rather die than go back to being a dog. Someone’s dog. I don’t know all the words. It’s been a long time.”
“Charlotte, will you talk to him? Chelsea was able to talk him down last time,” Weston explained as Jesse turned on Ten.
Case started to walk up behind him, holding the butt of his rifle up.
“Stop!” Phoebe used her most authoritative voice and pointed a finger at Case. The man wouldn’t know subtlety if it bit him in the ass. “If you hurt him, I will make sure your next assignment is in the ass end of Africa. You’ll be pulling the leeches off your dick on a daily basis. Do you understand me? Charlotte, stand back. I’ll do it. He’s my responsibility.”
It had been right there on the tip of her tongue to say “he’s mine.” Every time someone questioned her rights to him, her damn alpha girl seemed to come out. She had to watch it because he wasn’t hers. However, she’d gotten him into this position and she would be the one to get him out.
Taggart released her. “Be careful. He really does go a little crazy when he’s in this state.”
Ten and Case stood ten feet from Jesse like he was a dangerous lion they didn’t want to touch but couldn’t let get away because he might eat all the villagers. The only good news was everyone seemed to have stopped fighting. They were too busy watching what was going on with Jesse.
“Phoebe, get back. That’s an order,” Ten commanded.
She’d never been really good at taking orders. It was easier to ignore Ten than to argue with him. “Jesse, it’s me. It’s Phoebe.”
“Softly,” Weston explained. “He’ll respond to the feminine side, not to someone in charge. Make yourself vulnerable to him. It worked before with Chelsea and he has a deeper connection with you. Let him hear the Phoebe he cares about.”
He didn’t look anything like the Jesse she knew so well. His eyes were wild, sweat covering his brow though it was nice and cool in the office. It was the blood on his mouth that completed the transformation.
Still, she didn’t hesitate.
“Hey, Jesse.” She moved toward him and he backed up, looking between the men.
“Damn it, Phoebe. Get back,” Ten ordered.
“You get back, Ten. You got us in this situation. I have to get us out,” she argued Ten’s way.
Jesse looked down and found the one thing he really didn’t need. Ten’s gun had dropped. Jesse got it in his hands and started pointing it around, speaking in rapid-fire Farsi.
“He’s telling everyone to get back,” Ten translated. Ten spoke a little in the same language, but that caused Jesse to start to stalk his way.
She couldn’t let that happen. The way Ten stilled let her know that Ten hadn’t come in with blanks. She lowered her voice, softening it. “Jesse, please. Please help me.”
“You have to get closer to him,” Simon advised.
“Shit. I’m going to get killed.” Ian lowered his voice and said something Phoebe didn’t understand.
Jesse’s eyes flared and suddenly that gun was being pointed at Taggart and Jesse was dragging Phoebe behind him.
“He didn’t mean it,” Simon explained quietly. “Jesse, you’re in Dallas. This is Simon and Ian. Ian would never hurt the girl. He just wanted to get your attention.”
So Ian had threatened her in Farsi and that had brought out Jesse’s protective instincts. Maybe it was time to bring out some other instincts. She wrapped her arms around his lean waist and brought her body against his. “Please, Jesse. I need you to come back to me.”
She let her hands move up his chest and felt his breath hitch. Yes, she was getting to him.