by Sommer Smith
Cameron Wilbanks came to them from a small town in the south, which meant he had strong morals, a faith background and took pride in being a hero. And though he was a terrific, intelligent guy, he didn’t seem to have the street sophistication to get mixed up in the drug cartels. Cameron just didn’t seem likely to get involved with anything the least bit illegal.
Loren McFarland hoped to become a full-time pastor and missionary when his stint with the SEALs was over, and though that didn’t necessarily exclude him from any wrongdoing, Micah couldn’t remember ever meeting a more caring, genuine guy. McFarland tried to keep them all on the right path every day.
Micah worked his way down through all sixteen members of his platoon, still coming up blank. He couldn’t think of a single guy who had motive to carry out such reprehensible actions. Frank, Javier, Lucas, Jonathan, Abdullah, Carey, Dalton, Jeremiah, Sean and Yordi... They all seemed just as trustworthy as they had always been. They were a tight-knit group, so he felt sure he would be aware of it if any of the men had experienced a change in attitude. Dalton Taggert was the only one experiencing any sort of problems outside of navy life, and he seemed to be dealing with it just fine.
Micah’s thoughts were interrupted when a slight scratching noise commanded his attention. It was quiet enough to be ignored by most, but Micah recognized it immediately. Someone was picking the lock on the care unit door.
He glanced at Keilani’s sleeping form. He hated to wake her, but knew it was necessary, just in case there was more than one man. It could be just a distraction.
“Keilani, get up. We have company. Come with me. Hurry.” He nudged her gently until she began to stir.
“Is it Gus?” She was struggling to get her eyes open, and clearly hadn’t registered his comment about the intruder. She was getting to her feet anyway.
“No, someone is picking the lock. We need to surprise them. Let’s go.” He had his Sig in one hand and grasped her hand with the other.
She was instantly more alert. Good girl. “What’s the plan?”
“Ambush. As soon as the door opens. I don’t want to shoot, though. I’d rather just tackle him and get some answers. But stay out of the way in case I have to wing him.” He watched her face for understanding, and when she got it, he put her in place and moved to his.
The scratching slowed and stopped. There was an almost imperceptible click. They waited, holding their breaths, but the door didn’t open. Keilani sent him a confused look, but he only shook his head and gestured for her to wait. The perp could be listening to ascertain what awaited inside.
Micah was about to decide the intruder had changed his mind for some reason when the door suddenly swung open. A figure swathed from head to toe in all black stepped in and Micah launched himself at the man with the full force of his body weight. The man went down and they wrestled on the floor, fighting for dominance. Micah was patient, just kept battling for the upper hand. He knew he was one of the strongest men in his platoon, and by far the smartest. He didn’t become an officer by chance.
Desperation made his opponent strong, and he continued to fight hard against Micah’s superior strength. Micah pinned him to the floor with a forearm, but the man managed to wriggle free. Micah rolled with him, pulling one arm away from the man’s body at an unnatural angle. The man only grunted and broke loose. When finally Micah got the upper hand once more, the man pulled a blade.
Now that was fighting dirty.
Enraged, Micah grasped the man’s blade hand and twisted hard until the knife fell from his fingers, accompanied by a sharp cry. He used a couple of other maneuvers that he wished Keilani didn’t have to witness, and finally he had the man subdued.
Even though he wore a dark hood that covered most of his face, Micah couldn’t miss the widening of the man’s eyes. It was much like a feral beast caught in a trap, but then the man’s expression changed and Micah braced himself. He stiffened, wondering what his foe planned now. Micah released one hand to pull off the man’s hood, hoping to catch him off guard, but the man was ready.
He relaxed, causing Micah’s grip to involuntarily loosen. He slumped, loosening every single muscle in his body as if going unconscious.
“What...?” Micah fought for a good grip, but in a flash, the man wriggled free, and the metallic click of a pin hitting the floor prefaced the thud of a grenade. It wasn’t even a split second before Micah was on his feet.
“Get down!” The shout from Micah’s lungs accompanied his dive across the room to Keilani.
The blast rocked them, and debris rained down on them. Micah had one hand over his head, but his body shielded Keilani from most of the shrapnel. He felt a sharp pain as a piece hit him hard in the shoulder. It seemed forever before the debris settled around them and Micah felt it was safe to release her.
When he did, he rose to find his fears were realized once again.
The man was gone.
TEN
Keilani was finally getting a sense that maybe Lieutenant Micah Kent was human after all.
She was doing her best to be as gentle as possible and she had managed to find a numbing agent safe for use on humans among the things stocked for treating the cetaceans, but each time Micah winced, she was reminded he did indeed feel pain.
“Odd to see you aren’t actually superhuman.” Keilani grinned at him as she carefully extracted another bit of shrapnel from his shoulder. It was a messy wound, ragged edges filled with random bits of metal of various sizes. She had clipped the ragged edges of his torn shirt fabric out of the way so she could see to work.
He sucked in a breath between his teeth. “It’s like you’re digging around with flaming matches back there.”
“That’s what happens when you use your body as a human shield.” She plucked at another piece of metal, trying to be gentler.
“So you’d rather be digging this out of yourself?” His back tensed again. She didn’t miss the ripple of his muscles beneath his shirt, though she tried hard to put it out of her mind.
“No. I mean... I guess what I mean is thank you.” She stopped prodding at his ruptured skin for a moment and he turned to look into her eyes. The tender emotion there nearly sent her over the edge.
Why did he have to be so emotionally distant?
She reminded herself it didn’t matter anyway. He was her boss. There was no way they could become romantically involved, even if he wasn’t a confirmed lifelong bachelor. And besides, thanks to her mother, she had seen how loving someone could completely wreck a person’s life. She never wanted to be anything like her mother.
Micah was shrugging off her thanks. “I’m a SEAL. It’s what I do.”
His response angered her. That wasn’t a typical Micah response. He was trying to hide his emotions by being arrogant.
She waved the tweezers at him. “Would it kill you to just respond graciously with a ‘you’re welcome’ or something normal? What is wrong with you?”
“Right now my left shoulder has a hole blown in it, you’re digging shrapnel out of it with what feels like flaming knives, and I had our guy but lost him—again—because I just couldn’t wait to see who he was and loosened my grip before he was secure. Is there anything I missed?” Micah practically growled at her as he finished.
“Yeah, you forgot about the mistreatment of the dolphins and the forty-eight-plus hours you’ve gone without sleep.” She wasn’t about to let him off easy right now.
“I’m used to going without sleep. I’m a—”
“SEAL, yes, I know. As if you’d let me forget. But being a SEAL doesn’t mean you have to be an iceberg.”
He was staring her down, and she stared right back, unflinching.
Finally, he spoke in a terrifyingly quiet voice. “Yes, it does.”
Keilani had no idea what to say to that. Did he really believe that?
He turned away from her once more
and she hesitated for only a moment before resuming her vigil. His reaction stung nearly as much as she imagined his flesh did at the wound site right now. This is why you shouldn’t let your heart get involved with a man, especially this one. It seemed he was too stubborn to even allow himself to feel.
Keilani continued to work in silence for what felt like hours. If Micah’s rigid posture was any indication, his anger hadn’t dissipated. The tension between them stretched endlessly.
At last, she was certain the wound had been cleared of all debris, and she leaned back to stretch her stiff muscles. “It’s clear, but I’m going to need to disinfect it before I stitch you up. It’s going to hurt.”
His teeth ground together on his reply. “Why do I feel like that prospect doesn’t bother you much right now?”
She fired right back at him. “Maybe because of the way you’re acting.”
“Maybe you’re the reason I’m acting this way.” His eyes narrowed, but emotion blazed in their depths.
“Don’t try to blame this on me. You make your own choices, and a SEAL has been trained to have self-control, right?” She leaned toward him at the taunt, knowing it was a dangerous thing to do.
Instead of shouting back at her, he leaned in, too. He seemed to think better of it, though, and pulled away. She was infused with boldness at the knowledge that he had been thinking of kissing her. She leaned forward, not wanting to lose the opportunity. He met her halfway, their lips meeting gently. He seemed unsure at first that she was okay with this, but then his kiss began to soften into a gentle caress. She felt like melting. Wonder filled her that so much tenderness could flood her at a man’s touch. She sighed against his mouth.
In a flash, lucidity won out and he jerked away. “What are we doing?”
His hand went to his hair and he turned away. Keilani touched her lips. What was she thinking, kissing him like that? She stared at the back of his dark head, marveling at the churning of emotions rolling through her. Tenderness, joy and the thrill of his desire for her were quickly replaced by sadness, regret and the assurance that she could never kiss him again. She wanted to laugh, cry and scream all at the same time.
He finally turned back to her. “I know you kissed me, but I was thinking it. You just reacted. I’m sure a gentleman would apologize. But I can’t. I’m not sorry. So—” he gestured to the small table where her wound-debriding tools sat, along with the disinfectant “—let’s get this wound cleaned and be done with it.”
If her shock was evident on her face, he didn’t react to it. He just presented his back to her once more, the crimson wound glaring and prominent on his left shoulder through the rip in his shirt.
She didn’t say a word, just picked up the disinfectant and poured it generously on the wound.
* * *
For once Micah just let the scream tear from his lips. If this pileup of emotions he was feeling didn’t find some release, there was no telling what other stupid things he might do. So he let the physical pain mingle with the emotional pain and released it in one fierce warrior cry. To his surprise Keilani didn’t even flinch. He had told her the truth. He wasn’t sorry he had kissed her.
She was beautiful, inside and out. If he was the type of man to want a home and family, she would be everything he could need in a woman. Brave and strong, smart and kind—he couldn’t think of anything she was lacking. The irony of the whole thing didn’t escape him.
“I’m going to stitch it up now, okay?” Her voice was small, like she regretted the fact that she had to continue to hurt him.
“Yeah. Just hurry. We need to see about Gus and check on the other dolphins.” He knew his tone was harsh, but he couldn’t help it.
He turned just enough to see her frown as she prepared the needle. Her aptitude for medicine was amazing, be it human or animal. A sudden thought occurred to him.
“Why didn’t you become a physician instead of a veterinarian? You’d have been very good at it.”
She held the needle aloft, looking at it, not at him. “Animals are much easier to deal with than humans. They don’t hurt you near as much.”
Ouch. He knew that comment was aimed directly at him.
“That’s probably true, but you don’t seem like the type to avoid challenge.” He closed his eyes as her gloved hand touched his shoulder near the wound, bracing himself for the needle stick.
“Maybe not, but it seems pretty silly not to avoid pain any time it’s possible. There is enough pain in life that we can’t avoid.” The sudden stick of the needle into his flesh only emphasized her words.
“I’ve always found that there are many times when the outcome is worth the pain. Sometimes you have to take the risk.” His words came through gritted teeth as she worked the needle in and out of his shoulder.
She paused in her stitching. “Physical pain, you mean? I’m not sure emotional pain would fall into the same category.”
He didn’t comment, so she continued. “You agree, don’t you? Why else would you still be single? You don’t want to experience heartbreak any more than anyone else does.”
“Oh, I definitely plan to remain single. It isn’t that, though.”
She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“Sometimes it’s necessary for change. Growth.” He breathed deeply, in and out.
“But?” She pulled the wound together more tightly with her free hand.
“But sometimes it’s not. You should use common sense. Avoid it when it doesn’t help anything. I’ve learned some pain isn’t really worth the risk.” He knew he sounded like a jerk, but he didn’t know how else to make her understand.
“Maybe you’ve just never been in love.” Her words were quiet and reverent. He thought they might even be a little bit hopeful, but maybe that was his own wishful thinking.
“Have you?” He looked over his shoulder at her.
The pain that crept across her face was an answer in itself. “I thought I might be. Once.”
He waited a moment, still watching her, but she never elaborated. “What happened?”
The needle paused. “It didn’t end well.”
She was quiet a moment longer, then the needle started up again. “His name was Jackson Carrigan. I met him through a mutual friend. We became friends right away and eventually started dating. But I guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought. We went out with friends one night. I’d been up most of the night before with a sick whale at the aquatic park where I worked at the time. He disappeared a time or two, leaving me with people I barely knew. Finally, I decided I just wanted him to take me home.”
She paused to cut the thread and tie off the stitches, then leaned back, looking skyward as she continued. “It took me a while to find him. When I did, he was with another girl. It was...pretty obvious what they had been doing. I managed to get another ride home, but the next day he showed up at my door. When I told him I didn’t want to see him again he grew very angry and demanded to know why. I told him I couldn’t stomach a cheater and he grew angry and started yelling. I slammed the door on him.”
“Did he leave you alone then?” Micah had a strong desire to find the man and break every bone in his body.
“Not for a while. He finally realized I meant what I said, but not before several loud arguments and a restraining order.”
“Did he ever try to see you again?”
“Just once, but my grandfather intervened. I think that’s why Jackson finally let it go.”
“Well, I’m thankful for your grandfather, then. I guess that’s when you learned to shoot?” She nodded. But the anger didn’t leave his body. “You thought you were in love with the guy?”
“At first. He was very sweet and attentive in the beginning. I mean, I guess I never saw him angry before that, so I suppose I just thought he was easygoing and kind. He opened doors for me, spoke politely to my grandpar
ents and brought me extravagant gifts. I just couldn’t help thinking he was this wonderful gentleman. But I fell in love with a facade. It wasn’t real.” Her expression was faraway and melancholy. Micah’s anger intensified.
“I’d be glad to teach him a lesson for you.” His tone was cheerful.
When she blinked wide-eyed at him for a moment, he thought he might have taken his teasing too far. Then she laughed. “That’s good to know.”
He cracked his knuckles for emphasis, grinning. “Want me to?”
She laughed again, and he found he wanted to keep hearing it. “No, that’s okay. I’m trying to forgive and forget. He will receive what he deserves.”
He made a dejected face at her in hopes of getting another laugh, but she just smiled. He wasn’t exactly disappointed with that, though.
Her smile made him forget all about what he was looking for anyway.
ELEVEN
Keilani knew she should let it go and just allow Micah some breathing room, but she couldn’t be sure he would ever choose to open up to her on his own. Pushing the issue wasn’t usually something she did in matters like this, so it took a few tries to figure out how to ask him.
“You changed the subject again without answering me. But I was wrong, wasn’t I? You have been in love. That’s why you don’t want to risk it. Someone hurt you and you don’t want to go through that again.” Keilani finished sterilizing the tools she had been using on his wound and put them away.
He was staring into space. “I thought I was once. I was wrong.”
She wasn’t about to let it go that easily. “How were you wrong?”
“It wasn’t love. She betrayed me.” He still didn’t look at her, but he did continue this time. “Her name was Jade. We pretty much grew up together and when we were teenagers, we fell in love. Or so I thought. We were together through most of high school and when the time came to go to college, she just assumed I would go where she wanted to go. She had high aspirations. She wanted to be an architect. When I decided to enlist in the navy instead of following her to the university she was upset, but after much discussion we eventually decided to make it work anyway.”