by Maya Banks
It was a shame too, because the man fascinated her. Maybe it was because he was so standoffish. Maybe that intrigued her all the more.
“Give me a minute and I’ll meet you at the clinic,” Maren said.
And then Steele was gone, melting away into the night, leaving her standing in her doorway slightly baffled by the whole encounter. Shaking her head, she turned and walked back into her cottage to get her stethoscope and the rest of her tea. She could nuke it at the clinic. She was going to need it. It was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER 3
IT didn’t surprise Maren in the least when she walked into her clinic to find members of Steele’s team sprawled everywhere. P.J. and Cole were sitting in the small “waiting” area, rifles between their knees, barrels pointed toward the ceiling. Cole offered Maren a warm smile and P.J. called out a soft hello.
“It’s so good to see you, P.J.,” Maren said sincerely.
Brief shadows floated through P.J.’s eyes even though she returned Maren’s warm greeting, but Maren didn’t push the subject any further. She greeted the others and continued past the waiting room down the hall where the small exam rooms were situated.
In the first room, she saw Baker bending over the sink while Renshaw helped by handing him towels to scrub the blood from his face.
“Leave it,” Maren called from the doorway. “Better to have me take a look before you aggravate it further.”
Baker turned around with a grimace and she winced at the already swollen purpling of his jaw, his chin and both eyes. She whistled softly. “You don’t mess around when it comes to blowing stuff up, do you?”
Renshaw chuckled and slapped Baker on the shoulder. “Bet he won’t make that same mistake again.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Baker muttered.
Then he looked up at Maren. “Check out the girl first. I’m fine.”
Maren nodded and then walked down to the next room. As she peered around the corner of the doorway, she saw Dolphin consoling a quietly sobbing young woman while Steele stood at the head of the bed, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl set into his features like stone. Maren could well understand why the girl was so upset. Steele wasn’t helping matters any. She likely thought she’d hopped right from the frying pan and into the fire when KGI rescued her. If she even thought at this point she had been rescued.
Yep, Steele was in typical form. What she wouldn’t give to shake him up. Just once. She wondered if anything ever ruffled him. Caught him off guard. Or surprised him.
She’d heard some of the details of P.J.’s ordeal from Sam, and P.J.’s subsequent walkabout from the team and the fact that Steele and the others hadn’t taken it very well. Sam had hinted that Steele had displayed uncharacteristic emotion. That, she’d pay money to see.
She took in a deep breath at the precise moment Steele looked up and saw her. His blue eyes cut into her, piercing deep, making her feel suddenly bare and vulnerable. Almost like he could see right inside her. It was a stupid thought and it was even dumber to attribute superhuman powers to this man. He was only human. Fallible. But damn if he didn’t make a strong argument for invincible. Regardless of what he was or wasn’t, he absolutely sold it with every look, every nonword. Every action.
All her breath slipped out in a long exhale, her shoulders sagging as she deflated underneath his gaze.
Pulling herself together, she headed to the bed, pulling out her penlight from her lab coat pocket.
“What happened?” she asked briskly.
The girl looked nervously at Maren and shrank further against the pillow. She was trembling from head to toe and Maren’s heart softened. Poor thing was scared out of her mind.
She patted the girl’s hand and squeezed. “You’ll be all right now. Promise. They may look scary, but they’re the good guys. They’ll get you back home where you belong.”
“I didn’t want to leave Matteo,” she said with a sniff. “They made me.”
Steele’s scowl deepened and Dolphin sighed.
“She tried to step in front of a bullet meant for someone else,” Dolphin muttered.
“That’ll do it too,” Maren said wryly.
As her gaze flicked up to Steele, she could swear there was a tiny twitch at one corner of his mouth. Almost as if the man had actually been about to smile. It was such an absurd thought that she immediately put it down to her imagination and turned her focus on her patient.
“Just winged her,” Dolphin continued. “But she dropped like a stone. Dead faint. She only just came around.”
“Why don’t you gentlemen leave me alone with her so I can check her over. You aren’t helping matters by hovering over her looking like ax murderers.”
Dolphin shrugged and Steele looked reluctant until Maren turned and engaged in a staredown with him. Finally he broke and he and Dolphin retreated, though they stood just outside the doorway.
“Now,” Maren said, turning back to the girl. “What’s your name, honey?”
“Christina,” she said in a wavering voice.
“I’m going to check you over and make sure everything is okay.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “But everything’s not okay and it’s all their fault. Matteo said he didn’t want me, but how could he when they came in with guns and shooting people? Now he’ll think I was responsible for this. I love him and only want to be with him.”
Maren smoothed a tear from her cheek. “I know it sucks right now, but, honey, if KGI was called in to rescue you, Matteo was not a good man. You’re much better off without him. Steele will take you back to your parents and after a few weeks, you’ll see that everything will work out.”
“He scares me,” she muttered.
Maren laughed. “He scares everyone. But his bark is much worse than his bite. He’s a good man, Christina. The very best. I’d want him at my back in any bad situation.”
Christina quieted but didn’t look happy.
Maren quickly did an assessment, checked her pulse and both pupils. Other than the crease where the bullet had winged her, she didn’t show any sign of further injury. She could stitch up the wound, but there was nothing she could do for a broken heart. Only time would heal that.
There was resiliency in youth. Maren would lay odds that within a few weeks after she was back with her family, she’d bounce back and realize that one man wasn’t the be-all and end-all of her life.
“I’ll have you stitched up in a matter of minutes and then I’ll give you something to help you rest.”
“Thank you,” Christina said in a low voice. “You’re really nice.”
Maren smiled. “The others are nice too. You just happened to see them in commando mode. They’d scare anyone silly when they’re focused on a mission.”
Maren made quick work of setting the stitches and then gave the girl an injection for pain that would relax her and enable her to sleep. Within moments after Christina received the injection, her eyelashes fluttered and she drifted off.
She met Steele and Dolphin outside the door. “She’ll be fine. I put in a few stitches and gave her a dose of antibiotics to prevent infection. She’ll need to follow up with a doctor as soon as you get her home so they can continue her care and take out the stitches when needed.”
Steele nodded and Maren’s gaze dropped as, for the first time she noticed the blood on Steele’s arm.
“That yours or hers?” she asked softly.
Steele’s eyes flicked downward and then dismissively back up at her. “Mine.”
“Don’t you think I should take a look at it?” she asked.
He shook his head and remained silent. She sighed. Such a difficult bastard. Evidently it was against the law in Steele’s own personal law book for him to ever be injured or suffer downtime.
“Just see to Baker so we can be out of here,” Steele said.
“I’ll try not to take your desire to be quit of me so personally,” she said dryly.
Dolphin cleared his throat and shifted uncom
fortably. Maren smiled to ease his discomfort.
“Why don’t you hang out in Christina’s room and keep watch on her. She should be out for a while but if she wakes, I’d hate for her to be disoriented. She’ll need a friendly face and well, Steele’s not the friendliest-looking guy. I’ll go look in on Baker. I’d hate to hold up his majesty when he has better places to be.”
Dolphin nodded. “I can do that.”
He sent a reproachful look in Steele’s direction, but it didn’t faze Steele one iota. He continued to stare at Maren like he wanted her gone five minutes ago. Who was she kidding? He did want her gone five minutes ago!
Maren shook her head and walked back to the room Baker occupied. He was leaning against the exam table, his butt just barely perched on the edge. Renshaw was sitting against the wall, and he looked up when she entered.
“Okay, so let’s see what we have here,” Maren said in a cheerful voice. “Why don’t you lie down on the exam table so I can actually reach your head.”
She poked and prodded while Baker grumbled under his breath and winced when she debrided the wounds. She sutured two of the cuts to his scalp and then bandaged the rest.
“You’re going to feel like shit in the morning,” she offered when she finished.
“I feel like shit now,” he muttered.
“You want me to give you an injection for pain?”
He hesitated and then shook his head. “If we’re bugging out, I need to be alert.”
“Hey, Baker,” Cole said from the door. “FYI, we’re stuck here until eight in the morning. Pilot was just in touch. He had mechanical issues that grounded him for the night. So get the damn injection. Maren, you care if we crash here until then?”
“Of course not,” she said. “Mi casa es su casa. Or rather my clinic is,” she added with a grin. “You might have visitors in the morning. The locals are often here before I arrive, waiting for me to open up. Just don’t shoot anyone, okay?”
Cole grinned. “We’ll do our best.”
She turned back to Baker. “Now, how about that injection? You could use the rest, I’m sure.”
He sighed in resignation and then rolled, presenting his ass as he yanked at his fatigues. She laughed. “I’m taking that as a yes.”
After administering the pain medication, she glanced toward Renshaw. “Everything okay with you? Anything I need to look at?”
“No ma’am. I know when to keep back from explosives.”
“Fuck you,” Baker grumbled.
She smiled. “All right then, I’m going to go tackle Steele’s injuries. If you guys aren’t heading out right away, then he can suffer like the rest of you and have me patch him up.”
Renshaw snorted. “Good luck with that.”
She stuck her head into the exam room where Dolphin and Steele were still standing over the girl. “Steele? Can I see you in the next room a minute?”
Steele frowned—of course—but he nodded and then headed her way. She led him into the next exam room and rifled through the cabinets to find the stuff she needed.
“What’s up?” he asked shortly.
She turned back to him and motioned toward the exam table. “Have a seat.”
His brow furrowed as she came nearer to him.
“Look,” she said in exasperation. “You aren’t superhuman, no matter what you want the rest of us mere mortals to believe. Sit your ass down and let me look at your wound. Cole said you all were grounded until eight in the morning.”
The look on Steele’s face was priceless. He actually looked . . . caught off guard. She wanted to do a double fist pump, but that would be incredibly obvious. So she continued to stare serenely at him, not backing down as she stood waiting for him to comply with her orders.
He was used to giving orders, not taking them, and she’d admit it gave her a tiny thrill to play the boss card.
Sending her a disgruntled look, he plopped down on the table and pulled his shirt off, exposing a ripped set of abs and a broad, muscled chest with a smattering of blond hair over the hollow. Her hand twitched to check her mouth for drool, but again, way too obvious.
“Let’s make this quick,” he muttered.
Her eyebrow rose and she sent him a look she knew he wouldn’t appreciate.
“What’s your hurry? Cole said you didn’t have any place to be until eight in the morning.”
She smoothed her hand up his arm until it reached the cut that still oozed blood. His muscles twitched underneath her fingers and then tightened. She thought she heard his sudden intake of breath, but maybe she imagined it.
“Not too bad,” she murmured. “A few stitches and some antibiotic ointment. Doubt it’ll rot off anytime soon.”
“My point exactly,” he said. “No need to make a fuss over it. Slap a bandage on it and be done.”
Her mouth twitched. “I’m beginning to think you don’t like me, Steele. I wonder why? Everyone else in KGI doesn’t seem to have a problem with me. What’s yours?”
Her gaze lifted to his eyes and they narrowed at her. “I never said I didn’t like you.”
“Your actions speak far louder than words,” she said dryly.
“Why the hell are we even having this conversation?” he demanded.
She shrugged and then set to work deadening the area around the wound. She worked in silence as she set the sutures and focused intently on her task. When she set the last stitch, she raised her head, stretching the knotted muscles at her neck. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and let a small sigh escape. So much for her quiet evening at home with a cup of tea and going to bed early.
“Long day?” Steele asked quietly.
Her gaze yanked upward, surprised at the question. He never initiated conversation with her. Getting anything from him was like trying to pry open a steel trap. Ridiculous pun intended.
“Yeah, but then it would appear so was yours,” she said in amusement.
He shifted on the exam table as if he were about to get up. Her gaze drifted downward and she froze when she saw the evidence of his erection bulging at his fatigues. Her eyes widened and then her gaze shot upward to see him staring back at her. Busted. Completely busted. He knew she knew.
She took a step back and waved her hand airily. “It’s not unheard of for men of, uh, action to experience adrenaline-induced erections. It’s been documented, in fact. I’m sure there’s a ton of research to back it up.”
God, she sounded like a complete moron. Her cheeks were flaming as she took another hasty step backward.
Steele’s features tightened and his lips formed a grim line as he stood to his full height and loomed over her. He leaned his head, just enough that his mouth was closer to her ear.
“If you think my hard-on has nothing to do with you, then you’re deluded.”
Her mouth gaped open as he pushed past her and stalked from the room.
“Ooo-kay,” she murmured.
Not what she’d expected him to say at all.
CHAPTER 4
MAREN let herself into her cottage and softly shut the door behind her. When she scanned the room, she let out a startled exclamation when she saw Steele sprawled on her tiny couch.
“Jesus, you scared me,” she breathed.
He sat up, his stare intense as he locked onto her. She shivered and a knot formed in her throat. The way he was looking at her was . . . different.
“Do you always walk back to your cottage by yourself?” he demanded.
She lifted one eyebrow. “How the hell else would I ever get home?”
“Let me rephrase that. Aside from the times that we pull you out at all hours of the night, do you routinely walk back to your cottage alone after dark?”
“You know, I think that’s the most words that have ever come out of your mouth at one time,” Maren said thoughtfully.
Steele raised a hand to run raggedly through his hair, and he growled. Actually growled! Then to her utter shock, he closed the distance between them and hauled her a
gainst his chest. She landed with a soft thud and he cupped her chin with one hand and slid the other around her nape, anchoring her in place so she couldn’t move. As if she wanted to!
“Steele?” she whispered nervously.
“Shut up,” he muttered, just as his lips came down over hers.
His kiss was an absolute shock to her system. Electric. Fierce. Demanding. His warm tongue slid like velvet over her lips, coaxing her to open. As soon as she gave in, he deepened the kiss and pushed inward, tasting her, letting her taste him.
She shivered from head to toe. One continuous quake, her knees turning to jelly.
His hold on her was strong and possessive. She sighed into his mouth and he swallowed it up. This was crazy. Insanity at its finest. Steele was in her living room kissing her. A man who never even spoke directly to her. Yet he was obviously attracted to her. The erection earlier. He was kissing her now. Yeah, there was definitely something here and she wasn’t going to question it too hard.
Or maybe he was coming off a mission and any woman would do.
That put a damper on her enthusiasm. She went still as she pondered that very real possibility. Proximity was a definite factor. Steele and his team had just worked a tough assignment, gotten shot at, cut and God only knew what else. They were stuck here for the night and she was female, reasonably attractive, and she had all the prerequisite equipment to sate his needs.
He drew away, his brows drawn together as he stared at her in question.
“What’s wrong?”
She would have laughed but she was too unhinged to do more than just stand there gaping at him.
“You just kissed me and then you ask me what’s wrong?”
He frowned. “Was it that bad?”
This time she did laugh. “I think you know it wasn’t bad. Why did you kiss me, Steele? What the hell is going on here?”