She cut off his words with a deep kiss, and it lasted until she heard Fox say, “You didn’t kiss me like that when you promoted me to Master Chief.”
The Commander’s lips tightened with a laugh, as did hers.
Mace turned on the VHF radio and communicated with Base Command. Just in case, two gunboats were tasked to intercept them, but flying over the waves at forty knots, it was unlikely anyone was behind them. She made to wiggle off the Commander’s lap, but he stopped her, and she gave him a warning look.
He raised a brow at her. “I’ll behave, Petty Officer Banks. Although—I could use something to take my mind off this arm.”
“I request immunity,” she stated, leaning back.
An enormous grin tightened his strong jaw. “Sorry, Snow White, request denied,” and his mouth found hers again. If there was such a thing as a marathon kiss, Thane was making their last one a blue ribbon event.
* * * *
“Where are you going?” she demanded, seeing all the commotion around her in the boatshed when they arrived back at the base.
“Out to catch a bad guy before he slips down his rat hole again.”
“Commander, won’t they expect that?”
She didn’t sound worried, but she looked it. “Kayla,”—he said gently—“this is what we do, remember?” He slid his hands down her arms, her skin cool and soft. After being in the water, beautiful crazy curls surrounded her face and although he’d promised himself he’d never touch them again, he broke his promise and almost moaned feeling her silky wisps entwined in his fingers.
Glancing over her head, he saw the men gearing up. All of them were darting looks their way. No—not them, but at Kayla’s ass which her thong didn’t cover one shred of. For fuck’s sakes. “Mace,” he barked, seeing him changing his shirt. “Bring over those pants in your locker.”
Mace turned and a ripple of amusement crossed his brow. “Sure, Commander.”
He turned his attention to Cobbs and got a huge, cheek-busting grin.
“Here, Kayla,” Mace offered, extending his arm, but Thane snatched them instead.
“What’s this?”
“Sweetheart,” he said, giving the pants to her. “You’re kind of exposed.” She blushed and hurriedly stepped into the pants as all the guys watched her bend over. “Thanks, Mace.”
Mace moved away, reading the piss-off look in his eyes.
Kayla rolled up the hems so they wouldn’t pool around her feet. When she stood up he leaned over, unable to resist. “I don’t want anyone on the base thinking they can have you. Except maybe me.” Her eyes widened and he resisted the urge to kiss her again.
Clay hustled up beside them, throwing on a jacket and checking his gear. “I called in Team One Bravo, sir.”
Mace broke open the armory and the men pulled their weapons.
MacKay from One Bravo arrived a few minutes later. He was a big guy standing over six- foot-four. He’d do.
“Commander, the rest of the squad is scrambling. Everyone should be here in under fifteen minutes,” MacKay reported.
“Good, then you’ve got time. I want you to take Ms. Banks back to Base Command. I don’t want her walking alone. Double-time back here and gear up.”
“Yes, sir.” He offered Kayla a nod. “Hey, Snow White, heard you had some excitement tonight.”
She nodded absently, staring at him instead of MacKay.
“Looks like your back got torn up pretty good. Shouldn’t Caleb have a look at that?” Mackay suggested, brushing her hair away with a finger.
“What?” The Commander snapped his hand around her arm, turning her, and lifted her hair. “Oh, shit, Kayla.” The skin on her shoulder blades had been scraped to raw flesh, and deep cuts marred a gaping line between them. Rivers of dried blood dropped beneath her shirt.
“It’s nothing,” she said, trying to pull away.
Caleb dropped the medical kit on the floor beside them. Reaching to swab his arm, Thane stopped him. “No, Kayla first.”
“I said its fine.”
He grabbed her around her tiny waist, and pulled her chest tight to his. “Don’t bloody argue with me all the time,” he growled, holding her hair up for Caleb to attend the cuts. The salt water must have stung like hell, but she hadn’t said a word.
Caleb pulled her shirt up to reveal her lower back, then stopped. “Kayla?”
She whipped around, yanking her shirt down, and stepped away from both of them. Her face paled, staring wide-eyed at Caleb. “I’m fine. Thanks—Stitch.”
Caleb didn’t blink or move, his hands filled with gauze and disinfectant stalled halfway in the air. They stared at each other for a suspended moment.
“What’s the problem, Stitch?” he asked.
Caleb’s brow tightened. “Um,” He paused and bit his lip. “I’m not going to cover them, Kayla. Just keep them clean.” Caleb turned abruptly and shot him up with a numbing agent.
“I want you to stay at Base Command until I get back, Kayla, unless someone takes you home.”
Her eyes darted around the boatshed at all the activity. With her arms clenched to her sides drawing his attention to her beautiful, curvy hips filling the camo pants better than any wet dream he’d ever had, she said, “You have three hours, Commander, and then I want you home in bed.”
The boatshed went dead silent.
His lips tightened to grind down on a smile threatening to erupt, and an overwhelming flux of heat rose in his stomach.
She perched her hands on her hips. “Your bed, not mine, dumbass.” With a haughty swivel, she joined MacKay and walked away.
“Hell, almost thought you had a chance there, Commander,” Mace said, adjusting the belt of ammunition across his chest.
He glared at Mace. “It was your idea we take her to Mexico, and she could have been killed.”
Mace flapped his hands. “Oh, sure, blame me for that. I suppose you’re going to blame me once you screw her and break her heart,” he said, giving him an angry glance and darting one at Caleb.
“Stand down, Mace,” he growled, but only because of guilt. “I wouldn’t do that to Kayla.”
“Bullshit.”
“Hey—” He gripped Mace’s shoulder. “I’ve looked in her eyes, Mace. I want to spend forever looking in them, but I can’t give her that. Not with the life I live. I won’t let anyone hurt her, and that includes me, all right.”
Mace’s expression relaxed and he jerked his head. “Okay, but stop fucking kissing her.”
Hard to do. He caught a last glimpse of Kayla before she disappeared out the doors. If there was ever a woman who was meant for him, it was her. He needed to find a distraction. Any woman would do, and after tonight he was going to end his dry spell.
Cobbs stuffed his weapon into its holster and took a position on the other side of him. “She gets a little testy when someone’s firing bullets at her, doesn’t she?”
He chuckled. “Yes, she does.”
“I don’t know about you, but she can drive my boat any day. The woman’s got bigger balls than some guys I know, but wow, that ass is something else.” His old friend gave him a raised brow as if sayin’, “You gonna walk away from that, you idiot?”
“Shut up, Pat.”
“You can be a real bitch when you haven’t had sex,” and he barked with laughter.
He gave him a healthy glare, but it didn’t faze Pat for one second.
Chapter Fifteen
Approval for the mission came quickly from the Mexican government. They wanted Faron as well, although she had a feeling he wouldn’t get to trial. Kayla spoke to the team when they departed, then monitored them until the radar signal disappeared.
Pacing a trench into the ops room floor didn’t help, but it made her feel better as the sun began to rise. No word—none. John, the man who had trained her, worked the night shift and watched her with constant concern.
“Kayla, why don’t you sit down for thirty seconds? You must have walked to Canada and back a
lready.”
“Three hours, that’s all they needed. Something’s gone wrong.” She glanced at the enormous clock on the ops wall—four am. Time surrounded them no matter where they looked in the Command center. Time on the consoles radiated with glowing red numbers, time counted off on their computers, and one part of the enormous monitor that covered a wall could—with the touch of finger—reveal time zones across the world. Every clock linked to GPS, Global Positioning System, in perfect sync, except the one in her heart, it paced itself like cold molasses in Montreal.
“The SEALs always get the job done, especially Thane’s team,” John said.
“The Serpientes are probably waiting for them to come back. Maybe that’s why they attacked us in the first place. Maybe Faron rallied more bad guys knowing they’d be back.”
John twisted the head of a small task light on the console away from the report he’d been working on. “More than likely he’s hiding, knowing they’re coming back for him. Team One is probably taking the time to ferret him out. They don’t often get a chance like this so close to home.” He placed his foot on a chair and gave it a thrust. It came to a stop against her knees. “Sit,” he ordered.
She nodded and took a seat.
“No, over here,” he pointed with his finger. She used her toes to roll herself over toward him as John crossed his arms and waited. He was five years younger than her, but he turned a look on her like he was about to give her a big brother speech. “I know you’re worried about the Commander most of all, but you shouldn’t be,” He paused. “Kayla, a lot of women have wasted a lot of worry on him with nothing in return.”
She leaned back. “I’m worried about all of them.”
“Bullshit,” he said leaning back himself. “You know the kind of lives the SEALs live. Women who fall in love with a SEAL live their entire lives with a pocket of worry in their hearts. Their marriages fall apart. The men can’t talk about their missions, often they internalize their pain or deal with it by abusing alcohol. It’s tough.”
“I know that.”
“No, you don’t. SEALs are a different breed of warrior. The media has built them into this romantic image, but the reality is harsh. The women who attach their lives to these men have to endure the worry when they’re away, and the problems of dealing with what they bring back with them, never really knowing what they’re dealing with.”
“I’m not marrying the man, John,” she said, crossing her arms.
“No, and that’s my point.” He leaned over, clutching his hands together. “Although it’s none of my business, I think you’ve fallen in love with him.”
She spit out her response, looking up toward the vessel board. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He’s left a Pacific-sized graveyard of hearts in his wake, Kayla. I don’t want to see that happen to you.”
“John, thanks for the concern, but I’m a big girl. I—”
John put his hand up. “He’s one of those rare kind of guys that can live his life without letting his heart soften for any woman, except maybe when they’re in bed with him. That’s all he needs and then he moves on. You deserve better than that. He knows that, too. You can be sure of that, and he won’t step over the line he’s dug deep in the sand over the years. He’s a smart man Kayla, smarter and fiercer than most. And because of that he’s made a conscious decision to marry this country, but never a woman.”
She suddenly heard the Commander’s voice in her head, and saw them standing in the noisy bar backed against the wall when he said, “I can’t give you what you want even if it’s what I want, too.”
“Kayla—” John reached out and grabbed her knee. “Don’t let him use you and throw you away. That’s what he does. He lives a fast and dangerous life. He gets off on it, but I don’t want him leaving you behind like shrapnel.”
She stood up and began to pace again. “I know, John, and thanks for your concern. I just got too close to the excitement tonight and experienced the world they work in. I’m just concerned for their safety, all of them.”
Her heels dug in when she heard a familiar voice. It was Clay. “Base Command, this is King Fisher entering American waters, ETA alongside one-five minutes, over.”
John picked up the mic. “King Fisher, this is Base Command, good to hear you. All flippers accounted for, over?”
“Roger that. It was a very moving burial at sea, over.”
“Good, copy. Think you’re going to have some very relieved company waiting at the boathouse for you.”
She didn’t wait, already running for the door.
The Commander’s voice came back sharply. “She’s not by herself, is she?”
“Affirmative.”
“Stop her,” he ordered.
“She’s already gone, sir. I’m sorry, but she tore out of here like her ass was on fire.”
A pause followed. “ETA five minutes. King Fisher out.”
* * * *
The base was relatively quiet for four in the morning. Soon the recruits would be roused with the loud barking of the Petty Officers. She didn’t have to hurry, she’d get down to the dock at the same time they arrived. Counting heads was her only reason for meeting them, that and taking the Commander to the hospital. Already she was loading up with responses to his arguments against the idea. Too bad—he’d protected her with his own body. She could at least do this.
Another balmy day dawned as the sun rose in the sky. It was going to be a scorcher, the blistering sun already hot on her skin. Her breasts nearly bounced out of her tank top. Wetting down her hair didn’t help and the curls sprung like coils. Her twenty-four hour makeup had passed its “good until” point, and the pants Mace lent her were rolled up to her shins. She padded along in bare feet, watching her step. Not exactly the dapper sight most were used to on the base.
Taking a shortcut, she passed between two vacant buildings. Military equipment, trash bins and other paraphernalia littered the edges. She stopped, and turned, hearing a footstep behind her. No one was there. The hair rose on her neck, and she increased her pace. The latest brief about the Blood Shark had been posted a few days ago. Another nurse had disappeared. Everyone was so vigilant it was hard to believe he’d been able to victimize someone else.
Whirling around, she caught site of a jacket as someone darted behind a garbage bin not fifty feet behind her. No one darted behind anything unless… “Shit.”
Her feet grew wings and she vaulted into a run. A sharp rock gouged her heel but her adrenaline pumped too fast for her to stop. She broke from the alley and darted left toward the boathouse. The Mark five neared the dock, but she held the scream in her throat. She’d make it to safety on her own. The footfalls came closer. He was catching up.
* * * *
“Commander!” Tony barked, looking toward the street running along the docks.
Scanning the street, Thane saw Kayla moving. She was running too damn fast, and there was someone behind her. “Jesus Christ, get us there,” he hollered.
The rest of the team swung around. “Who the hell’s behind her?” Mace yelled from the bow, pulling out his weapon and taking aim before he answered. “The brush is in the way, Commander. I can’t get a clear shot.”
The bow bumped against the dock, and all the men vaulted from the vessel running up the pier, the timbers trembling under foot. Kayla tore around the corner and hit the nonskid metal ramp. “Kayla, no,” he yelled. She was in bare feet running as if her life depended on it, and she cried out, but didn’t stop. Thane reached her at the bottom of the ramp and she practically climbed up his body. The rest of the men rushed around them and thundered up the ramp with their weapons drawn.
“Kayla—” She bit down on her pain, her chest heaving. He took a step back and saw the blood already dripping to the weathered planks from her feet. “Oh, God, sweetheart.” He tightened his arms around her and carried her to the boathouse.
He laid Kayla on a large prep shelf they used for dive equipment. Retrieving three
blankets, he tucked one beneath her head, one beneath her knees and the other at her ankles. The men returned a few minutes later.
“Shit, how bad is it?” Mace asked, reaching them first, and folding her hand in his.
A large pink puddle formed on the bench and dripped to the cement floor. The bottoms of her feet bled openly as he flushed them with water, sliced to pieces and punctured from the spiny metal ramp.
“Rabbit got away?” Thane asked as the rest of the team circled them. “Stitch, I think you better take over here.”
“Yes, sir.” Caleb took the bottle of sanitized water and continued to flush her feet.
“Kayla, I have to take you to the hospital,” Thane said, reaching for her other hand.
She stared up at him, her expression controlled. “That’s why I came down here, to take you to the doctor.”
He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “We’ll both go.”
She nodded slowly.
“Kayla, did you get a look at him?” Cobbs asked.
“No, I tried, but he hid behind the garbage bins. As soon as I realized something was wrong I just ran.” She released the air from her lungs with a slow deliverance when Caleb began to work on her feet. “Shit, why didn’t I look? I could have identified him.”
Thane leaned over and kissed her forehead. Mace cleared his throat—loudly, but he ignored him. She’d come too close to being the Blood Shark’s next victim. There was no doubt in his mind that’s who had chased her. “Don’t do that. Don’t berate yourself. You were running for your life, and that’s twice in twenty-four hours.” He backed away. “But you’re going to damn well listen to me from now on, aren’t you?”
The men turned a stony look on him because his voice rose to just short of yelling at her. The Shark had been inches from her. Even with a slash and dash, he could have taken Kayla’s life. A cold sharp pain twisted his heart, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to wipe away the image of her warm, beautiful eyes becoming vacant with death. Fear had vacated his soul long ago, but it gripped him with vengeance now, making up for lost time.
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