Code Name: Ghost

by Natasza Waters

  Caleb pressed the bandages against the bottoms of her feet, and he expected her features to contort with pain. It had to be excruciating, but her expression never altered. It made him pause, and a whisper of something’s not right shuddered inside him. He’d seen the look before in a wounded soldier’s eyes. The pain was there, but she separated herself from it emotionally.

  “Sorry, Kayla, I’ve got to put pressure on these. They’re still bleeding too much,” Caleb said.

  Thane shook off the feeling there was something very wrong with what he’d just witnessed. Turning to the team, he glanced at every face. “Do a sweep. I’ll make the report after we’re finished at the hospital and I’ve taken her home.”

  “Yes, sir.” Cobbs motioned for the men to head out. “If there’s something to find Fox will find it,” he said.

  He and Cobbs exchanged a look, assessing and coming to the same conclusion without a word spoken. The Blood Shark had chased her. He had her scent. They both knew what that meant.

  * * * *

  As the doctor stitched her feet, she stared at the water stain in the ceiling tile with the Commander sitting silently beside her. When he’d carried her into emergency, they’d wanted to tend to his gunshot wound first, but he adamantly refused.

  She glanced over at him.

  “You don’t have to stay, Commander. Let them sew up your arm.”

  With his head bowed, his elbows perched on his thighs and his hands clasped together, he shook his head once surveying the floor.

  A nurse busied herself at a small cart next to her bed. Turning, the nurse said, “I’m just going to clean you up, Kayla.”

  With a wad of gauze soaked with alcohol, she reached for the cross of blood the Commander had painted on her chest. Kayla gripped her wrist. “No,” she said shaking her head.

  Thane’s fingers slipped through her left hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing the tips gently. Slowly, he raised his head to gaze at her and said to the nurse, “I’ll take that.”

  The nurse stalled and then shrugged, placing it in his palm.

  His brow pinched tight. With a small shake of his head he said, “I had no right,” and he gently began to clean the cross from her skin.

  It had been a long day. A hard day, that was the only reason her eyes filled with tears. She pressed her lips tightly together to hold back the gust of sorrow wanting to escape her chest. Thane swabbed his existence from her, and her entire body shuddered with the loss. Why was he doing this?

  “No,” he whispered and leaned his forehead to hers. “Don’t cry, please, Kayla.” His lips swiped at her tears, and he kissed her eyes closed, but her tears wouldn’t stop.

  The Commander carried her in his arms from the car all the way into her condo. Silence surrounded them when he settled her on the couch. She expected him to leave, but he didn’t.

  “Can I?” he asked, looking down at the cushion beside her.

  His expression switched from severe to worried and back again as if a full-fledged conversation were happening inside his mind. When she couldn’t stand it anymore she reached for his hand, and he clutched both of hers as if dangling over the edge of a cliff.

  “I’m fine,” she told him.

  “Too close,” he whispered, staring at her coffee table in a daze.

  She palmed his cheek before realizing what she was doing. He closed his eyes, pressing his warm, rigid jaw against her hand. Suddenly, he growled out a harsh word and yanked her into his arms, nearly squeezing the life out of her, and buried his face in her hair. She didn’t resist. For some reason he needed to hold her, and she let him.

  A sigh escaped him and he leaned back, keeping her firmly embraced in his protection. “Sleep, Snow White.” His fingers caressed her back and he gently rocked her in his arms. Exhaustion cloaked her, and she fell asleep knowing there wasn’t a safer place in the world. When she woke, she was in her bed and the Ghost was gone.

  * * * *

  It took ten days to get back on her feet, gingerly. Because of where the wounds were, she’d been held hostage in her condo with bad TV sitcoms to while away the hours. Each night one of the team dropped by to see how she was doing. Captain Redding came to visit, bringing his wife Lydia, the most gracious, lovely woman she’d ever met, with three casseroles in hand.

  Mace stayed with her most nights. They watched movies. He helped her to the bathroom. Changed her dressings, and even though she argued, swept her up into his arms and put her to bed before he’d leave. They talked about everything, except one thing.

  Sitting on her ass gave her plenty of time to think. John’s words whirled around in her head every day that went by and Thane didn’t call or come see her.

  It was good he hadn’t come again, giving her a chance to realign herself.

  Being with the team had brought more adventure than she cared to experience. How they did their jobs without losing their minds, she couldn’t even hazard a guess. Mentally and physically, they were prepared, she wasn’t. It gave her real insight into how fathomless their bravery had to be.

  “Good morning, Kayla, how are you feeling?” the Commander asked when she walked past his office.

  Gathering her strength, she paused, curling her fingers around the doorframe. “Good, sir. Live to fight another day,” she said, and gave him a small smile. He rose to his feet and strode toward her. “I’m a little late, I’d better relieve Barry.”

  “Kayla, the squad’s being deployed. I’m leaving in a few minutes. I was waiting for you.”

  Fear clutched her, and she swallowed it whole.

  “Help Red take care of things around here,” he said, standing with his well-worn boots near her feet, making them look exceptionally small in her flats.

  “Of course.” There weren’t many times in her life when she couldn’t face adversity, she’d had plenty. Challenges which nearly knocked her out of existence—she’d faced those, too, but she simply couldn’t raise her eyes to look into the Commander’s.

  “Kay-la?” His breath stuttered, breaking her name in half.

  The ache in her heart twisted into a tight knot. Thane had no idea how much she had healed since coming to Coronado. His strength, his leadership, his kindness, including the rest of the team, had pushed away the demons of her past. She needed to thank him, but she couldn’t without explaining all the rest.

  They hovered inches away from each other. “Never give up,” she whispered. She didn’t know if she was saying it to herself or to him…maybe both. Thane’s hand brushed against her cheek and he raised her chin, forcing her to look at him.

  “Be safe, Ms. Banks,” He paused, his jaw tensing. “I want to look in your eyes again.” He swallowed deeply and his lips parted as if not able to get enough air. “Kayla, I’ve never had a reason to come home before.” His brow wrinkled tight. “I have one now, and I don’t want to lose it.”

  Ah, the hell with it. She flung herself at him, and he caught her in his arms, drawing her tight against him. His mouth powered down on hers, kissing her as if he’d never see her again, and she did the same. They squeezed each other to within a breath of existence.

  A cough behind them broke the spell, but only slowly as she pulled away from him. The entire team stood behind them. Everyone scanned the floor, the walls or the ceiling, except for Lieutenant Cobbs. He arched a brow and a knowing smile tightened his expression. “Ready when you are, Commander,” he said.

  She didn’t hesitate and gave them all a hug goodbye. “Be safe,” she said to each one.

  The Commander was the last to round the corner as she watched them leave.

  His step faltered, and he turned his massive shoulder toward her. His warrior’s eyes met hers. “You’re the reason. My compass home points toward you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The sand scratched its way down his throat as the four DPVs, desert patrol vehicles, crossed an open plain back to the base camp. They’d been sucking back wind and sand all night. The fast attack vehicles bui
lt like armored dune buggies handled the Afghanistan desert with ease. The country’s topography was merciless on outsiders, but they’d adapted, deploying many times to the Middle East since the beginning of the U.S. insurgence. Saying they were used to it would be an overstatement, but they knew what to expect.

  His team and the Dev Group, the infamous Team Six, had joined up two weeks ago for a mission. Every night they ran reconnaissance. Scanning the faces of his men and those from Dev, he saw the toll last night had taken. It had been a harsh one, running into two unexpected Al-Qaeda foot soldier squads a couple hundred kilometers to the south. They’d chased them down with Fox leading half the team and he with the other half.

  The SEALs had skills others didn’t, but they also had support. They were still waiting for some expertise to come in from both coasts before the final move on their target in the White Mountains.

  He thumbed the grit from his watch, zero nine hundred local. They needed to wash up and get some well-deserved sleep. The camp lay ahead of them, within the NATO stronghold, small and disguised amongst mounds of craggy rock and a hundred kilometers of desert in every direction.

  The vehicles came to a dusty halt and the men vaulted from the DPVs into the blistering heat. Twisting the kinks out of his neck, he scanned the camp, hauling his equipment onto his shoulder. He and the men headed toward the camouflaged canvas cover used to escape the sun and eat. Food first, since they hadn’t had anything in their bellies since yesterday.

  Commander Segal of Dev Group sat down in front of him. “’Morning, Thane.”

  “’Morning, Joe.”

  “Hard one last night. You had everyone awake till it was over.”

  “Definitely took a bite out of us. A couple more nights, and I think we’ll have carved a path deep enough to get what we want.”

  Joe nodded. “I agree. By the way, the tactical specialists and liaisons arrived an hour ago.”

  “Good, bringing any news we need?”

  “One did. Don’t know how they fetched it out. Maps of the caverns are nonexistent. Old crap from when the Russians were here, but they say she can find things others miss.”

  The spoon hovered halfway to his lips. A drop of stew splattered to the table. “She?” His eyes rose to meet Joe’s.

  “Yeah, we agreed to bring in the best. So that’s what I got.”

  A spoon dropped to the table. Mace sat beside Joe and his eyes widened. “No—fucking—way,” he stammered.

  The rest of the team looked up, and Cobbs muttered, “Oh, shit.”

  Anger overtook the heat of the sun burning his back. He jerked around and vaulted from the table. What the hell! She was like a mirage, camouflaged in fatigues like everyone else, but no one filled a pair of pants like her. Even with her back to him, he could pick her out of a crowd. Exhausted past reason, maybe she was just a chimera. She turned, and his heart lurched as it usually did when he saw her, but this time it was dread. “Are you out of your fucking mind, Joe?”

  Joe’s brows popped. “What? She’s yours, and they say she’s one of the best. What’s the problem?”

  “The problem,” he ground out, “is—she is mine. You bring Kayla here? Put her life in danger? She’s civilian!”

  Joe crossed his arms and squinted at him through the sun. “We’re all civilian when our clothes are off, Thane. I spoke with Captain Redding. He said she’s the best tactical specialist he’s seen in years. We need the best for this mission. I think you better join the twenty-first century, just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she…”

  “Screw you. She is going home. Bring in Fielding from your group.”

  “Commander—” Mace stood up.

  “Stifle it, Mace. I don’t want to hear it right now,” he shouted. Fingers grabbed his arm, and before realizing they were small and soft, he thrust them roughly from him. “You bring my Kayla into a fuckin’ war zone. The tactical expert has to go into the field with us this time.”

  “I’m aware of the risk and so is she, Thane.” Joe stood up, both of them glaring at each other. “She was given a choice. We didn’t order her here, we offered.”

  “Commander?”

  Her voice cut through his anger, and he jerked around. She tilted her head at him. “My choice.”

  He didn’t even think about what he was doing. His arm whipped around Kayla’s shoulders, protecting her from herself and from war, or anyone else who wanted to put her in danger. “You’re not staying,” he said through gritted teeth. “Get your things.”

  “Commander—” Her eyes darted around the table. “Hi, guys.”

  “Hey, Snow White,” the team greeted solemnly.

  “Snow White? Cute,” Joe said, nodding.

  “You’re making a scene, just let me do my job,” she said, giving him a stern look.

  The bastards had already given her tags to wear around her neck. His heart hammered in his chest, envisioning someone dropping them into his open palm with a sorrowful expression. Grabbing her hand, he yanked her behind him. “I want to talk to you right now, in private.”

  He thrust her into his accommodation and whirled around. She wore a moss green muscle shirt to keep cool, which didn’t help, except to reveal the rounded swell of her breasts. Little rivers of sweat dripped down her neck, and a sheen covered her olive skin. With her hair piled on top of her head and small wisps of curls falling from it, she reminded him of a woman who should be stepping into a bubble bath, not a damn combat zone. It didn’t help imagining sliding in behind her, and letting the pad of his thumb grace her slippery skin until he found the sweet places that would have her writhing in his arms.

  Shaking the thoughts out of his overactive brain, he stepped in front of her, clutching her cheek in his palm. “You will die out here. I know you are the best at what you do, but you don’t know war.”

  Her hand grasped his wrist. “You’re acting like an idiot,” she spit at him.

  “Around you it’s getting to be common practice, and I’m getting used to it,” he growled back. Her fingers curled around his shirt and she tugged it from his pants. The thump in his chest changed pitch and direction. His mind blurred, his resistance melting. “What are you doing?” he breathed.

  Unbuttoning his shirt, she kept her eyes on him. “Putting you to bed, Commander. You’re exhausted and being unreasonable. Once you’ve had some sleep, then we’ll talk.”

  Her hands slipped beneath his shirt and over his shoulders, coaxing it from him. With a gentle touch, her soft fingers set off a flare inside him. “We’ll talk on the way to the plane,” he argued, but he didn’t stop her when her palms slid to his waist and pulled on his belt.

  “Sleep and then we’ll talk.” She prodded him toward the bed. “Lie down, Commander.”

  He shook his head sharply and clutched her arms. “Sweetheart, no.” She pulled his trembling fingers from her and pushed on his chest. “You—” He wanted to say she had to go home, but instead, he said, “You’re always in my dreams. Please tell me this is a dream, and you’re not really here.”

  “I am here, Commander, and I’m not leaving unless you order it.”

  “Why did you come? Please, God, don’t tell me it was to be with me.”

  Kayla pointed at his cot. “Get your ass in bed, sir.” Her expression tightened into a scowl. “You must think a lot of yourself, if you believe I’d come all this way to get killed just to set eyes on you,” she spit at him.

  She stomped toward the door, but he caught her and stared into her eyes, and they seemed distant to him. “I don’t want you to die,” he breathed out.

  Pulling on his arm, she led him to his cot and waited until he sat, then she bent over, her beautiful features only inches from his face. “Go. To. Sleep.” With a quick step she strode toward the door.

  “Jesus, woman, don’t do this to me.”

  She whirled around. “To you?” her voice rising. “How am I affecting you?”

  “I—” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Never
mind, we’ll talk when I get up.”

  She nodded briskly and left.

  His mind swirled in sleep, but his anger dissipated with his dreams as Kayla’s hands slipped beneath the band of his pants and slid them down his thighs. Her cheek barely touched his shaft as she knelt, but blood pumped into his erection hard and fast. A shot of desire cracked his mind in half as her hands caressed his hips and slipped to his ass. This time when she knelt, taking his underwear, her lips glided along his skin and a gust of wind escaped his throat. “Kayla—baby, no,” but it was weak and he didn’t even believe himself. His hands tangled in her hair, pulling it gently. “Don’t do this.” The moan crawled right out of his throat when her moist tongue slipped across the top of his head, lapping the bead of pre-cum from the tip.

  “Don’t they say all’s fair in love and war? Lie down, Commander.” When he did, she snaked her body down his, kissing him tenderly. “If I’m going to die, I want this moment, whether you want it or not.”

  “I want it. I just don’t want it here.” The feel of her tongue sliding across his skin made his entire body jerk. Gently she pushed his thighs apart, licking her way to sensitive places and lighting him on fire. Her beautiful, full lips covered his shaft. Rocking his head back with a spike of passion, she gutted him of all resistance.

  He wasn’t going to fight something he’d wanted for so long and felt so damn good. Sucking on him hard, her wet mouth sent waves of heat ricocheting through him. Lost, he was lost as she suckled him, slowing down and turning his mind into a blistering sensual plane, barren of anything but her touch.

  The orgasm crept over him like being covered in a wall of lava, chilling and hot, shear and raw. His hips thrust upwards and he came hard, blacking out.

  He woke with a start, and shot up to a sitting position. “Ah, God. Bloody dreams.” Dropping his feet to the floor, he breathed out heavily, and stretched the aches out of his back.