Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) (25 page)

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.”

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 built 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.