Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) (29 page)

Her lids slipped closed. “Let’s go home,”
she said weakly. He gave her a small jolt to wake her. “Just you
and me. Home. Together. Maybe…” her words dwindled as sleep tried
to take her again.

“Kayla, I want so much to give you that,” he
said. Even with her in his arms, she wasn’t close enough.

Her lashes fluttered, and he could see her
trying to focus on her surroundings. “I didn’t mean to…I’m
sorry.”

“What didn’t you mean?” Her eyes draped
closed, and he gave her a little shake. “Talk to me, Kayla.”

“I love him. I didn’t mean to. No one will
ever know. I promise,” she said, barely breathing the words.

“Lapierre?” The man’s name brought a bitter
taste to his tongue. The son of a bitch had Kayla’s heart, and his
exploded with jealousy.

A sleepy little chuckle erupted from her.
“No, my Commander. The man who can’t love…”

“Kayla, wake up,” Stitch said sharply beside
them. “Don’t let her fall asleep, Commander.”

The sound of men and equipment, shuffling
feet and the rumble of engines close by stirred her, but he barely
heard anything with her words echoing in his mind. She loved
him
? It couldn’t be true—could it?

“Commander—”

“What?”

“Don’t let her fall asleep,” Stitch
ordered.

“Don’t listen to him,” she slurred.

He placed her in the closest DPV, and slid
in beside her, pulling her tight to his side. “RTB, Master Chief,”
he ordered. Kayla’s head rested against his chest, and he kissed
the top of it. Tipping her chin, he looked into her eyes, sleepy,
beautiful and alive. “I know you’re not going to remember what you
just said, but I’ll never forget.” And he never would. They were
the sweetest words he’d ever heard, from the only woman he ever
wanted to hear them from.

“What?” she asked, blinking up at him
half-dazed.

“Nothing, Ms. Banks. Rest.”

* * * *

Thane kept prodding her any time he thought
she nodded off as if she could with the DPV bucking and kicking
over inclines and rocky ground. Hours later, they poured from the
vehicles as the sun came over the horizon, the heat of the day
already embracing the barren landscape.

After showering, she stumbled back into the
common area and poured a coffee. Caleb had given her medication to
dull the pain, and she couldn’t stay focused. She should be
sleeping, but her mind played back the events over and over again.
The aroma of coffee drew her lips to the cup, but a hand stopped
her before it reached them.

“That’s not going to help,” Thane said,
taking it from her and setting it on the table.

A helmet plunked beside it, and her eyes
sluggishly veered up to his. “What?”

“Look closely,” he said, his narrowing.

She focused on the helmet. The right side of
it had been sheared away, leaving only the thinnest piece of
protection. She shook her head, not understanding.

“That’s your helmet, Kayla. That’s how close
I came to losing you. Come on, I’m putting you to bed.” She
followed, but he deviated toward his accommodations instead of the
one she’d been assigned.

“Angel Face,” Greg called out, and within a
heartbeat, he had her in his arms.

Tilting her chin, her head snapped back
drunkenly.

“You’re hurt. What the hell happened?”

“I’m fine, Greg, I just need some sleep,”
she said weakly. She needed a damn pillow, and soon before her legs
gave out.

Thane’s expression darkened into pure
malice. One move had her out of Greg’s arms stumbling backwards. In
a blink, Greg was on the ground, Thane’s massive hand digging into
his throat. The other hand poised to send his nasal bone through
his skull.

“Commander,” she yelped, and grabbed at his
fist, even though she knew she wouldn’t have a hope of stopping
him.

“Listen good, Lapierre, Kayla is never
coming back. Her home is with me. You take your love-starved heart
into the fucking desert and bury it. Forget about her. And if you
ever touch her again in front of me, I’ll bury you in the desert.”
He drove his elbow into Greg’s chest with a sharp jab as he got off
him.

Greg jumped to his feet and swiped the dust
from one arm.

“Greg, I’m sorry, I—” Kayla began, horrified
at the Commander’s brutal attack.

Greg swayed his head, controlling his breath
and his anger. “It’s all right, Angel. I know how he feels.” His
gaze softened. “More importantly, you know how I feel.”

“Greg, you’re the bravest, most wonderful
man I know.”

“Just not wonderful enough to spend the rest
of your life with,” he said, giving her a pained smile. “Don’t let
what happened eat you alive, Angel. I know you’re safer in the
States, but I miss you—every day.” Greg raised his eyes to the
Commander. Something passed between Thane and him, some crazy-ass
male message that they both seemed to understand. “Take care of
yourself. Although this warrior thinks you’ll never come home, know
you’ll always have one, with me.” Greg straightened to his full
domineering height and walked away.

If she could, she would kick the Commander’s
ass herself. Closing her eyes was what she wanted most, but
first—“What the fuck is wrong with you, Commander—Thane—Austen!”
Swinging around, she read the contrite expression on his face, but
it wasn’t going to stop her. “Of all the Neanderthal, redneck,
pompous, stupid-ass, unSEAL-like, arrogant, childish…” She wasn’t
finished when he yanked her into his arms.

His lips blazed hard against hers, then
softened to a sensual depth as if branding her and apologizing at
the same time. Large, warm hands slid across her back, pressing her
closer. The angry response fizzled, but she pushed herself away
from him before another emotion took hold. Thane gently pulled her
toward his accommodations.

* * * *

She put on the breaks as he drew the door
open. “I’m not going in there,” she said weakly. Another wave of
dizziness struck, wanting her to slump her ass down in the sand and
stay there.

“I’ll carry you across the threshold if I
have to.”

With no energy to fight, she allowed him to
pull her inside. “Why can’t you just talk to me outside?”

His hands slid her pants down her legs, and
he kissed each thigh before she really comprehended what he was
doing. Standing, he guided her toward the bed, and gently laid her
down then rolled beside her, sliding his arms around her. “Sleep,
Kayla.”

“I can’t.”

“Think of other things, and what you saw
last night will go away,” he whispered in her ear.

“What am I supposed to think about? How you
brutalized my friend?” but already her lids drooped lazily as
Thane’s hands gently massaged her body.

“Think about home, about standing on your
balcony. Think about the night you bought your place and we
celebrated it together.”

She rolled on her back and he kissed her
softly. “Why did you do that to him?” When silence returned, she
opened her eyes to see his blue gaze sharp and possessive with
emotion.

“Because he loves you.”

“Commander, years ago he helped me through a
hard time. He’s always going to be a cherished friend.”

Anger flickered across his expression. “He
doesn’t want to be your friend. He wants you—forever—to grow old
with.”

She sighed and shook her head. “He thinks he
does, but he’s like you and the rest of the warriors. Work hard,
live hard, love hard, then die. Not necessarily in that order.”

“I’m not like him, Kayla.”

Arguing the point wasn’t worth it.

“I’ll admit to being selfish about you. If I
ever came home and you weren’t there—”

“I killed five men last night,” she said,
cutting him off.

“I know, and you saved dozens, maybe
hundreds, because we got what we needed.”

She rolled over and reveled in the warmth of
his chest, letting herself melt against his strength. “I don’t feel
guilty. I don’t feel anything.”

He nodded. “You might not, you may never
feel anything. Don’t question it.”

Running her fingers across the skin on his
bare chest, she followed the hard, contoured muscles. “I
won’t.”

He kissed her forehead, and held her
tighter. “We’re sending you home tomorrow. Fielding from the East
Coast is replacing you.”

“Did I screw up that bad?”

“No. But you being here with me could
compromise the mission. Our team knows it, and by tonight, Dev’s
group will, too. That’s why you’re here now, with me.”

“What?” she tried to push him away, but he
wasn’t going to let that happen. “You set me up?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the only way they were
going to let you go, especially after you proved yourself last
night. I’m going to have to fight just to keep you in Base Command
after the tongues start wagging.”

Her mind darkened with blissful sleep
tugging at her. “Am I going to be fired?”

He chuckled. “No, actually you’re going to
be awarded a medal of bravery, and I’m going to be rapped on the
knuckles. Don’t look concerned. It’s not my first time. They need
both of us in the service, and they know it. Now go to sleep.”

“Commander?”

“What?” he whispered against her lips.

She slipped her fingers to the buttons on
her shirt and his eyes heated. “I don’t sleep in clothes.”

“Oh, shit,” he groaned, drawing a deep
breath. “If you take that off neither of us is going to be
sleeping.”

Ignoring him, she undid all her buttons and
sat up. Slipping the shoulders off, his eyes burned a trail across
her skin. “I believe you have a lot of will power.” She unhooked
the small claws on her bra and let it fall between them.

“Not with you,” and he pulled her nipple
between his lips, grazing his teeth across the tip.

His tongue flicked the sensitive end and she
gasped with the immense pleasure. Warm, rough fingers brushed her
skin, hooking themselves on her panties, as he slowly eased them
over her hips. “What would it feel like with our clothes gone?” she
asked, laying kisses on his jaw and working her way down his
neck.

“Unforgettable,” he breathed. His hands
grasped her waist and he drew her up his body, his palms folding
around her ass. “If there was ever a woman I wanted to be inside,
it’s you.” She pressed her hips with a gentle sway against his. Her
silk seeped through the fabric, and the friction of his bulge
against her crease shot fire straight to her toes.

She gazed into the soul of her warrior.
“What if you come home in a box?”

“Then I’ll die a sated man.” His eyes
searched hers as she released his shaft and stroked his hardness.
With every touch, his body shuddered with a need for more. Wetness
from his head slid against her thigh, and she played with its
fullness. They both groaned with pleasure when his erection entered
her. “Oh, God, no going back. You do belong to someone. You belong
to me.” His words were a declaration of desire before his mouth
possessed hers.

Feeling his swollen head penetrate her, she
cried out and stroked him deeply. Every plunge begged for another.
Was it possible to die just from being in this man’s arms?

“Oh, Christ.” Sucking her breast into his
mouth, his moist tongue laved her nipple. “God, you’re so wet, you
feel so beautiful.”

He bit her, slashing his tongue at the tip,
creating a fiery coil inside her stomach. “Thane, please don’t
die.” His hands gripped her waist and he slid himself sensually in
and out of her. With every stroke, her desire rose like hot embers
shooting from a fire.

“Baby, I won’t. I promise.”

Deep thrusts gripped her with a heady, deep
passion. “Thane, don’t stop.” His shaft pierced her sending her
catapulting into a wall of heat. She exploded in a violent seizure
of pleasure. Her eyes flashed open, consciousness flinging her to
the surface from the dream.

The Commander had her curled in his arm, one
hand slid to her hip and squeezed her. The wetness between her
thighs made her pause. She lay still, feeling her body. She was
pretty damn sure she’d just had an orgasm. He kissed her cheek, the
hardness of his shaft pressing against her back beneath his pants.
“I bet that was a beautiful dream,” he whispered, his fingers
caressing her thigh, wet with her silk. “I’m not like him, baby. I
could never walk away from you.”

“Commander?”

“Shhh, my sweet mermaid. You’re safe. Sleep.
Dream. I’ll be there with you.”

That’s when the tears came. The sour pang
enveloping her, the loneliness in her heart under attack from his
kindness, and he kissed them all away until darkness took her.

She picked up the phone. “Coronado Control,”
she answered, glancing at the clock. Zero two-thirty.

Crackling silence. “Kayla?”

“Good morning, Commander.” The line remained
silent for so long she feared she’d lost the connection. It had
been four weeks since she returned home, and the emotional side of
her hoped he’d call every day.

“How’s the head?”

“Still have a few bats in the belfry,” she
said. Her heart began to beat hard at the sound of his voice and
she bit her lip.

He chuckled, the phone’s delay causing an
echo. “I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

“Of course.”

“I need something from my safe. I’ll give
you the combination. There’s a file in there called dead recall. On
the second page there’s a list of names. Can you send those to
me?”

He gave her the combination. “Yes, sir, I’ll
do that now.”

“Are you being careful?” he asked
quickly.

“I am,” she said, picking up the pen on her
desk and beginning to doodle.

“I—ah, think—” He cleared his throat. “I
don’t know when I’ll be back. This one might be a long one. I—just
wanted to make sure you’re being cautious. I’m, well, I—”