Targeted (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 2) (27 page)

Tuck closed his eyes and pressed his face against her hair, breathing in her scent, so damn grateful to be alive, to have her in his arms. “I’m okay, sunshine,” he murmured, not giving a fuck that everyone was staring at them. “I’m okay.”

Celida just shook her head as her tears dried up and held him like she was afraid someone would rip him out of her arms. Tuck felt his own eyes sting, smiled a little against the top of her head.

She
did
love him. Maybe she wasn’t ready to say it yet, but she did and the proof was right here for everyone to see. It made his heart roll over in his chest.

She’d only calmed a bit more when the EMTs came up with a gurney and made him get on it. Celida wiped at her face and held his hand while they wheeled him over to an ambulance.

“I don’t need an ambulance,” Tuck protested with a scowl. “I’ll stay with you and you can drive me to the hospital to get checked out later.”

Celida shot him a hard look, one eyebrow raised. “Not a freaking chance.”

He came up on his elbows, fighting a wince as his body protested the movement. Everything hurt. “Seriously, I don’t need to be transported.”

She set a hand against his vest and pressed down with enough force to make him wince and him lie flat on his back again. “You either lie still and do as you’re told, or I strap you down to that thing myself.”

A chuckle bubbled up in his chest but he held it back. She was clearly worried about him. “I probably look worse than I actually am.”

This time she didn’t bother looking at him as she held up her free hand toward him, palm out. “Not even listening to you right now.”

DeLuca fell in step with him on his other side. “How you doin’, Tuck?” he asked.

“Good. Just banged up. Is Spivey dead?”

DeLuca flicked a glance at Celida, then looked back at him. “Yeah.”

“And the hostages?”

“All alive.”

He blinked. “What? How the hell did they survive all that?”

“Spivey had them locked in the vault. He detonated everything from in there.”

Tuck frowned. “He died in the blasts then?”

Again, DeLuca’s gaze slid to Celida, a little smile on his lips. “Nope. Better ask your girl what went down.”

Tuck snapped his head around to look up at her, shock rippling through him at what DeLuca was implying. “You got him?”

She nodded, wiped the heel of one hand beneath her eye, and sniffed. “The blasts damaged the vault, so he either shoved the door open or used the code. He put on the security guard’s uniform before walking out. It was chaos after those blasts—I didn’t even recognize him when he passed me. Then I saw Ippoliti without his uniform and realized what had happened. Spivey was going back to make sure you guys were dead and to kill DeLuca too,” she finished, her voice shredding on the last sentence.

Tuck reached out and gripped her hand. “You’re badass, Lida.”

She huffed out a watery laugh and wiped her free hand under her other eye. “Yeah, right.”

“You are.”

“Total badass,” DeLuca agreed with a grin. “She figured out what had happened, radioed to warn us and took him out with a shot through the throat. He was dead before Travers and I could even get there. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Celida shrugged, a flush blooming in her cheeks. Tuck smiled up at her, pride filling him with warmth. “That’s my girl.” His proud, fierce warrior.

She shrugged again and gave an irritated sigh. “Can we talk about you now? Like, how bad you’re hurt?”

“I’m gonna be fine, darlin’.”

She shot him a dubious glance. “You better be.”

Fighting a chuckle because it would no doubt earn him a punch to the arm and he was already freaking sore enough, Tuck stayed silent as they finally reached the ambulance. The EMTs started doing their thing. Tuck let his eyes close, tried to focus his mind away from the pain as they poked and prodded, cut away his uniform and took his vitals.

“Your blood pressure’s good and your pulse is steady,” the medic said as he shone a penlight in Tuck’s eyes to check his pupilary reflex. “We’re going to transport you to the hospital for further treatment and x-rays.”

He nodded, knowing there was no way around it. But before the medic could shut the rear doors of the truck, Celida climbed in. She perched on the bench seat beside his gurney and took his hand. Her eyes were puffy and her nose red from crying. As she smiled down at him, she’d never looked more beautiful.

“You coming with me?” he guessed, grinning up at her in adoration. It went against procedure to allow someone to ride in the back of an ambulance with a patient.

She snorted, her expression fierce. “Bet your sweet ass I am.”

Celida crept up the stairs of Tuck’s two-level house, careful not to make any noise in case it woke him, because he was hopefully still sound asleep in his bed. The carpet runner was soft beneath her bare feet as she cleared the top step and made her way down the hallway. The door to Bauer’s room at the far end stood open, since he was still in hospital. At the first door on the left she paused, cautiously cracked it open and peeked inside.

In the faint light from the digital bedside clock she could see Tuck outlined against the sheets of the king size bed. He was asleep on his side, facing her, his breathing slow and even. Her heart turned over at the sight of him. She’d come so damn close to losing him today, every time she thought of how easily he could have died in there her body went into a cold sweat.

She slipped inside and eased the door closed. After he’d been discharged from the hospital she’d driven him home in an agency vehicle. He hadn’t wanted to eat so she’d helped him into the shower to let the hot water soothe some of the aches in his battered body and put fresh sheets on the bed, then tucked him in and gone back to the field office for a couple hours. He’d want to know the status of his injured teammates as soon as he woke up, so she’d already gotten an update before leaving the office.

When she’d called to check on their statuses, she’d found out Bauer would likely not be discharged for a few days more at least. Cruz was being kept overnight for observation for his concussion but would probably go home tomorrow.

Stepping close to the bed, she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Just after oh-three-hundred. She’d lain with him for a while when she’d first put him to bed, curving her body around his. He’d crashed within a few minutes of lying down, completely exhausted. Only a few hours had passed since she’d held him but it was still too long. She needed to feel him against her, reassure her psyche that he really was going to be okay.

The moment she eased one hip onto the mattress though, he stirred, opened his eyes and focused on her. “Hey,” he murmured, relaxing back against the pillow.

“Sorry I woke you.” The mattress dipped a bit as she moved onto it and she set her hand on the side of his face. Her thumb swept across his jaw, his stubble rasping against her skin in the quiet. “Sore?” How in the hell he’d crawled out of that rubble without any broken bones or serious internal injuries was beyond her.

He grimaced and shifted slightly, his restricted movements telling her he was in a hell of a lot of pain. “Yeah.”

That he’d just admitted it told her all she needed to know. “Time for another dose of meds anyway.” She reached for the prescription bottle on the nightstand, handed him two pills and then a glass of water she’d set there when she’d come to bed last time.

Tuck winced as he sat up on his elbow to take the pills, winced again as he laid back down. Celida took the glass from him, gently smoothed his hair back from his forehead, wishing there was something more she could do to ease him. “You’re a bit warm,” she said with a frown.

“Nah, I’m good.” He took her hand, brought it to his mouth and turned it palm side up to place a kiss there, his lips brushing against the band aids covering the cuts she’d gotten while climbing through the bank and trying to dig him out.

They’d both been through hell today, Tuck receiving the worst of it, but at least they were able to be alone together now. She’d been by his side from the moment he’d come out of that tunnel, including the entire time at the hospital except for when he’d been taken for x-rays.

He was so strong and brave but more than that she’d never forget the look on his face when she’d run to him today. Raw relief and gratitude. The way she’d run to him, grabbed hold of him in front of everyone and held him so tight should be proof of how afraid she’d been that he’d died. And it also had to have told him exactly what he meant to her.

Celida settled under the covers with him and turned onto her side to face him, still touching his bristly cheek. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged. She gingerly eased her body up against him. He was bruised all to hell on his arms and legs, and even a few where the body armor had protected his back and chest from the worst of it.

He had to be stiff and sore all over, and those kinds of bone bruises would take a while to come to the surface as they healed. “I’m afraid of hurting you,” she murmured, setting her free hand carefully on his naked back. His skin was warm and smooth beneath her fingertips, the muscles twitching as he shifted again.

“Don’t be. Need to feel you up against me.” Tuck nestled in closer and let out a soft sigh. Celida closed her eyes and breathed in his clean, masculine scent, basking in the moment. It felt good to know they were finally on the same page in terms of being committed to the relationship. She loved him beyond reason, and even though her actions told him that, she knew he needed—deserved—to hear the words from her. She’d never said them to another man.

“I love being up against you. You feel so good.” She trailed her fingertips over his back, careful to keep her touch light and soothing but not ticklish. It was like petting a drowsy tiger, all sleek and powerful, lying quietly beside her in the darkness.

“You too.”

Quiet filled the room, only the sounds of their hushed breathing disturbing the silence. Celida leaned forward to kiss the tip of his nose, then his mouth, fighting a rush of tears. This man meant so much to her, more than she’d ever felt for anyone else. The words pushed up from her chest, crowded her throat, but got stuck on her tongue. Dammit, why couldn’t she say it? She wasn’t sure what was holding her back. Fear, maybe. An unprecedented sense of vulnerability.

Tuck turned his head slightly, until his mouth touched her palm, and she felt his smile form against her skin. “You love me,” he said quietly against her palm, his voice calm and sure.

Her eyes flicked up to his in the dimness, held. “Pretty cocky while you’re laid up, huh?” she said in a teasing tone, at once relieved at his perception and guilty that she hadn’t told him herself.

His shoulders moved a little in what passed for a shrug. “You do.”

Her lips quirked at the certainty in his voice. “Yeah. A lot.” That terrible sense of vulnerability she’d feared never hit. All she felt was peace, a sense of rightness. It would take her a while to get comfortable saying it out loud, but she’d get there.

The smile widened, his lips parting against her palm. “I love you too, sunshine.” He said it so easily, the sincerity in his voice making it sound like an ironclad vow.

She nodded, swallowed against a rush of tears at the admission, but she didn’t pull away. No more pulling away from this wonderful man, a man who’d once been her partner on the job and would now be her partner in everything in her life. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was.

Celida sighed and stroked her thumb across his chin, over his lips. He kissed the pad of it, let his tongue glide over her skin. Her swift intake of breath ripped through the quiet as a surge of heat shot through her, making her nipples harden. She couldn’t help her reaction, even though she knew he was way too sore for sex. But she wasn’t about to put an end to this delicious intimacy, the two of them tangled together in the darkness in his bed. Without a word she slid her hands up to cradle the sides of his face and leaned close to kiss him, fitting her lips to his and infusing the kiss with all the emotion filling her heart. He made a deep murmur of approval and kissed her back.

Her hands slid gently through his hair, thumbs sweeping gently over his cheeks and jaw. Reverent, tender touches that showed him exactly what was in her heart.

“You’re so sweet. My sunshine,” he whispered against her lips, meeting each gentle kiss, seeming to savor the connection as much as she did.

Gradually their mouths eased apart and they lay pressed flush together, enjoying the closeness. His breathing began to deepen, his muscles twitching from time to time as he faded toward sleep. She felt the weight of exhaustion pull her under, her subconscious soothed in the knowledge that she was safe in Tuck’s arms and he was safe in hers.

The intermittent beep of his phone finally registered sometime later, pulling her out of a deep sleep. She opened her eyes and sought out Tuck’s phone, sitting on the dresser on the other side of the room. Another ding sounded, signalling that someone had left either a text or voicemail. Could be DeLuca, or maybe Zoe or Bauer.

Tuck stirred, lifted his head. She stilled him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Stay here. I’ll get it.” Bending to give him a lingering kiss, Celida sat up and gently disengaged from his body. Immediately she felt colder as she left the bed, aware that Tuck was watching her as she crossed to the dresser.

She picked up the phone and activated it. The light from the screen flicked on, illuminating her face. When she saw the number on screen even without entering his password, cold condensed in her belly.

Oh shit,
no
. They wouldn’t be calling at this hour unless something was seriously wrong. And Tuck had been through so much already. Gathering herself, she crossed back to him, holding out the phone. “I think it’s the nursing home.”

Tuck immediately sat up, the way his breath hissed through his teeth telling her how much the movement hurt. He took the phone from her and returned the call. Someone answered almost immediately and he listened to what the woman was saying while Celida’s heart pounded.
Not Al. Not now.