Down and Dirty: SEAL EXtreme Team Short Story (4 page)

“I thought…”  He scoured Jill’s
face. It was clean. “The blood wasn’t real?”

She reached up and put her cool
hand on his cheek. “We’ll figure it out together.”

Humiliation and fear coursed
through his veins. What had he done?

A burly young man brought a
wheelchair and Nick quickly set Jill in it. He didn’t trust himself to carry
her back to her room. The way he was shaking, his legs might not carry him back.

“You need to leave,” the nurse
said to Nick.

He ran his hand over his hair. “Yeah.”
The reality of the situation hit him. What if he’d dropped her? Hurt her?

“No! Nick, stay, please.” Jill
reached for his hand and locked her fingers with his.

He exhaled. “I’m screwed up.”

Her green eyes pierced him. “Don’t
you dare leave me, Lieutenant Commander.” To the nurse, she said, “Let him
push.”

The nurse shook her head. “I
don’t think that’s wise.”

“I do. Come on, Nick. Push me
back to the room.”

“I’m reporting this. If we have
one more incident, I’ll call security,” the nurse warned. To the orderly, she
said, “Go with them. Make sure she gets into bed safely.”

“Will do.” The burly man fell
in behind them.

Nick could feel the guy’s breath
down his neck, shadowing his every move. Carefully, he pushed Jill’s wheelchair
down the hall, berating himself with every step.

Back in her room, the orderly made
moves to take charge, but there was no way in hell Nick would let another guy
touch his girl. Side-blocking, he took the burly man’s forward impact with his
sore ribs.

“I’ve got this,” Nick growled.

“Sure you do, tough guy. Why
don’t you let me lift her? It’s my job.” The orderly must have thought he was
talking to a five-year-old. Nick had the sudden desire to educate him the hard
way.

“Let Nick do it,” Jill said
softly. “Please.”

“You sure?” Giving Nick the
head-to-toe-once-over, the orderly’s eyes spoke volumes.  He clearly thought Nick
should be in the psych ward.

The guy wasn’t wrong.

“Yes. I’m sure. Please go now,”
Jill said sweetly. “I’ll call you if we need anything else.”

Flashing one final evil glare
that said “
I’ve got my eye on you, mister,
” the orderly left the room.

Nick wrapped Jill’s arm around
his shoulder and lifted her out of the chair. Gently, he placed her in the bed,
but he couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sit with me.” She patted the
bed.

He shook his head. “I should
go.”

She reached up, grabbed the
bottom of his T-shirt, and tugged. “Closer. Closer. Good, now sit.” He kept his
gaze on her blanket. “What happened out there?”

“After that day…when Billy
died…I see shit that isn’t there. Blood, mostly.” He looked at his hands. Thank
God they were clean. “Lots of blood. The only real sleep I’ve had was with you.”

“Oh, Nick. Come here.” She laid
back and let him put his head on her shoulder. She was so soft and warm. “What
are we going to do?”

We?
“Normally, I ignore this crap
and hope things get straightened out.”

“It’s happened before?”

“Usually I keep it to myself
and go back into the field. Fighting real bad guys kills the demons for a
while. Four days ago, I started thinking ignoring the problem isn’t going to
work anymore.”

“Four days ago?”

He looked into her eyes. Damn,
a guy could get lost in all that compassion. “When I saw you.”

She rubbed his scalp, temple,
jaw muscles, her fingers massaging away the tension. “We’re quite a pair,
aren’t we?”

He took a deep breath. He had
to say this now, or he might not get the chance. “Is that what you want? To be
a couple?”

Her heartbeat kicked up a notch
under his ear.

“Before you answer that…” He rose
up on his elbow and gazed into her sweet face. “I can’t stop thinking about
you. I’ve been dreaming about taking you to dinner, a movie, and a long moonlit
drive. Every friggin’ day. I want to make love to you all night and bring you breakfast
in bed. I’m falling for you, Jill. Hell, I’ve fallen.”

She sucked in a stuttering
breath.

He rushed on, “But I’m not the
man who should love you. Not like this.”

She swallowed hard. “God, Nick.
I feel like I’ve known you for years. I fell in love with you the first time
Billy mentioned you in his letters, but the real man is seriously so much
better.”

“Billy probably lied.” He
grinned. “So…you sort of like me?”

“Sort of? That’s the
understatement of the world. I’ve got the major hots for you, Lieutenant
Commander.”

He grinned. “Yes!”

She laughed. “But we’ve both
got work to do.”

“I know. I want to be with you,
Jill. Help you get stronger and fight for your dreams. I’ve never wanted anyone
more, but I can’t be the man you need me to be. Not until my head is on
straight. I’ll check myself in at the VA hospital and get my shit together.”

“I wish I could be there with
you.”

“Yeah, me too.” He locked his
fingers with hers. They fit so well. He kissed her bare ring finger. “It might
take a while.”

“Okay, so we have a plan.”

“We do?”

“Yep. I’ll get stronger, and
you do the same. We’ve got to be in good shape for this crazy mud run thing.
We’re warriors, right?”

“That’s my girl.”

He kissed her, and for a moment,
the demons went away.

She
stood at the starting line, anxiety flapping around in her stomach. It wasn’t
pre-race jitters. Hundreds of people surrounded her, but Nick was nowhere in
sight. Six months was a long time. Sure, they’d texted each other a few times,
and she’d been able to call him once, but his therapy had been intense, and so
had hers. She’d nearly worn out one of the electric blue running shoes Nick had
given her—only one since her running prosthesis was a blade that didn’t require
a shoe. He was beating back his demons. It was hard work for both of them. They’d
agreed to hold off building their relationship until they’d healed themselves.

A
package arrived the first day she’d come home from the hospital. It touched
her. Even in his deep sessions, he’d found the time to order her a present. She
smiled at the white water bottle in the box with the red words “
Warrior Girl”
on it
.
He’d included a card that said simply, “I’m thinking about
you.”

But
six months! Had he changed his mind? Forgotten about her?

“Hey,
beautiful.” Strong hands rested on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and took
a deep, sweet breath. He’d come.

“Nick!”
She spun around to face him.

Holy
wowza. He looked good. Better than good. The worry in his amber eyes was gone.
The chiseled sharpness to his jaw had relaxed. His smile was huge. The man had
dimples? Before she could think straight, she jumped into his arms and planted
a kiss on his lips. His tongue rushed in, and soon they were making out at the
start line.

“Hell,
I missed you,” he growled into her ear, sending delicious shivers all over her
body. “So damned much. Imagining your sweet smile gave me the will to fight.
But, shit, how I wanted you.”

She
trembled in his arms. “Show me. Let’s ditch the race and go to my place so I
can have my way with you.”

“Don’t
tempt me, woman.” He nipped her jaw. “We made a commitment. We stand by it.”

She
grinned. God, she had a man who liked commitments.

“Warriors,
take your places!” a voice announced over a bullhorn.

He
pressed his forehead to hers. “You ready for this?”

“I’d
rather have my way with you, but, yeah. I’m ready. You?”

“Damned
straight.” He cupped her cheeks. Those intense amber eyes bored into her soul. “Afterwards,
you’d better keep your promise. I’ll be thinking about what you are going to do
to me the entire race.”

“Good.”
She ran her hand down his chest and over his six-pack abs. “Race advantage,
mine.”

He
slapped her fanny. “You think you’re going to beat me? Rope climbs, belly-crawling
through mud, scaling eight foot walls, monkey bars, Atlas lift, block drags, a
5K dirt trail run?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t
forget we can walk this thing.”

“Walk?”
she snorted. “I’m a Connor. We’re tough and competitive. Let’s say whoever gets
the fastest time will get the best massage of his or her lifetime.” She
whispered, “Naked.”

He
ran his hands down her arms. “Sounds like a win-win to me.”

She
grinned. “Exactly.”

A gun
went off. The race had begun.

Big thanks to Sandra Troutte,
Kori Click, Anne Marsh, C.C. Wiley, Keri Ford, Natasha Moore, Gia Alden, and Orly
Konig-Lopez for critiquing and improving this story.

Special shout-out to triathlete
Kristine Finlay for advising me about the Ironman, mud runs, and life in
general. Thank you, my friend.

Thanks to Georgia Woods for
editing. Her skills are fabulous. Any mistakes still remaining are mine.

Kim Killion’s covers never
cease to wow me. This one included.

Big squishy hugs to my family.
I love you guys!

If you
enjoyed,
DOWN AND DIRTY
, check out

COMING IN HOT

Book 1 in the
SEAL EXtreme Team series

On sale now! Read
on for a sneak peek…

***

Mack was leaving? Why’d he come
if he was going to turn back around? Jenna swung around to face Kat. Her
assistant cocked her head toward the door. They both knew Mack was their best
shot at rescuing the Harmonds.

Jenna ran. “Stop right there,
sailor!”

She caught Mack in the hallway.
His blue eyes raking over her made it nearly impossible to breathe. Or think.

“What?” His feet kept moving
toward the parking lot.

“Where are you going?”

“To hell, most likely. Before
that? A bar.”

“This is important. The
Harmonds are my responsibility! They might die!”

He stared impassively at her.
“The SEALs will move in when the war is over. Your clients will have to wait it
out.”

She laced her fingers,
determined to hide her shaking hands. “Jacob is only ten years old. His sister
is thirteen. You know what those bastards will do to a young girl! And a young
boy?”

“There’s nothing you or I can
do.”

“Is it that the Navy won’t let
you go on this mission? Because I’m sure Senator Tonell could get authorization
for you.”

He didn’t speak.

“Or you won’t help because of
what happened between us?”

The muscle in his jaw flexed.
The fire in his eyes was answer enough.

“Dammit, Mack! This isn’t about
us!” She poked her finger into his incredibly hard chest. It was as if he wore
body armor under that black tee. But no, it was only muscle. Strong. Lean.
Impossibly sexy. Lord help her. She poked him again for good measure. “Not you.
Not me. It’s about a terrified little boy and his sister! You need to do the
right thing here, Lieutenant Commander. Do the right thing!”

“Tell me why I should.”

Before he said another word,
the cell phone rang inside in her pocket. She scrambled to pull it out and was
shocked by the caller I.D.

“It’s the driver.” Horror
swamped her and she grabbed Mack’s muscular bicep. “But it can’t be. He’s
dead.”

“Answer it. This might be the
ransom call.”

Her heart pounded so loudly in
her ears that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hear.

He squeezed her shoulder. “Do
it.”

“This is Jenna. Who…who is
this?”

“It’s me, Jacob.”

He’s alive?
Relief and terror hit hard.
She gripped Mack’s arm tighter.

“Jacob,” she finally managed.
“Where are you?”

“I don’t know. Anna and I are
tied together in a dark room. I don’t know where my mom is…” he broke off,
crying softly. “They took my mom and dad.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Her
voice cracked.
Liar. Since when was any of this okay?

Mack wrapped his other arm
around her and pulled her in close. “Nice and easy, babe. Tell him to leave the
phone on and hide it.”

 “Good for you taking this
phone, Jacob. We’ll be able to track your location now. Very good thinking.
When we’re done talking, leave it on and hide it, okay?”

“I’ll try. When are you coming
to get me?”

She blinked hard, willing her
throat not to close. Mack rubbed her hair as if instinctually knowing she
needed more of his touch to calm her down. It did the trick.

“Breathe.” His lips touched her
ear lobe.

She gulped air. “Soon. You keep
being brave. And help your sister, too.”

“Promise to hold my hand when
we walk out of this place?”

Oh, Lord. “I promise.”

“Okay. I’ll be brave, Jenna.”

A loud commotion on his end
meant that Jacob hid the phone, or at least, she hoped that’s what it meant.

Jenna tipped her chin up and
looked into a face full of steely resolve. Why couldn’t she be that strong,
that brave? “Mack, please, I need your help.”

With the back of his knuckle,
he gently wiped the wetness off her cheek. “I’ll do it.”

She pulled back and looked at him
closely. “You’ll organize a team to—”

“Yes, Jenna, I said I’ll do
it.” His voice was gruff. “But let’s get one thing clear. When this is all
over, we go our separate ways. No calling me to take out the trash, or pound
something into submission, or find your cat. Got it?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes.” She
understood all too well. This was payback. Who said it was a bitch? To her it
was one long, lean, heart-stealing, chiseled man.

“Fine. I’ll call you when the
mission is over and let you know where to pick up the Harmonds.” He put his
sunglasses on. His long legs strode into the parking lot as if he couldn’t wait
to get away from her.

She raced in front of him,
blocking his path. “My company will pay for everything—salary, essentials,
private jet, whatever you need. I’ve been instructed to make this worth your
while.  Get your team together, and we’ll put you up in any hotel of your
choosing for the night. Let Kat know which one you prefer, and she’ll make the
arrangements.”

“Don’t worry about me. Have the
jet ready to leave in the morning. Good-bye, Jenna.” He said it like he meant
it.

Damn him. “Good night. See you
tomorrow.”

He gave her one of those
looks—jaw muscle flexing, nostrils widening. If she could see his eyes behind
the mirrored lenses, they’d be narrowed, intense. “I can find the hangar
without help.”

“I’m sure you can. I’m going
with you.” She straightened her back, readying for the coming fight.