SEAL's Embrace (7 page)

“Fine. I’ll wait until the doc gives me the okay. But that better be by morning. I’ll have my morning coffee with you, if doing so kills me.”

“Let’s not take it that far. I’d rather delay coffee for a few days than have you die.”

A dull roar came from the television set mounted on the wall in the corner of the room.

Caesar glanced at the screen. A mob of people gathered around the gate of what looked like a military base. Squinting, he read the name on the gate. Ramstein. “Did I miss anything while I was out?”

Erin lifted the remote and clicked the mute button. “The Germans are angry we have the Taliban leader responsible for the torture and deaths of their soldiers. They want us to hand his head over on a platter or send him out and let them deal with him.”

His fist clenched. “I don’t blame them. We walked in on them smashing a prisoner’s face. With the butt of a rifle.”

Erin nodded. “The soldier you’re talking about was transferred to a German hospital. From what little information we got, he’s struggling to survive. The damage to his face and throat will take a lot of surgeries to repair. If he survives.”

“You got him here?”

“Barely. It was touch and go for a while. The other CCAT team worked hard on the flight over to keep his heart going.”

“That Taliban bastard deserves to die a painful death,” Caesar said. “He doesn’t deserve the best medical care the U.S. has to offer.”

“I agree.” She stared at the mob on the screen, shaking her head. “But if there’s a chance of getting intel from him, we might save other American lives.”

Caesar jerked his chin at the screen. “What’s going on out there?”

“A couple hundred Germans are lined up at the gate, protesting. Their numbers have been growing since the television station broadcast the news earlier today.”

“Great. Just what we need. A riot at the hospital.” Caesar pushed a hand through his hair, wishing he could get into a shower and clean the desert sand off his skin and scalp.

“You can’t worry about it. The military police will keep them at bay.” Erin returned to his bedside, checked his IV drip and fluffed his pillow.

Unwilling to let her move away, he cupped the back of her neck and pulled her downward.

“Caesar, you shouldn’t be moving so much.”

“Then stop resisting.” He brought her closer until their lips were less than an inch apart. “You know you want to kiss me.”

“No, I don’t,” she whispered, her breath puffing against his lips. Then she leaned forward and brushed her mouth across his. “Get some sleep.”

His lips heated from her touch. “Only if you get some too.”

“I plan on it. They’ve set aside a room with a bed and a shower I get to use for the next eight hours. I’m on duty tonight at eleven.”

“You need more sleep than that.”

“I’ll be fine.” She straightened. “As long as I leave now. I’ll see you for coffee in the morning.”

“Count on it.” Caesar waited until the door to his room closed behind her before he laid back and closed his eyes. After a deep breath, he opened them again, lifted his head and moved his toes again.

Satisfied his legs were working as they should, he slipped into a troubled sleep. Twice during the day, a nurse entered the room, checked his vitals, drawing blood once and generally waking him. He knew sleep was the best cure for his body and he forced himself to close his eyes each time, when he’d rather get up and find Erin and crawl in bed by her side. His mind groggy with drugs and sleep, he had enough sense to remind himself that Erin was worth taking it slow. He didn’t want to scare her off.

‡

T
hankfully, a bus
ran twenty-four/seven between the hospital and her assigned lodging. Any other day, she’d have walked the short distance, but Erin was tired and more than ready to sleep. She checked in at the desk and trudged up to her room.

Exhausted from being on her feet for over twenty hours, Erin showered quickly, slipped into a T-shirt and shorts and climbed into the bed. As she pulled up the sheet and blanket over her shoulders, she registered the echoes of the crowd chanting and shouting outside the gate, making falling to sleep immediately difficult.

Photographs of the injured German soldiers had circulated on the news, igniting anger and a powerful thirst for justice. The people outside wanted to exact their pound of flesh from the Taliban leader.

Forcing the angry mob and their chants and shouts to the back of her mind, Erin closed her eyes and remembered the way Caesar’s hands felt on her body, the way he’d made love to her wildly, passionately, ensuring she was as satisfied as he was.

Everything about her attraction to the SEAL was wrong. Granted, they weren’t in the same chain of command, and they weren’t even in the same branch of service. Still, he was enlisted and she was an officer. She loved her job. Loved that she helped soldiers make it home alive. If she lost her commission, she’d be out of the military.

Her lips still tingled from their kiss and she burned with the aching need to repeat what they’d shared behind the supply building at Bagram, her desire pushing her beyond reason. God, what was she doing to herself? If she had a lick of sense, she’d have gotten on the next flight back to Bagram and forgotten about Caesar and the way he made her want to ignore all the rules.

He was a goddamn SEAL, for heaven’s sake! He’d charm his way into her panties with his muscles and tattoos and as soon as he was reassigned, maybe sooner, he’d be on to the next girl. Adrenaline junkies like SEALs and pilots were notorious for multiple affairs and real commitment issues.

So? Why couldn’t she let herself enjoy the forbidden? They weren’t in Afghanistan. If they happened to kiss and make love in Germany, their actions wouldn’t be completely against the rules. Again, he wasn’t in her chain of command. For an officer and an enlisted man to hook up wasn’t completely unusual.

Despite being bone-tired, Erin tossed and turned until she finally fell into an exhausted sleep. The alarm on her watch woke her six hours later. She clawed her way out of the sleep coma and struggled upright. She’d promised to help out in ICU over the graveyard shift. She’d deployed from Landstuhl, so her credentials were up to date with the hospital, and they needed her to help out. They were short two ICU nurses and another had called in sick earlier that day.

With a sigh, she pushed back the covers and got out of the bed. With only twenty minutes until she went on duty, she didn’t have time to stop by Caesar’s room. She’d have to wait until morning and the promised cup of coffee. With quick, efficient strokes, she brushed back her hair into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, pinned the loose strands in place and shook the wrinkles out of the clean flight suit she’d brought on board the C-17 in her backpack. After dressing quickly, she laced her boots and headed for the hospital and the Intensive Care Unit.

Shift change took place and she was assigned to two patients. One of them was the Taliban leader, Hassani Nurabi. She had to push aside her loathing of all he represented to provide for his care, telling herself he was just another human being, not a monster that should be destroyed. And if any possibility existed of getting information out of him to locate and rescue the four Americans, he could be worth saving.

The night dragged on. Thankfully, her patients remained stable and other than changing IV bags, administering medications, checking drainage tubes and vital signs, the shift was uneventful. She met with the nurses at the nurses’ station. The woman in charge was a friend, Sheila Kenner.

“I got word from base security to be on our toes. The German public is in an uproar about Hassani being in our hospital. They want us to turn him over to their government to deal with him.”

“I saw some of the TV footage. Is security worried the crowd will storm the gates and hospital to get their man?” Erin asked. “I mean, there really aren’t any gates to hold them back. Just a few security guards, who’d probably let them through if they got mean.”

“Cyber intel indicates increased activity with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements active in the area.” Sheila brought up an email on her computer screen and pointed to the announcement. “Nothing substantive, but they warned us to be aware.”

On foreign soil, receiving threat warnings from the base security staff wasn’t unusual. Erin nodded. “Will do.”

At seven the following morning, she went through shift change with the nurse coming on duty. Once she’d handed over her responsibilities, Erin hurried to the ward where Caesar was recovering.

His bed was empty and freshly made with clean sheets, ready for the next patient.

Her heart skipped several beats.

“If you’re looking for the SEAL, he’s in the hospital cafeteria.”

Erin spun to face a nurse wearing green scrubs with a nametag that read Reynolds. “The cafeteria?”

The young woman smiled. “I had a hard time convincing him this morning was too soon to make the trek, but the man was stubborn. As soon as he heard the doc’s okay, he was on his feet before the doc left the floor. And he’s been up five times since. At this rate, he’ll return to duty in days.” The nurse tilted her head. “You’re one of the CCATT nurses who brought him in, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.” Erin didn’t want to be rude, but she also didn’t want to hang around and talk to the chatty nurse. But she couldn’t come up with an excuse to leave.

Reynolds grinned. “He’s quite the charmer. I wonder if he’s married.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“He doesn’t wear a ring, but then I wouldn’t expect a SEAL to wear one.” She patted the sheets. “I’ve always been a sucker for a man with tattoos. He was telling me about the different ones and the meaning behind them. I especially like that he has the SEAL Trident on his shoulder. It’s impressive.”

Her patience dissolving, Erin stepped aside. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.” She didn’t, unless you counted having coffee with a SEAL who didn’t mind telling stories about the tattoos on his body to every strange woman he encountered. Caesar was a natural flirt, which only went to prove her fears about the man.

He was playing with her and he’d forget her as soon as she left his sight. Hadn’t he with Reynolds? Anger built as she marched across the hospital to the cafeteria.

She found him with a cup of coffee gripped between two big hands, sitting across the table from a pretty corporal in Army camouflage, her hair pulled back in a neat knot at her nape, her lips parted in a smile.

That did it. She obeyed her first inclination to turn and leave the cafeteria, find the next transport back to Bagram and forget about the SEAL who’d made her heart beat faster and her blood run hot.

In the middle of turning, she heard his deep sexy voice call out, “Lt. McGee!”

For a moment, she debated walking out without acknowledging him, but then she was almost certain he’d come running after her to the best of his ability. The nurse in her didn’t want him to reinjure himself so soon, though the jealous woman wanted to tell him to go to hell.

“I have to get back to work.” The corporal stood, tucked an imaginary hair behind her ear, her cheeks flushed pink. “Will you be around much longer?”

“Not if I can help it,” he said, his gaze on Erin. “I’d like to return to my duty assignment and my team.”

“Well, thanks again for taking the time to talk to me about my boyfriend. I’m sure you’re right and he’s just worried about me.”

“You take care of yourself, Abby. Everything will work out.”

“Thanks.” She stepped past Erin, her eyes growing wide, her body stiffening when she noticed the rank on her uniform. “Excuse me, ma’am.”

Erin nodded without saying a word.

“Lt. McGee.” Caesar pushed to his feet, wincing. He wore the hospital gown and a hospital-issued robe and still managed to look hot. Apparently, he’d showered, but he had opted not to shave, and his hair was on the shaggy side, like most SEALs on deployment. “I saved a place for you.” He held out a chair.

Erin hesitated when she should have kept walking right out of the man’s life.

“You promised coffee if I was up on my own two feet.” He grinned and held out his muscular arms. “I’m on my own two feet. I even made it down here without a wheelchair or assistance from the nurses.”

“I can imagine you had plenty of volunteers,” she snapped.

His brows furrowed. “Have I done something wrong?”

Erin glanced around at the others in the cafeteria. Some faces had turned their way. Rather than become a spectacle in front of the military and civilian personnel there for breakfast and their coffee, she closed the distance between her and Caesar. But she didn’t take the seat. “I’m not staying.”

“Why?”

“Why should I? I’m sure you have plenty of women standing in line to sit and chat with you.” She swallowed hard. “And I have to get some sleep. I’m on duty again tonight.”

He captured her hand and refused to let go. “I don’t care about any of the other women. I only want to have coffee with you.”

“You were doing just fine with your little friend a moment ago.” God, she hated how waspish her voice sounded. But,
damn it
, she couldn’t contain her anger.