Running Fire (26 page)

“Wise decision,” he managed, leaning over, pressing a kiss to her lips. “We'll talk more about this later, when you feel up to it. Why don't you just close your eyes and rest? I'm going back down to the surgery floor and see if we can get a status report on Lieutenant Corliss. Then, I'll come back up here.”

Leah nodded.

Kell leaned down and kissed her brow. “Rest. I'll be back in a little bit. I love you...”

* * *

K
ELL
SHOWED
UP
midafternoon at Leah's private room. She had just awakened, her eyes half-open, drowsy looking. And beautiful to him. He closed the door and walked over to her. “Have a good nap?”

“Mmm,” Leah muttered, rubbing her eyes. “I feel drugged.”

“You're still working out of the anesthesia,” Kell murmured, leaning over, kissing her cheek. “Good news. Harper is conscious and the surgeon said she was in fair condition. They're moving her right next door to you as we speak.” Originally, right after surgery, she had been taken to ICU, in critical condition. Clutch had remained with her until she improved. Now he sat at her bedside as she slept, continuing to keep watch over her like the good SEAL guard dog he was.

“Really?” Leah's heart thumped with joy. “Harper's going to be okay?”

“She's got a long road to recovery,” Kell cautioned. “They had to remove her spleen and resection her stomach. I just talked to Dr. Pastore, her surgeon. Her fiancée, Lieutenant Carter Boyer, is flying in and will meet her at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany tomorrow. That will help her a lot.”

“That's such good news,” Leah whispered. “I wonder when my surgeon will come in.”

“Shortly,” Kell said. “I saw him down the passageway working his way in your direction.” He studied her sleepy features. Leah had more color in her cheeks. Hair mussed, he threaded his fingers through it, taming it here and there.

“I want to get out of this bed, Kell. I need to go to the bathroom and I refuse to use a bedpan.” Leah gave him a pleading look. “Can you help me get up?”

“Anything the lady wants,” he murmured, taking her hand. There was a wheelchair nearby and he hooked it with his boot and brought it over to the side of the bed. “I'll get you standing, but I want you to sit in the wheelchair. Then, I'll take you over to the bathroom.”

Nodding, Leah wasn't going to argue. Kell pulled the covers off and pulled down her wrinkled blue gown that had hitched up midthigh. She had beautiful, long, curved thighs. He went hot remembering skimming his hand over her warm, velvet skin.

“You know,” he said with a drawl, “you have a great set of legs...”

Leah laughed a little, and it hurt her arm. “Do you guys ever
not
think of sex, Ballard?” He helped her off the bed, placing his arm around her waist until she felt steady.

“Guilty,” he admitted, chuckling. Easing her into the wheelchair, he guided her feet onto the paddles. “But I'm not that way with every woman,” he whispered, kissing her cheek. “Just you.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“T
HIS
SUCKS
,”
L
EAH
GRUMBLED
. She stood watching Kell pack a rucksack that had all the important belongings she'd need when she left.

“It does,” he agreed. Kell closed the ruck and turned around. Tomorrow morning, he and Clutch were heading back to Camp Bravo. Leah and Harper would be on a C-5 flight that would take them to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany. From there, they would both take another long flight to the USA. The good news was Leah would be receiving therapy and treatment at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego because she was now engaged to him.

Harper would be flown to the East Coast to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington, DC. She was Army, and the Army and Navy had combined military hospitals there. When the authorities found out that Harper was not engaged to Clutch, her orders were redirected. The good news was that Carter Boyer was stationed in nearby Georgia and he could fly up to be with her nearly every week. It was a happy ending for them, or as good as it was going to get under the circumstances.

Still, Harper thanked him for being nearby while she was in surgery, calling him a hero. Clutch had blushed, mumbling that SEALs took care of their own.

Leah was in her desert-tan flight suit. Her left arm remained in a sling. She sat in a chair, pouting. Kell came over and knelt down, his hands curving across her long thighs. “In two months, the platoon will be back at Coronado,” he told her. She gave him a nod. “And the best news of all is you'll be able to stay at my condo on the island. The senior chief will meet you when you get off the flight, Leah. He's arranging everything for you. I've given you the keys to my SUV, and he'll make sure you get to my home.”

“I shouldn't be sulking about this,” Leah admitted quietly, reaching out, touching his longish hair at his temple. “We've been lucky.”

“We are lucky,” Kell agreed. He squeezed her thighs, remembering how they felt naked against his hands, but he couldn't go there. There was no way to make love to Leah right now. She was still in shock and grieving over killing Hayden. It weighed her down, and they hadn't been able to discuss too much during the three days they'd had together at the hospital.

“Come on,” he urged, standing and holding out his hand toward her. “I want to buy my favorite girl an ice cream.” Leah loved ice cream, he'd discovered. Especially pistachio.

Leah gave him a grateful look and slowly stood up, her fingers curving into his. Out in the hall, they couldn't hold hands or show any kind of affection toward one another. As Kell pulled her up from the chair, he enfolded her into his arms, careful so as not to jolt her wounded left arm. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against his chest, her right arm going around his waist. “This sucks, too, Ballard. I love you so much. I can't even hug you properly anymore.”

He laughed and kissed her hair. “I love you, too, Sugar. You're such a mama bear today.” He opened the door for her. Kell knew why she was cranky, and he wanted to try to cheer her up. Leah's father had visited her on the second day and that meeting hadn't gone well at all. Kell had reluctantly left the room, but hadn't wanted to, knowing Leah was going to have to face him alone. But she had insisted that this was between her and her father.

When he returned after the colonel had left, he found Leah crying. He hoped that over time some of the bridges between her father and her could be salvaged, but it wasn't going to happen right now. Kell was sure David Mackenzie was feeling a whole lot of guilt right now after realizing his choice of a faux son over his daughter had been dead wrong. Leah had almost died showing him the bitter truth of the situation. The man should be begging for Leah's forgiveness as far as Kell was concerned. That was going to take some time.

In the cafeteria, Kell found a place for Leah to sit. Midafternoon the place wasn't that busy. He bought her a bowl with two scoops of pistachio and two scoops of chocolate for himself, along with two mugs of coffee. He sat down opposite her, handing her a spoon. Leah brightened and dug into the ice cream, her appetite beginning to slowly return.

“Your doctor said that within the next eight weeks you should be almost back to normal,” he said. Silently he added,
But you won't be healed from it emotionally.
That too would take time. At least in two months he'd be home to help Leah travel that excruciatingly painful path of healing from shooting Grant.

“Just in time to jump you at the airport,” Leah said with a grin. Her heart widened as Kell flashed her that lazy, sensual smile, his eyes burning with desire for her and her alone. She was still coming out of trauma, her emotions skewing within her in so many twisted and unexpected ways. Kell had remained her cornerstone. Her anchor. “Well, maybe I'll wait until we get into your SUV.” She grinned wickedly.

“We'll both be counting the days, Sugar. We have email and Skype. The senior chief at Coronado will make sure you can talk to me at least once a week, provided I'm not out on a mission.”

Her blood chilled. Leah knew more than most what SEALs did because he'd rescued her from sure death. Kell had risked his life in order to save hers. She'd lived nearly a week on the run with him and he'd kept her safe. “I'm going to look forward to going home to meet your parents and your brothers at Thanksgiving.” His eyes lit up with humor, his smile devastating to her wide-open heart. When the man smiled, she felt drenched with his love.

“My brother Cody will be coming through San Diego before I rotate home. He'll be returning from a Special Forces mission. He'll probably drop over to say hello to you when he arrives at Coronado.”

“What? And dirt dive me? Make sure I'm worthy of you?”

Kell chuckled. “Oh, more than likely.” He pulled out some photos from his pocket and slid them over to her. “I had these made over at SEAL HQ yesterday. Here's a picture of Cody. He's pretty hard to miss,” Kell said wryly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “You can see how good-looking he is. Got women hanging off him like ripe fruit 24/7/365.”

Leah picked up the photo. Cody was handsome, there was no doubt about it. “I see a little of you in his face.”

“Oh, he'd say the reverse. He's pretty full of himself. But he'll do right by you, Leah. Anything you need, just ask and he'll help you. He'll probably want to stay at least a night. Give him the guest bedroom. You sleep in my bed.”

A frisson of desire burned through her.
Kell's bed.
Where he slept. “Yes, I'd like that,” she whispered, suddenly choking up. Leah set the picture aside and wanted to reach out and touch his hand. “I love you, Kell.” She couldn't say it enough now that she knew what real love was.

Hearing the emotion in her voice, Kell sobered and drew in a deep breath. “Nothing worth having is ever easy,” he told her quietly. “And I love you so damn much I can't even give it words, Sugar.”

What Leah needed was him right now. Not to be sent home. Not to be left alone. But that was the military. It took no prisoners and Kell knew it. Leah was made of strong stuff and he knew she'd gut through it. Not that things were ideal under the circumstances, but there was nothing he could do. He watched Leah self-consciously wipe the tears from her eyes, understanding how emotionally strung out she really was. “We can talk on Skype. I want you to call me, tell me what's bothering you, Leah. You need someone who cares to listen to what's on your plate.”

“My father sure as hell doesn't care.”

“He's in shock of another kind right now. I'm not trying to defend him, Leah. But that JAG lawyer gave him
all
the evidence. He knows the truth now about Grant and how he abused you in that sham marriage. I'm sure that's hitting him hard. And I'll bet he's feeling a lot of guilt about not being there for you when you really needed him.” The pain in her eyes increased and she pursed her mouth, as if to hold back emotions. “Listen, we'll get through this together. I think the physical therapy is going to keep you busy on a daily basis. They'll rebuild your muscles, your strength in that left arm.”

Leah shrugged. “Right now, Kell, I just feel like a tumbleweed with no roots, no direction in my career.”

“It's part of the trauma. In time, it will ease.”

Leah didn't want their last day together to be a complete downer. She rallied and pointed to the other photos beneath his hand. “Is that one of Tyler?”

Kell slid it over to her. “Tyler's a lot like you, sort of an introvert. He says little but sees a lot.”

Leah picked up the photo. Tyler was not smiling. He had an intense expression in his hazel eyes, his black hair cut short, his jaw lean and stubborn looking. “He doesn't look like you at all.”

“No, he takes after Ma. He's a SEAL like me.” Kell gave her the last photo. “This is my ma and pa, Orin and Mary Ballard.”

She took the photo, absorbing their brief touch. The photo showed his parents sitting on a red porch swing, smiling. Orin had his arm around his wife. The porch was enclosed with a screen that she imagined would keep the mosquitos at bay during the summer. “They look happy.”

“They are. They married young, when they were eighteen. They'd gone through high school together, and fell in love. When they graduated, they married. My pa took over his father's dairy farm because he'd died the year he graduated.”

“And when did you come along?” Leah loved hearing happy family stories. There weren't many in the world, but Kell had gotten lucky.

“She had me at twenty-four. Cody came two years later. And Tyler, the baby, two years after that. Ma said three times was enough.”

Leah grinned a little. “No kidding.”

“Keep the photos.”

“I don't have any of you.”

Kell grimaced. “I don't like to have my photo taken. It's a black ops kind of knee-jerk reaction.”

“Mmm,” Leah said, gathering up the photos and tucking them into her pocket.

“Well,” Kell relented, “my ma will send you a packet of photos of me when I was younger. She said she would because I told her you'd be staying at my condo. The packet will arrive there and you can see all kinds of photos of me.”

“That's something nice to look forward to,” Leah whispered, touched by his thoughtfulness.

“I'm sure that when I take you home for Thanksgiving, my two younger brothers are going to give you an earful about me since I'm the oldest,” Kell lamented. “You're going to hear so many stories about me. Most of them are big windy, half-truths or embellishments. You'll have to pick and sort your way through my little brothers' bad memories about me.”

Leah laughed softly, sponging in the light dancing in his eyes. “I think you'll help me sort out truth from fiction.”

“In a heartbeat,” he promised wryly. “When the three of us get together, there's no mercy or quarter given between us.”

There was hope in her eyes, which made him feel relief. Kell knew Leah really didn't have much family unity, and he hoped that by sharing the photos and the stories, he would let her know she would be embraced by all of them. A new family who honestly loved her. He saw Leah suddenly become pensive.

Reaching out, he grazed her cheek, holding her gaze. “In two months, Sugar, I'll be home and I'll be able to hold you in my arms...”

* * *

L
EAH
ALMOST
DROPPED
the head of lettuce into the kitchen sink when Kell walked unexpectedly through the door of his condo in early August. Two months had gone by and she was expecting him home a day from now. He was early! Her lips parted as she stood at the granite island. He entered with a huge duffel bag over his left shoulder.

“Kell!”

He grinned and tiredly dropped his duffel on the bamboo floor and shut the door. “Hey, I'm a day early. You okay with that?”

Hungrily, Kell watched Leah move toward him in white shorts and a pink tank top, barefoot, her ginger hair longer. She looked healthy, suntanned, and the smile in her eyes made him go hot with longing for her. He opened his arms as he strode across the living room to meet her halfway.

“Oh, I'm so fine with that!” she whispered, throwing her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. Leah kissed him blindly, finding his mouth, feeling it curve like liquid fire across her lips. She soaked up his male scent, the perspiration, the dust of Afghanistan, still on his uniform and flesh. Leah didn't care, feeling his arms wrap around her, lift her off her feet, hold her tightly against him until she felt like she was melting into him.

“Look at you,” he rasped, touching her hair, feeling the silky strands flow through his fingers. Gently, Kell allowed Leah's feet to touch the floor once more, eased back, staring into her joyful green eyes that had gold flecks dancing in their depths. “A tan California girl, wearing her shorts, showing off her beautiful legs... San Diego has been good for you, Sugar.”

Leah wiped her eyes, unable to stop from touching him, his jaw, his shoulder, his chest, as if to convince herself that Kell was really here. Really home. His shoulders were so broad, so capable. Murmuring his name, Leah leaned upward on her toes, kissing him passionately on the mouth, unable to get enough of him. She framed his bearded face, wanting to taste him deeply, feel his strength, his tenderness, all wrapped up within him, feeding her.

“I stink,” Kell muttered in warning as he left her lips. “No shower for three days.”

“I don't care. You smell wonderful to me.” Leah skimmed her fingers across his chest, more than a little aware of his erection pressing insistently into her belly, sparks of heat clenching within her. As his hands ranged down from her shoulders, cupping her breasts beneath the pale pink cotton tank top, she moaned and strained against him, wanting so much more.