SEALs of Honor: Mason (4 page)

If they knew that, they’d worship at her feet.

That almost pissed him off. He had no reason to feel this way, but he couldn’t stop feeling like those little feet should be his. And that was foolish. He’d planned to stop by and see her sometime in the future. To share stories of her brother, to get to know her. Harry had told him about her since forever. Half of the stories were obviously overstated, but…he looked at her as she ran, tiring but stalwart at his side…maybe not.

She’d been raised by a military man. A former SEAL himself, and although he’d wanted a second son, he’d gotten a daughter. And had raised her to be tough.

Mason had thought she was a marshmallow, but in the world of civilian women, she had showed herself amazingly well suited to handle life’s bitchiest moments.

Shots fired through the darkness, splattering bark beside Tesla’s head.

She let out a little shriek and collapsed to the ground.

Shit.

He dropped to her side, his hands already checking to see if she’d been hit. Please let her be okay. There was no blood that he could see.

“My head,” she moaned. “Stinging.”

He held a tiny flashlight up so he could see the damage. “Splinters from the tree.”

“Hurts.”

She was gasping for breath, but he wasn’t sure if that was from the pain or the shock. Either way it was something she had to control. He plucked out the couple of larger splinters he could easily grab, then tugged her to her feet. “I can’t do more right now. The others are small.”

He watched her nod in understanding and try to regain control. She swiveled to look around for the others. But they’d melted into the shadows looking for the shooters.

“They are making it safe for us to proceed,” he whispered.

Her eyes widened. She gave a clipped nod then in a low voice, she asked, “The pilot?”

He shook his head. He doubted anyone could have survived. The first explosion had ripped the cockpit apart. Mason had seen Hawk when the chaos happened but hadn’t had a chance to confirm with him. But he wouldn’t be with them now if there was a chance to save the pilot too. Not with those waiting on the ground watching, waiting to take out the survivors.

“Ready?” he asked.

He saw the despair in her eyes. Then the grit as determination lit their dark depths.

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her lightly again. As he pulled his head back, he heard the rustle behind him. “Hawk is here. Let’s go.”

Hawk took up the front position and led the way.

“How did you know it was him?” she muttered.

“I always know where my men are at all times. It’s how we stay safe.” It might be, but she was a distraction he could ill afford. What was wrong with him? He couldn’t stop kissing her.

“And never leave any man behind, I believe.”

“No man is left behind,” he confirmed, feeling the vow he’d taken deep inside.

And in this case, no woman either.

Chapter 5

S
HE HAD TO
stop. Except she refused to be the first one. And that was damn stupid. She wasn’t trained for this. They were. She should have stopped a long time ago. For the tenth time in the same number of minutes she stumbled. Mason once again caught her. Without missing a stride he swooped down and picked her up, still moving at top speed, but now with her in his arms.

“I can run,” she protested.

“No, you’re done.”

She didn’t argue. She was too damn happy to not be trying to power along at his side. He was right. She was done. And she hurt enough already that the jostling of being carried was making it worse.

Then he said it. “You were slowing us down.”

“What?” she exclaimined in hoarse outrage. “I was not.”

But she had been, she realized. They were moving faster. The men had picked up the speed now that they weren’t maintaining the pace she’d set.

“Sorry,” she muttered against his neck.

He squeezed her close. “You’re doing wonderful. Just keep it up.”

She closed her eyes, letting her body relax, adjust to the swaying movement as he ran. Comfortable as she could be, warm against his chest and so very tired she dozed lightly.

“She’s held up well,” said a deep voice beside her.

She thought that was Swede but was too comfortable to care enough to open her eyes and look.

“She has.”

“Hard to believe she’s Harry’s sister.”

“But appropriate.”

“Same spine.” The man gave a half snort. “Let me know, huh?”

Silence.

In her drowsy state she couldn’t quite follow the conversation. It was more a drifting noise in the background. Words flowing but not making any sense…

“Nothing to let you know about,” Mason said in low tones.

The other man laughed. “Right. You are in denial.”

“No denial here.”

“Good, then when you make up your mind about her. Let me know. If you’re not keeping her, she’s available.”

“No, she’s not.”

The same laughter.

A new voice joked, “If you’re not keeping her then there are more of us interested.”

Mason snapped, “Let’s keep our eye on the job.”

“Sure. The job. The damned prettiest job I’ve seen in a long time.”

Yet another voice popped in. “And who knows how this would have worked out if someone else had rescued her from the shack.”

Muffled laughter filled the air.

She finally understood where this conversation was going. With that in mind, she made an audible groan and opened her eyes, giving the men lots of warning.

She was no prize.

And there was no way Mason would be keeping her.

Neither would any of these other men.

She wasn’t a possession. And she wasn’t a kept woman.

She was a big fan of these men though.

Especially the one who held her close to his chest.

*

“
H
OW ARE YOU
feeling?” Mason asked in between dodging the trees. He’d kick the others if they woke her. She needed her rest. He also hoped she’d missed the conversation if she’d just woken up. Not that she’d have understood it in the first place.

It was an old joke. But one he didn’t want to have to explain.

The men were all jesters. And he was one of them.

He slowed his pace as the others motioned they were stopping.

“What have you found?” he asked in a low voice.

“An old camp on the left, likely a hunting camp.”

“On the map?”

“No.”

“Good. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

Silently, the others did a quick search before returning as silently as they’d come. Mason held Tesla on her feet, steadying her as they waited. They’d be fine outside overnight, but she’d do better in a shelter. What they couldn’t do was leave a trace of their passing. If there was a camp down there it was likely it was more of a shack. But if the weather held, it would do nicely. Small, it would be easy enough to set up a perimeter watch, and taking turns, they’d be able to rest.

At the all clear signal, he helped Tesla to the small cabin. Inside were several old chairs and a small table. She sat down while he unloaded the packs. “First things first…”

“Tea?” she asked hopefully.

“No, but nice try. We’ll put that on the list though.”

“So what’s first,” she said in a lost voice. She slid her arms forward on the table and laid her head down. Only to bolt upright with a small cry of pain.

“That’s the first priority.” Mason pulled out his field pack. A quick search of the cabin showed a lantern sitting on a shelf. He pondered the risk of lighting it. Optioning for the safer route, he opened a small flashlight and had her hold it while he picked the slivers out of her scalp. She stared at him the whole time, her eyes huge.

After the first stifled cry she hadn’t said a word. He hurt for her. Too often the small injuries were the worst and as he pulled splinter after splinter out, he was the one wincing. Damn. She was getting under his skin. In a big way. Just a couple more…and finally he was done.

“There, it’s all good.”

She stared deep into his gaze as if waiting for him to say something to contradict his last statement.

“That was the last one.”

She closed her eyes with relief and gave a curt nod. Within seconds she’d slumped to the table, her head resting on her folded arms.

And slept.

Mason cleaned up then stood and quickly made her a makeshift bed. After picking her up and laying her down on it, he covered her up with his coat.

Standing back up, he stared at her. What the hell was he going to do with her?

“Damn,” he muttered, unable to pull himself away.

She whimpered in her sleep. He knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulders. “Easy, Tesla. You’re safe now.”

She stilled and dropped deeper into a dreamless state.

Her color was pale, the small pinprick wounds on the side of her face showing stark against her white skin. Shivers still wracked her frame as she slept. He needed to clean her feet. Maybe he could do so while she slept. He didn’t have much to work with, but he got busy doing the little he could.

She slept through it.

Good.

If she could get some rest, tomorrow would be that much easier.

They were searching for another pickup location. They needed to get her out before they were found. The area was heavily wooded. They weren’t out of danger and would need to be on watch overnight. And as evidenced by what happened on the helicopter, the enemy wasn’t going to let her go so easily.

Chapter 6

S
HE’D SPENT WAY
too much time sleeping and recovering during this nightmare. Tesla lay quietly in the early morning dawn. She knew they’d be up soon and on the run. Unfortunately. She was exhausted. Just the thought of getting up was enough to make her body feel like lead. Quitting wasn’t an option. She had to hold up. Harry would expect nothing less. Neither would her father. It didn’t matter that any other person would understand weakness in this situation because she knew her brother and father wouldn’t show any.

Harry would more than her father. Her father was a hard ass. Her mother had died a decade ago now. She and Harry had become closer after the loss whereas her father had become more distant. Colder. As if it was his way to avoid being hurt again. Weakness was to be avoided at all costs. Considering he was a former SEAL and weakness wasn’t in their vocabulary, she could understand. That she was here in this situation was not something anyone could prepare her for though. She had no training for something like this.

“Are you going to wake her,” Swede asked in a low voice. “We’ve got ten minutes.”

“I was trying to give her as much time as I can.”

“Understood.”

Silence.

“Damn,” Mason growled. “I’ll wake her now.”

“Don’t bother,” Tesla said, rolling over and sitting up. The movement caused her to suck in her breath and shudder as muscles screamed at her after stiffening overnight. It took a long moment to suck it up and speak again, “I’m awake.”

“Good.”

She stared at the four huge calendar model males. Talk about gorgeous… They stared back at her in silence. Thankfully without having a clue as to what was crossing her mind. She sighed. “I guess that means time to go?”

“You get a few minutes to eat.”

She brightened. “Food would be good.” She struggled to her feet until she tried to put weight on her puffy soles. She collapsed instantly, tumbling back onto the makeshift bed. “Shit.”

Instantly Mason was at her side. “Your feet?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. It was just the shock,” she muttered.
Please let it be just the shock.
She had to be able to walk.

“Lie still for a moment. I cleaned them last night but the light was bad, so I need to take another look now.”

“You cleaned them?” she asked in astonishment. “Really?”

“Yes, after you fell asleep.”

Oh shit. Chagrined to realize a man could actually wash her feet while she slept was a little unsettling. She sat up as he took a careful look at first one then the second. He pulled out a thick cream and coated the soles of both liberally then slowly eased two thick pairs of socks over her raw skin. She stared, open mouthed as he finished.

“These should help. Now try to stand.”

With his help she gained her feet. Thankfully the socks offered a thick cushion for her weight. She smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I was worried about how I was going to be able to walk today.”

“When those socks run through,” he said, “the guys each have spares with them, too.”

It took her a moment to realize that meant she was wearing his spare socks. “Thank you.”

He gave her a slow smile that zinged to her heart. “No problem.”

Giving her space, he stepped back and let her hobble her way to the table. She stopped just before and looked around hopefully. “I don’t suppose you found a lovely bathroom with a proper toilet anywhere close by?”

“Not a one. No bubble baths or bottles of wine either.”

“Damn. Must remember to send a complaint to the manager,” she said cheerfully. “So I have to go to the bathroom, outside?”

Mason stepped up. “Outside around the back of the cabin. And I’ll be standing watch.”

“Of course you will.” She groaned comically. “Show me where, please.”

She followed him around the small bushes at the back of the cabin. “Yep, definitely need to write the establishment,” she said.

“Glad you’re finding something to laugh about.” Mason gave her a small nudge. “Go on. I’ll keep my back turned.”

“Great. Well, let’s see if I can do this quickly.”

It was awkward and uncomfortable given the sore legs and puffy feet. When done, she stood up, rearranged her clothing and called out, “I’m done.”

“Good. Inside. You get a few minutes then we need to leave.”

Of course they did. Would this never end? Inside she washed, then scarfed the few rations the men had shared and drank a half bottle of water. Resolute, she turned to face them, all waiting and standing in various relaxed positions that completely belied their inner guard that was always on.