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Maybe he’d been listening to too many stories about his own exploits.
“And I guess the knife wasn’t clean either?”
He grunted, but as she wasn’t fluent in manspeak, she was unsure if he was agreeing with her or in pain. “Broken beer bottle. Talk about a cliché,” he snorted roughly. “And forget the tetanus shot. Had one a few months ago...so I’m good.”
Good? It was her turn to snort—silently, of course.
Her obvious skepticism prompted an exasperated grimace. “I’m not drunk.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not?”
He shook his head and yawned again. “Just tired. An’ it’s Friday,” he reminded her as though she should know what he was talking about.
“Been carousing it up with the boys, have you?”
His look was reproachful. “Fridays are busy and Hannah’s usual bartender has food poisoning.”
“So, you were what?” Cassidy inquired dryly. “Keeping the peace as you served up whiskey and bar nuts?”
His gold eyes gleamed with appreciation and his battered lip curved in a lopsided smile. “If you’re worried, you could always stay the night. Just to be sure I’m not suffering from anything...fatal.”
Flicking on a penlight, Cassidy leaned closer. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Major,” she responded dryly, checking his pupil reaction. The only fatal thing he was suffering from was testosterone overload.
She stepped back to pick up another alcohol swab, before returning to press it to the bloodied cut above his eye. His hissed reaction had her gentling her touch as she cleaned it. “How much did you have to drink?”
“A couple,” he murmured, then responded to her narrow-eyed survey with a cocky smile that looked far too harmless for a man with his reputation. “Of sodas,” he added innocently, and her assessing look turned speculative. For a man who slurred like a drunk and smelled as though he’d bathed in beer, his gaze was surprisingly sharp and clear.
“I don’t drink on the job,” he said, hooking a finger in the hem of her top, and giving a little tug. His knuckles brushed against bare skin and sent goose bumps chasing across her skin. “Beer and stupidity don’t mix well.”
“Mmm,” she hummed, straight-faced, turning away to hide her body’s reaction to that casual touch. “Do you need help removing your shirt?” she asked over her shoulder as she cleared away the soiled swabs. “I want to see your torso.”
He was silent for a few beats and when the air thickened, she lifted her gaze and her breath caught. “Your...um...torso wound, I mean.” It was no wonder he had women swooning all over the county.
As though reading her thoughts, his lips curled, drawing her reluctant gaze. The poet’s mouth and long inky lashes should have looked ridiculously feminine on a man so blatantly male but they only made him appear harder, more masculine somehow.
“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
Cursing the fair complexion that heated beneath his wicked gaze, Cassidy injected a little more frost into her tone. “Excuse me?”
His grin widened and he let out a rusty chuckle. “I like the way you say that. All cool and snooty and just a little bit superior.”
Leveling him with a look one generally reserved for ill-mannered adolescents, Cassidy queried mildly, “Are you flirting with me, Major Kellan?”
“Me?” Then he chuckled. “If you have to ask,” he drawled, leaning so close that she found herself retreating in an attempt to evade his potent masculine scent, “then I guess I’m out of practice.”
She said, “Uh huh,” and reached for the hem of his torn, bloodied T-shirt, pulling it from his waistband. The soft cotton was warm from his body and reeked of beer and something intrinsically male. She hastily drew it over his head and dropped it onto the bunk, ignoring his finely sculpted warrior’s body. It had been a long time since she’d found herself this close to a man who made her want to bury her nose in his throat and breathe in warm manly skin.
But medical professionals didn’t go around sniffing people’s necks or drooling over every set of spectacular biceps, triceps or awesome abs that ended up in their ER. And they certainly didn’t get the urge to follow that silky-looking happy trail that disappeared into a low-riding waistband with their lips either.
Or they shouldn’t, she lectured herself sternly, considering the last one had left her with a deep sense of betrayal and a determination not to get sucked in again by a set of hard abs and a wicked smile.
Relieved to focus on something other than silky hair and warm manly skin, she leaned closer to probe the wound, murmuring an apology when he gave a sharp hiss. Over three inches long, it angled upwards towards his pec and the surrounding area was already darkening into what looked like the shape of a fist. Wincing, she ran the tips of her fingers over the bruised area just as the outer door banged opened, slamming against the wall.
The sound was as loud and unexpected as a gunshot. In a blur of eerily silent movement, Major Kellan surged off the bunk, shoving her roughly aside as he dropped into a crouch. Deadly menace slashed the air, sending Cassidy stumbling backwards.
She gave a shocked gasp and gaped at a wide, perfectly proportioned, perfectly tanned, muscular back bare inches from her face.
CHAPTER TWO
INSTANTLY ALERT AND battle-ready, Sam barely felt the burn of his injured palm or the line of fire streaking across his belly. Adrenaline and blood stormed his system and in some distant corner of his brain he realized it was happening. Again. Dammit.
Not now. Please, not now.
But he was helpless to stop it—helpless against the firestorm of images that tended to explode in his brain—instantly warping his sense of reality and triggering an instinct to protect. With deadly force.
From somewhere behind him he heard a gasp, and the young deputy entering the holding area abruptly stopped in his tracks.
One look at Sam and the kid’s eyes widened to dinner plates. He went sheet-white and dropped the fold-up steel table. It teetered a moment then toppled over with loud clatter. The deputy jerked back as though he’d been prodded with a shock stick.
“M-Major K-Kellan?” he squeaked, his wide-eyed look of terrified embarrassment reaching Sam as though from a distance.
“It’s just m-me, M-Major Kellan. L-Larry?”
Pain lanced through Sam’s skull and he staggered, clutching his head. Sweat broke out along his spine so abruptly he felt dizzy. His strength drained, along with the surge of adrenaline that had fired his synapses and instinctively turned him into a lethal weapon. It had also turned him into something he didn’t recognize any more. Something he didn’t like.
Sam forced back the bile that came with particularly bad flashbacks—triggered no doubt by the violence of the evening and the sudden unexpected noise. Dammit. He wanted to smash his fist into the wall and roar with anger and despair.
But he couldn’t...couldn’t lose control now. Not with an audience.
The blood drained abruptly from his head, leaving him clammy and light-headed. “Dammit, Larry,” he growled, and sagged as though someone had cut him off at the knees.
Squeezing his eyes closed to block out the wildly spinning cell, he staggered and hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself by passing out—or tossing his cookies. He could just imagine what the sexy nurse would think about the hotshot SEAL then.
“I’m s-sorry, M-Major...it’s just that I had b-both hands f-full.”
He felt her an instant before her arms wrapped around him, easing him backwards, soft and silky and smelling like cool mountain air. Mortified, Sam pulled away and collapsed wearily onto the narrow bunk, slinging an arm across his face.
“Don’ sweat it, kid,” he slurred, and prayed for oblivion. Unfortunately, sleep always came with a heavy price and he wasn’t ready to go there. The nightmares were still too real, the memories too raw, the latest flashback still too recent. So vivid he could taste the fear, hear the furious pounding of his pulse in his head.
The Navy shrinks had warned that they’d get worse before they got better. They’d also warned that they’d last for years.
Well, hell. Just what he was looking forward to. A constant reminder of his greatest failure.
“Major Kellan?”
In the meantime he had to face Nurse...what’s-her-name.
Swiping his good hand over his face, he eased open his eyes and focused on the statuesque blonde watching him warily and with more than a hint of concern.
He didn’t want her pity—or anything else she had to offer. He wanted to be left alone. Needed to be left alone. “I’m fine,” he snapped, furious with himself and embarrassed that she’d witnessed an episode. Hoping to distract his brain from the endless loop of horrifying images, Sam focused his attention on her.
Yeah, much better to focus on the nurse.
With her thick silvery blond hair haphazardly pulled off a stunning face dominated by deep green eyes and a lush wide mouth, she looked like a sexy angel and smelled like a wood sprite—all fresh and clean and earthy like the mountains in spring. Raindrops glistened in her hair like diamonds, giving her an ethereal quality that made him wonder if he was drunk or just plain losing it.
“No, you’re not,” she contradicted softly. “But you will be.”
For one confused moment Sam wondered if he’d spoken his thoughts out loud before he remembered he’d said he was fine.
“Sure,” he growled, clenching his teeth on a wave of grief and anger. I will. But my friends are still dead. And the woman patching me up thinks Crescent Lake’s hero is a whacked-out crazy with a drinking problem.
Yeah, right. Hero. What a joke.
Heroes didn’t let their teams down. They didn’t return home with their buddies in body bags no matter what the Navy shrinks said. But his week of detention in a small, dark hole, deep in mountainous enemy territory wasn’t something he talked about. He could barely think about it let alone talk about the hours of interrogation and torture that had left half his team dead.
The only reason he’d survived long enough to escape had been because they’d found out he was a medic and wanted him to treat some sick kid. He’d tried to bargain until they let his team go but they’d dragged in the team rookie and held a gun to his head. Afterwards they’d—
No. Don’t go there. Not when the horror was still so fresh in his mind that every time he closed his eyes, he was back in that hellhole.
“Major Kellan?”
Jolted from his unpleasant thoughts, Sam saw the syringe and shot out his hand to wrap hard fingers around her wrist. Other than a slight widening of her eyes, the nurse held her ground without flinching. After a couple of tense beats she arched her brow, the move managing to convey a boatload of indulgent concern. Like he was a cranky toddler up past his bedtime. He groaned silently. Just great.
His face heated and he narrowed his eyes but she silently held his gaze, like he wasn’t almost a foot taller, a hundred pounds heavier, and a whole hell of a lot meaner.
Clearly the woman was missing a few IQ points, he decided with a mix of admiration and annoyance, or she wasn’t as soft and silky as she looked. He closed his eyes on a surge of self-disgust. All he needed to complete his humiliation was for her to ruffle his hair and kiss his “owie” better.
Way to go, hotshot.
“Do I need to wave a white flag or are you a friendly?” she asked with a hint of amusement, and when his lashes rose, she indicated the hand wrapped around her wrist.
He grimaced and released her. Jeez, could this get any worse? Embarrassment had him muttering, “I don’t hit women.” He jerked his chin at the syringe. “Unless they’re armed.”
She followed his gaze. “Oh, this?” Her mouth curved sweetly into a smile that instantly made him suspicious and want to take a greedy bite of that lush lower lip. “Surely you’re not afraid of a little needle, Major?” Her smile grew as though she’d just learnt his deepest, darkest secret. Not even close, lady. “A big tough SEAL like you?” She made a soothing sound in the back of her throat. “It won’t hurt a bit. Trust me.”
Sam grunted out a laugh and hauled himself into a sitting position, hissing through clenched teeth when the move sent pain radiating through his chest and burning across his belly. “That’s what they all say,” he growled. “Right before they stab you in the heart.”
“Not to worry,” she said, moving closer and wrapping him in clean mountain air. “I have no interest in your heart, Major. I’m aiming a little lower than that.”
And then, as though suddenly realizing what she’d said, her cheeks turned pink and she sucked in a sharp breath while Sam choked out a stunned “Huh?” and dropped his uninjured hand to protect his crotch.
“Not th-that low,” she stuttered with a strangled snicker. “Although I’d probably be doing the rest of the female population a favor.”
He choked for the second time in as many seconds but before he could demand what she meant, the outer door banged open again and she froze, eyes jerking to his, all wide and apprehensive as though she expected him to go all psycho GI Joe on her.
Dammit. He did not go around terrorizing women. Well...not unless they were holding a machine gun on him. Then all bets were off.
Scowling, he opened his mouth to tell her to knock it off, but his brother strode into the holding cells looking all officious and in charge, and Sam turned his irritation on someone more deserving.
Unfortunately, one look at Ruben’s face had Sam’s annoyance abruptly fading. He knew that look. Had seen it a thousand times on his CO’s face. Something was up. Something bad.
“I hope you haven’t used that on him yet.” Ruben tossed an armful of clothing onto the bunk. “Get dressed,” he told Sam. “We’re heading out.”
Blondie gasped and stepped between them. “What—? No!” she hissed. “Are you insane?”
Sam ignored her outburst and rose, pain abruptly receding as his SEAL training took over. “What happened?”
“A group of hikers didn’t check in after closing,” Ruben said, his wary gaze flicking to the syringe, “and the weather’s turned bad. Park rangers just found their vehicle up near Pike’s Pass. Lake route turned up empty and they think the group took the trail leading up into the mountains.”
“Elk Ridge,” Sam guessed, fatigue instantly forgotten as adrenaline surged through his veins. Here was the opportunity he hadn’t even realized he’d been waiting for, to get out there and do something more useful than working the taps at his sister’s bar. Frankly, after months of “recuperation” he was thoroughly sick of his own company and damn tired of sitting around feeling sorry for himself.
Ruben nodded and backed away, keeping a wary eye on Cassidy, as though expecting her to use the syringe on him. “Can’t you just wrap him up or something? My usual tracker had a family emergency and we’re in a hurry.”
Her eyes widened. “Wrap—? He’s not a cheeseburger,” she snapped, sending Ruben’s eyebrows into his hairline. “And in case it escaped your notice, Sheriff, the major is bleeding, and he’s been drinking. It would be suicidal to go climbing mountains in his condition. I’m going to insist you leave him here. Or, better yet, let me take him to the hospital.”
Sam brushed past her to where Larry had set out the medical supplies. “I’m fine,” he said brusquely, reaching for a wound dressing. “I told you I wasn’t drunk.”
Before he could open the packet she snatched it from him and shoved her shoulder into his side as though she’d physically keep him from leaving.
As if.
He would have snickered at the absurdity if he hadn’t been sucking in a painful breath. Turning a scowl on her that usually had people backing off in a hurry, she surprised him with a snapped “Back it up, Major,” clearly not intimidated by his big bad Navy SEAL attitude.
He gave an annoyed grunt and tried to snatch it back.
“I mean it,” she warned, jabbing her finger into his chest. “Or I’ll use the syringe and the sheriff will have no choice but to go without you.” She narrowed her eyes at him when he continued to glare at her while contemplating letting her try.
Heck, he might even enjoy it.
“And FYI, buddy, I nearly got intoxicated on the alcoholic haze surrounding you when I arrived, and not five minutes ago you almost fell on your face. You are not in any condition to go anywhere, least of all into the mountains on S&R. Besides,” she reasoned sweetly, “you’re bleeding all over the sheriff’s nice clean jail cell. You need stitches.” She paused and dropped her eyes meaningfully to his hand and then his abdomen. “Lots of them.”
Staring down at her, Sam felt his lips twitch. She was like an enraged kitten—all fierce green eyes and ruffled silver fur. For just an instant he was tempted to reach out and smooth his hands over all that soft skin and silky silvery blond hair until she purred. One look into her narrowed eyes, however, and Sam knew she would probably bite his hand off at the wrist if he tried.
He made a scoffing sound filled with masculine impatience and amusement, which only served to narrow her eyes even further. “I’ve had mosquito bites worse than this,” he assured her, feeling unaccountably cheered by her concern. “And if you’re worried about blood alcohol levels, I’m sure the sheriff can organize a breathalyzer.”
For long tense moments they engaged in a silent battle of wills until she finally uttered a soft “Aargh” followed by “Fine” in a tone that clearly meant it wasn’t, and Sam had to clench his teeth to keep from grinning. He had a feeling grinning would be bad for his health.
“Oh...and FYI, sweetheart,” he continued, while she sorted through the supplies with barely leashed temper, “I wasn’t drinking. The weasel tried to break a bottle over my head. When I ducked, it shattered against the bar and soaked into my shirt. That was before he tried to gut me with it.”
She turned towards him with a derisive sound and raised a brow that clearly conveyed her opinion of his explanation. “I said fine, didn’t I?”
“You most certainly did,” Ruben said dryly, shoving his face between them. “But I’m still not seeing anything happening here, people.” He waited a couple of beats as his gaze ping-ponged between them. “So if you kids could save the lovers’ spat for another time, I’d like my chief tracker.”
* * *
Feeling her face catch fire, Cassidy broke eye contact with the Navy SEAL to send the sheriff a long, silent, narrow-eyed look that had him backing away with his hands up.
She turned back to snap, “Lift your arm.” When he did she swiped disinfectant across the angry gash, completely ignoring the hissed response to her cavalier treatment.
After a long murmured conversation during which she cleaned and applied a few adhesive cross-strips to keep the edges of the wound together, the sheriff left. Cassidy knew the instant the SEAL’s attention shifted back to her because the tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
With unsteady hands she dressed his wound then cleaned and tightly wrapped his hand in a waterproof dressing, before turning away to gather the debris.
The length of her back heated an instant before a long tanned arm reached over her shoulder to snag a bandage. Cursing the way her skin prickled and her body tightened with some kind of weird anticipation, she sent a dark look over her shoulder and watched in silence as he awkwardly attempted to wrap it around his torso. After a moment she sighed and put out her hand, saying wearily, “I’ll do it.”
Clearly surprised by her offer, Samuel held her gaze for a long tension-filled moment. His laugh was a husky rasp in the tense silence and did annoying things to her breathing. “You’re not going to strangle me with it, are you?”
Cassidy knew the taping would help him move—and breathe—more comfortably as he leapt tall mountains in a single bound. She rolled her eyes and waited while he gingerly raised his arms to link both hands behind his head.
Hard muscles shifted beneath his taut, tanned skin and she had to bite her lip to keep from sighing like a stupid female drunk on manly pheromones. She swallowed the urge to lean forward and swipe her tongue across his strong, tanned throat. As though he’d read her mind, he sucked in a sharp breath and she froze, watching in awed fascination as flesh rippled and goose bumps broke out across his skin an inch from her nose.
Heat snapped in the air between them and her mind went numb. Good grief, she thought with horror, I’m attracted to him? Appalled and more than a little rattled, she lifted her gaze, only to find him watching her, the expression in his gold eyes sending her blood pressure shooting into the stratosphere. She didn’t have to wonder if he was as affected by their proximity as she was.
Tearing her gaze from his, she muttered, “You’re an idiot,” unsure if she was addressing him or herself. In case it was him, she continued with, “And so is the sheriff for expecting you to go out like this.”
“Hikers are missing,” he reminded her impatiently.
She rolled her eyes. She’d treated people suffering from trauma and knew enough about PTSD to be worried about the battle-alert episodes that culminated in dizziness, muscle tremors, sweating and confusion.
“You almost fainted,” she pointed out.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped, as though she’d suggested something indecent. “SEALs don’t faint. I was just a bit dizzy, that’s all. I suffer from low blood pressure.”
Cassidy looked up at the outrageous lie and shut her mouth on a sigh. Clearly he was in denial. Fine. She was just doing her job.
Besides, he was a Navy SEAL. She reminded herself that he did this kind of thing all the time. A shiver slinked up her spine as she pictured him sneaking into hostile territory, wiping everything out before ghosting out again as silently as he’d arrived. She could even picture him—
“What?”
Yeah, Cassidy. What?
Shaking her head, she went back to binding his torso, reminding herself that she didn’t need rescuing. She wasn’t a damsel in distress and those gold eyes couldn’t see into her mind or know what was happening to her.
Except—darn him—he probably did. He was no doubt an expert at making women lose their brain cells just by flexing those awesome biceps—or staring at them with that brooding gold gaze. It was no wonder she felt like she was running a fever. It was no wonder her blood was humming through her veins. Her hormone levels were probably shooting through the stratosphere along with her blood pressure.
Finally she fastened the bandage and took a hasty step back, nearly knocking over the table and its contents in her haste to escape. A large hand on her arm kept her upright and when it tightened as she turned away, she looked up. With his gaze on hers, he gently swiped a line of fire across her bottom lip. She gasped and her heart gave a shocked little blip at the unexpected contact.
“Thank you,” he said, leaning towards her. And just when she thought he meant to kiss her, he snagged a plastic container of pain meds behind her. Grinning at the expression on her face, he popped the top, shook a couple into his palm.
He gave a mocking little salute and tossed the container back in the box. “Gotta go,” he said, scooping up his clothing in his good hand. With one last heated look in her direction he sauntered from the cell, all long loose-limbed masculine grace, leaving Cassidy staring at the wide expanse of his muscular back and the very interesting way he filled out his faded jeans.
Fortunately, before the outer door could close behind him, Cassidy pulled herself together enough to croak, “You need stitches, Major. I suggest coming to the hospital before you get septicemia and die a horrible death.”
Grinning at her over one broad shoulder, he drawled, “It’s a date, darlin’,” and disappeared, leaving Cassidy with the impression that he had absolutely no intention of following through with his promise.
At least, not for sutures.