"I"m fine," she said hurriedly.
He narrowed his gaze and nodded. "I"ll let you try but if you can"t manage on your own..."
Her face now scarlet, and shaking wildly in denial of what he hadn"t said, she waited until he walked to the doorway and pulled the door partly closed. Without too much effort, she managed to shuffle her cotton panties down over her cheeks so she could relieve herself. She even managed to finish the job and get the panties back up. But the sink looked too d.a.m.n far away to wash her hands. She was going to have to stand up.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly lowered her feet to the floor and using the toilet for support she pushed herself upright. And gasped. Choking back the other sounds threatening to rush out of her mouth, she swayed in place for a long moment while she adjusted to the pain and weird feeling of walking on flesh that felt twice the size it should be. But she could stand. And given the options, she"d take it. And if she could stand, she could walk.
She took one careful step and then another. With her legs braced against the cupboard and her elbows braced on the counter, she could wash her hands. Splashing water on her face, she felt much better. Turning, she looked into Mason"s face now standing in the open doorway frowning at her.
"I know," she said gently. "You"d have helped me. But I needed to see how bad they were."
The frown eased slightly. "I can understand that. But now back to bed."
She nodded and this time, knowing what she could do and couldn"t, she reached out her arms. He was there in a single stride and swung her up against his chest. Back in the bedroom, he laid her down again.
"When am I being picked up?" she asked, pulling the blankets over her chest. A chill was settling in after just that little bit of movement. It didn"t say much for the day ahead. Not many men would be happy to carry her around. And while he saw her as a job and would do what was required, that didn"t mean the next group would. An idea struck. She glanced over at him, "Do you think..." she frowned now rethinking.
"What?"
She winced. "I was just wondering if a wheelchair would be possible once I"m taken out of here."
"As you"ll be going to a hospital first to be checked over, then I would think that would be an obvious answer for a day or two. But more likely you"ll be confined to bed."
"d.a.m.n," she pleated the cotton sheet at her neck.
"What, you don"t like lying in bed?"
"Not alone." Her unexpected answer brought a light of interest to his eyes and hot color to her cheeks again.
"That sounds interesting."
She shook her head. "There"s nothing interesting about me."
Silence.
"Really?" But the note of incredulity had her frowning up at him.
"Yeah, really."
His gaze searched hers. "Then you need to take another look in the mirror."
She snorted. "I just did, remember."
His grin was huge. "Yeah, you"re looking pretty beat up right now."
She rolled her eyes at him, her hand instantly going to the side of her head that stung from the slivers.
"How come I"m the one that is all beat up and you guys are fine," she complained, but in a light tone.
Swede chose that moment to walk into the bedroom.
He carried a huge mug.
She stared at it hopefully. "Is that coffee?"
He nodded.
But he stayed just out of reach.
"Could I have a cup, please?"
He rolled his eyes and stepped to her side and handed her the mug. "Man, you"re not even fun to tease right now. It"s like beating up a b.u.t.terfly."
She stopped in the middle of lifting his cup to her lips. A b.u.t.terfly? She smiled. It could be worse.
MASON MOTIONED SWEDE to the hallway.
"A b.u.t.terfly?" he asked in low tones. "Really?"
"Yeah." Swede grinned. "She"s lovely. And you"ll appreciate her more if you have to work for it. Besides, she can"t make a choice if she doesn"t know she has one."
"Not you, too?" Mason groaned.
"Absolutely. We can recognize special, even if you can"t," he said as he walked down the hallway.
"Who says I can"t?" Mason snapped.
At his friend"s rolling laughter, he realized he"d been had.
d.a.m.n. Leaning against the doorjamb he could recognize special just fine. Especially this kind of special. The trick was what was he going to do about it? Nothing. For the same d.a.m.n reason he"d not gone to see her while Harry was alive or dead. And now that Harry was gone, she deserved to have a husband who was whole and home every day. The SEALs were his life. He"d made that decision a long time ago. It was better for everyone that way.
He turned away and came face to face with Hawk.
"I could have killed you just now. You"re so preoccupied with your personal life." He snickered and motioned toward Tesla in bed. "And if you can"t see how much of a difference she"d make in your life, you"re a fool." And he sauntered inside the room. "Hey, pretty lady. It"s my turn to be your guard."
"Do I still need a guard?" Tesla asked. "I thought we were out of danger."
"Until you are safe and sound and back home and these guys caught and dealt with, you aren"t out of danger. And let me rephrase. Mason needs a nap."
"Oh dear. I never thought of that. Poor Mason."
Mason rolled his eyes at Hawk"s blatant lie and stormed off.
They were all making him crazy.
Chapter 10.
THEY WERE ALL making her crazy. She was dressed in Shadow"s spare pants. Wore Mason"s spare shirt and had a rope from Swede"s pack to hold up her pants. On her feet she wore two pairs of socks, one from Hawk and one from Dane. They"d all contributed. She laughed at herself in the mirror. She"d never quite fit in with the current fashion but their generosity warmed her heart.
And walking was still horrible. As in seriously painful. But with the bandages and double socks, doable. And that was what counted. Walking slowly on her own steam was way better than being carried. Of course, if Mason gave her his arm to help for balance she wouldn"t argue.
He was a cutie.
But he was a SEAL. And had a mess of women at his beck and call. She knew all about it from Harry. d.a.m.n good thing she had the insider scoop. And even as a part of her wished she didn"t know about them, she knew she"d still know about them from the look of them. All the men had that hard, been there and can do it again blindfolded, look to them. That dangerous power emanating from their very skin as if to say there wasn"t anything in the work they couldn"t handle including a woman in their bed. Or many women in their bed. She grinned.
Mason...well, he had something extra special to him.
"Ready?" Mason stood on the other side of the door waiting for her. She"d been sitting on the counter in the bathroom trying to build up the courage to jump down on her feet. It was going to hurt.
"Yes, coming."
"Are you sure? I can carry you?"
She winced. So much for all her courageous talking. She rolled over and slipped down off the counter and landed gently. Taking a deep breath to acclimatize, she walked to the door and lied. "I"m fine."
"Good. The truck is here. And the helicopter is waiting."
At the word helicopter, all the color bleached from her skin. "Helicopter," she said faintly. "Really? Again?"
He nodded. "Look, this time it will be fine."
She stared up at him, willing to be convinced but knowing there was no argument that would be good enough to get the job done. "Are you sure there"s no other way?"
He reached out and clasped both elbows. She looked down to see her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, her fingers gripping her arms in a death grip.
"I promise."
She narrowed her gaze. "Really?"
He nodded.
She snorted. "That means you are coming with me, right?"
"Uhm..."
At his hesitation she froze. "That means no, and therefore I"m not going." Good. Decision made. Easy. She"d stay here until another plan could be worked out.
"That"s not happening. You have to go. You have to be safe."
"And so do you." She gave a short nod, glanced at the three others standing there, big grins on their faces. "What are you all smirking at?" She raised an eyebrow at them. "Were you the one who threw me out of the last helicopter?"
"No. It was Mason," Swede said, humor coloring his voice.
"Well, I"ve almost forgiven him for it, but what if this helicopter blows up too? Who"s going to clip me to their parachute and save me then?"
As the men glanced at each other, she added, "Exactly."
She turned back to Mason. "And if it"s so d.a.m.n safe, why aren"t you coming?"
"It"s not big enough for all of us."
"Ha. That"s a lie. Helicopters are big."
"This is a little one," he said in exasperation. "And you have to go. They are waiting for you at the base."
"And what if I don"t arrive." She shook her head. "No. If one of us goes, then all of us go. No one gets left behind." And she was going to stand firm on that.
The men grinned.
She glared at them. "What is your problem?"
"You," Mason said in irritation. "But we don"t have time to argue. And as your feet are too sore, I"ll carry you to the vehicle."
She snickered. "Can"t keep your hands off me, can you?" She laughed as bright color rolled over his cheeks. But he just sighed and carried her down the stairs. She grinned over his shoulder at Hawk and Swede, the two she could see.
Hawk winked at her.
She laughed. "Your team agrees with me."
"My men are idiots," he muttered. At the front door he stopped and waited for the two men to slip out in front, both going in opposite directions and diving to the sides. Hawk was the last to step out in front of them.
"He could get hurt that way," she said. "If anyone is going to shoot at us, he"s going to get hit."
"Exactly. He"s trying to keep you from getting hit," Mason said, his voice hard, careful.
She peered into the surrounding area. Swede had already gained entrance to the large SUV and now it was their turn.
Holding her carefully, he ran to the pa.s.senger side and placed her in the backseat. While she shifted into a better position, he leaned over and buckled her in.
"Wait, you"re coming this far, aren"t you?"
He shook his head. "No. Cooper, another of my team, here is driving you to the airfield. Johann is riding shotgun."
Johann? Cooper? She glanced at the driver, not sure she"d seen him before. How many of these SEALs were there?
But she wouldn"t let go of him. "No. You have to come to the airfield," she cried. "You can"t stay here. It"s too dangerous."
"Cooper will come back and pick us up later."
She stared at him, hating to leave. But he seemed to be completely unfazed.