Hard Target: A Cobra Elite Novel

by Clare, Pamela

  Holly was breathing hard, anguish on her face. “Why can’t it kick in now?”

  “The contraction is peaking,” Nick said. “You’re on the downhill side now. It’s almost over. Just a few more seconds.”

  Holly’s grip loosened, her breathing slowing as the pain ebbed. “This is stupid painful.”

  “Yes, it is, but you’re doing great.” Jenna had never seen the point of pretending as some midwives did. She’d met women who had grappled with PTSD due to the pain of childbirth, and she did her best to meet each woman’s needs. If they wanted epidurals, that was fine with her. She never tried to talk them out of it, like some CNMs she’d known. She wasn’t the one giving birth.

  Nick helped Holly settle back against her pillows, kissed her forehead. “How does that feel?”

  “Better. Thanks.”

  The next contraction came and went with little pain.

  “Whoever invented the epidural deserves the Nobel Prize,” said Holly.

  Nick looked as relieved as his wife. He shook the anesthetist’s hand. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” The anesthetist cleaned up and pushed his cart toward the door. “If you need me, I’ll be around until seven a.m.”

  Holly had gone into labor just after midnight—six hours ago. It had been mild until her water had broken. After that, she’d gone from three to five centimeters in an hour, and the pain had been much worse.

  Jenna rested her hand on Holly’s thigh. “My advice, Holly, is that you rest now. When it comes time to push later, you’ll need your strength—and let’s face it, after tonight you won’t be getting a lot of sleep. You, too, Nick.”

  Holly rubbed her swollen belly, looking gorgeous despite being in labor. “I can’t wait to meet him—or her.”

  Jenna knew the sex of their baby, but they had wanted it to be a surprise. “I’m sure he or she is just as excited to meet you.”

  Jenna turned down the lights and sat in a rocking chair in the corner, while Nick watched over Holly, who quickly fell asleep.

  Jenna watched the fetal heart monitor, checked Holly’s vitals, cat-napping for short stretches in between.

  Just after seven, there came a knock at the door, and an older woman stuck her head inside the room. She whispered, “Nika?”

  “Hey, Mama.”

  Mama Andris—Nick’s mother.

  Jenna had heard about her—how she’d raised six children, immigrating to the US just before Nick was born and how she was the force to be reckoned with in the Andris family. No one messed with Mama Andris.

  Jenna held out her hand. “I’m Jenna, Holly’s midwife.”

  “Bless you, Jenna. How is our Holly?” Mama Andris asked, her accent strong.

  Holly opened her eyes. “Hi, Mama.”

  “Oh, my sweet girl.” Mama Andris hugged her. “How are you?”

  “Much better since I got the epidural.”

  Mama Andris rested her hand against Holly’s belly. “You are having a contraction now, I think, but you cannot feel this?”

  “No pain at all.”

  “You don’t know how I wish we had such things when you were born,” Mama Andris said to her son. “Do you know how I suffered to bring you into this world?”

  Jenna fought to hide a smile.

  Nick let out a breath, shook his head, looking overwhelmed by the thought now that he’d had a glimpse of what labor entailed. “Sorry.”

  Twenty minutes later, Holly got a strange expression on her face. “Something feels different.”

  Jenna put on a pair of sterile gloves and checked Holly’s cervix. “Guess what? You’re fully dilated. It’s time to have a baby.”

  Holly and Nick looked at each other, the anticipation and nervousness on their faces universal to first-time parents.

  Jenna told Holly what to expect and how best to push effectively even though the epidural limited her sensation. “You’ll need to listen to me. As long as the baby looks happy, we can keep going. If we have to, we can turn the epidural down so that—”

  “No! No, no.” Holly looked horrified by that thought. “I’ll push. I promise.”

  With the support of her husband and mother-in-law, Holly was true to her word, working hard, bringing the baby’s head farther down with each contraction.

  “Good girl! Good!” Mama Andris said.

  “Push, push, push!” Jenna coached. “Here’s the top of your baby’s head. Another few pushes like that, and you’ll be crowning. Give me your hand.”

  Holly reached down between her legs, Jenna guiding her so that her fingers brushed the crown of her baby’s head.

  Holly’s eyes went wide, and she smiled. “Oh, God! A baby.”

  “Nick, do you want to feel?”

  He nodded, steeled himself as if he were about to jump out of an airplane, and looked between his wife’s thighs, his fingers joining hers. He laughed. “Wow.”

  Another push and another and another.

  “The head is out. Reach down, Holly, and catch your baby.” Jenna guided Holly’s hands, supporting the baby’s shoulders as it slipped into the world with an indignant cry.

  “My baby!” Tears of happiness spilled down Holly’s cheeks.

  “Congratulations!” Jenna helped Holly lift the baby into her arms, rubbing it with a towel to stimulate it, leaving it to the nurse to wrap the baby in a warm blanket. “You did a great job, Holly. Good work, both of you.”

  Nick leaned in to look at his newborn, an ear-to-ear smile on his face. “It’s a girl!”

  Mama Andris crossed herself in the Orthodox way, her eyes bright. “She is beautiful, just like her mama.”

  It didn’t matter how many babies Jenna had caught. Seeing the joy on parents’ faces as they got acquainted with their healthy newborn never got old.

  * * *

  Derek arrived with flowers for Holly just after breakfast, jet-lagged and pumped up on caffeine. He found himself in the OB waiting room with Laura and Corbray—and a gaggle of Holly’s friends from her journalism days. He knew most of them.

  Kara McMillan, a freelance writer, and her husband, Reece Sheridan, the state’s lieutenant governor. Marc Hunter, captain of Denver SWAT, and his wife Sophie, who still worked at the paper. Julian, head of Denver’s vice unit, and his wife, Tessa Darcangelo, also a freelance journalist. Natalie McBride, a romance author, and her husband Zach, now the U.S. Marshal for the Colorado Territory.

  “Hey,” Derek said. “I hear it’s a girl.”

  “Aw, you brought flowers. Isn’t he sweet?” Natalie said.

  Derek had just gotten back from Afghanistan an hour ago. Cobra had been tasked with providing security for negotiations between Talib fighters and Afghan security forces. While there, Derek had also taken medical supplies to the Kazi Women’s Hospital—a gift from Jenna. He’d had tea with Farzad, who had graciously accepted the supplies and sent his best wishes to Jenna. Hamzad, Derek had discovered, no longer worked there.

  “After what he did, I sent him home,” Farzad had explained. “Any man who works for me must be loyal to me and no one else—not even The Lion.”

  Derek had been happy to hear it.

  Corbray motioned him over, and the two of them stepped off to one side.

  “Any problems with Kazi?”

  Derek shook his head. “He seemed a little less full of himself this time.”

  “I’ll bet.” Corbray glanced over at Laura, who sat talking with Natalie. “It’s always hard for her when one of her friends has a baby. I told her she doesn’t have to come, but you know Laura. She faces everything head on.”

  Derek respected her for that. “Have you two thought of having a baby?”

  Corbray shook his head, but he didn’t explain.

  He didn’t need to.

  Some experiences changed a person forever.

  “Here he comes!” Kara shot to her feet.

  Everyone stood as Nick walked toward them, his gazed fixed on the bundle in his arms, the expression on his face t
hat of a man in love.

  Jenna walked beside him, looking tired but happy in blue scrubs, her hair in a ponytail. “Time to meet your adoring fans, baby girl.”

  Nick walked to Derek and Corbray, held the baby so they could see her face.

  Corbray shook his head. “You are in so much trouble, bro.”

  Derek had to agree. “Yeah. You’re in for it.”

  Darcangelo looked down at the sleeping baby. “In about sixteen years, you’re going to have your hands full.”

  “Oh, she’s precious!” Tessa said.

  Sophie took one glance and smiled. “She looks just like Holly!”

  “She really does,” Hunter said. “Are we sure there was even a father?”

  Nick grinned. “I’m sure.”

  Everyone laughed.

  From the color of the fuzz on her little head to her long lashes to her perfect Cupid’s bow mouth, the baby looked just like her mother.

  “What’s her name?” Sophie asked.

  “Katerina—after my mother.” Andris let others take turns holding her.

  “How was it?” Derek asked, curious.

  Andris let out a breath, shook his head, clearly overwhelmed. “It was awful and wonderful and amazing. I hated seeing Holly in so much pain, but the epidural took care of that. Jenna was incredible.”

  “I was just doing my job.” Jenna slipped into Derek’s arms. “Welcome home.”

  Derek kissed her, glad to be back. “I missed you.”

  In the almost eight months they’d lived together, he’d grown more reluctant to leave Jenna, the days and weeks away from her harder than he had imagined. He’d only recently realized that this was how Corbray and the other married operatives felt about leaving home. But then, Derek had never truly had a home—until Jenna. It hadn’t mattered to him where he was.

  “I missed you, too.”

  McBride walked up, baby in his arms. “When are you and Jenna going to settle down and make one of these?”

  Derek looked into Jenna’s eyes. “All in good time.”

  “Don’t pester the man,” Sheridan said. “But if they’re looking for someone to, say, perform a wedding ceremony, I know a guy.”

  That made everyone laugh.

  Sheridan had officiated at Nick and Holly’s wedding. Derek had been there and had thought it was nothing more than a costly and antiquated ritual. But now…

  Now it didn’t seem so absurd.

  * * *

  Jenna changed out of her scrubs and collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted but happy. Holly’s birth had been her fourth this week—a busy week for a midwife in the U.S. but an average day in Afghanistan.

  Derek set his duffel down. “Want a drink?”

  “God, yes.”

  “Pinot Grigio?”

  “Perfect.”

  They settled outside on the balcony, Jenna leaning against Derek, his arm around her shoulders, the two of them watching the late August sun set behind the Rockies, a cool breeze blowing the heat of the day away. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  He’d been gone for two long weeks this time.

  “So am I.” He kissed her. “Farzad wanted me to say hello.”

  “How is he?”

  “He’s good. He fired Hamzad.”

  “He did?” That was good news.

  “He said to thank you for the supplies, too.”

  It was the least Jenna could do. She’d left the hospital shorthanded, though they had replaced her six weeks later. Marie had finished her time there, and a new OB-GYN had taken her place. She and Jenna stayed in touch by email now.

  Jenna sipped her wine, let herself relax. “It was wonderful seeing Holly and Nick so happy. Isn’t that baby girl adorable?”

  “She really does look just like Holly.”

  Jenna smiled. “She does.”

  “So, you want to go through that. You want to have a baby.”

  “I was thinking two, maybe three.”

  “Three.” He repeated the word as if considering that. “And you want me to be the father.”

  She laughed, looked up at him. “Who else? You’re the man I love.”

  He kissed her temple. “I might turn out to be a terrible father.”

  Aha. That’s what this was about. “What makes you say that?”

  “I never knew my dad, and the guys who fostered me were pretty much all assholes. I wouldn’t trust any of them with a dog, much less a baby. I haven’t exactly had good role models.”

  “I had a lousy father. My mother killed herself.” Jenna sat up straight and turned to face Derek, knowing that this fear was real for him. “We are not our parents.”

  He didn’t seem convinced.

  “Look what you’ve done with the life you were given. You had such a rough start, but you prevailed. You’ve served your country as an elite operator. You’re the wealthy CEO of a successful private military company. Most men in this country couldn’t measure up to you if they tried. Any child would be proud to have you as their father.”

  He shook his head. “I wouldn’t know what to do with a baby.”

  Jenna couldn’t help but smile. She’d heard this from parents-to-be ever since becoming a midwife. The thought of caring for a tiny, helpless human being was overwhelming for most people. “Generally speaking, babies don’t just drop into your lap. You get about nine months to prepare. There are books you can read, classes you can take. There’s no such thing as a perfect parent. You can only do your best.”

  “And if your best sucks?”

  Jenna didn’t want him to feel pressured. “We’re still young. We have time. This isn’t something we have to worry about now.”

  “I’m all for it—on one condition.”

  What had he just said?

  “You’re for it? You’re for us having a baby?”

  He smiled, his gaze soft. “On one condition.”

  “What’s that?” She hoped he wasn’t about to say that he would never change a diaper. She found that kind of thing to be so disappointing in a man.

  “We can have a baby—or two or three maybe—but only if you marry me first.”

  “Wh-what?” Was she dreaming?

  No way had he just asked her to marry him.

  “You’ll have to marry me first.”

  Oh, yes, he had.

  She hadn’t seen this coming.

  “I don’t want to bring a child into the world unless we’re official first. I grew up without a real family. I don’t want that for my kids. If something happens to me—”

  “God, don’t say that.” It was the fear that fueled her nightmares.

  “It’s a possibility in my line of work. You know that. If something happens to me, I want to know it’s all legal and ironclad, that you and any kids we have are taken care of. So, you’ll have to marry me first.”

  “Okay.”

  For a moment, there was silence.

  “So, I guess I just proposed, and you said yes.”

  “I guess so.”

  They laughed, then kissed, happiness enfolding Jenna, palpable and warm, the last rays of the sun turning the sky pink.

  “I’m so in love with you, Jenna.” Derek ran his thumb over her cheek. “I didn’t know it was possible to love someone so much. But can you promise me one thing?”

  If she could, she would give him the world. “Anything.”

  “No gongs.”

  Jenna’s head fell back, and she laughed, her heart soaring.

  Thank You

  Thanks for reading Hard Target. I hope you enjoyed this Cobra Elite story. Follow me on Facebook or on Twitter @Pamela_Clare. Join my romantic suspense reader’s group on Facebook to be a part of a never-ending conversation with other Cobra fans and get inside information on the series and on life in Colorado’s mountains. You can also sign up to my mailing list at my website to keep current with all my releases and to be a part of special newsletter giveaways.

  Also by Pamela Clare

  Romantic Suspense:
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  Cobra Elite Series

  Hard Target (Book 1)

  I-Team Series

  Extreme Exposure (Book 1)

  Heaven Can’t Wait (Book 1.5)

  Hard Evidence (Book 2)

  Unlawful Contact (Book 3)

  Naked Edge (Book 4)

  Breaking Point (Book 5)

  Skin Deep: An I-Team After Hours Novella (Book 5.5)

  First Strike: The Prequel to Striking Distance (Book 5.9)

  Striking Distance (Book 6)

  Soul Deep: An I-Team After Hours Novella (Book 6.5)

  Seduction Game (Book 7)

  Dead by Midnight: An I-Team Christmas (Book 7.5)

  Deadly Intent (Book 8)

  Contemporary Romance:

  Colorado High Country Series

  Barely Breathing (Book 1)

  Slow Burn (Book 2)

  Falling Hard (Book 3)

  Tempting Fate (Book 4)

  Close to Heaven (Book 5)

  Holding On (Book 6)

  Chasing Fire (Book 7)

  Historical Romance:

  Kenleigh-Blakewell Family Saga

  Sweet Release (Book 1)

  Carnal Gift (Book 2)

  Ride the Fire (Book 3)

  MacKinnon’s Rangers series

  Surrender (Book I)

  Untamed (Book 2)

  Defiant (Book 3)

  Upon A Winter’s Night: A MacKinnon’s Rangers Christmas (Book 3.5)

  About the Author

  USA Today best-selling author Pamela Clare began her writing career as a columnist and investigative reporter and eventually became the first woman editor-in-chief of two different newspapers. Along the way, she and her team won numerous state and national honors, including the National Journalism Award for Public Service. In 2011, Clare was awarded the Keeper of the Flame Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. A single mother with two sons, she writes historical romance and contemporary romantic suspense at the foot of the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Visit her website and join her mailing list to never miss a new release!

  Romantic Suspense Reader’s Group