And she had sensed it right—the military doctor came through the doorway that moment.
“Master Chief,” the doctor said, clipboard out. His aging face and receding hairline were enough to reduce Ryder’s hard-on.
Olivia very subtly inched back even further, creating a vision of greater distance between herself and Ryder.
“Are you okay?” The doc shot her a sidelong glance.
“Of course,” she squeaked. But neither of them could miss how flushed her face was. How her chest heaved with deep breaths.
Placated and uninterested, the doctor moved on and approached Ryder’s stretcher, checking the instruments for readings.
“You are one lucky man.” The doctor nodded. “That was a bad one.”
“Where’s John? Is he okay?” Ryder demanded.
“He’s fine. Better than you,” the doc explained. “He’s sitting out in the bay. Looks like you took the brunt of it.”
Ryder believed it—his body was still shaking. He could barely move. But the news was good. He could move. He hadn’t lost any limbs. He looked over at Olivia. With what he wanted to do to her, he was going to need his limbs.
“Bloodwork is good. Scans are good. You’re just looking at a lot of bruising, superficial lacerations, and, well, significant blood loss,” the doctor said in a bored voice. “I’m going to order some further screenings for you, but it shouldn’t take you long to recover. I’m writing you off on light duties for at least a week, and then we can reassess.”
“Fuck.” Ryder felt a hold on his lungs, making it hard to inhale fully.
“Only a week?” Olivia’s voice rang out. “Jesus—that seems short.”
“Not going to happen,” Ryder retorted. “I’m fine.”
“Don’t be an idiot. You don’t have a choice.” The doctor signed the clipboard and left.
Olivia’s gaze idled at the closing door as the doc left. They were alone again. “Wow, military doctors are hardcore.”
“You should try getting a physical from them.” He raised his eyebrows at her.
She gave him a surprised look, and it was damn nice to see her face again. “I… I…” she began, and he could tell she was searching for words. He read her body language loud and clear. She was willing. She was aroused. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Her lips were so damn beautiful. She had European lips. Full, plump.
Her uncertainty didn’t last long. “Maybe this is where you should apologize.” She put her hands on her hips indignantly, cutting into his admiration.
“I don’t apologize. And I’m damn well not apologizing for that.” Ryder nodded to where they’d kissed.
“Should I report you?” Olivia challenged him, grinning. “That was against the rules.”
Ryder felt warmth for the first time in a long time—he loved it when she smiled. He made a mental note to make it happen more often, even if he was much better at inspiring her ire.
“I know you wouldn’t.”
She shifted on her feet. “True, but it can’t happen again."
Ryder agreed, though he didn’t really want to. They had come a long way, and he knew it was best not to tempt fate. He coughed again, tasting blood in his mouth. “Fuck.”
She passed him the water from the cup by the sink. “I think you should rest.”
“No.” He coughed again from the insidious pain that crept up, and she jumped forward.
“God, you are a willful man.” A smile finally crossed her face. A beautiful, warm, toothy grin. “Let me help you!”
He took another drink of water, and she lunged forward with a concerned frown to hold it up for him, making sure he got what he needed.
He grinned down at her. “Thanks.” It felt good to have someone take care of him. His mom was the only one who ever had—Ryder had spent all his time since then carrying everyone else.
Olivia seemed to know this, and her caring expression seared deep into him. He was speechless. He knew a lot about her without being able to explain it. She was just an amazing woman. She was strong as hell. Tenacious. Tough. The perfect person to have his back.
She was there. She’d come to see him right away. She cared for him.
Ryder studied her, and said what he’d been thinking for a while. “Olivia, to do this deal, we need to afford each other blind trust.”
She nodded her head. “Let’s do it,” she said without hesitation. “I’m all in.”
And that was it. Simple as that. It was the cleanest exchange they’d ever had. A lot had changed between them.
“I’ve never been wrong about who I can trust and who I can’t,” he said.
“Do you trust me?” she asked quickly, closing the loop.
“I think you know now.” He grinned. “In the SEALs, this is what we call the beginning of earned trust—you’ve earned my trust.”
Never before had anyone gotten inside his circle of trust so quickly. He knew it was a mix of want and need. He needed her and wanted her—so letting her in was essential.
After a moment passed, he could tell that her questions were still percolating. Olivia was a natural interviewer: inquisitive, curious, and social.
“Why did you break the rules?” she asked quietly. “Why did you kiss me?”
“Always so many questions,” he teased, and despite the immense pain, he pulled her into him again. “Because I wanted to.” He studied her face and lips while she studied him back.
“Do you break the rules a lot?” she breathed.
“You have no idea.”
They continued looking at each other for a moment, and Ryder wanted to bring her round mouth back to his.
“If you want this to work, you can’t break any more rules,” she explained quickly. “Your testimony has to be credible, and that won’t be the case if anyone suspects you’ve been fucking the consultant.”
She was covering her ass and his ass—he should have thanked her for being the adult in the room. But he still got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
As a new set of footsteps could be heard approaching the door, Olivia carefully took two huge steps back. Ryder admired her speed and slickness—the woman could be the next CIA operative.
The door crashed open again, and John Shanahan, the driver who’d come out unscathed, waltzed in. Seeing Ryder clutching onto the metal sink in the corner of the room, he smiled and lifted his arms up.
“Master Chief! Finally decided to wake up.”
“Glad to see you, brother.” Ryder smirked, but a fit of coughing overtook him again.
Olivia involuntarily stepped forward with a concerned look. “God, Ryder,” she breathed. “Sit down.”
John looked at Olivia. “I guess we can hold off on the euthanasia today, right?”
She beamed at the junior SEAL. Ryder felt a pang of jealousy at the sight, but he simply breathed in and out as best as he could without coughing. Holy hell, his desire was exploding. He would have to keep his jealousy in check if he was going to survive. Figuratively and literally, she wasn’t his territory.
But coming off that insanely hot kiss, he cut himself some slack. As his possessive nature kicked into overdrive, Ryder admitted he wanted her all to himself, and he wasn’t going to be happy until he had her.
“I’m just leaving.” Olivia looked at Ryder, and in her most professional voice, she said, “Don’t forget our next dialogue. When you feel up to it.”
She turned to leave without betraying any emotion, which only made Ryder that much harder for her. She was mimicking his hallmark, acting like a stone-cold professional. There was no clearer message that they were on the same team. He was damn happy to see things had turned around between them. They had the potential to be formidable.
After she left, John raised an eyebrow at him with a very knowing glance.
“What happened out there?” Ryder asked, turning the subject away from Olivia.
John looked side to side and stepped closer to Ryder. Keeping his voice nearly inaudible, he w
hispered, “The question that I’m struggling with right now is—how the hell could someone be so bad at planning that they actually put a master chief in that type of situation? Half the guys out there are grumbling about what happened to you. It doesn’t fucking sit well with anyone.”
The insinuation was clear as day.
Ryder shook his head. “Fuck, I’ve been asking myself the same. I was sold a false bill of goods, let me tell you.”
“From who?” John asked again, his eyes dead serious. “Don’t tell me—I already know. You need to start watching your back, man. This is bad. Really bad.”
The warning spoke to something Ryder had felt for a long time. After all, if he died now, so would all his secrets. And negligently planned orders were an easy way for someone to expend a life.
19
The next day, Ryder woke up on the stretcher to the unmistakable sound of the snake creeping into the room. The commander’s bald head shone under the medical lights. His face was as scarred and screwed up as ever.
With unsympathetic, piercing eyes, the poisonous snake stood at the foot of his bed. “Having a nice vacation?”
“Sure.”
“I heard she was in here.” His snakelike eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Checking on you?”
“I guess.” Ryder chose his words carefully. He did not want to provide the snake another avenue for exploiting him, and did not want to put the woman he was growing to care about in the line of fire.
The snake stared at him like he was the last unicorn on earth. “I hope you aren’t getting too friendly with her. She’s your adversary as much as mine.”
Ryder’s skin crawled. The man was repulsive. His scaly skin mimicked that of a snake. Shedding his atrocities and starting anew with a fresh slate.
But the master chief betrayed nothing. “You told me to watch her. Feed her bullshit. That’s what I’m doing. What else do you want?”
“Get me a list of who she’s talking to, and what they are saying.”
“That’s not going to be a problem.” Ryder affected a look of disinterest. “I’m seeing to that.”
“You’ve never let me down before. Don’t start now. Now, feed her misinformation.” The commander clenched his partially broken teeth in malice. “She shouldn’t be here.”
Ryder nodded—he was well aware of the role the snake was ordering him to play. Fuller wasn’t the type to take chances. He believed in guaranteed kills, little risk. And his idea of a guarantee was to intimidate the shit out of her. Make her feel like she didn’t have the option.
Ryder was supposed to be bringing the rain.
Fuller motioned to the meds on the cart. “Want me to get you something stronger than this?”
Ryder shook his head quickly, knowing that was how Blackshot had gotten into the trouble he was in. He didn’t want to be part of the drug problem. He’d take what the doc gave him and nothing else.
“No. I’m good.”
20
It didn’t take Ryder long before he was released from med bay and gunning to have that talk with Olivia. He’d waited long enough. Recent events filled him with an urgency that he couldn’t describe.
On his way to meet Olivia in the office building, the quietest building on the compound, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. And what he wanted to do to her. It occupied him day and night. He couldn’t get enough of her.
He was damn close to breaking all the rules to be with her.
Ryder pulled a Black Ops trick to scan the area for onlookers without appearing to do so. It was drawing on evening, and the sun was getting lower. No one was in sight on that side of the compound. Being on light duties still, he was one of the few SEALs left behind—most of the guys were out on an all-night operation. The civilians were at their support posts in the communications center.
Up in the sky, clouds had formed. Ryder couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen rain. Probably whenever he’d last rotated back home. It seemed that Northern Mali was in danger of a rainstorm, a rarity in that part of the Sahara. But it did happen. The humidity was palpable.
As he trailed down the pathway to the unused office building up ahead, Ryder stilled his breath, finding calm inside. He needed to relax. Sure, he was pissed off at everyone. His body ached. The mission was an unmitigated disaster. His boss was a fucking corrupt piece of shit. And every goddamn dude in the vicinity was trying to get with Olivia.
Maybe she got with someone else while I was in med bay. Anger became palpable in his throat, and the jealousy wasn’t helping Ryder find his fucking inner calm. As the building drew near, he slowed his steps, working even harder to slow his racing heart. He climbed up the steps into the supply building, feeling a pang in his rib cage from the bruising. But before he could open the front door, it opened a crack for him.
Olivia.
He grabbed the door’s metal frame and stepped inside—so slick, so smooth. He carefully and quietly ensured it was closed behind him. That’s how it was done.
“Hi,” he said, looking down his nose at her as they stood close together in the hallway.
“Thanks for coming.” Her eyes flickered at the sight of him, and he guessed the gravitational pull was mutual. Something about how she whipped her ponytail around as she walked and smiled—he couldn’t handle it. And all those fantasies he had about bending her over… He immediately wondered if he could get away with kissing her again.
Before he could loop his arm around her and bring her in, she was already off down the hall, finding her way to the small closet that had been allocated as her interview room. He’d have to be faster next time.
In the windowless supply closet, Ryder again made sure to pull the door shut firmly behind him. They needed to talk. For real. They needed privacy. He wasn’t about to let his desire distract him from what they needed to accomplish.
Olivia began messing with an electric kettle on the side of the small room, prepping her tea. At least she had that.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, her voice carrying easily through the tiny space.
“I’m fine,” he lied. He didn’t feel fine. His body ached and his mind raged.
Olivia motioned for Ryder to sit down on the familiar chair opposite hers, and he happily obliged. He enjoyed sitting in the hard metal chair and watching her fix her tea. The woman had an exquisite ass. High and tight. All that running served her well. He wanted to clutch it. Squeeze it.
His pissed-off mood only made him hornier. He needed release. He wanted to release on her. With her. He watched her shift from one foot to the other, a habit when she was thinking. Cute as fuck.
She brought the steaming cup to her lips, carefully taking sips in between reading her notepad on the counter. “Are you ready?”
Ryder leaned back in his chair. “Are we going to just dive in—no lube?”
She gave him a sardonic look. “Do I really need to lube you up? After everything?”
“Fair enough.” He nodded in appreciation.
His chair sat sandwiched beside two shelving units where random forgotten things were thrown. Pulleys and rope sat on one shelf, within his reach. As he gazed over at her, his mind trailed to what he would love to do with that rope.
Shifting on her feet, she took another sip of her tea. Those lips, he remembered, were soft and playful. He hadn’t forgotten a single detail of their kiss.
“Are you coming to sit?” He motioned to the chair across from him. As much as he enjoyed watching her stand, he wanted her closer. She mumbled something inaudible while she flipped back and forth through her notations, warming up.
Ryder debated fashioning the rope into a lasso. He felt the crotch of his black tactical pants tighten with every sip she took.
“Olivia,” he grumbled.
She looked back at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m coming.”
With her notebook and teacup, she gracefully found the chair in front of him. She crossed her legs and leaned back, her breasts full and round. Try as she
might, she couldn’t conceal her seductive shape.
“Where should we begin?” she mused, tapping her pen.
“I’m guessing you already have a place you want to start,” he said.
“You are a keen observer,” she said.
Ryder chuckled. She had no idea. “I can be… for people I enjoy observing.” He emphasized the last part.
A flush found her cheeks. Orgasm color. “Sometimes I wonder if there are cameras in these buildings,” she said, bringing Ryder into a serious conversation.
“There aren’t,” Ryder explained, getting away from his sexual thoughts. “They don’t want recordings of us, especially in theater.”
“That systemic lack of visibility brings us to the point. I’m going to be up front with you. I’ve been studying the allegations made against your troop. The war crimes allegations.”
“And?”
She paused, and he saw her considering her words. He couldn’t help watching her lips purse and play with the edge of the teacup. Her furrowed brow, looking through those sexy librarian glasses. He loved those glasses. He wanted to rip those glasses off. No, he wanted them to stay on while he grabbed her…
Ryder’s erection grew in his black pants. He grasped the edge of the chair, afraid he would lose control of his hands. It took everything in his power not to reach over to her. It was unreal how she made nothing else matter. The mission was literally crumbling and on fire, and looking at her allowed him to escape it all.
“We need to talk about what happened when you were in med bay.” She interrupted his thoughts and set down her cup on a long table where boxes of wires were stacked.
“I wanted to kiss you, so I did,” he said bluntly, with a shrug.
She raised an eyebrow, considering his words. “Okay.”
Desert Exposure Page 12
