Hot SEALs: All In

by Aliyah Burke

  “Have Tate patch him up.”

  Sarki nodded. “He is very handsome.”

  Albany shrugged. “Sure, I guess.” But only if you like tall, dark, handsome. Sexy and a whole other string of adjectives I could think for him. Rubbing the back of her neck, she walked through and stepped outside, squinting slightly from the brilliant sun.

  The white Land Rover stopped before her, and Mykelti hopped out. Albany crossed her arms and waited for him to approach.

  “This new man,” he began, tipping his aviator sunglasses down on his nose and giving her a very deliberate once over. “What are his credentials? How long have you met him?”

  “First,” she said in a low tone. “This is my clinic. Not ours. Mine. I hire who I see fit.”

  “You have a clinic solely because I allow it.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped closer. “You’re only alive because I saved your miserable life. I’m the only one within hundreds of miles who is willing to treat you and your men. Do you really think someone else is going to give up their job in the nice air-conditioned office to come over here and put up with the shit that you and your brother bring? Because I don’t. So, if you want to keep medical around in this area, to help out those women you claim as wives when they give birth and the children when they get sick, you back the fuck off.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I can kidnap you and do with you as I will.”

  “And I can put a needle in you and kill you without any issue with my own compassion. I may be a doctor, but I am far from a pushover. I’ve been surrounded by vipers my entire life. So, never forget, you don’t scare me. You’re a bully with guns and a group of other asses to make yourself feel big.”

  She struggled to regain some hold on her temper. “As for your question about the new man, Tate. What’s to know? He’s got medical training and is willing to be here. In fact, he’s inside stitching up one of the boys, right now.” I hope.

  “You do know I killed the last doctor.”

  “Yes, that’s why I’m still here. Because people need help. And, as I’ve repeatedly told you, I’m not scared of you. I won’t be. So, you leave me, my staff, and the villagers alone or the next time you come in for something, they’ll be putting you in the ground, and we’ll find out if you have any friends or if they’ll all spit on your grave then dance to celebrate that you’re gone.”

  “Doc?”

  Tate’s deep voice wove around her, and she glanced over her shoulder. He stood in the doorway, peeling off latex gloves, watching the interaction.

  “I’m told they get something for sitting through stitches, but I’m not sure where the stuff would be.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  She looked back to Mykelti. In the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn’t push; the man wasn’t stable. Don’t forget about what happened to Missy; she was kidnapped in Nigeria while teaching. Albany wasn’t a fool; she knew it happened, but for the moment, it worked in her favor to be abrasive with him. It’s how it was and how it would continue to be. She wasn’t about to cower to him or any of the rebels who made life around here hell.

  He watched her, his dark gaze occasionally flicking behind her. She didn’t doubt that Tate was there observing the two of them. When Missy contacted her and asked her to vouch for a man, Albany knew if people asked about him, she figured something big was going on. No way was it just that simple. And, while she may be brash, she also didn’t stick her nose into things unless she wanted to know more. And the Tate situation, she didn’t want to know more. So, she accepted Missy’s word he could be trusted and left it at that.

  “Anything else?” she questioned Mykelti.

  “I will only put up with this attitude for so long,” he warned.

  “Have a good day, then.” She pivoted and strode back to where—as she’d assumed—Tate waited for her by the doorway. His gaze flicked between her and Mykelti before he stepped aside, allowing her entrance. Putting himself at her back, and somehow, she didn’t think it was to be gentlemanly.

  Damn if he didn’t smell delicious. Something wild and woodsy. She did her best to avoid staring up at him. Indulging in the scruff along his jaw. Finding him attractive was not part of the plan. Such a shame I failed at that plan from the first second I laid eyes upon him.

  She moved to the boy’s side and checked his stitches. “Nice job.” Glancing back to the man beside her, she gave him a nod. “Suckers are in the back room, top cupboard.”

  “I’ll be right back.” He strode away, and she lifted her head to trail his movement.

  Do men really move like this? Christ, it’s like he’s a walking sex ad.

  “So,” she said, turning her attention back to the boy on the exam table. “How did you get these?”

  “I was digging up the metal to sell.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, playing.”

  She held up her hand and shook her hand. “I know, I know.” It sucked. These children had to scrounge around to help earn money to pay for food. Some of the lost ordinance from the warlords was dug up and sold. Those digging often got injured doing such things. It broke her heart. However, it wasn’t anything she could change, so she kept her reprimand to herself. People made a living how they could.

  “I wasn’t sure what kind so brought a few different ones.” Tate offered three flavors.

  A smile tipped up her lips as she observed the hardness slip away and boyish innocence fill his expression. With the unbandaged arm, the boy picked a cherry one before he scampered out the door. They were alone, and she turned toward Tate.

  Whoo, I have got to find a way to be around him and not turn into a mushy pile of wanton needy sex. “Your Sat phone is on the second shelf behind the gauze boxes. I suggest you put it somewhere that no one will find it if you don’t want some of the kids taking it to sell. I put the weapons I found in the boxes in my office, locked in the safe. I want them out of there.”

  He stepped toward her and put his hand on her arm. Her gut tightened, and she nearly whimpered. Those kind of visceral connections only happen in romance novels. Not in real life and never to me.

  “You found them?”

  “They were packed in my medicine, so yes, I did.”

  “You’re not going to ask what I’m doing here?”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut briefly. A really hot strippergram for my birthday? An escort hired for a night of fun and passion? “Absolutely not. I refuse to ask because then I would get involved and that is something I don’t need to do.”

  He stepped closer, and she locked her knees, needing to tear her gaze from his intense one. Or take his clothes off. Damn it. I’m a doctor. I don’t get knock-kneed at the appearance of an attractive man being near me. I save lives. I operate on people. I’m in so much trouble because I want to kiss him. Okay, so not only kiss him.

  “I have questions for you, Doc.”

  I have some for you. Can we do it against a wall? Will you make me feel like I’m the only woman in the world for you? She swallowed. “And I have a clinic to run. Get your things, get settled, and be ready to jump in full speed tomorrow.” She forced herself to walk away before she followed baser needs and desires. No doubt it would be delightful…but still.

  Sarki met her, and they sat to discuss the upcoming surgeries. Thankfully, it was enough to take her mind off the handsome man who had been inserted into her life. Even so, she made a mental note to contact her cousin.

  Chapter Two

  Tate cleaned his .45 as he thought over his conversation with Zane. He’d been here for two days now, had helped take care of some patients and patched up some new ones. At night, he hovered a bit over the small hut Doctor Schovanec slept in. One of the men had offered up space in his hut. He was happy and upset he wasn’t sharing with the hot doc.

  “She has a mouth on her, for sure. Doesn’t seem to realize it’s very stupid and foolish to antagonize men like Mykelti. But damn if she doesn’t intrigue me.�
�� He needed to talk to her, ask some questions about what has been going on and if she noticed anything out of the ordinary. For a clinic in the middle of Cameroon, she remained remarkably busy. Even when she wasn’t, she was rarely alone. There was her friend Sarki or one of the children surrounding her. He checked his watch and saw it was after eight.

  Staring out the small window, he saw the lights were still on in the clinic. She’s working late. Reassembling his sidearm, he cleaned up then shoved it in the back of his waistband. Striding out the door, he did a quick check of the surrounding area then headed across the small compound.

  He entered the building and saw her making a bed toward the back. “A word, Doc?”

  She still had braided pigtails—sexy—and looked up at him from where she was bent over the thin mattress. Her gaze skimmed him, and he swore he saw heat and appreciation before she shut it down. “Sure.”

  Tate walked over to her. She stood to traverse the bed, and he took in her shirt. “I’m the Doctor.” was the phrase on it this time with a blue police box in the background. The other patients had been discharged today, so only the two of them were in there. Then, she turned and bent over to pull up and tuck in the bedding on this side. His eyes lingered over her ass, and he smothered a groan.

  “So, talk.” She finished up and spun back toward him, hands on hips.

  “Have you treated anyone for radiation poisoning?”

  “Out here? Radiation poisoning?”

  “Right. Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea.”

  Her eyes narrowed a fraction. “I’m well aware of the signs of radiation poisoning. Nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting are common most places around the world. It happens.”

  He inched closer. “Anything like that, specifically polonium. Or symptoms from prolonged exposure.” The flicker in her eyes alerted him. He had to press her. “You know something.”

  She flattened her lips and exhaled sharply. Glancing about, she rolled her shoulders a few times before she walked away. Tate followed her and sat across from her when she took a seat at her desk. While he wanted to push, he held himself in check, continually reminding himself she wasn’t military. She was a civilian.

  “I treated a man a few weeks ago who had severe symptoms.” She pushed back from the desk and unlocked a cabinet with a key she pulled from around her neck. Withdrawing a laptop, she drummed her fingers on the sleek black cover as she returned to the chair. Within moments, she had it booted up and moved her fingers along it with skill.

  “But it didn’t strike you as odd to begin with?”

  “God, no. Why would I think someone out here is dying from polonium poisoning? It’s incredibly difficult to get, much less have enough of it to be considered poisonous. Especially lethally so. You have to actually ingest it or have it enter through a wound.”

  His gaze locked on to her mouth, and he shifted on his seat when her tongue peaked out to dampen her lips. Full. Pouty.

  “But now?”

  “Color me suspicious. Teshi had come out here from Soweto. I’m not entirely sure where he worked, but he’d stopped by here a few times to be treated. Always with some kind of open injury. A lot of people around here have them. It’s not an easy life. Cuts are common. Then, he fell ill. Lethargic, hair loss, vomiting. His white blood cell count dropped. All of which are signs of acute radiation syndrome. I just didn’t think anything of it. One, I don’t have the specialist radiation detector I would need here. Two, really, why would I have thought that?” She swore and pounded the desk. “Had I known, maybe I could have done more. Could have saved him.”

  “You didn’t know.”

  “A lot of comfort that is to his family.”

  Tate touched her arm briefly, needing to keep her mind on point, and nearly forgot it all. There was something about this woman that rewrote every rule he ever knew. “Anyone else that you can think of?”

  “Is this what you’re here for? You think someone has polonium in this area?”

  “That’s our intel.”

  Her face drained slightly of color, but she didn’t drop her gaze. “Surely, someone would notice a nuclear power plant out here.”

  “Not if they’re just the middleman.”

  “Shit.” She reached up and began undoing one of the braided pigtails.

  Tate dug his fingernails into his palm to keep from assisting her in that task. “Look, I have some thoughts on it, but right now, I just need to hit the sack and get some sleep. Tomorrow is the day I begin intake for the surgeries.” She held up a hand. “I know, you’re on a time crunch. I’ll get up a bit earlier and review the names I’m thinking, looking at them with the thought of radiation poisoning.”

  “Surgery intake?”

  “Yes, I head in to Lomié. There’s a hospital, not a huge one—a larger one is in the works—but I do surgeries once a month. More, if needed. Out here, there’s just no doctor, so I don’t stay in town. I am one doctor for about twelve thousand people, the need here is so great.”

  “How long are you gone?”

  “Generally, a week. I do a lot of surgeries while there. You’ll be the one here in charge to help. Sarki is good for smaller issues, and she’ll be your translator. Don’t antagonize Mykelti or his brother if either come by. There will be some of the locals coming in to put up a fence to surround the area.”

  “There should be one, good. I can help with that.” His brother?

  Her smile was fleeting but he was grateful to be seated. Small woman, powerful affect. She worked the other braid free, fluffed her hair— totally in a non-flirtatious way—then closed the lid of her computer. “Do you have any questions?”

  Oh, hell yes, he had a lot of them. It wasn’t right. He shouldn’t begin to voice them. “Are you sure you should go alone?”

  There it was, that flash of anger from her gaze. “James is taking me. I have some more meds coming in, as well. You may want to keep an eye on the clinic; they don’t know you and may try to make off with some of the medicine. Sarki will help, though. Let me get some sleep, and I’ll leave a list for you on the desk tomorrow.”

  He stood when she did. “What happens here when there isn’t anyone else?”

  “Sarki handles it. Or they do as they did when I wasn’t here. Did with what they could.” She tucked her computer under her arm and left the room. “Good night.”

  Tate followed at a distance as she made her way back to her hut. Then, he walked back to the clinic and sat at her desk with a groan.

  “Two days I’ve been here, and she’s monopolized my thoughts. For all intents and purposes, she couldn’t give a damn about me. I’m nothing but another pair of hands here for her.” He shook his head. I’m not here to get a date. I’m here to prevent dirty bombs. Ergo, her lack of interest shouldn’t bother him, and it irked him to no end that it did.

  Wishing he had his phone with him, he pulled out the hard copy of information he had on the area. Items mined here were timber, iron ore, petroleum, hydropower, and bauxite. He paused on the last one, then moved back up to iron ore. That could be discovered in volcanic flows. So, if they had something like that in the volcanoes in the country, there was a chance they were storing the polonium.

  Drawing up a topographical of the area, he figured out where the closest one was. He could sneak out and take a look around. All I have to do is avoid two warring sides, not get caught, and still be around come morning when the clinic is open. Although, he wasn’t ever sure it closed.

  As the night pressed along, he alternated between pacing in the clinic and watching over Albany’s hut. How had a woman with her brash tongue and disregard for the warlord managed to survive this long?

  He scowled as he thought about her being part of this scheme. No, surely Zane vetted her before agreeing to use her as a contact. She had to be innocent in this. Leaning against the pillar, he slid his hand to the butt of his .45 at the sudden flicker of light off in the distance. One lantern glowed in the window of the clinic, and he stepped back ins
ide, waiting to see what this brought. He was medical personnel; it wouldn’t do for him to act like a spec ops man.

  Even so, he didn’t let his guard down.

  “Doctor! Doctor!”

  He met the people at the door. Two women who carried a child between them on a litter. Even from the distance they were from him and the low level of light, there was no disguising the pus-swollen leg on the young boy.

  “Bring him in,” he said, waving them forward.

  They followed him back to the operating area. He had to give it to Albany; she had done a wonderful job with the limited resources she had in this facility. He snapped on a pair of gloves and crouched beside the boy. Broken leg. Not set right and an infection. A serious one. The boy would be lucky if the leg could be saved.

  This was beyond his ability. “I’ll be right back,” he said, heading for the door. He dashed across to her hut and entered without knocking. “Doc!”

  “Tate?”

  Christ, her sleep-laden voice did things to him. He shoved his own lust to the back of his mind. “Young boy, broken leg, serious infection. He needs surgery. I’ll get him prepped.”

  “On my way.”

  He left and did as promised. Prepped.

  Not much later, she hastened in the room. Her hair drawn back in a ponytail, she had a loose gray t-shirt on with a faded rose. Green scrub bottoms completed her outfit along with her shoes. She glanced at him and nodded. “Thanks.” Then, she gave her attention to the boy lying in obvious agony.

  Doctor Albany Schovanec barked out orders as she pulled on some gloves and got to work. He was impressed; she didn’t get rattled. “Tate, see to the women. Give them something to drink and allow them to get some rest.” She spoke to them both, and they finally followed her instructions, but he couldn’t ignore the fear in their eyes. The moment he had them settled, he returned to Albany.

  A generator ran, and she stood under the bright light hovering over the boy on the bed. “They settled in?” The scent of antiseptic filled the air along with blood and the smell of something putrid. Nearly overwhelming, he blinked away the sting and stepped up beside her.