Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5)

by Lynn Raye Harris

  Jack gave her a look. “Seriously, babe?”

  “I’m a pacifist.”

  He snorted a laugh. “Jesus. Don’t point it at anything you don’t mean to kill, all right? When you’re ready, flip that button on the side near the trigger—and squeeze.”

  She nodded.

  “Now follow me, okay? We’re getting out of here. Just don’t shoot me.”

  “That’s the last thing I want to do.” She’d rather kiss him. And if they got out of here alive, she would do a whole hell of a lot of kissing him. And other things. They started down the hallway. “Where’s Stavros?”

  He didn’t look at her. “He got out. But we’ll get him.”

  They didn’t encounter anyone as they moved through the house. The staff was hiding. Jack had taken out four of Stavros’s hired men. If there’d been any others still in the house, they’d probably gone outside to defend the compound.

  When they reached an exterior door, Jack stood there for a long moment and listened. Gina’s heart pounded hard as she waited. She didn’t know what he was about to do, but then the door burst inward and Gina screamed. Jack had two guns in his hands when someone in a black suit and helmet came through the other side. She thought Jack would start shooting, but instead he lowered the weapons.

  So did the man in the suit. It took Gina a second to recognize Iceman, but when she did, her knees went wobbly. She dropped the gun Jack had given her and sagged into the wall, holding her baby close and trying to keep it together.

  “Metaxas?” Jack asked.

  Iceman shook his head. “Not sure. But we got to get moving, dude. Big Mac, Lucky, and Brandy are holding them off out there at the yacht, but if Metaxas has reinforcements coming, we’re in big trouble.”

  As if to punctuate that point, the soft thumping of a helicopter in the distance began to grow louder. “Is that us?” Jack asked.

  “No.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  JACK KEPT GINA AND Eli between him and the wall as they made their way across the compound. There were trees on fire, and black oily smoke rose into the air. It stank, but it also provided cover as they ran. Iceman led the way, and they soon met up with Knight Rider and Billy the Kid, who flanked them and kept them protected as they ran down the dock toward the yacht. Gunfire erupted from the trees and Jack felt a stinging hot sensation pierce his thigh. He knew he’d been hit, but he had enough adrenaline and fury to propel him down the dock and onto the yacht. Iceman and Knight Rider slashed at the ropes with their knives while Big Mac gave the engine juice. As soon as they were untethered, the yacht shot backward as Big Mac worked the thrusters.

  Brandy and Flash set up covering fire as they kicked up to higher speed and blasted toward the open channel. Over the mountain, two helicopters appeared as they came closer to the compound. The place had been shot to hell, and the diesel tanks that stored fuel for the generators were on fire, lighting the sky and crawling tree by tree toward the house. It would reach the house in a few more minutes, and then the roof would burn.

  Jack stayed outside to help with the covering fire, grabbing a rifle and aiming toward the trees. When the next shot flared bright, he targeted the light and fired. He did it again and again—and then the compound simply exploded, a giant fireball whooshing into the sky. The shockwave rolled over the yacht, but they were far enough away it didn’t affect them.

  Jack stared at the fire raging out of control and knew Metaxas couldn’t have survived that. And yet he’d wanted to shoot the bastard personally, goddammit. He’d taken their son, and he’d tried to force Gina to be his wife. When Jack thought about that slimy bastard touching her…

  Someone put a hand on his arm and he jerked. Matt was staring at him with lowered brows. “You’re hit.”

  Jack glanced down at his leg, at the hole in his jeans and the blood welling through the tear and seeping into the fabric. “Yeah, so?”

  “So? Get inside and get that taken care of. I think we got it out here.”

  And they did, because the yacht was traveling fast and the water cleaved before the hull like butter under a hot knife. The shore was receding quickly and the bullets had stopped coming. The men who’d been on the perimeter of the compound would probably still be alive, but they damn sure wouldn’t care about an escaping yacht with the whole place burning around them.

  Jack tried to see the helicopters, but they weren’t visible through the smoke. He didn’t hear them either, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. “They can still come after us by air.”

  Matt shook his head. “Get inside, Hawk. If they come after us, I’ll let you take them down. Between you and Brandy, I think you could shoot the fucking Air Force out of the sky. I’m not worried.”

  But he didn’t want to go inside the yacht’s cool interior. Because it meant he’d be facing Gina—and the kid he’d fathered. He thought he’d wrapped his head around that, but seeing the boy—hearing him cry for his mother—had gotten inside Jack’s heart and twisted it up tight. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. He had no frame of reference for this. When he’d had a job to do—save Gina and Eli—he hadn’t had time to think about it.

  But now?

  There was a child inside who belonged to him. What the hell was he supposed to do about that? In the abstract, it had been easy to tell Gina she wasn’t keeping him out of Eli’s life. But in reality, what the hell could he give this kid that she couldn’t? Maybe she’d tell him he could be a father, but he didn’t see where having one of those had mattered much in his life. And since he hadn’t had the best example, how would he know what to do?

  He set the rifle down and rubbed his hands over his face. Then he turned and hobbled down the side of the deck toward the interior door. As the adrenaline from their flight faded, the wound would hurt more and more. He knew that, and he didn’t look forward to it.

  The yacht was big and luxurious—albeit a little worse for wear now that it’d been in a pitched battle—because the team had wanted to look like the kind of people who could sail the Caribbean without a care. He knew it had bedrooms in the interior, and he hoped like hell that Gina had retreated to one of them. Then he could get this wound doctored and deal with her later.

  But that wasn’t the way it was going to be. She was sitting in the main living area when he walked in. The cabin was furnished with gleaming cherrywood finishes and cream leather couches. A dining table sat at one end, its polished surface reflecting the chandelier that hung overhead. It was the kind of yacht she could afford. The kind of life she could give Eli. What did he have that compared to any of this?

  Her head snapped up at his entrance, her eyes boring into him. She had Eli on her lap, and he was crying and saying things Jack didn’t understand while Gina tried to soothe him.

  “I know, sweetie. I know. Mommy’s here now.” She rocked him back and forth, but he still cried. Jack’s gut twisted. She was trying to make him stop crying, but her voice sounded as if she might cry any minute herself. Jack’s heart pounded so fast he thought it might burst from his chest. He felt too many things standing here, watching Gina and his son, and he didn’t know how to make sense of the tight ball of emotion in his gut.

  Gina gasped, and he knew she’d seen the blood soaking his jeans. It was almost a relief, because it gave him something new to focus on.

  “Jack, you’re hurt!”

  “It’s not bad,” he told her, though he really knew nothing of the sort. Thigh wounds could be dangerous if they hit a major artery, but since he was still breathing and not losing consciousness, he figured he was okay.

  Iceman grabbed his bag and started pulling out the medical gear. “Take ’em off or I’m cutting them off,” he said as he pointed at one of the couches.

  Jack hesitated. “Maybe you should take Eli back to one of the rooms,” he said to Gina. “This might be a bit much for you.”

  She was still rocking Eli and her hand came up to sh
ield his face, though he was actually looking the other direction. “We’re staying.”

  “Hey, Eli, look at this,” Lucky said, holding up a stuffed animal. Where in the hell had she gotten that?

  Eli’s crying turned into a hiccup. He reached for the animal and Gina let him go so he could crawl onto the cushion beside Lucky, who kept saying things to him, and he smiled as if he hadn’t just been crying a moment before.

  “Who’s a good boy?” Lucky said, and Eli banged the toy on the couch as Lucky looked up at Gina. “Go sit with Jack if you want. I’ll play with Eli.”

  Gina frowned as she looked at her son and then back at him. “Just for a minute,” she finally said, and then she stood came over to his side.

  “You don’t have to do this,” he told her, his voice low and rough. “Take the kid and go.”

  “You didn’t leave me. I’m not leaving you.”

  Goddamn, she was stubborn. He unbuttoned his jeans and dropped them to the floor. Might as well get this over with then.

  “Oh, Jack,” she said, her voice soft and sweet. Her eyes filled with tears and he glanced down, wondering if maybe he was dying or something and he just didn’t know it yet.

  But, no, he was only bleeding.

  “Nothing I haven’t been through before.”

  He sat back on the couch and Iceman started cleaning the wound. He gave Jack a shot for pain, but Jack still had to clench his fists around the edge of the couch as the other man probed the wound for bullet fragments.

  Gina sat beside him and he turned to look at her. “You can hold my hand,” she said softly.

  “That’s not a good idea.” Because he didn’t want to squeeze her hand off when the pain was too much.

  She put her hand on top of his fist. “Okay, then I’ll just do this.”

  “Gina, go take care of Eli. You don’t want to be a part of this.”

  “Actually, I do.” She looked over at Iceman. Something unspoken passed between them, and he went back to probing the wound.

  “Jesus, Ice,” Jack hissed after a few seconds. “Can you do that any faster?”

  “Almost done.”

  Just when Jack was ready to yell something seriously foul, Ice straightened. “You’re clear. The bullet went clean through.”

  His gloved fingers were covered in blood as he reached for a syringe, and Gina looked a little pale.

  “Who’s helping who here?” Jack teased, and her gaze crashed into his.

  She took a breath. “I’m helping you, you big sissy.”

  “Right.”

  Now that Ice was done probing, Jack unwrapped his fist and let her slip her fingers into his. His heart thumped in response to her soft skin against his hand. He shouldn’t let himself get used to this, and yet he liked it when she touched him.

  “You’re a badass, Jack Hunter,” she said. “I’m thinking of writing a song about you.”

  He laughed, though Ice was still doing shit that hurt. But it wasn’t as bad as the probing, so at least there was that.

  “Oh yeah? What’s it gonna say?”

  Her eyes sparkled, but he wasn’t sure if it was humor or tears. “I’m not sure yet. But it’ll be flattering.”

  “That’s good.”

  Ice gave him another shot and pronounced him done. “Better get into one of the cabins and lie down. That shot’s going to knock you out in about ten minutes.”

  “I’ll be fine here,” he said. “What if I’m needed?”

  If those helicopters came after them, he would need to be ready with a rifle. Everyone on the team was an expert marksman, but Jack was the best.

  “I think we can handle it for a while, Hawk.” Ice looked at Gina. “Can you get him to go, please?”

  She glanced over at Eli, who was now moving the animal along the floor like it was a car. Lucky grinned. “I’ve got this. We’re having fun. Take the big sissy to a room so he’ll sleep it off and the rest of us can do our jobs. We’ll be right here when you get back.”

  Gina got to her feet and tugged on Jack’s hand until he stood too. “Come on, Jack. You heard them. Let’s go.”

  Jack sighed. “Fine. I’m going. But when you fuckers need something shot, you’ll be sorry you sent me away.”

  Gina put her arm around his waist. He didn’t need to lean on her, but he liked the sensation of her next to him enough that he didn’t stop her. He hobbled toward the staterooms with her, and she opened one and helped him inside. When the door snapped shut, he yanked her into his arms. She gave a little gasp, but her arms went around his neck.

  “It killed me to stand there during that sham of a wedding,” he said, his mouth against her skin, moving along the smooth column of her throat. He didn’t want to be saying this, and yet he couldn’t help it. It was as if any guard he’d had on his tongue had disappeared when Iceman gave him that shot.

  He was still mad at her, dammit. And yet he couldn’t seem to dredge up that anger when she was in his arms.

  “All I could think about was you and Eli,” she said. “Getting out of there with you both. Kissing you again…” She stood on tiptoe and slanted her mouth over his. Her tongue slipped inside and rolled against his.

  He pulled her back toward the bed, his cock hard and aching. She arched against him, her hips rolling into his and making him groan at the sweet pressure. His leg hurt like a son of a bitch, but he thought if he could just get inside her, it would all be better.

  “When you said ‘I do’ to him…” He pushed her back until he could see her eyes. “I wanted to smash something.”

  Her fingers slid along his jaw. “Jack…” Her gaze dropped and her lashes fanned over her cheeks. Her gorgeous blond hair had come loose during their run to the yacht and it hung down her back, wild and curly.

  He tipped her chin up and made her look at him. “What is it, babe? Are you pissed at me because I didn’t do anything to stop him?”

  She shook her head. “If you’d tried any sooner, he would have killed you. And that would have killed me.”

  His heart was starting to pound, and so was his head. He tried to smile, but he felt like his gut was filled with broken glass. So many emotions were swirling through him and he just couldn’t separate them all. Damn Iceman and his painkillers.

  Jack glided a thumb over her lips. “No, it wouldn’t. You’re a survivor, Gina. You’d keep on living and you’d forget all about me.”

  “That’s not true. I couldn’t forget you. Not ever.” She put her hand over his mouth when he started to speak. “There isn’t anyone else like you, Jack Hunter. There’s only you.” Her hand fell away and her voice dropped to almost a whisper. “And whether you like it or not, I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  If she’d shot him in the belly, he couldn’t be any more stunned. His jaw fell open and he couldn’t think of one damn thing to say. Not one…

  She squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, her lashes were spiky with tears. One fell free and slid down her cheek, and his heart ached.

  “There, I’ve said it. I love you. Whether you like it or not, now you know. So stop with the no-illusions speech. I have plenty of illusions for us both, so please don’t shatter them just yet, okay?”

  All he could do was kiss her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  GINA TOLD HERSELF NOT to be hurt that he didn’t say anything. He was kissing her, and that meant something. Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe he was just hot for her body and he wanted to shut her up. No matter what he said about seeing her with Stavros, that didn’t mean he’d forgiven her. Or that he envisioned a future with her.

  He reached for the hem of her dress, and she broke the kiss and put a hand on his chest. “Wait. You’re hurt.”

  As if that was the only reason not to do this. But she had no idea how he was still standing, much less trying to get into her panties. If she’d been shot, she’d be in agony.

  His blue eyes gleamed. “Yeah, I’m hurt—and I’m going to burst if I don’t get inside you.”
<
br />   “You’re also drugged up, and Garrett said you’d be asleep in ten minutes. We’ve used up five.”

  “Babe,” he said on a sigh, “I’m not going to fall asleep when I’ve got you wrapped around me. After, hell yeah, but not during.”

  He ran a hand up her thigh, stopping when he reached the holster. She’d forgotten she was wearing it, which said something, considering she didn’t really like guns all that much. She thought back to the way he’d yanked it from the holster and fired, and a shiver slid down her spine. Jack was one lethal dude. His team called him Hawk. She didn’t have to be a genius to figure out why. He’d hit everything he’d fired at, even when he’d been firing from between her legs with his vision partly obscured.

  “Damn, that’s so fucking sexy. I want you to wear that while I’m inside you.”

  She put her hands on his chest when he tried to kiss her again. She was wet and hot, and under ordinary circumstances she’d want nothing more than to fall on this bed and let him rock her world again.

  These circumstances definitely weren’t ordinary. Plus she was still reeling from telling him she loved him. Her emotions were wound tight, and she didn’t think she could handle sex with him right now, even if they weren’t fleeing from the bad guys.

  “Later, Jack. I want you too, but I’d like us to be in a bed that’s not currently part of an escape plan.”

  He swayed on his feet before shaking his head and fixing his gaze on her face. “Yeah, maybe that’s a good idea.”

  The bed was behind him so she gave him a little push—and he crumpled onto the mattress. His eyes were glazed as he looked up at her. He looked so adorably confused that she wanted to laugh. Well, he’d been warned, hadn’t he?

  “Go to sleep, Jack. We’ll talk about everything when you wake up.”

  “’Kay,” he mumbled before turning onto his side. A second later, he was snoring softly.

  Gina stared down at him. Her belly churned with hot emotion and she pressed a hand to her mouth. Dammit, she was in so much trouble here.