—
Three guys were pinned, taking heavy fire.
Matt called for extract one more time, then crawled to the edge of the clearing for a clear shot.
He looked at T a few yards away, gave him the signal to cover while he bought the guys some time. T pointed fingers at his own eyes, then at Matt, acknowledging he understood. Matt was inches from the clearing.
Teddy passed him, giving him a little shove on the shoulder as he ran hell-bent into the fray. What the—? Crazy motherfucker. Matt raised his rifle to lay down fire, and then…all hell broke loose. He glanced to his right just in time to see a bullet rip through Teddy’s chest.
Matt half crawled, half ran to where his friend’s body lay sprawled. Blood thundered through his brain, pulsing and pounding, making it hard to hear his own voice. “Teddy’s down.” The words reverberated in his head like close-range shots.
“You stupid son of a bitch! I told you to cover me! Wilson is down. Requesting immediate evac.”
“Matt…” Blood bubbled, frothy, from T’s mouth.
“I’m gonna get you out. Don’t talk.” He held the compression against T’s wound with his left hand, fired off a couple of shots with his right. Damn it. “Where the hell is the chopper?”
Teddy gripped his arm. “Don’t…”
“Relax.” Matt comm clicked. He had to get T to the chopper and out of this godforsaken jungle.
“This is Command One. Air support incoming. Ninety seconds. Do you copy?”
“This is Mountain One. I copy. Ninety seconds. Over.” Matt raised the rest of the team and dragged T by his vest as each member checked in. They needed to haul ass.
The other guys would fall back to the west. He pulled T to the south through a tangle of rotten vegetation.
“You are not gonna die. Do you hear me?”
Teddy struggled for a breath and squeezed Matt’s arm. “It hurts.” More blood dribbled down his chin.
“I’m here, T. Just stay alive.”
“Don’t…quit.”
“I won’t. I won’t fucking quit.” The grip T had on his arm loosened. The low sound of the gunship vibrated through his chest. “Just hold on. T?” He was losing him. T was slipping away right in front of his eyes, like the warm blood seeping through his fingers. “Don’t die on me, man! T? Teddy? Please.”
Vacant eyes stared up at him, not seeing him or hearing his pleas. T’s mouth was still, like the rest of him, but he heard Teddy’s voice in his mind, calling him.
“Matt!”
He jerked awake, breathing hard, sweat pouring from the heat of a jungle mission.
“Matt?”
A soft hand covered his. He was on his back, his right hand clenching the sheet, his left squeezing something soft and warm.
It took a few deep breaths to clear the memories, like blowing away black smoke.
Abby. His fingers pressed hard into her leg, slung over his hip. Shit. Unable to speak, he rubbed her thigh, praying he hadn’t hurt her. He took a second to catalog his surroundings. It was morning. The silver light of dawn seeped through the curtains. Abby’s body, soft and warm, was against his.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t hurt me.” She slid her cool fingers up his neck and back down. “Bad dream?”
“Yeah.” He pulled Abby closer, rubbing her back, loving the feel of her skin under his palm. She pressed a kiss to his chest and squeezed him tighter so that he felt the fullness of her breast. Her strawberry scented hair tucked further into his shoulder, and the sickness left by the dream faded.
This was what she did for him. Only her. Only Abby. Filling something in him to the point it crowded out the dark.
She angled her head to see his eyes. “Who’s Teddy?”
Stroking her arm to comfort himself, he took a deep breath and let it out. “A teammate. A friend. He died on an op almost two years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, smoothing the lines of pain with her touch. “Is that why it’s complicated?”
That was exactly why. His friend had wanted to do one thing in life and hadn’t understood Matt not feeling the same. Before Matt had even had a chance to figure out what he was looking for, Teddy had died and he’d closed off all possibilities of ever finding it.
Now he’d found her, she lay right here in his arms, and the strength of his love threatened to rip his heart apart. He was caught, stuck, between two places. And the last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her.
They lay like that for a long time and he recalled hours earlier when he’d been inside her. The look in her eyes when he’d said he loved her…like he’d just handed her a grenade and pulled the pin. So afraid and uncertain, almost hurt, like there was no way he could mean it.