Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (2 page)

Straighten up.
I’ve been fine on my own for years
. She and her daughter Gabriella would
make a life here in San
Diego, regardless. She loved
working for Base Command. She’d make friends and a new home for herself and
Gabbs.

The door swung open,
and her breath stalled before reaching her lungs. The thump of her beating
pulse choked the back of her throat. Tony entere
d
first and held the door for Mace. He gave her a short nod and a sharp glance
from beneath his brows. Mace followed him under his own power. White knuckles
gripped the handle of a cane as he leaned on it heavily, but he was walking.

“Hey Nina,” Tony greet
ed. Tony “Tinman” Bale was Alpha Squad’s Lead Breacher.
Like Mace, he was single and a handsome man. She and Tony had gotten to know
each other in the last three weeks. At first, she’d thought he was a pain in
the ass, always calling her and coming around,
until
she realized he was as worried about his friend as she was. Mace and Tinman
were like bookends. Find one, and the other wasn’t far away. She couldn’t help
but wonder whether or not they had played with a woman together. She hadn’t
asked because the
thought of Mace with another woman
rankled.

Mace and Tony had been
swim buddies in BUD/s, and they’d both been assigned to Alpha Squad.
At least for now.
The life of a SEAL took a crooked path
through their careers. They’d do time with teams on both coasts
, and assignments as instructors.
Training, workups, and deployments.
Repeat. From the first moment she
stepped foot on the base she’d been sucking everything in like a sponge.

The U.S. Navy wasn’t
all that different from the Canadian Navy, they just had m
ore. Canada had a small, elite team called JTF2 (Joint Task
Force) whereas the U.S. had the SEALs and other specialized warfare groups.
They watched each other’s backs and stuck together like family.

She let her breath out
slowly when Mace’s gaze stalled o
n her.
No
strategist makes a move until she can see three moves ahead
, Kayla had always taught her. Keep it
light, friendly. “Hey, Mace, it’s good to see you home,” she said breezily.

He looked at Tinman
and then the floor. She couldn’t imagine what he was
thinking; his warrior face was cemented on. “It smells good in here,” he said,
his gaze softening when he lifted it to look at her again.

Her insides trembled.
It only happened with Mace, and she knew that had to mean something. Either she
was about to ge
t ditched by the only guy that made
her crazy or….

“That’s because you
haven’t been living here for a few months,” Tinman said, raising a brow at his
bud.

“I’m talking about
food, asshole.” He shifted his hips, exchanging the weight to the other foot.

“I t
hought I’d make dinner for your homecoming.” She took a
brave step, and he kept his gaze pinned on her. “You must be sick of hospital
food.”

“I am kinda hungry.”

Tinman began backing
toward the door. “Well, I’ve gotta…”

“No,” both she and
Mace said at the
same time.
Oh
God, that was embarrassing.

Tinman’s hands settled
on his hips, and a grin formed on his lips. “Ya want a baby sitter or what?” he
taunted.

Mace offered up a sour
look. “Funny.”

“I’ll leave ya with
the sexy Nurse Hatchet here. I’ll come by to
morrow to
take you to physio.” He dropped Mace’s sea bag on the floor, slapped him on the
back and winked at her. “See ya round, kids.”

“What’s the hurry?”
Mace fired back.

As Tony drew back, he
said, “She’s blonde and has great hips. Catch ya later.”

The
proverbial pin dropped with Tony closing the door. Their
limited, but passionate past hovered like an elephant in the room, sniffing at
an unknown future like a stale peanut. She was about to say, do you need to sit
down, but that was wrong. Inferring he w
as weak was
definitely wrong. She swung a look at the timer on the oven. “Dinner will be
ready in twenty minutes. You’ve got time for a shower if you want.” Suddenly
she had globs of glue flowing through her tight veins.

“Any
word about Kayla?”

She chewed
the inside of her cheek,
then
shook her head. “I haven’t seen Captain
Austen. He only talks to Captain Redding, and no one wants to talk to Redding
these days. He’s being a real bear.”

Mace nodded, his eyes
doing a quick once over his apartment. “You haven
’t
changed anything.”

She drew her arms
behind her back, and clutched her hands together. “No. I mean it’s your place.
I’m just a prisoner here.”
Damn it, this wasn’t going well at all.
Mace was probably just too kind to say
get the hell out.

“I can bunk w
ith Tinman.”

Her stomach did a
belly flop. It hurt like hell when she hit the bottom of the waterless pool.
Guess that was her ‘go’ signal to get out. She cleared her throat and said, “I
have my things packed. I’ll be outta here soon.” She wouldn’t bother
setting a second plate for dinner. Tonight she could find a
cheap motel, and then start looking for a place tomorrow. She’d already circled
a couple in the paper somehow knowing it wasn’t going to work with both of them
staying here.

“Come here, Nina,” he
said in a commanding voice. Although Mace was known as the
humanitarian of the team, he was an alpha like all the rest, and when he showed
it, her heart quickened.

The order put her long
legs in motion, although she did it cautiously. His gaze skittered do
wn her body, and back up again. The gauge burst and her
blood temperature rose by fifty degrees. Stopping with no more than six inches
between them, she concentrated on not flinging her arms around him. She wanted
him to smell her. He told her several time
s, he loved
how she smelled. It was only soap; she hated wearing perfume. An hour ago,
she’d slathered herself with the brown sugar and vanilla bar in the shower.
Where was her Mace, the one full of fire and sensual brimstone? His left hand
rose and slid a
round the back of her neck. A moan
crawled up her throat and she cleared it to speak. “I get it, Mace. I mean we
barely knew each other before the mission. You have to concentrate on getting
back into fighting form, just promise me you’ll call me if you ne
ed anything, I—”

“I’m sorry, Nina. I’m
sorry for what I said to you in Berlin. I’m sorry for being an ass.”

She began to shake her
head, but he stopped her by gently squeezing her neck. “Let me say what I need
to say before those beautiful lips start
talking a
mile a minute again.”

She bit her upper lip
and nodded.

“I’ve got a long way
to go before I can return to combat duty.” His expression flickered with doubt.
“Lying flat on my back for three weeks gave me a lot of time to think, and I
thought abou
t you. True, we only had a few days
together before I left, but they were the most intense days I’ve ever had in my
life. I can’t forget them, and I can’t forget you. Being around you, I still
feel the heat, I just can’t…” He paused, and his gaze darted aw
ay. “I can’t show it. I might never be able to show it.”

“Mace—” With just his
eyes he made her stop.

“Nina, you are the
most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. It’s like being in my own private hell
not able to walk in this door, bind your hands, and make l
ove to you until you’re screaming my name. I can’t ask you
to wait.”

She nudged her body
against his. Would she stop even if he asked her to? Her fingers walked up his
chest and wrapped around his neck.
Now
or never, Nina
.
She kissed the edge of his mouth.
His bottom lip disappeared, drawn away by the scraping of
his teeth. She chased it, and drew it from distress, desire bowling over every
stop sign in her way. He hesitated for a second. The beat of her heart ceased
until she sensed a crack in his resolve,
then he
kissed her like he did the first time on the beach, and every kiss after that,
taking her pulse from full stop to engine-bursting limits. Pulling away, but
not far enough that he couldn’t kiss her again if he wanted to, she said,
“Petty Officer Ca
llahan, you will return to combat
duty, and you will make me scream again. It won’t be today or even tomorrow,
but I know you won’t give up trying, and I won’t give up—period.”

He knotted her hair in
his fingers, gently tugging her mouth to his. “I’m so so
rry, baby. I’m screwed up. I’m fucking angry, and I don’t want to take it
out on you.”

“No,” she shook her
head. “I’ll give you all the space you need. I’ll leave if you want me to.”

Mace swallowed and his
eyes filled with regret. She had to be prepared fo
r
this, and more moments like this.

“I can’t let you
leave. It’s not safe. I’d go insane if something happened to you.”

She slowly slid her
cheek against his five o’clock shadow. “Then protect me.” A challenge, one he
might accept because it was the first
step toward his
recovery and the prime mandate of any warrior. Mind first, then his body. Both
needed to find confidence again, and she had no doubt he would. The heat
pooling in her belly squirmed to be given attention. “Remember at the ranch
when we show
ered together?”

He shook his head.
“No, Nina. You don’t understand.”

“You need my help.
Your bathroom sucks. Until you’re steady on your feet, you’re stuck with me.”

“I can manage.” A
small smile twitched on the edge of his lips. “I’ll take a shower and th
en we’ll eat.”

She twisted the button
on his cammi jacket until it gave way, and then the next, slow but determined.
With a shove of her hands, she removed it, giving him a little stability when
he had to let go of the cane. His chest expanded with a deep
inhale when her hand traced the muscles to his abdomen.
“Dinner for two then,” she whispered on his lips as her finger wandered down to
the button on his pants.

He swept an unruly red
wisp of hair from her cheek. “I hope with all that’s holy I can be the m
an I was before the mission.”

She shook her head.
“Mace, you
are
the same man.” She curled her arm
around his waist. “Follow Nurse Hatchet, SEAL.”

Mace breathed out a
loud gust of air. “Please, God,” he said, more to himself. “Make me whole
again.”

Nina se
t the table while Mace showered. Folding two napkins and
tucking them under each fork she remembered the laundry was still in the
bedroom. Filling her arms with towels, she opened the bathroom door. “Mace—”

His palms were pinned
against the shower wall. Th
e water splashed down his
strong body, magnifying the hollows and swells of his strength. Her breath
stuck in her throat seeing the angry wounds. Two long gashes had been stitched
down his right thigh, and several across the top of his buttocks. Whatever d
id this to him had caused severe damage to his hips and
groin area.

She didn’t know what
to do. Was he having a problem standing, but too prideful to ask for help?
Endurance was not a strong suit for him until his ligaments and muscles healed.

He crooked h
is head at her. “I’m all right.”

His brilliant eyes
stared at her filled with restraint and pain. She dropped the towels on the
counter and stripped down quickly. Watching him in agony was agony for her.

“Nina,
Jesus, woman.”
His gaze started at her feet a
nd climbed her body,
stalling on her breasts. “I can’t.” His head dropped back, and he clamped his
eyes shut in frustration as the droplets rained down his face.

“I’m not suggesting
that. I just—want to feel you next to me. I need to know all of you came h
ome, and if not I’ll remind you that you are home.”