LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

picked up by Medevac?” Part of him wanted to get back to the FOB; the larger part of him didn’t. Mike found her lifestyle fascinating. And he knew Khat put herself on the line. Taliban were all over these mountains like fleas on a dog. She had to be careful where she rode so she wasn’t seen or discovered.

      Khat stood and put everything back into her medical pack and closed it up. “Shortly. I took a chance you’d be improved today.” She hauled the ruck to the wall and then pushed some tendrils of hair off her cheek. “One is scheduled in at 0100 this morning.” She glanced at her Rolex. “It’s 2200 now. I’ve got time to change, eat and get the horses ready. It’s going to take us an hour to ride down a steep goat trail to reach the valley below.” She saw his face light up, and she smiled a little. “Then you can be with your own kind once again. I imagine everyone on your team is looking forward to seeing you back in the fold.”

      Mike sat there watching the shadows across her face. “I’m going to miss you.” That wasn’t a lie. He saw her cheeks grow pink as she walked to her kitchen hole and brought out the grate and a magnesium tab.

      “You’ll be happier back at Camp Bravo, Mike. This kind of life isn’t for a SEAL.” She brought out the teakettle and set it on the grate. Khat would miss him, too, but she bit back the comment.

      Rubbing his beard, Mike growled, “I’ll worry about you.”

      She made a sound in her throat. “I’ve been out here for five years, and very few people know I’m here. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She was touched by his gruff reply and sincere concern. She rocked back on her heels, watching the magnesium tab begin to heat the water.

      Scowling, Mike said, “Don’t you get lonely out here?” She was young, beautiful and he couldn’t imagine this kind of isolation for a woman her age.

      “No.”

      “If you took a packhorse with you this morning, you must have gone somewhere to render medical aid. To a village, maybe?”

      Khat grinned at him. “I’m going to miss all your observations and trying to put them together to figure out who I am.” She saw his eyes narrow upon her and once more, her heart started a slow pound. Her gaze fell to his hand resting on his knee. Beautiful hands for a man. If only... And Khat gently tucked those thoughts away. She was damaged goods. Her parents had been shocked by what had happened to her. Her angry, upset father had said no man would ever consider her wifely material.

      Khat brought the two mugs down and placed the Darjeeling tea bag into each.

      “Have you saved other men like you saved me?”

      “Yes. But not often.”

      “Was I the heaviest?” He grinned.

      Khat laughed softly. “Yes, you were.”

      “Were they SEALs?”

      “One was. The other was a Marine Force Recon sniper.”

      “And you got them out of here like you’re going to get me out? By horseback?”

      “Yes.” Khat poured the boiling water into the cups. Placing them on the tray, she stood and brought down her box of shortbread cookies. “Different locations, but the same scenario. They were wounded, too.”

      “Did they make it?”

      Khat placed the cookies on the tray and then closed the box, taking it back to the hole in the wall. “Yes.”

      Mike watched her bring the tray over. She set it on his right side and knelt down on the other side of it. Picking up the spoon, she placed the sugar into his cup and stirred it for him.

      “I don’t want to lose touch with you, Khat.” Mike held her startled gaze as he picked up the mug.

      “That can’t be.”

      “Why not?” He watched her expression over the rim of his mug. For a moment, Mike swore she wanted to keep their connection, but then decided against it.

      “I have all the help I need.” Her heart was doing funny things in her chest. He had seen her naked beneath the waterfall. That realization alone had shocked her. But Mike had treated her with nothing but respect. He didn’t try to grope her or speak in sexual innuendos to her.

      There was a reflective look in his gold-brown eyes now as he considered her answer. She watched his lips curve around the mug’s rim, and she felt a sudden, white-hot heat stab through her lower body. Surprised, she hid her reaction. No man had ever affected her like he did. All they were doing was drinking a cup of tea together!

      “Well,” Mike said gruffly, “out here, you can never have enough. Bravo is roughly twenty-five miles from here.”

      Giving him a sad look, Khat whispered, “I know your heart is in the right place, Mike, but we don’t operate the same way.”

      He grimaced. Yeah, he got that. The black ops food chain had a lot of levels. And she was somewhere unreachable, far above him. “Still,” he said patiently, “I’d feel better if you’d take my platoon’s sat phone number. If things happen, we might be the QRF you need.”

      “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?” Her lips twitched with amusement. He was endearing with his stubborn protectiveness, and it made Khat feel good. No one else ever cared that she was out here, operating on her own, an American surrounded by enemy Taliban every day.

      “You’re alone out here,” he said in a low tone. “I’ve got five rotations under my belt in this area, and I know it crawls with Taliban. You might someday find yourself in a situation. And if your handler, or whoever he is, can’t cut loose the air or ground assets you need, you might find us an alternative. That’s all.”

      “There’s no harm in taking your platoon’s number.” So much of her wanted to remain in contact with Mike. The past five years had been some of the loneliest times in her life. Khat knew he was drawn to her; he’d made no bones about that from the beginning. A man didn’t ask the questions he did if he wasn’t interested in a woman. She knew he’d remember everything she’d said, trying to put the pieces together on her operator status. Khat hoped she hadn’t given him a direct line into her black ops mission. She could see that strong willed look in his darkening eyes that he was damn well going to turn over everything he knew about her in order to find out who she really was, what she did and who she worked for.

      Khat seriously doubted, though, that Mike would ever uncover her status.

      “Good,” Mike said, relieved. Khat was contemplative, her eyes half-closed, those green tourmaline eyes shadowed beneath her thick red lashes. She was torn between saying nothing and divulging more to him. He could feel it. And dammit, he was going to research her when he got back to Bravo, no question.

      He had some contacts in the black ops community. His good friend, Gabe Griffin, who had just left the SEALs to marry Bay Thorn, had been in this area. Maybe he knew something about Khat. Mike was sure as hell going to find out from his best friend. If he tried to go up the black ops food chain, they’d stonewall him. No, he’d have to search among the SEALs at Bagram and J-bad, nose around to find out if they’d seen her or knew anything about her. And he wasn’t the type that let something go until he got the answers he was seeking.

      “When we leave, I’m going to let you ride Zorah, my packhorse. I have only one saddle, and I want you to have it. I don’t think your balance is all that good yet, and I don’t need you to fall off.”

      “Good planning,” he said drily. “Last time I threw a leg over a horse was just before I left to join the SEALs.”

      “I’ll ride bareback.” Khat gestured to her legs. “I’ve got thighs of steel from being in the saddle so much.”

      The words, you have the most beautiful legs I’ve ever seen, almost tore out of Mike’s mouth. She’d take it the wrong way, of course, and he wanted to leave their relationship, as thin as it was, intact between them.

      “That’s

Скачать книгу