Under Fire (Elite Force #3)(59)
Author: Catherine Mann

His last chance.

Chapter 15

Half awake, half asleep, Rachel felt the mattress dip as Liam slid into bed behind her. She didn’t even question how she knew it was him. The air just, well, changed when he entered a room.

She rolled over in the split-rail bed and into his arms. Her bare legs tangled with his, since he wore just boxers and a T-shirt. The rain tapped hypnotically on the roof. Trees swayed and twined in a shadow show outside the window.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” He tugged the sheet up to their shoulders. The log cabin quilt was folded and draped along a cane rocker. His jeans were draped on top and she hadn’t even heard him get undressed.

Sliding closer, she fit her body to his and toyed with his dog tags. “Did you find out anything new?”

“There’s definitely data on the chip that has nothing to do with favorite phone numbers.” He stroked her hair back, then tucked his hand into the overlong T-shirt to cup her bare shoulder. “But it’s all in a code we’re not having any luck breaking.”

Relief sparked through her so intensely she squeezed her eyes closed. She hadn’t realized until now just how much she’d feared Brandon might be wrong. Although how crazy was it to be happy there was a traitor out there gunning for them? “So this nightmare is all too real.”

“I’m sure enough to be very careful that chip lands in the right hands.”

“Thank you. Oh God, thank you.” She rested her forehead on his chest, inhaling the familiar musky scent of him and letting it sweep away the fear she’d been carting around like an eighty-pound pack. Finally, she steadied her breathing enough to speak again. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Cuervo’s pulling a shift guarding out front. Sunny and Wade are sleeping on bedrolls in the living room. Brandon said he would watch over the dog-sitter in the spare room.”

She scooted up to sit against the log headboard. “Were you able to call in? Did you speak with Agent Cramer or Captain Bernard?”

“The storm kept us from getting a steady signal.”

So they were still on their own out here. But with more people aware of the situation, on board and believing, this wouldn’t get shuffled under a rug. Whoever was trying to sell those secrets would be caught.

All those instincts she’d honed working search and rescue missions were coming back to life and shouting for her to be on the lookout for unfinished business in this crazy mess.

And her business with Liam? They’d taken a huge step in sleeping together, but where did they go from here? How would they fit into each other’s everyday lives, when he’d screwed up commitment so often he was scared to go there again? And when she was starting to believe in the possibility of happily ever after for the first time since she’d lost Caden?

Liam shifted next to her again and then moved again. “Do you think we could fit any more dogs in this bed?”

Leaning forward, she shooed Disco and Fang to the floor. Their nails clicked against the hardwood until they settled on an oval braid rug at the foot of the bed.

She slumped back onto his chest. “Better?”

“Roomier.”

“Do you have a thing against dogs on the bed?”

“A double bed? Yes. A queen- or king-size? No problem at all.”

Wow, strange how important that one little question was to her. And even stranger to take hope from it, when they had such larger concerns waiting back in the real world.

“I can’t imagine life without my dogs. Everything feels… simpler when they’re with me. My PTSD patients tell their dog things they haven’t been able to share. And once the wall comes down…” She wasn’t sure how she would have made it through losing Caden without her own dog then. She’d been so alone, without her mother. “There are even therapy dogs in some schools to help children gain confidence in reading. Dogs don’t judge. Their attention—their love—is unconditional, no matter how crummy a past they’ve come from themselves.”

“Maybe I should have gotten a dog instead of getting married every other week.” His voice was hoarse, groggy even, as he toyed with her hair. “I could have saved myself a boatload in legal fees and divorce settlements.”

“Maybe you should have.”

“I was joking.”

“I’m not.” She looked up to meet his eyes, the steady beat of the rain on the roof echoing the sound of her racing heart.

“Helluva way to tell me Fang is my new dog.”

Again, he’d tried to deflect with humor, but she wasn’t so easily sidetracked. “I would never push a dog on anyone. A pet deserves to be welcomed and wanted unconditionally. So do people, for that matter.”

Dog nails clicked on the floor, tracking around to Liam’s side of the bed. Fang rested her chin on the mattress next to him. His hand rested on top of the pup’s head. “What’ll happen to her now?”

“I’ll find a good home for her,” she answered vaguely, trying to push down how much she wanted that home to be with Liam.

For Fang. Not for her. That would be too rushed, of course.

“You could keep her and train her.” His hand smoothed over the puppy’s knobby brown head.

So he didn’t want her to give the dog away, but he hadn’t stepped up to claim Fang for himself. What was holding him back from doing that now? And why was she so certain committing to the dog would be a big cosmic sign he was ready to settle down for real?

“It’s too soon to decide if she has the necessary traits for that kind of work.” She burrowed closer to his side. “Have you ever had a pet?”

“My dad was allergic. Then I was traveling too much…”

The hesitation in his voice made her ask, “But?”

“There was this one time, back when I was an Army Ranger in Afghanistan. A stray dog hung out around our compound. He was a brown mutt type, like a German shepherd with no markings other than one white paw, his left front one. We unofficially adopted him.”

All these years and he remembered exactly what the dog looked like. Rachel’s heart squeezed. “What was his name?”

“Rocky.” Lightning sparked, filling the room with light as he stroked Fang’s nose. “He was always there waiting for us on top of a rock pile, even warned us a couple of times of a land mine or approaching enemy. Until he didn’t…”

“Didn’t?”

“Animal control works differently over there… or rather not at all. The insurgents shot him.”