“Where’s the fun in that?” Maddy offered.
It struck him just how much Maddy knew about him. How much she knewhim. He’d let her in. He’d let her get close. Too close. And in doing so, he’d let himself fall. Just a little. Or maybe a lot? He wasn’t sure. What hewassure of was that he had to stop the downward trajectory now, before it was too late.
“That’s ourTeammotto,” he told her. “The SEAL motto is something different.”
“So then what do the SEALs say?”
“The only easy day was yesterday,” he told her.
“Hooyah,” Mason said, shouldering his weapon and quartering the area in front of them, preparing to make a move.
When Bran looked back at Maddy, she jerked her chin in a quick, businesslike fashion. She was ready to jump into the fray without a second thought.
God help me. She’s too brave by half.
“Hold up, Mason,” he said, setting his M4 aside and grabbing the hem of his tank top. Since the last time he’d seen Maddy, he’d entertained about two thousand fantasies surrounding the events that might lead to him taking his clothes off for her. But nothing he imagined had been anything like this.
Chapter 9
7:43 p.m.…
“I’m sorry,” Maddy whispered when Bran whipped off his tank top and started wrapping it around her head. “What’s happenin’ right now?”
“Your hair is gonna get us killed,” he said. His broad chest with its smattering of crinkly dark hair was an inch from her nose. She was absolutely drowning in his scent. And the silver piece of eight caught her eye where it lay between his flexing pectoral muscles, glinting in the moonlight.
H-h-holy mackerel, he was hotter than a two-dollar pistol. Literally and figuratively. He radiated heat like a blast furnace. And he was straight-up, panties-on-the-floor, legs-in-the-air, have-at-me-big-boy sssssmokin’ sexy.
Considering she was dealing with wildly celebrating hormones and fifty shades of scrambled gray matter, it was amazing she had the wherewithal to come up with the super articulate reply of “Huh?”
“I said your hair is gonna get us all killed.”
Uh-huh. So shehadheard him correctly the first time. Unfortunately, the second time wasnota charm. His words still didn’t make a lick of sense.
“How in God’s name is myhairgoin’ to get us killed?” she whispered as he continued to fashion a makeshift turban. “I mean, my brothers told me it was a crime against coiffures, but surely it hasn’t crossed the line into bein’ fatal.”
Bran stopped what he was doing to glance down at her. “I like your hair,” he said simply. No artifice. “But it’s too bright,” he told her, getting back to the business of tucking a piece of the damp fabric above her left ear. “It shines like a candle against the night. We don’t need it drawing unwanted attention.”
She was only listening with half an ear. Why, you ask? Well, because his nipple was suddenly right…frickin’…there.Staring at her. Daring her. She blew out a ragged breath and watched, fascinated, as the flat brown disk furled tight around the little bud in the center, making it poke up proudly.
Bran sucked in a startled breath. Then he pulled away, checking his handiwork andnotmeeting her eyes.
Aha!She felt like pointing a finger at his nose.And you think we’re just pen pals?
“We’ve gotten rusty,” Mason mumbled, looking over his shoulder and giving Maddy the once-over. “We should’ve thought of that before we left the ranger’s station.”
“I know.” Bran frowned. Then he shook his head and picked up his big, deadly gun, checking something on the side before tugging the strap over his shoulder. “You ready?” he asked her, finally meeting her eyes. To her great annoyance, his face didn’t show an ounce of the excitement and hunger that had passed between them ten seconds ago. He did, however, wince and make a grab for his wounded thigh.
“Question is,” she said, “are you?”
“I’m fine.”
She flayed him with a look.
“It just twinges every once in a while,” he assured her. “Now, we’re gonna head toward that southwest corner. And we’re gonna do it double time. You gotta stay close.” Staying close to Bran had never been a problem. “This is where things could get hairy.” She liked hair, especially the smattering across Bran’s chest. “We’ll be totally exposed ’til we reach the moat.”Exposed? Have I mentioned that Bran is now shirtless?
“I understand.” She nodded, the weight of her improvised turban making the move feel awkward. As for the weight of the task ahead of them? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but it didn’t get any more real than this. And if they were about to drown in a dark tunnel or get filled full of lead once they managed to make it inside the fort, she had one final point to make.
“But before we go,” she whispered, stopping Bran with a hand on his forearm, “there’s somethin’ I need to do.”
