Talia lying was on her stomach with her head turned to the side. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t moving. A bullet had pierced her back, just above her left shoulder blade. As he continued with the visual triage, Jagger found another wound lower, in the fleshy part of her right thigh.
Ah, baby.
With the start of the sunrise barely trickling its golden light above the horizon, he could easily make out the dark crimson red of the blood on her hands and wrists. It was also soaked in the material surrounding both of her gunshot wounds.
Please, please, don’t take her!
Jagger felt himself growing pale from the possibility that they hadn’t gotten here in time. The bile from before returned with a vengeance, and he could taste its sour presence on his tongue. But he swallowed it back and pushed his fear of losing her aside to do what he’d been trained to do.
Unable to visibly confirm she was breathing, he reached a trembling hand toward the exposed side of her neck. For one of the most terrifying moments of his life, he didn’t feel evidence that her heart was still beating. But then...
There!
“She’s still alive!” he shouted with excitement. “Her pulse is weak and thready, but it’s definitely there!” Jagger leanedforward and put the side of his face to her back. “And she’s breathing!”
Given the circumstances, a heartbeat and working lungs were the best things they could hope for. And for now, Talia had both.
“Help me roll her over,” he ordered anyone willing to help.
While Jagger cradled her head, Ryker bent down next to her upper body while Cade took her hips and legs.
“On three,” he commanded.
He counted down and the men worked together to carefully roll the injured woman over and onto her back. They gently eased Talia onto her back.
“I’ve got her from here.” Jagger nudged Ryker and Cade out of the way so he could bend down and scoop her into his arms.
Relying on the strength of his hamstrings, he stood back up into a standing position. Jagger started running as fast as he could while trying like hell to keep from causing her further pain or distress.
The entire way to meet the others, he and the two men with him were dead silent. Each had become lost in their thoughts about a woman who’d come to mean a very great deal to them all.
Talia wasn’t just the team’s Homeland handler. She was Jagger’s lover. His recent partner. And God willing, his future.
“Keep fighting for us, Talia.” Jagger spoke to her though he wasn’t sure she could hear. “You’ve come too far to give up. And I’ve got plans for us.” He swallowed against a cracking voice. “Big plans, so you can’t quit on me now.”
“She won’t,” Ryker reassured him as he ran by Jagger’s side. “Trust me, it’s not in the woman’s DNA to quit.”
A few long minutes later, headlights from Liam’s rental and the two SUVs shone brightly in the distance. Engines roaredas the three vehicles raced toward them, covering the road’s pavement in record time.
The sound of tires squealing to a stop echoed loudly through the early-morning air. Liam jumped out of his car, which he’d left in the middle of the road, and ran around the back bumper so he could open the back passenger door for Jagger.
“Lay her back here,” he suggested.
Jagger did one better. After carefully laying Talia’s limp form on the cushioned back seat, he ran around to the other side. Sliding his lower body beneath her, he held her shoulders and head in his lap.
Ryker rushed to get into the SUV behind them while Cade jumped into the front passenger seat of Liam’s car. The last of the doors slammed shut, and they were finally ready to leave.
“Go!” Jagger shouted at Liam, who was already back behind the wheel.
They sped away from the colonial-era building as fast as they could to get Talia the medical attention she needed. As they sped down the rural highway, leaving Julian Miller and his goon’s dead bodies behind, Jagger’s only thoughts were on the woman in his arms.
“You’re safe now, darlin’,” he whispered before leaning down and pressing his lips to her chilled temple. “You’re safe, and I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Natalia woke to a dull,aching pain in her shoulder and leg. Everything seemed to hurt, actually. But those spots were the worst of it by far.
A steady beeping reached her ears, and the scent of antiseptic instantly filled her nose. The air was chilled, and before she even opened her eyes, Talia knew she was lying in a bed.
There was a pillow. Blankets. And something warm and heavy pressing gently against the side of her left thigh.
