Page 18 of Monsters and Mocha

“Half a man.”

“Just as much as you would have been otherwise. Like I said, I took you the way you came.” She leaned back in her chair and looked down at her hands, blowing out a long breath. “Look, I’m sorry that I overstepped my bounds, and that I caused you pain. I should have at least tried to obtain consent.” She lifted her eyes again, staring him down resolutely. “But you’re alive now, and I can’t say that I regret that.”

He allowed the silence to stretch between them as he studied her. His position as a captain had made it necessary for him to learn to read body language quickly—the shaking of nerves or the steely twitch of a trigger finger could mean the difference between life or death on the battlefield. The woman before him was a mixture of contradictions. The stubborn, defiant set of her chin was at odds with the way her hands were clasped nervously in her lap. Her eyes never strayed from his, but he could see guilt and vulnerability in the slight slant of her shoulders, and the crease of worry that had never fully left her forehead.

She made a hard choice, and she’s sticking to it. I suppose I can’t blame her; I’d probably do something just as drastic myself if it were one of my men. She acted out of a place of care, even if it might have been misplaced.

Well, what’s done is done. There’s nothing to do about it now.

“You might regret it,” he said finally, breaking the silence. “Because now that you’ve saddled me with all this equipment, you have to teach me how to use it, and I’m much more used to giving orders than taking them.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FITZ

“Alright, Captain,” Darby greeted him as she burst through the workshop door. “Today is the day—er, night.” She shrugged out of her blue medical jacket and hung it neatly on the clothing rack.

Fitz looked up at her from the cot that had been his home for the last two days. Other than the few times her friend Henry had come down to help him with his private business, he had laid in the same position, alternating between sleeping and staring up at the same spot on the ceiling for hours. The crow had been allowed to come and go again, as Darby had apparently deemed him trustworthy enough to return, but he seemed to regard Fitz as some sort of interloper. Despite his best attempts at getting the bird to speak, Raven remained silent.

After spending most of his life constantly surrounded by his comrades-in-arms, his existence had become incredibly lonely.

“Today’s the day for what?”

“You’re going to go for a walk.” Darby grabbed a pair of brown coveralls and ducked behind a screen Henry had brought down to allow him some semblance of privacy. “I need to make sure that the calibrations on your limbs are correct, and you need to start moving again if you’re going to heal.”

“Isn’t it a little soon for that?”

Darby stepped out from behind the screen, pulling her red hair back and tying it off at the crown of her head. It swished behind her as she moved, the effect rather like that of a horse’s tail. The straight lines of her coveralls emphasized her long legs and broad shoulders, and he was struck by just how much strength she hid under her normal uniform. She didn’t have the delicate, sweet beauty that was all the rage in fashionable circles, but she moved with an ease and confidence that was mesmerizing.

“The sooner, the better, actually,” she answered. “Studies show that the earlier you can get a patient moving after major surgery, the more successful their recovery.”

He frowned. “Maybe I should stay here, then.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” She stood beside his bed looking down at him, her hands on her hips and her legs akimbo. “You’ve got too much left to offer to have that attitude.”

“Like what?”

“A really winning personality, for one,” she answered dryly. “But also a good heart and a head for leadership.”

He tried to cross his arms, but settled for rolling his eyes instead. “You don’t even know me.”

She held up a hand and began ticking off her fingers. “I know that you’re in this position because you valued your men more than your own life. I know that you’ve proved yourself worthy of a captain’s rank, which means you must have at least some leadership qualities. In a time of war, I would also imagine that means you’re able to think tactically and strategize. Merry told me he just enlisted, which means he hadn’t known you for long before this all happened, and yet he was moved to tears when he thought you were dying. You don’t earn that kind of devotion that quickly without doing something right. And, lastly, Raven hasn’t tried to steal your screws yet, which means he must find you at least passable. He’s a very good judge of character.”

“Good Raven,” the bird in question piped in from his position on the edge of one of the bookshelves.

“He’s a bird.”

“With very good instincts.” Darby knelt beside him, bringing her within arm’s distance. This close, he could see every freckle that dotted her face like a constellation of stars. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to grow every time he saw her, but the green pools themselves were alight with warmth and good humor. “Come on, Captain. It’s time to get up. Don’t make me use a kiss of true love to wake you, like they do in the fairy tales.”

His eyes dropped to her lips, which were spread in a teasing grin. For a brief moment, he wondered what it would be like to have her kiss him. Would it be as fiery and passionate as the stubborn temper he had seen glimpses of? Or as controlled and exact as her surgeon’s training?

My head must have also been injured in the attack. I can’t think about kissing women I barely know.

She was looking at him expectantly, and he cleared his throat. “You can just call me Fitz. If anyone is the captain here, it seems to be you.”

Her smile broadened. “Alright then, Fitz. I’m going to put a hand behind your shoulders to help you sit up, okay? Let me know if you have any chest pain, or if you start to feel light-headed.”

Darby’s arm slipped around him, bringing her head close to his own. Her soft hair brushed against his cheek, and when he inhaled, he could smell the chocolate and coffee that she seemed to consume like a plant needing sunshine.