Page 17 of Down and Dirty

“I cannot move,” she admitted. “My knees and elbows have locked.”

“Oh, baby.”

“Why dost thou refer to me as baby? I am no baby.”

“It’s an endearment, like darling, or sweetheart, or hot stuff.”

“That is ridiculous.” She put a hand to her forehead. “I am not hot.”

Wanna bet? While she was pondering how ridiculous he was, he put his right arm around her waist and arranged her left arm over his shoulder so that her body weight was leaning on him.

“Whaaaat?” she screeched trying to escape his hold.

“I’d pick you up and carry you, but someone in the command center might notice. Then both our asses would be in a sling.”

“I have not the strength to fight you now or ask how two of our arses could be put in a sling, but this is all your fault.”

“You said that before. How do you figure?”

“When I stood on that cliff with Sister Margaret, drinking her famous mead—”

“Margaret’s mead.” He hooted with laughter.

She flashed him a scowl of annoyance for his interruption. “—I intended only to fake my death, not to swish through time. Not that I believe I have actually time-traveled.”

“So how is this my fault?”

“I was content with my life afore you meddled.”

“Meddled?”

“Yea, you came sniffing at my woman’s fleece with sweet words and stolen kisses, tempting me.”

His grin was full-blown now. “My nose was nowhere near your… woman’s fleece. Believe me, I would have remembered that. And, oh, baby, did you say I tempted you? Whooee!”

“Have a caution, rogue. Continue to make mock of me, and you may find my boot planted betwixt your thighs.”

He glanced down at his crotch. “I love it when you talk sexy to me.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Back to that temptation business…?”

“You started a fire in my loins… ”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. First woman’s fleece, and now there was a fire, and I didn’t know about it.”

“The fire did not ignite till you were gone.”

“Isn’t that always the case?”

“After you, your comrades-in-arms, and Hilda left The Sanctuary, I was no longer satisfied with life there. I made the mistake of trying to live a normal life outside the walls.”

While she talked, he led her, limping, toward the building on the other side of the grinder. It was closer than taking her to the women’s quarters or the chow hall. “This is the strength training and rehab facility,” he explained, turning the knob, then kicking the door open before easing her inside and propping her against the wall. “Get lost, Peterson,” he ordered the young newbie SEAL who was lifting free weights.

Surprised, Peterson dropped the weights to the padded floor and said, “Yes, Lieutenant Floyd, sir,” before scurrying away.

Zach locked the door after him, then turned to her. “We only have an hour at most before someone comes banging on that door. Can you take your clothes off yourself, or should I do it for you?” Please, God, let one good thing happen today.