Page 45 of Her Captivated Hero

Riya untangled her right arm and got it into the sleeve of her pink shirt, and pulled it down so it covered her booty. Grabbing the handrail, she pounced down the stairs. She could do that, she was holding the rail after all.

* * *

Be smart.

Go home.

Go to bed.

Be smart.

He should never have texted Riya. What was he thinking? He was exhausted. He needed sleep. Desperately. But he needed to see Riya. He needed to touch her. Feel her warm and vibrant skin beneath his fingers, feel her warm breath against his lips. To see her eyes filled with light and laughter. It wasn’t a want, it was a deep and compelling desire.

Gray relived those last few hours when he and his men were in Bahrain. As soon as they crossed the border, they’d been met by members of the Fifth Fleet. He and his men had watched as Chantelle Briggs and Emily Hoag were taken from their care and put on a helicopter. Then Gray and the rest of his team went back to NSA Bahrain, and were separated. Gray went to go meet with the commanding officer, while his men went to go get something to eat.

Captain Reese was a smart man who had received the video from Dex showing Acting Commander Harry Morris in action. Reese was also wise enough to realize that it was more than likely someone connected with Black Dawn had arranged for Acting Commander Dumbass to have papers transferring him to Libya.

“Morris is on his way back here,” Reese said with a steely glint in his eye. “I would have taken care of him on my own after receiving the video. I didn’t appreciate you sending him around the world.”

“Noted,” Gray agreed. There was no way he was going to throw Wyatt under the bus for having done this. Actually it showed some initiative on the kid’s part. But still Gray needed to teach him some discretion.

“Now that that’s out of the way, I want to tell you I’m impressed with you and your team. You knocked it out of the park. But who are we kidding, that doesn’t mean shit. You’ve impressed Baker, that’s who really matters. Plus, your plan didn’t kill him. Which I sincerely appreciate.”

“How is he?” Gray asked. He’d only gotten the one report that the former SEAL was fine after the crash that had sent him over the bridge.

“He ended up with a couple of broken ribs. Of course he reported for duty the next day.”

Any SEAL would have done the same thing.

“Any word on the women?” Gray asked.

“They were only airlifted to the hospital two hours ago, Lieutenant,” Captain Reese sighed. “I asked my assistant to interrupt us with any news about their status. They were taken to the same hospital used by the Prince of Bahrain. It has the best facilities in the country.”

“Are their families going to meet them?”

“Emily Hoag’s mother is coming in from Oman, the Ambassador can’t make it. It’s my understanding that Ms. Brigg’s estranged from most of her family, but a cousin is coming from Canada. The doctors have some concerns about both the women, for different reasons.”

Gray knew exactly what he was talking about. “I want to be kept informed, even when I return to the states.”

Reese gave him a considering look, then nodded. “You and your men did a damn good job. I hate the fact that one of mine got in our way.”

Gray really didn’t need to know why Harry Morris had been put in an acting commander position. It wasn’t his business. But what was his business, is that he not be in a position to harm anyone in the future. He put men’s lives at risk.

“Captain, with all due respect—” Gray began.

Reese cut him off. “I’m not going to go into a long drawn-out explanation,” Reese said. “What I will tell you, is that Morris will never be in a position to put another man or team in harm’s way. You have my word on that.” Reese got up from behind his desk and held out his hand. Gray shook it.

“Your transport is already fueled up. Hopefully, we’ll have an update on both women before you leave.”

Gray caught up with his men as they were walking to the plane. Reese’s sandy-haired assistant came running across the tarmac to talk to them.

“What’s the news?” Gray demanded as all of his team gathered around the young man.

“Ms. Hoag isn’t speaking to anyone. The doctors say that she’ll be good to travel home to California in a couple of weeks with her mother.”

“What about the Ambassador?” Griff crossed his arms staring down the smaller man.

The petty officer didn’t flinch. “I was told that the Ambassador couldn’t leave his post at this time, and it would just be Emily and her mother leaving to go stateside.”