Mission Made For Two (14 page)

“Trying
not
to pass out,” she said, her words were slightly slurred. 

If he could get the bleeding under control, she’d feel
b
etter. Hell, he’d feel better. 

T
he compliant weight of her body
ticked
him off.  She was too full of piss and vinegar to be laying here limp.  She was a fighter
.  He’d known it was a bad idea for her to be involved
.

He wrapped gauze around her middle and pulled it as tight as he could.  Sierra didn’t move.  A moment of panic hit him and he leaned in close to her mouth. Her warm breath stroked his cheek. She was alive, but she’d obviously finally given in and passed out.

Instead of laying Sierra down immediately, Jake
gave into his need to hold her and cradled her head against his shoulder.

Tears actually stun
g the back of his eyes.  He swore viciously.
  He was definitely losing it.  He kissed her forehead and laid her back on the seat.  He needed to get them to safety
where he could take care of her
better
.
  

~***~

Sierra opened her eyes, feeling weaker than a newborn colt.  Where was she?
  The light from a lamp beside her made her squint.

W
hy did her
side burn like someone was poking her with a hot iron
?

Memories rushed into her consciousness
of being hauled onto Jake’s boat.  Everything else was a blur
. 
Jake came into view over her.
  He looked stern and serious
in the harsh light
. 

She tried to sit up. 

“Don’t even think about it,” he growled
,
pushed her back
f
lat
and knelt beside her.

She attempted a s
mile.  “
Your
beside manner suck
s.”

Something Sierra couldn’t interpret flashed in Jake’s eyes.  The
n he held up a needle and she
stopped trying.  “Ah, shit,” she said and closed her eyes
, realizing that her shirt was gone and Jake was intent on patching her up
.

He touched her forehead and smoothed her hair away from her face.  “I’m sorry.”  He handed her his leather belt. 
“Might want to
bite
down on thi
s.
  I have the needle and suture thread
, but no Novocain.”

He rolled her to her side to have access to
the
entrance
and exit
wound
s
. 
The bullet had
torn thro
ugh her side no more than
an inch from her hip. 

She took the b
elt. “Don’t enjoy this too much.
”

His blue eyes turned serious. “I’m not enjoying this at all.”

Before she could read that statement, he cut the bandage off her
and poured peroxide over the wound. 
Sierra sucked in a harsh breath
.  “Ouch, that stings.”

Jake arched an eyebrow and stuck the belt between her teeth, then picked up the tweezers and needle he’d already prepared.  As the needle pierced her side, she
clamped
her teeth
on the belt.  She closed her eyes and imagined herself
in
that farm house she’d always dreamed of.
  Then somehow a picture of Jake sharing that farmhouse entered her brain.

“Breathe, Sierra,” Jake said and paused in his task.
  “Though passing out again, might be easier.”

She
hadn’t
realize
d
she’d been holding her breath, but at his words she opened her eyes
, took the belt out of her mouth
and took a deep
lungful of air
.  “Would you kiss me?”

God, could her voice sound any
more weak?  Jake’s eyes darkened.

He
carefully pushed her to her back,
leaned down and claimed her mouth
.  His tongue was gentle, teasing as he traced h
er bottom lip,
before moving
to lightly stroke her tongue.  By far, it was the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced.  Who’d have thought Jake Harding could be so tender? 

He
drew
back and rubbed a finger down her cheek. “I need to finish this
. 
Just a few more stitches and you’ll be as good as new.”

She nodded.  “Stitch away.”

She stuck the belt back between her teeth and bit
as he rolled her back to her side
.  She focused on his face, noting the brackets around his mouth looked deeper as he concentrated on his task.
  Watching him helped her tune out the pain
, though perspiration popped out across her forehead.  Jake
stitched as good as any doctor
, his movements efficient. 
The man never ceased to
amaze her with his
talents.

“Okay, I’m done with this,” he said as he tied the last knot and cut the thread.  “Now I need you to roll to your stomach.  Your back has glass in it.”

Funny, she hadn’t felt any discomfort from that until he mentioned it.  Now she could feel the sting as she lay on the bed. 

Bed?
 
It finally occurred to her that she didn’t have a clue where they were. She looked around. They were in what appeared to be a one room cottage.  She must have been out longer than she’d thought.  “Where are we?”

Jake retrieved more disinfectant from the bedside table, the tweezers he used to hold his needle still clutched in his hand.  “Still in Santo Domingo in a small cottage I secured under an assumed name.  We should be safe enough here, at least through the night.”

He helped her flip over.  “Shit, Sierra.  Why the hell did you have to set off the grenades?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, no telling what Diaz was planning to do with all those weapons.  I bet he’s hopping mad.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s the one who shot you.”  Jake plucked a piece of glass from below her shoulder blade, then dabbed it with peroxide.

“Ouch.  Not so hard.”

“You just took
fifteen
stitches in your side
without so much as a squeak,
but you gripe about the peroxide
?”

She looked at him over her shoulder.  “The needle hurt, but once you punctured the skin it stopped. That
crap
burns.”

Jake just
shook his head
at her logic and went back to work.  He removed four mor
e glass fragments and cleaned
the
cuts
from the ones that hadn’t embedded themselves in her skin.

Then he put bandages over the stitches and secured them with tape. Sierra tried to sit up, only to feel lightheaded. 

Jake placed his hand against her shoulder
and pressed her flat
.  “You lost a lot of blood.  You need
to rest.”
  He picked up the
first aid
kit from the floor
and dug out a bottle of aspirin. After shaking two out, he handed them to her.  “I’ll get you some water.”

Sierra waited until he’d handed her a glass of water and she’d swallowed the pills to say anything else. 
“What ab
out the stuff I got from Diaz’s?
We need to examine it.”

Jake walked across the room and picked up the bag with the pilfered goods.  He br
ought it over and set it
beside her, then settled
next to
her. 

Pulling the cell pho
ne out first, he pushed the power button.  “Shit!  It’s locked.  We need a code to get into it.”

Sierra sighed.  “So, other than punching in a bunch of codes, we need to get it back to headquarters. The
y should be able to get data from
it.”

Jake nodded and dropped it into the bag.  He pulled out the two manila envelopes.
  The first one he opened was the one with their photographs.  His lips thinned as he
flipped through them.  “These aren’t clear enough to identify most of us on sight, but it does give a good indication of our sizes and hair color.”
She touched her
blonde locks, glad she’d cut
and bleached it.

“As you said back at your cabin, there’s only so many people who even know about us, much less where our headquarters is located.”

“We’re going to have to try to catch a flight out tomorrow.”

“What if we can’t find the mole with any of this
info
?”

Jake rubbed a hand over his face
.
  “We’ll deal with that if it happens.”

She reached up to touch the whiskers across his chin.

“When was the
last time you slept?” 
   

He shrugged.  “I’ve been catching a little shut eye here and there.”

“W
e can’t do anything until the sun comes up and we can check with the airpo
rt.  Will you lie
beside me?”

He didn’t hesitate. 
He stood and yanked off his tee shirt, then pushed his jeans down his legs.  Sierra sighed at the sight of him.  If she didn’t feel so weak, she’d jump his bones.

Reaching down, he
unhooked her belt and
began unbuttoning he
r pants. Before she could
move
to help
, he had her shoes off and her pants down her legs.

“I’m still mad at you for getting involved in this,” he said gruffly as he climbed over her and settled on the bed.  He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

“Yeah, well, get over it,” she mumbled as she snuggled closer to his warm
,
naked body. 

She’d never been a
cuddler
, but right now, she was more content than she
could ever remember—even
with the throbbing in her side
.  Inhaling his warm musky scent, she closed her eyes and sighed.  There’d be enough time
later
to worry about how deep her feeli
ngs were becoming for Jake
.

For now, she just wanted to feel his arms around her.

Sierra shivered.  The room had been warm when she’d fallen asleep, but now it was freezing.

Jake’s arm tightened around her.  She turned into him, buryi
ng her nose against his chest.  That was better, warmer, yet her body still
shuddered
.

Jake’s hand went to her forehead,
then
he kissed the top of her head.  She didn’t care what he did, as long as he didn’t take the warmth of his body from her.

“Sierra, honey.”
  His voice was
gentle
.  First the sweet kiss last night, then he called her honey.  Maybe she was dreaming.  She snuggled closer and put her hands against his chest so they would be warm too.

“Sierra.”
  Jake shook her lightly.

She opened her eyes.  She wasn’t dreaming, so why did he sound so
concerned?
The room was illuminated with the gray light of dawn filtering through the blinds
. 
Her contacts were dry and scratchy.  She needed to take them out, but after blinking a few times, she
focused on Jake’s face
.

“You have a fever.”  Now that was the Jake she knew. He wore a frown that left small
creases between his eyebrows. 

Her brain was a beat behind, but when it caught up she nodded.  “That must be why I’m so cold.”

In response to the words, her body shivered hard again.

Jake rolled away from her and
she moaned with the loss of heat.  “You need to take
more
aspirin.”

What she needed was a blanket and mor
e sleep.  She pulled the comforter
from Jake’s side and curled it over her.  His heat lingered in the slightly scratchy fabric. 
Heavenly.

Jake jostled her shoulder again
and she realized her eyes had clos
ed.  She blinked them open
.  He slid an arm under her shoulder blades and sat her up.  Two pills were popped into her mouth like she was a child, then the glass of water pressed
to her lips. She swallowed
the pills with a gulp
and
wrapped her arms around Jake’s neck.