RULES OF LOVE (A Navy SEALs Romance) (25 page)

“Damn it, Eddie, stay with me.” He crouched at her side, his brow furrowed as he stared at the gunshot. “Eddie, keep your eyes open, you hear me? That’s an order. I’m going to get you out of here.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered. “Just fine.”

“Course you are,” he said, and cursed when he pulled her hand away to check.

She cried out when he picked her up and the room spun. At least it was over. “Hugh…Where is he?” she asked.

“Dead. Drove a knife through his chest,” Beau growled, and Eddie managed a weak smile at the dark satisfaction in his eyes.

He’d barely taken a step with her when a beeping sound echoed around them. Eddie frowned, glancing around until she saw the red light on Shane’s watch. The beeping grew faster as Beau slowly approached her dead brother. “It’s a timer,” she whispered, seeing the countdown in red. “Beau.”

Beau turned and ran from Shane’s body, the beeping speeding up as they reached the front of the house. Eddie tucked her head against his chest, knowing this was it. They weren’t going to get far enough away from the house. She wanted to tell Beau to leave her, to let her go, but his grip tightened around her as if he could hear her thoughts and protested them until the end.

Beau reached the front porch steps as the first rumble started. The force of the blast threw Eddie and Beau out onto the gravel drive as debris fell on and around them. Eddie heard him scream her name, but black spots filled her vision. Pain consumed her body. This was it, the end. It was all over. She thought she heard him call her again, felt his hand brush her face, but then the world went dark.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jackie slammed on the gas after they heard the explosion from a few miles away. It took them too long to sneak out with the techs, and when they were finally on the road, they had to dump the guys somewhere before they could hightail it to the house. She pushed hard enough to nearly put the accelerator through the floorboards when the smoke rose above the trees. Gareth was on his cell, furiously trying to get all possible backup to the first safe house and sending out orders to keep Reinhart under surveillance at the base and out of the way until they could confirm or deny their suspicions of his involvement with Shane.

Jackie pulled up to the front gate, the headlights lighting up what was left of the house, and her stomach plummeted. “Holy shit,” Jackie muttered, trying to keep her hands steady on the wheel while Gareth got out of the car to open the gate. She couldn’t drive the Mustang through. Two black SUVs blocked the drive, so she left it, getting out and yelling for Savage and Sage.

They pulled out flashlights as they moved, pushing rubble to the side, coming across several bodies of men dressed in black, men they didn’t recognize. Jackie became frantic as she searched, not finding a trace of either one—

“Gareth! I found Savage!”

At first, she hadn’t been sure if it was a hand or not until she got closer and saw the rest of him lying quite still except for his very shallow breathing. Jackie checked his pulse quickly, noting all his injuries. Lucky for him, none were too serious, but he was cut pretty badly and not from the explosion. Rubble covered another body next to him, and when she cleared it off, found his other arm wrapped tightly around Eddie.

“Gareth! They’re here!”

“Are they alive?”

Jackie knelt beside Eddie’s body—bloodied and bruised from the explosion—and when she found the gunshot wound, her heart stuttered.

“Be alive… Please be alive,” she whispered and pressed her fingers to Eddie’s neck. “They’re alive! Where are the medics?”

Barely five minutes later, after Gareth and Jackie pulled them both from the rubble and Jackie worked to keep pressure on Eddie’s wound, the medics arrived, loaded the two up in record time, and raced off to the nearest hospital.

Jackie watched it leave then joined Gareth in reporting what had happened to Admiral Bard, a man they knew they could trust, making sure to give all details that would link Reinhart and Shane to Hugh. Admiral Bard immediately relayed orders back to the base to take Reinhart into custody to await questioning. Then he dismissed them, and they headed to the hospital.

Part of Shane’s body was found, torn and shredded, but Hugh’s remained intact out in the gardens, his face still frozen in a look of disbelief, staring up into the night sky.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Around two the following day, Beau was wheeled out of the emergency care unit and placed in a room by himself. Gareth visited him and assured him Eddie made it through surgery, and though she wasn’t awake yet, her chances were good. Beau listened as Gareth ran over the gambit of her injuries, each one cutting him deeper. He’d let that happen to her. After he swore he’d keep her safe, he let her get shot.

“Beau, don’t beat yourself up over it,” Gareth soothed. “Both of you are lucky to be alive after the explosion. Hell, you killed the asshole who did this to you both in the first place.”

“I know,” he muttered. “I need to see her.”

“Can’t yet, but I’ll see if I can pull some strings.”

Beau tried to pass the time listening to Gareth talk about things that didn’t matter when Jackie came in, her face drawn, carrying a vase of yellow tulips for the table.

“What the hell are those for?” Gareth asked with a laugh, but Beau didn’t care about the flowers.

“Jackie, how’s Eddie?” he asked quietly. She wouldn’t look at him. “Damn it, Jackie.”

“She slipped into a coma. The doctors aren’t sure why. Something about head trauma.”

“I need to see her,” Beau said and, grunting from the pain, swung his legs over the edge of his bed, grabbed the IV pole, and slowly limped for the door. “What room?”

“Savage, you can’t just march in there,” Gareth said, but Beau turned his steely glare on the man and Gareth hung his head. “Let’s at least get you a damn wheelchair.”

Gareth found one quickly, and Beau sat in it, his hands clenching the arms as Gareth pushed him through the hospital. When they reached the door, the doctor stopped them, telling Beau he couldn’t see her yet.

“You will let me see her or I will punch you into next week, Doc,” Beau snapped.

The doctor glared right back at him but shook his head with resignation. “Ten minutes, that’s it, then you have to get your ass back to bed.”

They moved through the sliding door, and the second Beau saw her, he lost it. His body shook with rage at the cuts and stitches on her face and arms. The bruises covering her face were dark purples and blues, and he knew under her robe was a bandaged gunshot wound because he hadn’t gotten to her in time.

“Gareth, can you give me a minute?” he mumbled, his voice tight as he fought back the hot rage boiling within him.

The door opened and closed, and Beau rolled himself closer to the bed. Shaking, his hand slipped under hers, holding it gently as a single tear slid down his face to land on her battered skin. She survived everything they’d thrown at her before, and she was going to survive this. She had to.

“Eddie, I know you can hear me,” he whispered. “You are not allowed to leave me. Do you understand? That is an order. You will not leave me.” He moved closer, kissing the back of her hand as his other smoothed the hair from her face. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, but I’m here now and you are going to open your eyes and walk out of here.”

The machines beeped and hummed around her, but Eddie didn’t open her eyes. Beau watched her face, refusing to look away for even a second. His mind drifted back to the first time he saw her, knowing in that moment he never wanted another woman so badly in his bed and in his life. She commanded a fire—and a mouth—to match his. Eddie was the only one in this world who could tear him apart and fit the pieces back together in the same breath.

She was meant to be his.

The machines beeped again and suddenly flat-lined. Beau’s heart stopped as nurses rushed in, telling him he needed to leave, but he wasn’t going anywhere. He moved to the side, yanking the IV out of his hand so he could stand and watch.

It took two male nurses to hold him back as they tried to revive Eddie, charging the paddles once, then twice, and watching her body convulse with each hit drove him to growling like an animal in his despair.

“Eddie,” he whispered her name then yelled it when, after the third attempt, the doctor called time. “No! She’s not dead!” His voice broke, and he threw the two nurses aside, storming the bed. “No, you can’t leave me. I won’t let you!”

“Sir, you need to back away,” the doctor said calmly. “She’s gone.”

But Beau wasn’t ready to let Eddie go. He pressed his lips to hers and held them there as he whispered. “You come back to me right now. You hear me, damn it! Come back to me!”

His fist hit her chest, and the nurses moved in to pull him back. He fought against them, yelling and cursing. They were at the door when a gasping breath filled the room, and everyone froze.

“Beau.” The faintest whisper, but he’d heard it.

“Eddie! Get off of me!” Beau charged forward. Eddie’s eyes were open, searching for him. “I’m here, Eddie. Right here.”

Her green gaze, once so cold, now stared back at him with a need so fierce his entire body stood frozen over her. “Beau… I’m sorry.”

He laughed, fighting back his own tears of relief. “For what?”

“Dying… again.” She closed her eyes as a smile lifted her lips, and Beau leaned in to kiss her.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m here with you, Eddie, and I’m not going anywhere.”

***

A few weeks later, Beau was released and told to take a few months’ leave until everything was straightened out. Eddie was transferred to a hospital nearby, having to stay a while longer, and he used the time to do something he never thought he would do again. When he wasn’t at her bedside, holding her hand tightly in his and watching over her while she slept, he bought a plot of land out in the middle of nowhere—one hundred acres—and got the plans together for a new house since his last one had been blown to pieces.

Eddie worked hard at recovering, and after some convincing from him, agreed to one final surgery on her knee. That was a week ago. So far, it was all good news. She was doing what she was told, for once, which gave Beau the time he needed to get the house off to a good start. A new home for him and Eddie.

He was there, staring at the construction that had started, when the rumble of an engine coming up what would be their dirt driveway distracted him from his thermos of coffee. A blue Mustang parked next to his Chevy Silverado, also new, and Gareth emerged.

“Well, I didn’t expect to see you any time soon,” he said happily, shaking Gareth’s hands.

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d swing by and check out the new place, and Jackie asked me to spy on the new plans,” Gareth said, surveying the land around them and nodding in approval. “You sure do have a good eye. Eddie will be really happy here.”

Beau took in the surrounding land. “I hope so. The doctor said if all goes well, she’ll be able to get here soon enough. She tried to talk me into kidnapping her yesterday.”

Gareth laughed. “Doesn’t surprise me.” He saw the blueprints on the tailgate of Beau’s truck and walked over to check them out. “This looks like it might take a while.”

“It will, but it’ll be worth it.” He rolled up the plans on his tailgate and couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “She’ll like it.”

He was going to bring her out to the land over the next few days as long as he could sneak her out from under her doctor’s nose. He’d only been away from her for three days, but he missed that damn woman with her hard eyes and stubborn attitude. More than that, he missed her touch and the scent of her hair. He wanted Eddie so badly it hurt, and he was tired of waiting. She was too, if her frequent annoyed texts of threatening to sneak herself out of there were any indication.

“What are you smiling about?”

Beau shrugged as he glanced at Gareth. “Kidnapping Eddie tomorrow and bringing her here.”

Gareth patted him on the back. “Well then, I guess I’ll let you get to your plans. Tell Eddie I said hi.”

Beau watched him drive off and got ready to leave. When he came back, the woman he’d fallen in love with would be at his side, and maybe his life would turn out the way he never thought it could.

***

Eddie’s face was bright as she sat in the passenger seat of the truck, watching the land pass by the window. “Where are you taking me?”

Beau’s lips twitched, but he didn’t answer. His grip on her hand tightened, and she squeezed back. She’d recovered well enough from her injuries, and as far as she could tell, her bum knee might actually be in working order soon enough. The cane was only temporary, she told herself. Only temporary.

“Seriously, where are we going?”

“Patience, Eddie. You’ll ruin it.”

“Ruin what?”

His chuckle was deep and warm. Eddie wanted to curl up with him and listen to it as they made love, holding each other close. She was tired of waiting for her new life to get started.

They pulled off the two-lane blacktop road, and the truck bounced over the rough terrain, driving farther and farther into nothing. When the first bits of building came into view, Eddie’s heart thudded faster. And by the time Beau pulled to a stop, her eyes lit up and she jumped out of the truck, forgetting about her bad knee.