C.J. Miller - Delta Force Desire

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Griffin asked. His cot wasn’t the most comfortable, but he had slept on worse. At least he was dry and no one was shooting at him.

Kit shifted in her bed. She was the most restless sleeper he had ever been in the same room with. “How do you know I’m not?”

“For one, you answered me. For two, your breathing is irregular and the noises of your cot indicate movement.”

She blew out her breath. “I’m upset. It’s been an upsetting day. I’m worried about my family.”

The West Company would ensure their safety. She had nothing to worry about in that regard. “They are being guarded.”

She let out a harrumph. He should have stayed quiet, but he hadn’t been sleeping, either. He wouldn’t give in to the exhaustion that pulled at the corners of his brain until he was sure she was asleep.

“Let me call my mom.”

A security breach to allow direct contact. “Can’t happen. People are looking for you. We can’t risk someone tracing the call or your mom alerting anyone to your status.”

He could envision Kit glaring at him in the dark.

“Do you think I don’t understand how to mask where a call is coming from? I know to think before I speak. I have not questioned how well you do your job, snatching people and punching people, and I’m asking you to trust me to do this.”

She didn’t strike him as an overconfident woman, and he guessed she could back up her statement. “I don’t have permission to give you a phone.” They were working on obtaining a secure computer and phone for her.

“I am not a prisoner. I am a person,” Kit said.

Griffin turned on the overhead light to look at her. “I know you are a person. A person I am trying to keep safe.” He was having enough trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that he was responsible for protecting her. His complex about that was a twisted mess. He had accepted the assignment to retrieve her and deliver her to a safe house. This added complexity caused uncertainties to surface.

“Give me your phone,” she said.

“You can’t call your family and check in. We want your whereabouts to remain unknown to Incognito.” Since that wasn’t dissuading her, he decided to tell her the brutal truth. “If anyone knows that you contacted your family, that family member will be tortured for information. Do you understand what torture is?”

She glared at him. “I am aware of what it is.”

“Have you ever been tortured?” He hated pressing her, but he needed her to understand the severity of what was playing out.

“Not physically.”

He considered her words. “If you want to check the internet for news about the incident at your sister’s party, I’ll allow it, but no underhanded stuff.”

“Underhanded stuff?” She seemed pleased at the small victory.

“You know what I mean. No sending secret, encrypted messages. It’s a point, click and read-only venture.”

She smiled. “Thank you. That will help me sleep. I need to see for myself.”

He crossed to her cot and sat next to her. She moved away and extended her hand for the phone. He shook his head. “I watch what you are doing, every finger motion.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are an untrusting man.”

“That is a trait that will keep you alive.” He handed her his phone. Activity on it was monitored by Kate West. If Kit tried to pull anything, Kate would know it.

Kit smelled of the beach. It was an odd smell to associate with someone, warm sand and the waves, when she hadn’t been near the shore. She elbowed him. “You’re too close. You’re crowding me.”

“The screen is small.”

“Is that a tattoo on your neck?” she asked. She traced a finger over the tattoo that ran from the base of his neck along his collarbone and to his biceps.

“Yes.”

He didn’t lean away from her touch, knowing the slightest distance would give her fingers time to do mischief on his phone. Her profile was fresh in his mind. When it came to computers and technology, she was not to be underestimated.

“Can I see the whole tattoo?” she asked.

“You want me to take my shirt off?”

“Yes.”

“When you’re done with the phone.” She’d use the time he had the fabric over his eyes to send a message.

Her frown told him he was right. The short time he’d spent with her, he’d learned at least that. Genius behind a computer, but she had no game face. Everything she felt and thought played out in her expression.

She clicked a few links, read an article and then handed him the phone. “No mention of anyone being killed. Except the men who broke into the party, and I already knew what happened to them. I’m surprised the reporter didn’t include a quote from my sister expressing her grief about me going missing. No mention of me missing at all.”

“You sound angry about that,” Griffin said, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

“Not angry. Resigned. For as long as I can remember, Marissa has been at the center of a three-ring circus, and I’ve been the person selling popcorn to the crowd.”

“Does it bother you to have a famous sister?”

She shrugged. “It bothers me when people make comparisons between us. If my sister had been average-looking, then the fact that I’m below average wouldn’t stand out so much.”

She had a low opinion of her looks. He found her tremendously appealing. Griffin didn’t go for stick-thin and expressionless, a look he had associated with her sister and a number of guests at the party. “You are not below average.”

Kit stared at him, her eyes wide. “If you’re making fun of me, stop it.”

“I’m not joking with you. I’m speaking plainly.”

“Then I can speak plainly and tell you that you are a handsome man. You’re scary, but I don’t think you’re planning to hurt me.” A question on the end of the statement.

He had killed to protect her. He had placed himself at great risk to keep her safe. If he had wanted to hurt her, she’d be dead. He had sworn to Connor that he would stay with Kit until his job was complete. He would do what he could to protect her, and that had deep meaning to him. Connor was aware of Griffin’s lack of experience in this arena and what had happened to Beth. “I won’t hurt you.”

“I believe that. Of course, I’ve believed a lot of things that have turned out to be lies.”

The hurt in her words was heavy. Griffin wasn’t privy to the details of her personal life. “We won’t be together long, but while we are, you can count on me to be honest with you.”

“What if someone comes in here to kill me?” she asked.

He nodded to his cot across the doorway. “They won’t get through me.”

She pulled her knees to her chest. “Thanks for getting me these clothes. They’re much nicer than the dress.”

“How’s your foot?” he asked.

“Better.”

“Ready to sleep now?” he asked. Their day would start before first light.

“I’ll try.”

He moved from her cot and returned to his. He waited for her to settle, and then he shut off the light.

What was she thinking about? What would she dream about? Who had hurt her to make her question everyone around her? He could understand her fear and apprehension about the situation, but this wasn’t the first time she had been cut off from her family and staying in a military base.

When she had chosen to work on the Locker, she must have known she was committing to a lifetime of looking over her shoulder.

* * *

Griffin had not left her side the entire morning. Kit wasn’t accustomed to someone hovering over her, and it was unsettling. She couldn’t catch her breath with him watching her.

When she went to the shower, he checked that the bathroom was empty, then waited outside the door. As she showered, Kit realized that the military had provided some essentials like shampoo and a razor, but she wouldn’t have clean undergarments. Who could she ask about that? It was a small thing to worry about, but she wanted some normalcy in her life. She was a creature of habit, and her routine had been taken from her.