Page 80 of Keeping a Warrior

When she looked at him again, his face was solemn. “So tell me about the SF major.”

Devon froze, and then with a sigh, she rolled off him to sit cross-legged, her knee touching his ribs. He put his hand on her calf, thumb moving in slow circles.

“It’s about like you’d expect,” she said quietly. “He wants me to join his ODA as cultural support.” Operational Detachment Alpha 576, part of the 5th Special Forces Group, a unit of twelve combat-hardened Green Berets, and they wanted her.

“You’d be working with the spooks, too? SF usually does.”

Looking at him in surprise, Devon said, “Yeah. My job would actually be alongside Major Beck and his CIA contact.”

“The mission?”

Devon fell silent. Beck had told her during that one intense conversation that since the United States’ official withdrawal from Afghanistan, all previous gains had been lost. Regions once purged of the Taliban were left vulnerable, and with no coalition support, the fragile government and poorly trained local law enforcement been unable to hold off the other terrorist groups that’d quickly moved into the void.

“Unconventional warfare,” was all she said. “Training and leading a guerrilla force while we immerse ourselves in the culture, respecting the religion and way of life in order to earn trust.” She paused. “They want to see what happens when they bring village women into the mix this time.”

“Ah.” Rhys sat up, too, his wrist draped over his upraised knee. “Vital, important work, and this dude came to you. I’m so proud of you, Devon.”

His eyes and voice held nothing but sincerity, and Devon smiled. “I’m proud of me, too,” she said softly. “But that means a lot coming from you.”

From a man she respected, and admired, and was on the knife’s edge of falling in love with.

Why did I have to meet you now?

Clearing his throat, Rhys asked huskily, “When do you report to the ODA?”

“Once we land back in Coronado, I’ll catch the next flight to Fort Campbell.”

He drifted his fingertips along her jaw. “Temporary,” he whispered.

Hot tears rushed to Devon’s eyes, and she turned her lips into his palm. “But not casual,” she forced out. “Never.”

Rhys pushed to his feet and went to brace his hands against a nearby table, head down. Devon watched him for a minute, her chest aching, before getting up to approach him. Hesitantly, she laid her palm in the middle of his back.

“You want me to go?” she asked quietly, relief making her knees weak when he gave a vigorous shake of his head.

“No, I—” He took a deep breath. “I’m just wondering how much of my heart will be left standing at the end of this.”

A sob rose up in her throat, but before she could say anything, he whispered, “But it’d be worth it.”

Wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, Devon buried her face between his shoulder blades. “It would be. I’ve never known anyone like you, Rhys. To have the chance to be closer to you, well—”

“You don’t know how much I cherish the gift of your trust.” Rhys’s voice was low, gruff. “Being able to make love to you—”

Slowly, he turned in her arms, and they gazed at each other in silence. Finally Devon cupped his cheek. “You look like a fierce, redheaded lumberjack. So strong and sexy.” She gave a delicious shiver, her nipples tightening painfully, when he bent to bury his face in her neck.

“And you look like an angel,” he murmured against her skin. “My warrior angel.”

Devon tilted her head back as he kissed his way up her throat and along her jaw. He nuzzled, and tasted, his murmurs of enjoyment humming against her skin.

When he at last pulled back, she looked up into his eyes. “Two things I need you know,” she said quietly. “I can’t be held down, and—”

His eyes were steady on hers. “What? Tell me.”

“You can’t wake me up with sex.”

A spasm of pain crossed his face, and he turned his head to kiss her palm. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “That’s another thing. Don’t feel sorry for me, or pity me, Rhys. I don’t require special handling to enjoy sex, but I do have those two hard limits.” Her voice softened. “Anything else you’re not sure of, just ask, okay?”