Page 49 of Securing Jane

“I do,” she told him, tears spilling over the sides of her eyes and down her temples to be absorbed into her dusty hair. “I think I’ve loved you forever.”

That was all Storm needed to hear. His lips came down on hers, and he kissed her as if she was the most precious thing in his life…because she was. “I thought I’d lost you,” he mumbled desperately.

“I knew you’d somehow get me out of there,” she told him.

Storm hadn’t been so sure, but he didn’t contradict her.

“Sir?” they heard someone call from above them. “Get this fucking debris off them!”

Storm groaned as a piece of wood was removed from his back.

“Are you all right?” Jane asked worriedly.

He opened his mouth to say he was fine, that he’d been hurt much worse on some of his SEAL missions, but instead, he closed his eyes and did his best not to pass out when a board shifted across his legs and something sharp dug into his calf.

“Stop!” Jane yelled, making Storm wince since she’d yelled forcefully, practically in his ear. “Storm’s hurt! Be fucking careful!”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He didn’t care how many nails had to be pulled out of his back and legs. Jane was safe, and that was all he cared about.

“Hey, Sir,” Rocco said in an obnoxiously cheerful voice. “You want to continue to lay there smooching on your woman, or do you think you might want to get up and get out of here?”

“Fuck off, sailor,” Storm told him, doing his best not to wince when someone took hold of his arm to help him stand.

He accepted Gumby and Bubba’s assistance, then immediately turned to help Jane. When they were both upright, and Jane was against his side, snuggled into him, he looked around in disbelief.

They looked like they were standing in the middle of a war zone. Both his and Jane’s cars were totaled. The guard shack was rubble, but it had done exactly what he’d hoped: blocked the worst of the blast and gave them just enough protection to withstand the shock wave from the bomb.

When he saw what was left of the woman who’d been sitting next to Jane—basically a few body parts here and there—he turned to block Jane’s view.

“Come on,” Bubba said quietly. “Let’s get you to the medics.”

Storm had no idea how bad his injuries were, but if his SEALs were encouraging him to go straight to the medics, they were bad enough. But Storm was upright and able to walk, even if each step made pain shoot through his body.

“You okay, Jane?” Rocco asked in a more serious tone.

“I’m good,” she told him. “Storm protected me.”

Rocco nodded as if that was the most normal thing he’d heard that morning. “For what it’s worth, I think his injuries look worse than they are. Whatever you do, don’t coddle the man. He’ll get soft, then take it out on us.”

Jane’s lips twitched, but she didn’t smile. It was too soon. Storm knew she’d have some more bad times after this. Who wouldn’t? He didn’t know what had happened in her car or what was said…but he would. Jane would tell him everything. Then he’d do whatever it took to make her feel safe and grounded again. Just as he knew she’d do what she could to reassure him that she was fine.

Leaning over, Storm kissed her temple as they walked. The movement made whatever was sticking out of his shoulder shift, and he huffed out a painful breath. But he knew whatever happened from this moment forward, he’d get through it. Jane loved him, and he loved her. Nothing else mattered.

Epilogue

Jane sat with her back straight and her hands clasped in her lap as she faced the highest-ranking officials on the base. She was there to tell her side of what had happened a month ago with Carlin Sandburg. The investigation was finally being wrapped up, after many interviews with various people.

Rear Admiral Creasy was there, along with several other officers. There was even a vice admiral in attendance who’d flown in to hear the official findings of the investigation.

Jane learned that Bubba had shot at Carlin to try to stop her so she wouldn’t be able to set off the bomb, but he’d been a fraction of a second too late. She’d already detonated the explosive in her lap.

The deceased Navy spouse hadn’t lied about what was in the box. But fortunately, while it had been a deadly blast, it hadn’t been powerful enough to take out the police and other innocent people standing nearby.

If Jane had been sitting next to her, though, she certainly would’ve been blown to pieces like Carlin had.

Storm had suffered from a bruised kidney, and he had a few nails imbedded in his legs and his lower back and one shoulder, but miraculously, he wasn’t hurt any worse than that. Jane had felt guilty that he’d gotten hurt protecting her, but Storm had made it more than clear he’d do exactly the same thing again in a heartbeat, and he had no regrets at all at being the one hurt instead of her.

Former Lieutenant Sandburg had been thoroughly investigated and interviewed by NCIS, and they’d determined that he’d had no involvement or knowledge of his wife’s plans. He also hadn’t known she’d been responsible for the CS gas bomb and that she’d had plans to assassinate the rear admiral.