Her Mission With A Seal

Nissa flashed him a brilliant smile that all but had him striding across the room to wrap her in his arms and capture all that joyous relief for himself.

They ended up having to wait a full twenty-four hours for the floodwaters to go down and for the sodden land to reemerge. They passed the time making repairs to the cabin, inside and out, by way of thanks to the owner for the shelter. Bright and early the next morning, however, they packed their gear and headed out.

Cole was plenty glad to get out of the small confines of the cabin. Its four walls hadn’t been anywhere near big enough to contain the towering attraction between him and Nissa, and he was on the verge of losing his mind before they finally got outside and on the move, away from the momentary insanity that had been their impromptu hurricane party.

For the first time he could remember, he was antsy as all heck to get back to civilization and be done with this mission. And it had everything to do with a petite blonde CIA analyst and her big blue eyes.

Chapter 5 (#ud86239f5-24dc-5f1e-bd60-7c365878d708)

The three-mile hike to Gueydan turned into a six-hour nightmare of dead ends, doubling back and wading through waist-deep water. Nissa didn’t think the trek from hell was ever going to end. She was still dreadfully sore from the last hike with these guys, but she was embarrassed to complain about being too uncomfortable to go on. They were toodling along like this was a stroll in the park. Which she supposed it was for them. Bass was actually whistling—cheerfully, no less—as he led the way forward. Instead, she suffered in silence and resolved to work out for about a month solid before she volunteered to come out into the field with a bunch of Navy SEALs again.

The only thing that kept the day from being completely miserable was that every time she stumbled, Cole’s hand was there to steady her. Every time she thought she couldn’t go another step, he called a rest break. Every time her throat was parched, he held out a canteen to her. His attentiveness was so constant and kind that it nearly made her weep more than once.

She knew intellectually that she was holding back the team and that Cole was only making sure she kept moving. But to have a man like him even aware of her, let alone concerned about her, was a fantasy come true. She tried to enjoy the attention, but before long it was hard to focus on anything except the burning agony in her leg muscles and the way they instantly stiffened up whenever the group stopped to rest.

Cole’s touch was never anything but respectful and proper, but it didn’t stop her heart from racing every time his strong fingers grasped her elbow or his palm came to rest lightly in the small of her back. His presence beside her was nothing short of devastating. He filled her senses and her mind, as raw and elemental as the stormy skies and wrecked landscape around them. Trees were snapped in half like twigs, tree branches lay everywhere and every man-made structure they came across had suffered major damage of some kind or another.