Men of Honour: Ready, Set, Jett / When You Dare / Trace of Fever / Savor the Danger / A Perfect Storm / What Chris Wants / Bare It All

“Hey. It’s okay.” The overhead light came on, blinding her. The bed dipped when he sat down beside her, when he pulled her into his arms.

Her throat felt too tight for her to swallow, burning with the need to cry. She was crying. She felt the tears hot on her cheeks and shame beat at her.

Angry at herself, at the bastards who’d done this to her, she tried to struggle away from Dare.

He tightened his hold. “Don’t do that, Molly. I understand. I know. But don’t push me away.” He kissed her hair, closed those impossibly strong arms around her.

“I hate them.” Her voice sounded high and broken, infuriating her more. Shaming her more.

“I do, too.” Shifting, he pulled her onto his lap. “When I was younger, when I got that knife wound on my chest?”

That got her attention, and she nodded to let him know she was listening.

“I was so pissed off I was blind with it. Mostly at myself for not being able to stop it, but at the man who did it, too. It took me a few weeks to recover, especially after I got an infection.”

Dare wore a shirt now, and she subtly tried to dry her eyes against the soft cotton.

He caught the sheet and lifted a corner of it to her. “Do you need a tissue?”

“No.” She sounded strangled, as if those awful hands were around her throat again, threatening to kill her. She buried her face against Dare. Ignoring the rasp of her voice, the weakness, she asked, “What were you doing when you got stabbed?”

“This isn’t to be repeated.”

She nodded.

“A senator’s son was being held hostage. I was hired to go get him. Me, specifically, because no one knew me yet. I was brand-new, tested but not yet tried, if you know what I mean.”

His hands moved over her back, up and down, not in any way sexual but still possessive.

Molly gulped back a fresh wave of tears. “I don’t.”

“I’d been trained. Everyone knew what I could do in live-action tests, but I hadn’t yet gone out in the field. This was my maiden run. And I almost fucked it up.”

As the nightmare faded, she licked her dry lips. “But you didn’t?”

“No, thank God. Not entirely. If I had, the kid would’ve died. Talk about nightmares …” He shook his head and squeezed her again. After a deep breath, he continued. “The boy, who was around twelve at the time, was being held in a compound in Arizona. The place was owned by a wealthy, supposedly law-abiding businessman. No one would have thought to look for the kid there. But I’ve always had good instincts, and I tracked him to that location.”

“How?”

“You can almost always gauge a person by their associations. If a man has enough ties with people of questionable character, then I label him questionable.”

“Like my dad.”

“Like your dad,” he agreed.

Thinking about her father added to her angst. “How do you think you messed up?”

“I got too emotional.” Disgust sounded in his tone. “Thoughts of that kid and how scared he had to be, wondering if he was hurt or even being hurt right then, riddled my discipline.” The muscles of his face tightened, and his voice lowered. “Even knowing better, I went in too soon.”

Concern for Dare dispelled the leftover fear of the nightmare. She looked up and saw his beautiful face, the clean-cut jaw, the straight nose and deep blue eyes. “What did you do?”

“I found the boy. They’d roughed him up some, deliberately terrified him, but he was being so damned mature, so strong … He didn’t cry.” Dare looked down at her, using his thumb to brush away a tear. “I would have understood if he had. His eyes were red, and his voice shook. I was so proud of him—just like I’m proud of you.”

“You saved him?”

“Yeah, I got him out of there, though not before I had to tackle a guard.” His mouth quirked. “The son of a bitch blindsided me, and he was going to cut my throat. But that scrawny little kid jumped on his back, wrapping around him like a spider monkey. It slowed him down and gave me the advantage I needed.”

She knew, but still she asked, “To do what?”

Dare’s eyes darkened. “I pulled that fucking knife out of my chest and gutted the bastard with it.”

Dear Lord. “You could do that?”

“He didn’t hit my heart or a lung, so yeah. It hurt like hell, but it wasn’t a death blow.” He rubbed his ear. “The thing is, if the kid hadn’t acted when he did, we both would have died, and that’s inexcusable. It was a lesson about taking my time, studying everything before I make a move.” He went silent for a second, then he let out a breath. “It was a lesson, too, about my own ability.”

“Because you got him and yourself out of there.”

He discounted his own heroism. “God, I bled like a stuck pig. Twice I almost passed out. Luckily my guys were waiting outside the perimeter of the place, because I’m not sure I’d have gotten much farther before dropping.”

Tucking her head against his shoulder, Molly hugged him. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“Yeah.” He let her sit there for a while, not rushing her. “The thing is, that day plagued me for months. I couldn’t close my eyes without thinking about all the possibilities, all the what-ifs and what-could-have-been scenarios. It’s human nature to agonize over unsettling episodes.”

“How did you finally get past it?”

“Time. And closure.” He gave her a hug. “After I healed, I exposed everyone involved in that kidnapping, without putting the kid or his father out there for the media to pick apart. Knowing those bastards were punished helped me to put it behind me and move forward.”

Would finding the one responsible for her abduction somehow rid the dregs of fear from her memory? God, she hoped so.

Molly would have liked to linger in Dare’s embrace, but she knew they had to get moving. She tipped her head up to see Dare. “How long have you been awake?”

“I didn’t go to sleep.”

Now she felt doubly bad. She moved away from him and shoved her hair from her face. “I’m sorry I did.”

“You needed your rest.” Holding her chin, he bent and kissed her, lightly, easily. “You think you can get ready now? We don’t want to miss your dad.”

She’d like to miss him. The last person she wanted to see was her father. He could be abrasive at the best of times, and this … Well, he wasn’t going to add to the festivities.

But the reality was that the confrontation had to happen.

“Sure.” Realizing that she was naked while Dare was dressed, Molly blushed. “Could I have some privacy?”

He stared at her for a long time before his mouth curled into a grin. “All right.” He got up from the bed. “I’d like you to pack a bag, too. Take whatever you think you’ll need.”

Not sure what to say to that, Molly looked around her room for inspiration and found none. “How long will I be gone?”

He gave her another lingering look. “Pack enough for a few weeks, and we’ll see what happens.” And with that, he left the room.