Beyond Limits (Tracers #8)(74)

“I want you to know what it’s like.” His face was deadly serious. “We have each other’s backs. That’s ironclad. We move mountains for each other.”

The brotherhood thing again.

“Will you miss it when it’s over?” she asked quietly.

“When what’s over?”

“The war. Everything’s winding down.”

“Yeah, well. It’s never really over for us.”

She’d known that, but she wanted to hear it from him. What he did was too important to ever actually stop. The war on terror would continue in the shadows, and spec ops forces would continue to fight it.

He wouldn’t quit, anyway. He believed in the fight, and he didn’t want to leave his brothers.

And she wouldn’t ask him to.

Which brought them right back to the same dilemma she’d predicted when she’d first met him, when he’d burst into her life and turned everything upside-down. She looked at his strong profile now, at his muscular arm resting on his knee. She couldn’t remember ever being so drawn to a man, so hopelessly attracted. She respected him, and he made her laugh, and he made her pulse pound whenever she got near him, but that was chemistry, and it didn’t get rid of the very real obstacles. He was gone all the time, putting his life on the line. And he was so committed to his team she didn’t believe he had room for anything else. She looked at him, and he was watching her with that steady gaze that made her nerves hum. Slowly, carefully, he was dismantling all the fences she’d built around her emotions. And she was letting him.

A distant buzz of a phone, and Elizabeth scrambled to her feet. They rushed to the truck, and Derek reached through the open window and plucked his cell from the console.

“Vaughn.” He listened for a moment and held the phone out. “It’s Torres.”

She snatched it up. “What is it?”





Chapter Twenty-one





“She’s stable,” he told her. “They’ve upgraded her condition, and they’re moving her into a room.”

Elizabeth’s heart clenched. “Is she awake? Can I see her?”

“No and no. Doc says a few more hours. Her parents just arrived, though, so they’ll be here when she wakes up.” There was a tremor of emotion in his voice. “So that’s the news. Sounds like she’s going to make it through.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. Thank you, God. “What about Jamie?” she asked.

“Still the same. They’re watching her. I’ll call you if we get anything new.”

“Please. No matter how late.”

She got off the phone, and Derek was staring at her in the dimness.

“Doctors say she’s stabilized.”

“She awake?”

“Not yet.” She handed him the phone, then walked around to the passenger side to climb in. She stared numbly at the dashboard.

Derek climbed in, too, and pulled shut the door. He looked at her. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” But she sat there, motionless, replaying the news. She’s going to make it through. Suddenly, her lungs constricted, and she couldn’t breathe. She clasped her hand to her chest and realized she was shaking.

“Liz?”

“I was so sure she was going to die.” She covered her face with her hands, but that didn’t stop the hot flood of tears.

“She’s going to be okay.”

She turned away.

“Hey.” He leaned across the console and pulled her into his arms.

“I was so sure,” she said against his shoulder. “People die. It happens. They die in the line of duty or doing something careless or stupid or for no reason at all.” Her voice hitched. “I can’t believe I wasn’t paying enough attention, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Her arms tightened, because she wanted so much for the words to be true. She rested her head against his neck, and at the first scent of him, it was over. The tears just came. His chest was hard and solid, and his arms felt so strong wrapped around her. How many times had she dreamed of him holding her like this?

She wished things were different. She wished they could be like other people, normal people. But they couldn’t. They weren’t.

“Sorry.” She pulled back, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Look at me.”

She wiped the tears away.

“You weren’t responsible,” he said. “They were. Get that straight.”

She nodded. But the look of tenderness on his face made her eyes well again. He reached up and gently brushed her cheek with his thumb, and his eyes were intent in the dimness. And then he leaned over and kissed her forehead, and she just . . . lost it. There was no other way to describe it. Whatever hold she’d thought she had on her feelings disappeared, and she reached up and dragged his head down to kiss him. It was wet and sloppy, and she would have been embarrassed, but he pulled her right across the console, practically into his lap.

And then everything went into overdrive. His hands were everywhere. Hers, too. She tried to get her balance as he shifted her on his lap. When she looked up, his eyes were dark with desire, and a shiver of anticipation moved through her as all the memories rushed back. She wanted him so much she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think—with the exception of one persistent thought that wouldn’t go away.