The compromise theyd reached was that Beau would try to train her. But he also retained the right to wash her out if she couldnt cut the training.
No way would he let her onto a Spec Ops team if she was going to be the weak link. Any team was only as strong as its weakest member. He wasnt about to let a woman get his brothers killed just so Torstenand some wannabe chickcould prove a point.
He swore under his breath. If his boss thought that because his knee was busted up Beau would take it easy on Tessa, Gunnar Torsten was in for a surprise.
Everyone kept telling Beau he could contribute to the teams by training the next generation of special operators. But damned if he was going to accept that his field days were over and settle for playing nursemaid to anyone, male or female.
He was the first to admit it was a miracle he could walk. But the thing was, if hed made it back this far, well beyond where the doctors had told him he could rehab his knee, why couldnt he rehab his knee all the way back to operational? One thing he was sure of: no way was he cut out to be an instructor. Torstenin his infinite bloody wisdomseemed to think this insane, waste-of-time mission would be good for him. Bastard.
Why Louisiana? the waste of time beside him asked, all eagerness now that she knew why they were really here.
The idea is to keep your existence completely off the radar. We dont want anyone to know the Medusas are back.
Is that why Major Torsten had you march me across camp this afternoon where everyone could see me leaving?
Affirmative.
So Torstens making a big fuss about tossing out the women and then...what? Bringing them here secretly to train? she asked curiously.
Hes legitimately tossing out most of the women. But he saw something in you. He added reluctantly, the words acid on his tongue to even say aloud, He thinks youve got what it takes to be one of us.
Silence fell between them as they stared at the sluggish black water below. It lapped around the stilts supporting the building, oily and thick. He could feel the mind of the woman beside him working overtime. One thing Torsten had gotten right: Tessa Wilkes was a sharp cookie. Observant as hell. She would need both to make it through the rest of this hypothetical training of hers. Assuming he didnt end up just shooting himself, instead.
He caught himself rubbing his thigh, as had become his habit ever since surgery to remove the shrapnel that shredded his knee and quad muscle. He jerked his hand back to the railing. No way was he showing weakness to Tessa, particularly if he was supposed to train her.
When do we start? she asked.
In the morning.
Is there a hidden training base around here?
He envisioned the ruin that would be their base of operations for the next few months. He had already humped in the bare basics they would need to survive, and his knee had thought the hard labor of repairing the old dock behind the house and crawling around repairing the roof were terrible ideas. He answered drily, I suppose you could call it a base.
Will you be training me?
She sounded so damned enthusiastic. He restrained an urge to roll his eyes. She had no business being here. Women didnt belong in the Special Forces community. Period. The total loss of the second Medusa team had proven that, hadnt it?
He had no idea how he was actually going to train Tessa. He had no experience as an instructor, and with just the two of them out here by themselves, he couldnt rely on the same methods by which hed been trained. About training you. Heres the thing. Im not an instructor. Im a field operator. Or I was until I wrecked my knee a while back.
She looked down in quick sympathy at his leg. Sympathy he neither needed nor wanted. His plan was actually to use her training to get himself back into good enough shape to qualify for field ops again. He would drag her along with him until he was field readyand until he had run her into the ground and made his pointboth to her and to Torsten.
The first part of the Spec Ops training you went through with the boys was mostly physical conditioning, meant to weed out the faint of heart and the quitters. Torsten feels like hes seen enough from you to know you would actually make it through the physical demands of full Spec Ops training. He added wryly, Torsten says you dont know the meaning of the word quit.
He got that right, she muttered.
Spoken like a true operator. Beau smiled a little in spite of himself.
Torsten had discussed with him at length where to train her. This project needed a challenging, but secluded, environment. Beau had been the one to suggest reluctantly that his abandoned family homestead fit the bill perfectly. The incredibly difficult bayou environment would force her to battle heat, humidity, muck, critters and general squick factor.
Will my training be like the mens course? she asked.
She sounded entirely too naive and eager. Poor kid had no idea what she was in for. Torsten had been clear. Push her right to the edge of breaking. Find out where her limits lay and take her to them and beyond. And while he was at it, figure out how to work with a woman.
Not. Happening.
Ill be a real operator, right?
Dont count on it, he snapped.
Then what the hell are we doing out here? she shot back.
Gun, Im gonna kill you the next time I see you. He straightened to his full height and a hot knife of pain shot through his knee. He clenched his jaw until the pain subsided to bearable. Assuming you survive, which is not a given, you would hypothetically be a no-kidding operator when its said and done.
He added direly, Dont get your hopes up. The odds of you being able to do everything youll have to in order to work on an operational team are pretty much zero.
For a blink of an eye, trepidation shone in her eyes. But in the very next blink, steely resolve filled them. Unwillingly, he was impressed with her mental toughness. Even if it was useless. No way was he graduating her from this training. He wouldnt do that to his brothers.
Why Louisiana? she asked.
Secret location. No prying eyes. Challenging environment. He added warningly, The ocean may have sharks, but weve got gators out here. Theyre a whole lot sneakier than sharks, and you cant punch a gator on the nose and get him to back off. Hell eat your arm if you try it.
She turned her head to study him more fully, and her ponytail fell over her shoulder in soft curls that begged his fingers to run through them. Her gaze was intent. Focused on him like a laser. In that moment she looked just like a warrior...but with firm, round breasts filling out her T-shirt, a lush behind filling out her fatigue trousers and muscular legs a mile long.
Crap. Talk about messing with his head. A woman operator. And of course, she had to go and look like a freaking Playboy centerfold.
He had to give her credit: not many women looked this good without a stitch of makeup on, wearing combat boots, no less. Even her muscular shoulders and the pronounced veins in her bare arms were hot. Everything about her spoke of strength, confidence and badassery. But it was all wrapped up in a package so sexy he could devour her like his steak earlier.
He shook his head to clear the thought. It didnt matter how sexy she was. He wasnt about to let her become a member of the club.
Lets get out of here, he growled. I owe you at least one decent nights sleep before we get this ball rolling. Down a tall hill into a pile of manure.
She was silent on the ride back to the motel, but her excitement was palpable. He just hoped his knee didnt give out before it was all said and done. He figured it was a 50/50 proposition. His doctors had argued vehemently against him attempting this comeback. They warned him that, if he overdid it on this op, he would blow his knee out, this time for good. But he refused to sit down and give up. He would go down fighting first.
They got back to the motel, and Tessa bounced out of the Jeep before he could get around to her side of the vehicle to open the door. He had to smile a little at her enthusiasm. He recalled all too well his own elation when he found out hed been selected for special operations training all those years ago. Almost a decade.
Man, hed been young and naive back then. Hed seen a whole lifetimes worth of action since. Would she be as jaded as he was ten years down the road, taciturn and tense, living life balanced on a razors edge?
He closed the motel rooms door and turned to face Tessa, who stood in the middle of the room, frowning. Problem? he asked.
Well, yes. Theres only one bed.
You afraid to share it with me? He arched an eyebrow in an open dare. What are you going to do when youre bivouacking with a male team and all of you are crammed into a hide like sardines, spooning with each other?
Her mint-green eyes narrowed. Ive got no problem sleeping with you. The question isare you okay sleeping with me?
He snorted. Honey, Im not sixteen. Ive got my hormones firmly under control, thank you very much. Which might not be entirely true where she was concerned. All of the previous Medusas had lived and worked in very close quarters with their male counterparts. She had to learn to do the same. Starting with him. Oh, joy.
Great, she said cheerfully. Then you wont mind if I take my pants off. Theyre still a little wet.
Well, hell. Give the woman points for calling his bluff.
She kicked off her combat boots and stripped out of her fatigue pants right there in the middle of the room, revealing legs every bit as lean, muscular and wrap-around-his-hips-and-hang-on sexy as hed thought they would be. His gaze slid down to her ankles and back up to her black bikini underwear, which stopped an inch short of the bottom of her olive green tank top.
Was that sweat popping out on his forehead? That strip of tanned stomach was almost more than he could stand. Her waist nipped in sharply, and then her chest flared in Coke-bottle curves that definitely were making him sweat. His palms itched to trace those curves. Memory of them mashed against his chest sent blood pounding to his groin.
Her chest was high and firm, and her nipples poked at the soft cotton of her shirt, taunting him. Daring him to take them in his mouth. To suck on them till she moaned. His hard-on all but doubled him over with its painful throbbing.
She stood there defiantly, staring back at him, daring him to say or do something about her display of general hotness.
Keep your eyes on her face.
Yeah, right. He could no more stop himself from letting his gaze wander down her body and back up than he could stop his body from leaping to attention at the sight of a woman like her standing half-naked in the middle of his hotel room practically daring him to do something about it.
His traitorous gaze traveled slowly and thoroughly down her body once more, taking in every juicy detail of her. Ho. Lee. Cow.
Okay, then. If that was how she wanted to play it... He reached for the back of the neck of his T-shirt and hauled it off over his head. He unbuckled his belt and shoved his pants down, as well. His Spandex sports briefs didnt do much to conceal his raging hard-on, but if she was going to play with the boys, she would have to get used to their reaction to her.
Shall we? he said casually. It took every last drop of his self-discipline to manage that light tone of voice.
Her bravado seemed knocked back a few notches by his matching strip-down. Good. She might as well learn early on just what a bad idea it was to dare an operator to do anything. Filters were not part of their mentality.
He reached for the light switch, and the room was abruptly swathed in darkness. The warmth and humidity of the night wrapped around him. The hum of the window air-conditioner and the thin stream of cold air coming from it teased his skin. The night was made for heavy breathing, sweaty skin on skin and the mindless plunge into hot, tight, female flesh
Her silhouette slipped under the covers and the bed springs creaked under her weight, breaking him out of his fantasy. He felt brittle. On the verge of exploding. Cripes. And he hadnt even touched her yet.
Yet. Which implied intent to go there with her.
No can do, buddy, he told his raging erection. Not only was she off-limits, but he would also be damned if he would let her manipulate him into anything. Even if he wanted that thing worse than he wanted to keep breathing.
He moved over to the bed, lifted the covers and lay down beside her, an image of her body swimming in his minds eye. Hells bells. Her warmth radiated across the narrow strip of mattress separating them, along with simmering sexual tension that made him want to jump out of his skin.
It was a double bed, and they were not tiny people, which meant it was a tight fit. And he was neither a dead man nor a dummy. No way could he miss the fact that her nostrils flared whenever she looked at him and thought he wasnt looking. Nor could he miss how her pupils dilated anytime he had leaned close and smiled at her during dinner.
She was as hot for him as he was for her. Which was going to pose a massive problem on this op. Almost as massive as the woody tenting the sheets over his groin.
What would it be like to make love with a woman nearly as strong as he was, with stamina to match? A woman who could absorb everything he had to give and give as good as she got in return? If even half of his imagination was accurate, sex with Tessa would be epic. He was sure of it.
Of course, military fraternization rules prohibited instructors from sleeping with trainees. But he wasnt officially her instructor yet. Not until tomorrow. Besides, he was going to wash her out at the first opportunity, and they would each get on with their regularly scheduled lives. So there was nothing standing in the way of them scratching the itch between them. Right?
He couldnt find any flaw in the logic. His body jerked eagerly in response.
Nope. There was no reason at all they couldnt engage in a little extracurricular hanky-panky.
Other than the fact that she was going to hate his guts within the next twenty-four hours or so. And if he washed her out of the program like he planned to, she would hate his guts even worse. He tended to avoid sleeping with women who were going to become homicidal in the near future.
Disappointment coursed through his entire body.
I know, buddy. I know.
The scent of her shampoo drifted across the narrow space between them. It was sweet and floral and caressed him like a lovers hand, as seductive as hell. His body begged him to change his mind, and he clenched his teeth against its coaxing.