Page 29 of Gwen's Delta
“Probably not. If I can, I will. I promise I’ll be in touch as soon as I get back.”
A horrible thought slithered into her mind. One she didn’t want to think about. What if he got wounded…or worse? Would anyone tell her? Or would he just disappear, and she’d just have to wonder?
Luke pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. She laid her head on him and sighed as his heart beat slow and steady.
“You have Destiny’s information. She won’t know much more than you, but if something happens, she’ll let you know. Okay?”
“All right, but please be careful. I know you can’t tell me, but I’ve kind of figured out that your team is some kind of special operations. I won’t ask, so you don’t have to worry.”
His gentle smile helped ease her fear. He’d been doing this a long time, more than a decade, and knew how to protect himself. Zip had said he’d saved their butts more than once.
“I promise to be careful, princess. And I’ll be back before you know it.”
Chapter 8
Early the next morning, Merlin left a note for Kim, his housekeeper, letting her know he’d be out of town for a while and asking her to take care of his herbs.
As he re-read the note, he smirked at how domestic he’d become. He’d hated knowing someone was in his house while he wasn’t there. But after meeting Kim and getting to know her, she’d grown on him. She respected his privacy and did an excellent job keeping the house up to his mother’s standards while leaving his bedroom and the library alone.
The weight of the pending mission had kept him awake most of the night. There was something off. He knew it like he knew the back of his hand. After hours of lying in bed, he’d given up and gone downstairs.
When he’d stepped into the library in the middle of the night, the scent of honeysuckle had lingered just enough for him to inhale and imagine Gwen in his arms. But thoughts of her wouldn’t help him sleep, either.
Thank goodness he hadn’t blown it by being a total asshat. That he’d blown up at Gwen proved how worried he was about this mission. It didn’t help that he’d had to fight the urge to make love to her all afternoon.
In the library, Merlin had gone over his notes, pulled up satellite photos, and researched the Daesh. But no matter what he found, the missing piece of the puzzle evaded discovery.
Finally giving up, he’d dressed and headed to post. He’d packed his bag the night before while he’d been talking to Gwen on the phone. He hadn’t planned on calling her, but when she texted that she’d gotten home, he couldn’t resist hearing her voice again. Especially since he didn’t know how long he would be away.
The sun had just risen over the horizon as he pulled into the parking lot on post. The morning air was refreshing as he warmed up with some stretches before taking off on the track.
Inhaling deeply, he pushed hard, always going for his fastest time. The harder he ran, the more his tension dissipated. He enjoyed the silence, punctuated by the pounding of his feet on the track and the birds. For the first time in hours, his head cleared. The sweet scent of the morning and the light breeze helped him focus.
The wind direction changed, and he caught a whiff of honeysuckle. He’d run the track for months, but it wasn’t until that morning he’d picked up the scent. Gwen’s face appeared in his mind—her sweet smile, how her soft, auburn hair would fall over her eyes, and she’d push it back behind her ear.
After yesterday, he had new memories—the feel of her against him, her taste. He’d never get enough of her if he lived forever. Thank God he hadn’t blown it yesterday by overreacting to her innocent comment. There was no way in hell she’d know references to drugs and abuse were one of his triggers. How could she? They’d just met.
The Delta Team 3 had rescued countless innocents over the years. So many women and children were drugged, kidnapped, sold into slavery, or auctioned off to the highest bidder. Those missions tore him apart. He was haunted by the sight of their bruised faces and the slight glimmer of hope when they realized they were safe. Merlin had lived with the nightmares for years, but never shared them with anyone.
Merlin had almost let Gwen go after that, more hurt than angry and too damn stubborn to give in until she’d blown up. Gwen had been glorious in her anger. Not that he’d want to see it often. With eyes flashing emerald sparks and her cheeks bright pink, she’d looked like an avenging angel. Just thinking about it made him grin.
But their kisses… She had tasted like lemon and sunshine. Like salvation.
As he thought about Gwen, the toe of his sneaker caught on a rock, and he almost tripped.Damn. He’d almost traded a raging erection for impending doom. It was uncomfortable as all hell. Who got a hard-on while they were running?
Gwen had bewitched him, and instead of wanting to run away, he wanted more. That was the biggest surprise of all. But unless he wanted to advertise his morning wood, he needed to focus on the mission and not his redheaded princess. Recalling the intel he’d read the night before did the trick as he heard the pounding feet approaching his six.
“What took you jokers so long?” Merlin said as the rest of the team caught up to him.
“Not our fault you have no life,” Zip said with a grin.
Duff grunted, and Jangles chuckled.
“The better question is why are you busting your ass? Did you get more intel?” Woof asked.
“I know what you know,” Merlin answered, hating to deceive his team. But Roe had given him orders. He couldn’t tell them that command didn’t trust Sand, either, or that command would supply their orders—not the CIA POC—until they were on the transport and headed to Egypt.
Merlin shook his head. “Just can’t get the feeling that something big is going down and I’m missing something.”
