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He jerked awake and heard a gasp.
It took his brain a second to process. He was in his cabin. On his couch. His hand was clamped on Gemma’s delicate wrist.
He heard her swallow. “You were moaning. Having a nightmare.”
He released her quickly. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
He shifted, sat up, and scraped his hands over his face. “Sorry I woke you.”
She was silent. Just a dark shadow in the room. Then she moved and sat down beside him.
“You get them a lot?”
His chest tightened. He didn’t talk about it. Ever. “Not every night, but I get them. You woke me before the worst of it.”
Because he knew from experience just how much worse it got.
“They’re about when you were in the military?”
He stared straight ahead. This pretty woman with her smooth skin, curves, and delicate hands couldn’t ever understand. Hell, he didn’t want her to understand. “Yeah.”
“You’ve…talked to someone?”
It felt like something squeezed his throat. “Yes. Had a therapist when I got out.” He’d talked until he couldn’t talk anymore.
She leaned into the cushions. “What branch were you in?”
“I joined the Army. I ended up in Delta.”
“Special forces. Wow.” She paused. “You worked with Vander.”
“He was my commander.”
“That man is a whole lot of scary.”
“He is. Makes him good in the field.”
She tucked her legs up under her. “My father said Vander was in some special program. Ghost Ops.” She paused. “You were, too?”
“I can’t talk about it.”
Ghost Ops took the best of the best from all the special forces to make elite teams. Teams that went to the worst places to do the worst, most impossible missions.
“You must’ve done some dangerous jobs.”
His fingers curled into his palm.
“And seen some terrible things,” she whispered quietly.
“I got out. I’m alive.”
“But others didn’t?”
“No, they didn’t. Good men. With families.”
“I bet their families are proud of them. Boone, thank you for your service. Because of men like you, and your friends, who fight for us, protect us, I’ve never seen terrible things.”
