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He started to relax a little.
“I’m sorry your friends’ deaths haunt you.” Silence stretched and she stifled a sigh. “You must miss them.”
“Yeah. Every day.”
The darkness wrapped around them, and she surreptitiously rubbed her cheek against his arm.
“I watched them die.”
Gemma sucked in a breath and held it. She stayed quiet and waited for him to go on. She couldn’t see his face, but she felt the tension in him. She turned her face into him, pressing into him more firmly. She knew the darkness made it easier to talk.
His arm curled around her, holding her tight.
“I’m here, Boone. I’m listening.”
She wanted to know what haunted him, what hurt him. She wanted to hear it, so she could share it and help him let it go.
“Our team had split up. I was with my friends Julio, Miles, and Charlie.” His next breath was ragged. “We were ambushed. A fierce group of Taliban fighters took us hostage, put us in a cell.”
His heart was racing. She smoothed a hand over his bare chest. His breathing sped up.
She wanted to comfort him, tell him it was okay. But she knew that wasn’t what he needed right now.
“They wanted intel.” Another fast breath. “They took Miles first.” He shook his head. “They strung him up and tortured him. I still hear his screams.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m sorry.”
“They beheaded him in front of us.” His tone was wooden. “They took Charlie next.”
Gemma bit back a sob. She had to be strong enough for him, to help him. She held him tighter.
“I begged them to take me. Miles was engaged. Charlie had a pretty wife. Julio had kids. I had no one, and I wanted them to take me.”
Her hero. Ready to sacrifice himself.
“One of them held a gun to Julio’s head, yelling in Arabic. Taunting me because there wasn’t a damn thing I could do.” He dragged in a harsh breath. “After they killed Julio, they were getting ready to torture me. That’s when Vander and the rest of our team arrived.” His hand moved into her hair. “Mostly, I don’t understand why I made it back and they didn’t.”
She rubbed her cheek against his warm skin. “That’s a decision above all our pay grades. Life is life, Boone. Good things happen, bad things happen. We like to think we have control over it, but we don’t.”
“They had wives, kids. Kids who don’t have a father now.”
“If you hadn’t made it back, you wouldn’t have been able to rescue me. I’m grateful for that.”
She felt him stroke her hair.
“I’m glad, too.”
Suddenly, the bed dipped under another weight as Atlas jumped on.
“Atlas,” Boone growled.
“He was worried about you.”
The dog licked Boone’s face, fur tickling her face. She felt a smile curl her lips. Then Atlas dropped down and settled in beside her.
Gemma was now pinned in by the Hendrix males.
She liked it.
