Mason smiled. True enough.

"Until what, about a year ago?" Hawk was puzzling his way through the concept of Mason being a changed man and just what would do something like that to him. Mason hoped he didn't get that far.

"Until Harry's death." Hawk grinned as he figured it out.

Mason's gaze snapped to Tesla. But he needn't have worried. She was still in the same position and appeared to be sleeping. He worried about her. Had done so for months. Since Harry's death. He'd always been fascinated with the tales Harry had shared. He'd had no idea if Harry would have approved of him taking an interest. He'd been pretty careful to keep his attraction to himself. That had been easy as there'd always been women available. They had been an enjoyable way to pa.s.s the time, and a way to keep his dreams to himself. Until he'd lost Harry.

And with Harry's death came that second look at life and what was important and what did he want to do before the land mine with his name on it found him. At the same time he'd had that insidious idea that with Harry out of the picture there was no barrier to meeting her and seeing where it went. Now though, he realized that Harry was between them more than ever.

"Right?"

He glanced back at Hawk and caught his wide grin as he mentally went click, click, click and came up with the right answer.

Hawk made a silent oh sound with his mouth and his gaze widened in sudden awareness, his gaze intent on Tesla and the way she was snuggled into his chest.

But he stayed quiet. For which Mason was grateful.

He checked the time. "Go time."

Hawk stepped up and front, Mason shook Tesla awake. "Tesla. Time to go. You can rest in a few moments. Let's get you to safety. Then you can rest."

She opened her eyes, dark bruises underneath. His heart melted a little. She'd been such a trooper. "Come on."

"Okay," she said in a soft voice. "I'm ready."

But she wasn't standing on her own two feet yet. In fact, he wasn't sure she could stand without his a.s.sistance. He patted her cheeks gently. "We need to go now."

She blinked, then gave a head shake. "Okay, let's go." She turned and stumbled out of his arms and behind Hawk. That she never said a word said much about her mental state.

There's no way she'd be able to walk on those b.l.o.o.d.y stumps without crying out. They were either numb not good or she was also not good.

Besides, she was leaving a visible blood trail.

Hawk caught his attention and motioned to Tesla. Mason nodded. He scooped her up and fell into line.

This had to end soon. Or she wasn't going to make it.

Chapter 7.

THE REST OF that trip was a blur. She knew they'd walked miles. There'd been a meeting up with another member of the team before she was carried to a small dilapidated house just outside the edge of town. She had no idea who lived there, if anyone, and couldn't work up the energy to care.

There was a bathroom. A real one with a toilet and a bathtub. The men had also somehow, from somewhere, rummaged up food. She had a real meal. She felt almost normal now. Supposedly she was going to be picked up by a group tomorrow morning. Soon this nightmare would be over. She could sleep for days if she wanted to then. Mission accomplished.

That worked for her.

Now if only she could get to that bath, then bed part of this mess.

"Eat." Mason stared down at her half empty plate. "You need your strength."

Strength. Right. Eat even if you don't want to. It's food. It's energy. Her father's words rattled through her skull. She picked up her fork again and forced another bite down. She did need food. And a bath.

She brightened. If she finished eating, she could squeeze a bath in before she collapsed. Then again, she had to make it to the bath first. Just then, Mason nudged her elbow. She lifted her tired gaze to him.

"Come on. Bedtime."

She shook her head. "Bath first."

He nodded. "Let's go." He stood up and picked her up.

"Whoa," she cried. "I can walk."

He snorted. "If that was the case then you'd have made your way up there before now."

She groaned. "I was working up the energy for the trip."

He carried her up the stairs and into the small quaint bathroom. Putting her on the counter, he swiveled and quickly turned on the water to fill a bath for her. She smiled. Had anything ever looked so good?

They both stared as the tub filled halfway. He reached down and switched off the water. Rummaging around in the cupboard, he quickly found her an old towel. Then turned to face her.

She snickered. "Yes, I'm fine. Yes, I can get in on my own. Yes, I will call you if I run into trouble."

His laughter rang through the bathroom.

"See, I'm learning." She grinned impishly. Nothing could knock her mood right now. She was inside, safe with a bathtub full of hot water waiting for her. Life was good.

Besides, there was the s.e.xiest man she'd ever met standing beside her. And he appeared to care about her wellbeing. Might be just because of the job...but...

He dropped a kiss on her forehead and walked out, leaving her alone, her fingers reaching up to touch the spot he'd kissed. Why had he done that? Again? Surely he hadn't meant it. Or rather he saw her as Harry's little sister and therefore was going to treat her the same way.

She slid off the counter, wincing as her damaged feet hit the cold linoleum floor. Getting into the water was going to hurt, yet they were in desperate need of a hot soak and cleaning. As was the rest of her. She stripped off her ruined clothes, wondering if there was anything left behind in the house she could wear. She couldn't imagine putting on her destroyed bloodstained clothing again. There were more holes than material left.

Perched on the side of the bath, she gently slipped her feet in the warm water. Tears came to her eyes at the stinging. It felt good but that sting quickly became a scorching burn. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe through it. After a couple of long moments, she slid the rest of the way into the water, this time gasping in joy as her aching muscles were enveloped in the comforting heat.

She had no idea how much time she had but took several minutes to lie submerged, letting the heat wash over her hair and face. Then she went about the painful business of wetting down her hair and trying to clean it with the bar of soap. She was dusty and b.l.o.o.d.y and d.a.m.n it, every inch hurt.

By the time she was done, she was exhausted. She managed to hitch herself up to the side of the bathtub again to snag up the towel on the floor. The dry rough textured material made short work of the moisture still clinging to her skin. She redressed in her underclothes and wrapped the towel around her while contemplating her options. She could walk out to the bedroom in a towel and hope to make it into her room sight unseen. Or she could call out for help and get carried into her room, thus letting her feet stay clean. If there was more medicated ointment, her feet could really use it and needed to be clean before putting it on. If not, then it didn't matter. Then again, clean feet would heal better and that was her prime requirement right now. Healing.

She called out, "Mason?"

There was a quick tap on the door then it opened and he popped his head around. Saw her sitting wrapped up in a towel and nodded. "Good idea."

He walked in, picked her up, towel and all and said, "I've got the ointment sitting beside the bed. We'll get that on first then you can go to sleep."

"Any chance of a change of clothes?" she asked hopefully. "There's not much left of mine."

"I'll be able to find you a t-shirt. Not sure if any of our pants would fit. Definitely no underclothes."

"I'm wearing those, but my t-shirt, sweater, and jeans are history."

He smiled at her as he laid her down. "I'll take a look after we get your feet taken care of."

Taking care of her feet took longer and required more effort than she'd thought. Now clean, the tissue was raw and swollen. He dressed both, then leaving her lying on the bed, he left to search for more clothes.

She dropped the towel to the floor and managed to shift under the blankets. He could look for clothes all he liked. She was looking for sleep.

Closing her eyes, she slowly relaxed. Thank G.o.d this was over.

NO MORE THAN ten minutes later, Mason came back to find her sleeping heavily in the bed. With the towel on the floor, her body tucked under the sheets, he had to grin at her feet sticking straight out so the ointment wouldn't muck up the bedding. He had no such qualms himself, but it was such a feminine thing to do it made him smile.

A quick trek to the bathroom had him bringing the rest of her clothes, and making sure there was nothing else left behind, he quickly packed up her useless clothing into the bottom of his pack. They wanted nothing to remain of their pa.s.sing through here. And definitely nothing to say Tesla had been here.

They were running two hour rotating watches. He was on outside watch next. Swede stepped through the bedroom doorway to stand guard over Tesla, saw her b.l.o.o.d.y feet sticking out of the covers while the rest of her was buried under the blankets and said, "Small feet."

Mason agreed. "Back in four hours."

"I'll be here. Go, she'll be fine."

With a last glance at sleeping beauty, Mason headed out to relieve Hawk.

Sitting up in the tree from the far corner of the property they had a perfect coverage of the house and particularly the corner where Tesla slept.

"Go. I'm here."

Hawk nodded and skimmed down the tree. He was half squirrel the way he could move his body along the trees. He also climbed better than any of them.

"It's all clear." He sprinted to the front of the house where Shadow was on guard. All angles had to be covered. He'd switched places with Hawk in two hours so they were always moving someone around.

Mason leaned back and let his nose take in the scent of the night. The only way to survive sessions like this was to be one with it. That meant letting go of everything in his mind, in his head. Let it all drift away, drop the worries but sharpen the senses. With his next breath out, he released his attachment to the moment and let the experience of the tree, the night, the air sink inside. It helped him to hear movement on the ground, noises in the wind. It allowed for so much more sensory knowledge that he never did a guard watch without it.

He swiveled his head to the left. Something moved. With his eyes closed he worked to identify it. A deer. He smiled at the size of the buck. That guy had better keep on moving or he'd end up on a hunter's dinner table before too long. It might not be hunting season, but many people living in the back country helped themselves to Mother Nature's bounty. Regardless of the law.

Relaxing deeper, he could hear the sounds of running water up ahead. There must be a creek. Good, they could use that to their advantage if they needed to.

He set his GPS locator and settled back for his watch.

It went quickly. The night was silent. At peace. With any luck Tesla slept, and they could get her moved out to safety. She deserved it. And him, well he'd head back to base and await new orders.

Like he always did.

He saw Hawk switch with Swede at Tesla's doorway. Good. Watch time. Swede moved out to the base of the tree. Swede was big and not a tree climber by choice, but he'd find a place that worked for him and use that for his watch. They all had their own system.

Mason shimmied down and nodded to Swede. He slipped to the front of the house and c.o.c.ked an ear. All clear.

He entered the house and walked up to Tesla's bedroom. Hawk waited for him.

"She's been sleeping solid."

"Good, it's what she needs."

Hawk nodded and slipped away. Mason would catch a few hours of sleep, then go relieve someone out front. The system worked better than most and worked because they all knew what they were doing and why.

He'd never had a problem with anyone on his team. Their lives depended on each other. And apparently on those they were rescuing if Tesla's actions today were anything to go by.

He smiled at her position. Had she moved at all? She was still flung across the bed, her feet still sticking out and her head buried under the covers.

Good. A sleep like that was exactly what she needed.

Now he needed to catch some rest himself.

Then tomorrow, he'd be able to meet up and hand her over.

That was what this was all about.

Collect the package before anyone else could.

He'd done that and more.

It was almost time to let go.

And that he realized with shock was something he didn't want to do. A first for him. A first for any woman in his life. He'd had plenty of short term relationships. They all had. A group of women hung around the bars in the hopes of catching themselves a SEAL. Often he and the team let themselves be caught. After all, why not? Life was for living, and hey, women made the living a whole lot sweeter. But it was also getting old.

He glanced back over at the sleeping woman.

Still, it's not like his interest would come to anything.

How could it? His lifestyle was dangerous as all h.e.l.l, and she'd already lost someone to the war. She wasn't going to be interested in facing the danger of a second one.

Military lifestyle was h.e.l.l on partners.

Chapter 8.

SHE WOKE TO heat, a hot stifling type of heat. She sat up, threw off the covers and breathed deep as the cool air of the night flowed over her hot skin.

"Easy, Tesla, take it easy."