SEALs of Honor: Dane by Dale Mayer

off to Shadow. “He was the shooter from an assignation. A company man. I wouldn’t worry about these right now. You need to focus on getting better. It’s all good.”
    She nodded but wasn’t sure she believed him. “Promise…no, you can’t.” Just because she wanted it didn’t mean it was fair to ask him.
    “Promise what?” He leaned forward. “That you’ll get home safe and sound? I’ll do my best. Promise that you’ll survive this? I’ll do my best.”
    “No,” she said, her voice barely audible and on the next breath asked what she really wanted to know. “Promise you won’t leave me alone?”
    His head lowered right to hers, she could feel his breath, the heat of his body. The surprise, yet not shocked, response to her request.
    And he whispered against her ear. “I’ll do my best.”
    And that had to be good enough. A SEALs best was damned good. She’d heard the stories of Hell Week and BUD/S training and all the over the top stories portrayed in the news about the almost secret organization that no one ever really talked about. But she was here in the middle of the team. She should be safe.
    And she would be safe.
    As long as Dane didn’t leave her.
    With that promise, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Just before going under, she felt something so soft so tender she knew she had to have imagined it, but she’d have sworn he’d kissed her.
    *
    D ANE STEPPED BACK, his frown deepening as he studied Marielle’s lack of color.
    “She’s going to be fine,” the old doctor said to him.
    He turned to stare at her. “How can you be sure?”
    “I’ve been looking after people for a long time,” she said. “Sure, I’ve lost a few over the years, but she won’t be one of them. You’ll need to keep an eye on her, of course, but in another day or two she’ll be as right as rain.”
    He studied her closely, wondering if she was as full of crap as she sounded or was she seriously going on instinct and over fifty years of experience when she diagnosed Marielle’s condition. They didn’t have much choice in the matter. They had brought her to look at Marielle and she’d done that.
    They might have to still rush Marielle to the closest hospital in the night, however, in the meantime, she could rest here with all of them hovering over her. They needed to fly out as soon as possible for her sake, but their mission wasn’t over and that was major. So…this was the compromise.
    He watched Mason escort the doctor out of the room. Half the team was either on guard or tracking their suspects. Shadow was on the computer tracking down the money. Someone had to know something somewhere. And that included finding out who the two dead guys from the airport were, and who they worked for. They had new strings to pull. He wanted to do something, but right now it was his turn to watch Marielle.
    Dane turned to stare at her, checking on her breathing. She slept soundly. Deep. Maybe too deep. Worried, he leaned over and checked her breathing. No change since the doctor had checked her over. He was just being paranoid.
    “How is she?” Mason asked. “Any change?”
    “No. She’s still the same.”
    Mason handed him a laptop. “Might as well do something useful.”
    “Anyone sleeping,” he asked, knowing they had to grab rest where they could.
    “No. They all want revenge for our pilot. The falling out of thieves has given us two major threads to yank, so let’s make good use of that opportunity.”
    Happily, Dane shuffled to the bottom of the bed where Marielle slept and got to work.
    At least he had something he could do.

Chapter 13
    S HE’D SPENT A lot of time in bed since meeting Dane. That was the first thought in her mind when she woke. And a lot of time fully dressed in bed. Alone. How disheartening. She glanced around to find Mason working on the laptop, Swede sitting in the corner with his head resting on his folded arms. Her gaze lit on Dane next. And she smiled. He sat head back