SEALs of Honor: Dane by Dale Mayer Page A

against the wall at the foot of her bed. His eyes closed. She bet if she moved, he’d wake up in a flash. Nothing got past him.
    “How are you feeling?” he asked, opening his eyes to stare at her. “Better?”
    She offered him a sleepy smile. “Much better. You don’t look like you got any sleep last night though.”
    He shrugged, his gaze never leaving her face as he carefully catalogued the change in her condition. She loved that careful attention to detail. And couldn’t help but wonder if that was going to be the same attention he brought to bed? She’d love to find out. However, considering there were another half dozen men in the room with them, she didn’t think they’d ever find time alone for private moments.
    And there was probably a rule against it while on a mission or some such thing. She yawned, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.
    “Still tired,” Dane asked, frowning.
    “No, not bad. Just waking up. And…” she struggled to sit up, hating the weakness in her limbs. “Waking up also means needing to go to the bathroom.” Feeling embarrassed, yet knowing she had no option but to get up and go, she swung her legs over the side and sat up.
    The room didn’t sway. Her eyes didn’t see stars. In fact, she was feeling pretty decent. Now the real test.
    She made it upright, swayed slightly, righted herself as she saw Dane hop to his feet in case she needed him, and carefully made her way to the bathroom.
    She could hear the men’s voices after she shut the door but not the actual conversation. She used the facilities and washed her hands. After trying to straighten her hair in the mirror, she opened the door again to find Dane waiting for her.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Good. Now back to bed with you.”
    With him watching her progress, she returned to the bed and sat down with her back against the headboard and her legs stretched out.
    “You don’t want to sleep some more?”
    “No. This is good.” She wanted to tell him to stop worrying but didn’t think it would make any difference. “I know I was throwing up before, but right now my stomach is empty.” Then she remembered the phone. “What did you find out about those men?”
    Dane glanced at the others, then said in low tones, “Both were mercenaries. Neither will be missed.”
    That confirmed a question she hadn’t wanted to ask about the fate of the man who’d dragged her across the tarmac. Apparently they’d killed him. Then again he hadn’t given them much choice. “And have we tracked who they worked for. Or who paid them to kidnap me? Or are we assuming it’s the same company as the one Michaels worked for? He wouldn’t share that name, by the way.”
    “Can’t assume anything, but we tracked him to Germany. He worked for Tenesco, then ChemTech and disappeared under the radar for a while but recently popped up on Hyack’s payroll so that’s the assumption we’re going on right now.”
    “Right.” She wiggled to get comfortable. “Any chance of food?” she asked hopefully. “Can we go out for a meal?”
    Dane shook his head. “No, but we have some here. We’re keeping a low profile.”
    Right. So no restaurants. She wondered what that meant in this case. Army rations. She was hungry enough that might work, but she wasn’t sure her stomach would agree with it.
    Dane got up and headed to the small kitchenette area. There was some kind of coffee machine with a glass carafe. She smiled. Those supposedly made the best coffee of all.
    He put on the kettle and opened a small fridge tucked in the cupboard below. He brought out a selection of meat and cheeses and cut several thick slabs of bread for the meal. This was her kind of meal. Now if they were on a river’s edge or a mountain path with a beautiful view, she’d consider this a wonderful picnic. Sequestered inside the hotel room with men sprawled like relaxed lions all around her was a surreal setting.
    A nice one. Not that the men considered her anything but a