Forged in Steele

CHAPTER 10

MAREN woke from a dreamy fog that surrounded her. She was utterly sated, her body deliciously sore. Parts of her still throbbed and she stretched experimentally only to collide with a hard male form.

She turned her head, instantly seeing a muscled chest. She was lying flat on her back and Steele was on his side facing her, his leg and arm thrown possessively over her body. She let out a sigh and his eyes opened. He regarded her lazily, making no effort to loosen his hold on her.

“Good morning,” he murmured.

“What time is it?” she whispered.

“Oh six hundred.”

She groaned.

His eyebrow went up. “Everything okay?”

She grimaced. “No. I have to get up and get showered. My patients start showing up at the clinic at around seven. Sometimes earlier. It’s first come, first served, and so they line up early and wait for me to open.”

“Want some help?”

She blinked, not knowing what to say. She wasn’t entirely certain what he’d planned to do while she was working or if he’d even planned to stay. They hadn’t discussed it other than his saying he was taking some downtime. That could mean anything. Maybe she was just a stop on his way to somewhere else.

“Uh sure, if you want to come hang out at the clinic, I’d love the company.”

“You jump in the shower first. I’ll wash up after you’re done. Do we have time for breakfast? I’ll see what I can rustle up while you shower.”

Okay, this was not Steele. Aliens had descended and taken over his body. Or maybe he’d been cloned. But this was not the Steele she knew at all. He sounded positively domestic.

“What’s that look for?” he asked.

“You have to give me some time to process this, Steele. I mean, the first night was unexpected enough, and you made no bones about the fact that it was a onetime deal, you wouldn’t be calling and you were working me out of your system. Next thing I know, you’re back, we have hot monkey sex all night long and then you want to come hang out with me at the clinic after cooking me breakfast. Are you seeing why I’m a little befuddled here?”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Hot monkey sex? Is that what you call it?”

She rolled her eyes. “Trust you to ignore everything in my statement except the sex part.”

“It’s the most important point,” he said smugly.

She stared balefully at him, waiting for him to expound.

He gave an exaggerated sigh. “If you want an explanation, I can’t give you one because I have no idea what the hell is going on either. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. It was bad enough before we actually had sex, but after? I haven’t thought of anything else but you, and it’s fucking with my focus. So now I’m here, and I’m liking being here a hell of a lot, and I’d like to hang out with you at the clinic because I came to see you, and if you’re there and I’m here, I won’t see you. And if I help out, maybe you’ll get done quicker and we can go back to having that hot monkey sex you’re talking about.”

“Well, all righty then. I guess that about covers it all. You go make breakfast. I’ll hit the shower and then we’ll go to work.”

He leaned over and kissed her thoroughly. “It’s a plan then.”

HAVING Steele at the clinic made for an interesting day. Not to mention he was terrific with her patients. She’d spent much of the morning gawking at just how good he was with the children. And the women as well. At first, they were intimidated by him, but in no time at all, they warmed up to his gruff personality and the children all clamored for his attention.

It was hard not to picture him with his own child. A child she could very well be pregnant with. She caught herself drifting off several times and then jerking herself back to the patient she was treating.

Seeing Steele in a nonprofessional capacity when he wasn’t Steele the team leader, but rather Steele the ordinary, not-so-superhuman badass was . . . eye-opening. Not that he was lacking in any way, but she was accustomed to his stern exterior and seeing him locked behind his warrior armor. The Steele she’d seen not once but twice now was challenging every preconceived notion she’d ever formed about him.

He was approachable. Suddenly very human and not the machine other members of KGI only half-jokingly called him.

She was drawn to the badass Steele, but the Steele she had been treated to the last two times they’d been together? Utterly irresistible.

She was in deep, deep trouble. Apart from any pregnancy concerns, she was fast falling under his spell, and that was the dumbest thing she could do. He wasn’t relationship material. Hell, he’d been brutally honest about not liking the fact that she was under his skin. He didn’t want her there and he didn’t want to be sexually attracted to her. After he was satisfied, he’d be gone again, and she’d likely never see him again unless his team needed her services.

Which made her an even bigger idiot for agreeing to do this with him. Spend time, have sex, have a cozy, almost romantic breakfast for two. Him in her kitchen, shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans she’d never seen him in, and day-um he looked mouthwateringly delicious in those jeans. They beat the hell out of the fatigues he always wore, although he made camo look pretty damn good.

If she had any self-preservation, she’d stay the hell away from him and not let him come and go on a whim when he got the urge to exorcise her from his system. So she was an idiot. Because she had no intention of denying him anything, even knowing this road was going to lead to heartbreak.

Steele poked his head into the exam room where she was finishing up bandaging an animal bite on a child’s leg.

“I just put the last patient in the second exam room. The waiting area is clear. Want me to close down while you work the last one?”

She uttered a wistful sigh. How nice it was to work in tandem as they had today. Things had gone so much smoother with his help in organizing the patients, finding out histories and doing triage for her. His company had been a great comfort to her today. She liked it. Liked him being here in her space, her world. She was seeing a side of him she hadn’t known existed because she’d never seen him outside the realm of KGI and his missions.

“Yeah, check outside to make sure no one else is coming or has arrived. If it’s clear, lock up and we’ll let the last patient out when I’m done.”

He started to withdraw, but she called out to him. He paused and turned around, waiting for her to speak.

“Thanks,” she said softly. “Today was nice.”

He smiled warmly at her. She felt it all the way to her toes and it gave her a ridiculous, giddy thrill. She felt like a sixteen-year-old with a monster crush on the high school jock.

“You’ve done all the work. You’re a good doctor, Maren. They trust you. You’re great with them. I’ve always known you were good, but I’ve only seen you with my team. You work damn hard. I don’t know how you do this every day, at all hours of the day and night.”

She glowed under his praise, her cheeks burning with instant heat.

He gave her a two-finger salute and then left the room. She turned back to the child and sent his mother a look of apology. But the mom just smiled and winked.

“He is a good-looking man, yes?”

Maren smiled. “Yes, he certainly is that.”

She patted the child’s arm and then ruffled his dark hair. “Okay, you’re all set,” she said in Spanish. “Keep the bandages on and let your mother apply ointment and rewrap it. We don’t want it to get infected, and whatever you do, don’t pick at it.”

Then to the mother she said, “Keep watch for signs of infection. If he starts running a fever or the wound gets red or starts looking infected, come back and I can give him an injection of antibiotics. Keep it clean and dry.”

The mother nodded and then thanked Maren. She smiled at both and then led them from the exam room back to the waiting area, where Steele was just locking up.

When he saw them, he opened the door to let the mom and child out. He ruffled the child’s hair and spoke to him in Spanish. The child beamed back and then followed his mother outside.

Steele closed the door and turned back to Maren. “I’ll wait out here until you finish and then let the last patient out. How long do you normally stay after your last patient? Do you have to do paperwork or catch up on other stuff? You’ve been working nonstop today seeing patients.”

Then he frowned. “You didn’t even take a break to eat lunch.”

“Neither did you,” she pointed out.

He shrugged. “I’ve gone a hell of a lot longer than that without eating. Skipping one meal doesn’t bother me.”

“Me either. I often work through lunch. It’s not fair to make them all wait so I can take an hour lunch. My clinic doesn’t have set hours. If there are patients to be seen, I see them and I eat afterward.”

“You got a grill?”

She blinked at the sudden change in topic. “Yeah, a small one. Nothing huge or anything.”

“Big enough to cook the steaks I saw in your freezer? Or at least I think that’s what they were.”

She smiled. “Yep. One of the locals gifted me with four steaks from a cow they butchered recently. I suck at grilling and I hate the idea of them going to waste, but I didn’t want to refuse and hurt the man’s feelings.”

“I’ll throw them on the grill once we get back to your place. You can relax, put your feet up, and drink a cup of your tea while I make us dinner.”

Her heart did a funny twist in her chest, and warmth invaded her veins. How they’d gotten from one night of never-to-be-repeated sex to acting like a couple was beyond her, but she’d hold on to the dream for as long as it lasted. There was plenty of time for reality to sink in later. Much, much later, if she had her way about it.

Carpe diem. It was fast becoming her motto.

“That’s a deal,” she said. “Let me run back and see what I’m dealing with and then we’ll get on out of here.”

Thirty minutes later, Steele waited as she locked the door behind them, and then he looped an arm around her shoulders as they began the walk back to her cottage.

Thanks to Steele’s help, what would normally have been a very long day, with the number of patients who’d come through her clinic, they’d finished before dark and the sun was only just starting its descent on the horizon. The sky was painted pink and gold with lavender shades blending. It was a perfect late afternoon, verging on dusk. Sipping a hot cup of tea while Steele manned the grill was about as perfect an evening she could ask for.

He pulled her closer still, until she was nestled against his side as he matched his stride to hers. She was in no hurry, savoring the usually tedious, routine path that she’d walked hundreds of times before. But with him it was a new experience. Companionship, intimacy. Things she hadn’t enjoyed until now.

Being with him brought home just how isolated her life was. Her schedule was fixed, rarely deviating from the norm. She woke, she worked, she came home. Wash, rinse and repeat. But today had been a wonderful change to her monotonous routine.

She slid her arm around his waist and leaned further into him, enjoying the feel of his muscled frame against her.

“Thanks again for today,” she said softly. “I liked having you there.”

She hoped she wasn’t saying too much or that he’d take it as a hint or invitation. She didn’t want to come across as demanding or expectant. But she wasn’t going to be so nonchalant about his presence today. She didn’t care if he knew just how much she’d liked having him around. The sex was great. No denying that. But his company was nice too. Just being together, even with her working. It had been nice to look up and see him there in her space. In her life.

He squeezed her shoulder, pressing her more firmly into his side. “I liked being there. I was impressed, Maren. I don’t think I could do what you do every day.”

“But you do. Sorta. You help people. I help people. We just do it differently.”

“I guess you’re right. But each mission is different. I never know going in what exactly I’m dealing with. You do the same thing day in, day out. And yet you don’t act like you’re fatigued with it. You had a smile for each patient and you looked genuinely interested in them. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it didn’t look to me like you ran through your patients robotically, working by rote. You personalized each exam. You treated them like real people. Not all doctors do that.”

She could feel herself blushing and she practically squirmed at how sincere he sounded in his praise. Thankfully they arrived at her cottage and he opened the door, then did a quick scan of the interior before he guided her in.

“I hate that you don’t lock your door, and I hate more that it wouldn’t do a damn bit of good to lock it because it would take no effort to get in this place whatsoever,” he muttered.

She smiled at his gruff concern and the way his brow furrowed when he was irritated.

“I’m fine, Steele. The locals all like me. They look out for me. I’ve never had an ounce of trouble here.”

“It’s not the locals I worry about,” he said.

She rose up on tiptoe and kissed his lips. “It’s sweet of you to worry, but you don’t need to, Steele. I’ll be fine. Besides, I have connections. I know some people who work for a kick-ass organization that specializes in rescues and beating up bad guys.”

She grinned as she said it, and his lips quirked in amusement.

“Yeah? Who’s that?”

“I’ll never tell,” she said solemnly.

He smacked her playfully on the behind. “Go put your feet up. If you’ll tell me what tea you want—you have over a dozen that I saw—I’ll put some water on to boil while I get the steaks out and prep the grill.”

“I could seriously get used to having a houseboy,” she said wistfully.

He raised an eyebrow. “Boy?”

“Er, um, house hottie then? House stud?”

He winced. “Sorry I said anything at all. If it ever gets out that you called me your house hottie, I’ll never be able to show my face to my team again.”

She laughed. “I won’t tell if you don’t. Or unless I ever need to pay you back for something you’ve done to piss me off.”

“Can’t guarantee I won’t piss you off, but I’m liking the idea of makeup sex already.”

“Are you bipolar?” she blurted.

His look of complete what-the-fuck was hilarious.

“What the hell kind of question is that?”

She raised her upturned palms and shrugged. “It’s a logical question given the data I’ve collected on you.”

He groaned. “Good God. Don’t get all doctorly on me. You’ve done research on me?”

She grinned again. “No, but given what I’ve known of you all this time, you have to admit that it’s like looking at two entirely different people. I would say talking to two entirely different people, but Steele the badass didn’t ever speak to me. Or not more than a few one-word responses here and there. Steele the human is flirty, has a sense of humor, smiles a lot and says nice things that make me all shivery on the inside.”

“You’re one to speak your mind, aren’t you?” he said dryly. “Guess I don’t ever have to worry about you trying to spare my feelings.”

“What can I say? I’m a say-it-like-I-see-it kind of girl. You have to admit that you underwent a pretty radical personality change. Either that or you had a lobotomy or maybe you got a little too close to those explosives that got Baker and suffered a head injury. It’s been documented that head injuries have radically changed people’s personalities.”

He groaned and shook his head. “Look, I like you, okay? And I don’t like very many people. That’s why I get the reputation for being a hard-ass, an asshole, a machine, and a whole bunch of other not-so-nice names. As a rule, I hate people. But I like my team. I like the Kellys. And I like you.”

She grinned bigger. “Did that kill you to admit?”

“You can shut up anytime now,” he said in a sour voice. “You’re about one smart-ass remark away from having to cook your own damn steak.”

She held up her hands in surrender. “I give, I give. Cook away. I’ll shut up now and put my feet up like I was instructed. Surprise me and just pick a tea bag. I like them all.”

Before she could walk away, he hauled her up against him and thrust his hand into her hair, holding her in place as his mouth descended on hers. “Like those glasses on you. They’re cute. Make you look all serious and smart, even though I know you don’t need glasses to look that way. Gonna have to leave them on sometime when we have sex. It’s a serious turn-on.”

Okay, that tilted her universe just a bit. She didn’t reach to adjust them even though they slid down her nose just a bit when he kissed her. Instead she let him deepen the kiss, enjoying the feel of his mouth against hers.

He kissed her hungrily, his tongue sliding deep and then brushing over hers in light, teasing strokes. When he pulled away, his eyes gleamed and his pupils were slightly dilated. Arousal hummed from him, was thick in the air. Her own pulse quickened as she took in the evidence of his desire.

“I like that you give as good as you get,” he murmured. “Love that saucy tongue of yours, and I love that you give me shit. No one else does that.”

“That’s because they’re scared shitless of you,” she muttered.

“But you’re not,” he stated. And he looked quite pleased with that fact.

But she was scared of him. Not in the way he was talking about. But she was definitely terrified of him. Because she knew without a doubt that he had the power to hurt her. He wouldn’t do it maliciously or intentionally. But she was already in way over her head with no way out. She didn’t want out. Even knowing the eventuality of the hurt she’d endure.

She’d already been attracted to Steele. Fascinated by the side he presented to the world. But now that she’d gotten a good look at the man behind the hard-ass exterior? She was doomed with a capital D.

She’d liked him before. Had wanted to pull back those layers that surrounded him. But where she’d liked and admired him before? She was already falling hard for the man behind the brick wall.