Page 34 of Hazard

He walked over and sat on the opposite bunk, then set the food down in front of her, handing her the fork. She looked down at it, then back at him. “Are these your rations?”

“Technically, they’re called MREs…ah Meals Ready to Eat. They’re not bad, especially when you’re hungry. The beef stew is my favorite, so I thought you’d like it, and the cookie is also my favorite. I know how you like your sugar, so I thought I would…um…share. It’s my last one, so—” He was babbling on and on about the stupid meal, trying to put her at ease. When he looked up, his breath caught.

Were those tears slipping down her cheeks? Hazard’s hands curled into fists, and the muscles of his arms bunched with tension. He wanted to take all this frustration and anger out on that bastard outside. He watched her face as she looked down at the meager food he could provide, those tears cutting two deep tracks out of his heart.

Leigh sat there in abject misery, her heart hammering with dread, and her insides in knots, not knowing what to do with all these feelings welling up inside her from the moment the team had been ambushed, to the attack on TOC, her capture, and the subsequent attempted rape. Now, Hazard was being so excruciatingly sweet with his kind offer of his beef stew and his…last cookie. She couldn’t handle it, nor could she handle the sight of that white bandage on his arm.

She didn’t want to feel fragile or admit she was fragile in any way. She still had a job to do, and she was a goddamn professional. How could she lead when she looked weak? So, when a tear dropped off her jaw and plopped onto her hand, she was surprised and mortified.

She lifted her head, ready to dig in and give him some satisfaction. All she had to do was thank him. She didn’t have to talk about anything she didn’t want to talk about.

His stricken expression dismayed her even more. He stared at her for a moment, then rubbed his clenched fists against his thighs. He was holding his body so tautly, and she felt so vulnerable. She didn’t know what to say to bridge the silence. Feeling as if her heart were stuck in her throat, wanting nothing more than to soothe this man, she took a shaky breath.

Hazard held her gaze for a split second, then stared at the floor. There was something about the set of his shoulders, about the tight lines around his mouth, that made her want to cry all over again, and she looked up at the ceiling and swallowed hard.

The ache finally eased, and she looked at him. “Thank you for this.”

The sick, naked expression on his face made her throat contract. There was such torment in his eyes, such gut-wrenching guilt, and she understood why he’d fought so hard against their attraction, against her being here.

She was his one vulnerability.

She was his weakness.

He was her strength.

His face contorting in a fury of pent-up feelings, he rose abruptly and hit the wall with the side of his fist, then abruptly turned away. He raised his hand for a second blow, but Leigh was across the space before he could act. Shaken by his uncharacteristic display of anger, she seized him by the wrist, then slid her free arm around his broad shoulders. Grasping him by the back of the neck, she used all her strength to hold him against her.

“Don’t,” she whispered brokenly. “Please, don’t.” He tried to pull away, but she refused to let him go. Closing her eyes against the feelings that washed through her, she tried to soothe him with the sound of her voice. “We made it. We’re still here,” she crooned softly.

He shuddered and turned his face against her neck, then dragged in a deep, ragged breath and caught her in a crushing embrace. Cradling the back of his head, Leigh pressed her whole body tight against him, trying to physically give comfort, trying to wordlessly let him know that it was okay. His hand tangled in her hair as he shifted his hold, locking her flush against him. He inhaled raggedly. “I’m so sorry, Leigh.” His voice sounded crushed. “Sorry I wasn’t there.”

Letting go of his head, Leigh quickly wiped her eyes, then hugged him hard. She didn’t want Hazard to feel like this. It wasn’t fair to him. He hadn’t done a thing wrong. “It’s not your fault, and if you had been there, you probably would have died.” Like the rest of them. Tears stung her eyes as a fresh surge of guilt rose to the surface.

Gunfire ripped across her mind, blood everywhere. People falling and crying out. It was as if it was happening all over again, and she clenched her teeth.

“I would have given my life for you.” His words snapped her out of her flashback. She brushed back his hair, then rubbed the back of his neck, his hair a silky mess.

“Don’t say that,” she said. “I can’t bear those words.” She now knew what it was like for a man to give his life for hers. It was the most painful experience of her life.

After a while, he released a heavy sigh, and Leigh raised her head and looked at him. His expression drawn, he touched the edge of her bruised eye with his thumb, and she caught a glimpse of a deeper torment and guilt she wasn’t sure she could deal with right now. She had enough of her own. He cleared his voice, then, the torment still hovering in those beautiful eyes, gruffly said, “That’s a pretty bad shiner, lady. I’d hate to see the other guy.”

She laughed softly. His attempt at humor was actually very funny. “That guy would be Anna.”

His eyes widened, and she moved back to the cot and picked up her meal.

“Yeah, you’re going to tell me what happened while you eat. Believe me, you don’t want to eat it cold.”

That made her smile again, and she dug into the stew. It actually was quite tasty. She could see why he loved it. “Not bad,” she murmured.

“Anna? Spill.”

“You’re just eager to hear about a cat fight. All men are the same,” she said, rolling her eyes.

He raised his brows and smirked. “Well, if there’s mud involved?—”

She punched him on the shoulder and made a disgusted sound while he pretended like it hurt. The only thing hurting were her fingers. He was like a slab of granite. “I got this brilliant plan to slow us down so you could catch up.” She took another bite of her stew. “I goaded Anna into the fight, and it worked like a charm, but I said something…so terrible, she kind of lost her temper and clocked me for real.”

“And her bruise?”

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