Page 73 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

In truth, Summer would rather be alone at the moment but she was too exhausted to argue and she’d already agreed to this, so… “Sure, come on in.” She pulled the robe back on, tied it around her waist.

Taya shut the door and crossed to a chair set in the corner of the room, the straps of a big bag slung on her shoulder and a tray in her hands. “I got you some food.”

“Thank you.” She took the tray containing fruit and a bowl of soup and put it on the nightstand.

“No worries.” Taya’s gray eyes were warm. Summer could see the fine webbing of scars that tracked down the side of her neck.

She knew at least some of what had happened to Taya in Afghanistan. Apparently Schroder had gone in to rescue her, and had literally saved her life when a missile had exploded too close to them. Adam had told her about it right after the terrorist attacks at the Qureshi trial, but now Summer was even more curious about her.

Taya waved a hand. “Don’t mind me. You go do whatever you need to do and just pretend I’m not here. But if you feel like talking about anything later, I’m a good listener,” Taya added.

For some reason the kind offer put her precariously close to tears. Right now all she wanted was Adam, and couldn’t have him.

Summer swallowed hard. “Thanks.” She was tired and hungry and sore, but she was alive.

In that instant she thought about Mark. She saw him flailing as the flames burned him, heard his chilling, agonized screams. And she thought of Vance carrying what was left of him to the chopper in that body bag. She’d seen it being unloaded back at the airfield, even though Adam had tried to block her view.

Goosebumps prickled across her skin and her stomach twisted.

She pulled the robe tighter around her body, struggled to maintain her composure. Adam’s scent rose up from the T-shirt she wore, made her chest ache and tears burn the back of her throat.

Her stomach rumbled. She’d thought she’d want nothing more than to sleep, but dreaded closing her eyes right now, knowing she was probably going to have nightmares for a long while after this.

Summer ate the soup first, then nibbled on the fruit while Taya read in a chair by the window. She hadn’t wanted any company but the other woman had an undeniably calm demeanor that Summer found incredibly soothing, and she felt safer not being alone. “Thanks for being here,” she murmured when she was done eating.

“You’re more than welcome. And don’t feel like you need to stay up and chat just because I’m here. If you’re ready to sleep, go right ahead. I’ll stand watch,” she added with a smile that felt like a hug.

She was so sweet. But Summer was afraid that if she did hug Taya, she might burst into tears. And if that happened, she wasn’t sure she could stop.

There were a lot of things she wished she could go back and redo, one of them being making an effort to get to know the significant others of the guys on the team. Summer cleared her throat. “You’ve probably wondered why I never came to any of the team get-togethers.”

Taya shook her head. “I’m pretty new on the scene myself and even though I do speaking engagements for a living, I’m not really a social butterfly. I’m still getting to know everyone too. And I figured you had your reasons for staying away.”

Summer was pretty sure everyone knew that she and Adam had been having problems, or at least that she’d moved out a while ago. “Well. They don’t seem like very good reasons anymore, not even to me.” She sighed, shaking her head at herself, regretting having lost all that time with him. “It’s true that I tend to work some pretty crazy hours when we’ve got something important happening at work, but that was only a convenient excuse most of the time.

“With Adam and I…struggling, it just felt too awkward. I couldn’t show up and just smile, pretend nothing was wrong. That’s not how I’m built. So I thought it best that I stay away.” Plus she couldn’t stand being judged or talked about behind her back, and she hadn’t wanted to open herself up to that kind of thing.

“I understand. I avoided social situations for a long time after I got home from Afghanistan for that same reason. And I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through. That’s another reason I wanted to stay with you right now. When I say I understand what you’ve been through, I really do mean it. So if you ever want to talk to someone, you can come to me anytime.”

The offer was as genuine as Taya seemed and that meant the world to Summer. “Thank you.” She lowered her eyes, feeling empty inside. Bereft and grieving and the only thing that could make her feel better was Adam. “I’m pretty tired now. I think I’ll try to sleep for a bit.”

“Of course, go ahead. If you need anything, I’m here.”

Summer smiled at her. Adam was right; after only a few minutes with Taya she already adored her. “Once I get home and take some time to process all this, I’m going to make sure I spend some time with you and the others.” It was way past due and she’d felt really bad about that.

Taya held up a hand, shook her head. “Whenever you’re ready, there’s no rush. I know the others would love that though. They’re a pretty special group of ladies. Each of us has been through our own trials and tribulations, and God knows it’s not always easy dealing with everything that comes with loving our guys. Their job is dangerous. It’s nice to know we all have each other’s backs.”

Summer loved the sound of that. With her family living so far away she’d felt isolated and without a support network. She’d denied herself the sense of community and sisterhood Taya had just talked about because she’d been too buried in her own pain.

After sliding between the sheets she eyed the prescription bottle on the nightstand. Tired as she was, she preferred the idea of oblivion rather than a restless sleep or risking waking up with nightmares. Mind made up, she took two of the sleeping pills and burrowed under the covers.

At first, vivid memories tormented her.

Summer squeezed her eyes shut, fought to banish them. Even with her eyes shut she knew Taya was right there, and that nothing would happen to her. After a while the exhaustion took hold and a sort of numbness invaded her and wiped her mind clean, whether from sheer fatigue or the pills, she didn’t know.

Sometime later she woke with a scream in her throat. She jerked up onto an elbow and opened her eyes, only to find herself in complete darkness.

A hand settled on her shoulder. She wrenched away from it, her heart careening in her chest until she caught the low, soothing rumble and the spicy, clean scent that could only be Adam.

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