Page 70 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

The pilots leveled them out and cruised back toward Amman. Adam settled back against a bulkhead with Summer curled against him and drew the first deep breath he’d had in a damn long time.

Schroder came over and crouched next to them, putting a hand on Summer’s shoulder. “How you doing?” he asked, giving her his patented lady-killer smile, the one he’d used with much success until Taya had come along and changed his world.

“I’m okay,” she said, still pressed against Adam. “Just cold.”

“Can you humor me and let me take a look anyhow?”

Summer seemed to hesitate. “Let him check you over, doll,” Adam told her, easing her away, worried she was in shock and might not be aware of her injuries. At a minimum she’d suffered some smoke inhalation, may have burns inside her throat from breathing in the hot fumes.

Reluctantly she sat up and lowered the blanket around her. She was only wearing her underwear and Schroder moved in closer, angling his body to block her from anyone else’s view.

Adam began stripping off his gear, his uniform. He peeled off the T-shirt he’d been wearing under it and tugged it over Summer’s head, even though the other guys were all pointedly looking elsewhere, trying to give them as much privacy as possible.

Adam shifted her off his lap so Schroder could get a better look at her. He hid a wince when he saw the reddened area on her hands and arms, where the heat of the fire had singed her. It wasn’t blistered but the sight of it still made him want to snatch her up and never let her go because it reminded him of how close she’d come to burning in that fucking cage.

Pushing out a slow breath to calm himself, he watched as Schroder did a thorough examination. He checked her skull, her eyes and didn’t seem concerned by anything he found there. The sole of her right foot was bleeding from a few cuts and there were mottled bruises marring her ivory skin.

He wanted to stroke his fingers over each mark, kiss each one of them better. Instead he ran a hand over her hair, just to remind her that he was there and not going anywhere.

Schroder cleaned the cuts on her foot, put ointment on them and her minor burns before bandaging her foot up and tucking the blanket back around her. “There you go,” he said to her with a kind smile.

“Thank you,” she murmured, and immediately leaned back into Adam.

Something in his chest eased at the gesture, and a sense of peace filled him as he wrapped his arms around her once more.

The aftermath of this was going to be hard, he already knew that. But they’d gone through so much already, he knew they could handle this if they stuck together.

This time, he wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to be there for her every step of the way, help her overcome this no matter what it took.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Back in Amman a flurry of activity awaited them. A security team was waiting for them at the airfield, and whisked them straight to the operations center.

Adam refused to let Summer out of his sight the entire time. He folded his arms across his chest and watched her closely while she answered questions and gave statements.

On the one hand he understood that the director and other intelligence officials needed to talk to her immediately in the off chance that she might give them something that would help them round up other ATB cell members, but on the other hand he wanted to tell them to leave her the hell alone and then carry her out of there. She’d been completely traumatized by what happened and was ready to drop.

The sweats someone had loaned her hung on her small frame, making her look even more fragile and lost. He stayed with her through the two interviews then ran out of patience. She was done, and he couldn’t stand watching her suffer through this ordeal another moment.

While the rest of his team went into its usual post-op debriefing he argued his case with DeLuca and the director and finally won his request to take her back to his hotel so she could clean up and rest. By the time he finally got her out of there he was in pure caveman mode, his sole focus on protecting her from everything and taking care of her.

There was a metric shit-ton of paperwork and reports still to be filed but all that was trivial bullshit compared to what Summer was dealing with, and there was still a possibility that he could be pulled away from her again tonight. Director Foster and his people had begun interrogating the guy Colebrook had taken prisoner and Foster was determined that they help the Jordanians destroy whatever was left of this ATB celltonight.

Adam clenched his jaw and fought back the ten arguments that immediately leapt onto his tongue. His wife was teetering on the brink of collapse from exhaustion and he wanted to do whatever he could to see to her comfort right now. It made him insane that he might have to leave her later on.

He drove her to the hotel alone, insisted on carrying her up to his room despite her protests. Two FBI agents were already posted outside the door when he got there.

One of them, a female agent that reminded him a little of Celida, stepped forward to show her ID. “SA Maya Thatcher,” she announced, then slid it back onto her belt. “The room’s secure.”

“Thanks.” He stepped around her, paused when he saw Taya waiting in the hall.

“Hi,” she said softly, giving Agent Thatcher a brief nod before focusing on Summer. Adam felt Summer tense in his arms but then Taya gave her a disarming, gentle smile. “I’m Taya, Schroder’s girlfriend. I just wanted to see if you guys needed anything.”

Adam could have kissed her for her thoughtfulness. “If you could send up some food, that’d be awesome.”

“Sure. If you think of anything else, just call me.”

“I will. Thanks.”

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