Page 22 of Grayson's Angel

Grayson rolled over onto his side and pulled Kara to his chest. They were both panting from their session of lovemaking.

“That was…” Kara didn’t know how to describe what had just happened between them. There weren’t words to explain the feelings she had.

“Yeah,” Grayson agreed.

Kara noticed that Grayson tensed when she traced her fingers over the tattoo on his chest. It was obviously military in nature and looked to be a memorial of some sort. Three dog tags were wrapped around a pair of military-style boots. A rifle was sticking out of the boots, and a helmet hung from the gun barrel.

“Why did you get this tattoo?”

Minutes of silence ticked by. Kara didn’t think he would answer. She wasn’t going to push him to talk about it. He’d do it in his own time.

“The dog tags represent the men that were lost on my last mission—Phantom, Pyro, and Reaper.”

“You want to talk about it?”

Grayson pulled Kara in closer to his side and kissed her forehead. “I haven’t talked to anyone about that day. Noah and I were the only ones to survive.” He took in a ragged breath. “We were heading into town to check on some intel we had received. The main road we normally took was blocked. Instead of heading back to base to make sure the alternate route was okay, we just took it. The contact we were meeting was skittish, and if we had been late, he would have taken off.”

Grayson reached down and rubbed his knee.

Kara wasn’t sure if he hurt it carrying her earlier or if talking about the incident brought back the pain. “Did you reinjure your knee carrying me?” A wave of guilt washed over her.

“No, Angel. There is always a dull pain. I think talking about that time is making it worse.”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

When he started talking again, Kara listened to his heartbreaking story. “We had been overseas for six months straight. I can’t tell you the details of the mission, but we were gathering intel on a high-ranking member of ISIS. The intel we were supposed to get would have been our big break. I decided to take the alternate route without clearing it first. Hell, I could see the town in the distance when everything went black. The last thing I remember is hearing Noah’s laughter at some joke Pyro made. Then I woke up in a hospital.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” She knew deep down he blamed himself for that day and the decision he made.

“If they hadn’t agreed, the team would’ve spoken up. I know it isn’t my fault, but fuck, every time I look at Noah, I feel like he’s missing his leg because of me.”

“I bet he doesn’t blame you.” Kara had grown up wishing she had a brother or sister to spend time with. She believed that no matter what family did to each other, they should always have each other’s backs. But considering her father, she knew that might not always be the case. Kara thought Grayson needed to give Noah time.

“I hope he can forgive me someday,” Grayson whispered, and Kara’s heart clenched with the sadness in his voice.

“He’s helping us on this case.”

“Yes, he is. He uses computers and the dark web to escape the reality of the world. Noah was used by numerous teams for his computer skills.”

Kara sensed that Grayson didn’t want to talk about the incident anymore by the shift in his mood.

“I would like to meet Noah,” she said.

“He will like you. Now, tell me about you.”

Kara slowly dragged her hand up Grayson’s thigh. “I would rather learn more about you.”

Grayson captured her lips, and they spent the night making love.

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