Down and Dirty: SEAL EXtreme Team Short Story Read Online Free

 Crossing his tanned, muscular arms, he said, “Damned
straight. You’re going to need them for all the training I’ve planned for you. See
the flier in the bottom of the box?”
    Pulling out the paper she read,
“Warrior Mud Run. Test your ability to run, crawl, jump, climb…” She looked up.
“Is this a joke?”
    “No. It’s an obstacle course. Only
5K. Trust me, we can do this.”
    “I’m not doing a mud run.”
    “It’s no Ironman, but it could
be fun. You don’t have to be fast, hell, you can walk the whole damned thing,
but it’ll be a way to test yourself. Give you a goal to train for. And it’s a good
way to get back into the competition mode again. The big upside is we can do it
together. Want to get dirty with me, Connor?” He wiggled his dark eyebrows.
    That would be a YES! or
more accurately, a HELL, YES! All sorts of ideas crept into her mind,
and none of them involved an obstacle course. “Listen, Nick. You think you’re
helping, trying to save me or something, but I don’t need your pity.”
    He sat in the small chair with
wheels, scooting closer until his face was inches from hers. “You’re saying I’m
here out of pity?”
    Why couldn’t she take her eyes
off his full lips? “You’ve got a hero complex thing. It won’t work on me. Why
don’t you go save some other crippled lady?”
    “Shit, Connor.” He chuckled. “You
really are full of it. You’re worse than your brother was.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You told me you are no quitter.”
The muscles in his jaw were tight, his gaze steely. Was he going into full lieutenant
commander mode on her? Well, she wasn’t one of his men. The battle here was
hers alone to face.
    “I’m not quitting anything. Don’t
you get it? I lost my foot!” She flipped the covers back. He couldn’t see the
stump because the compression shrinker sock covered it, but she wanted him to
get the picture through his thick skull. This wasn’t a game. She was damaged
goods.
    “And that makes you less of a
person?” Instead of squirming away from the horror, he touched her leg just
above her sock. “It was just a foot, Jill.” He massaged her calf muscle. “You
need to start thinking like a warrior.”
    Warrior? She almost snorted. But
the way he touched her… “Oh, oh, wow, that feels… Oh, my God.” How did he know
how to do that? His strong fingers pressed into her sore, tight muscles. It was
heaven. She watched those incredible hands knead, squeeze, and rub up her
thigh. A thrill shot through her. Stop thinking about his hands working other
places!
    “Would you think less of me if
I’d lost my leg?” he asked.
    “What?” she blinked. “No. Of
course, not.”
    His hands stilled. Pulling the
blanket back over her, he tucked it around her legs. “You’re much more than a
foot, or a leg, Jill. You’re an amazing, beautiful woman. Don’t let anyone tell
you otherwise.”
    Beautiful? Amazing? He was one to talk.
    “When you touch me, I feel...” Sexy,
cared for, really, really sexy. “…better. How do you do that?”
    He ran his knuckle down her
cheek. The intensity in his eyes sucked her in, a moth to a flame. “You make me feel better too. Maybe you’re saving me. I need you, Jill. More than you know.”
    She grabbed the front of his
green T-shirt and pulled. The wheels on his chair rolled into her recliner, and
her mouth was on his before she realized what had happened. Gently cupping her
jaw, he pressed his full lips to hers as if he’d been waiting to kiss her for
years. It was no pity kiss.
    Nick did need her, but what was
she saving him from?

Chapter Three
     
     
    Nick deepened the kiss,
wanting, needing, so damned much. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he
wanted her. He’d been starving for her. As she wrapped her hands around the
back of his neck and pulled him closer, he realized she was starving too. He
ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, and she opened up for him, just as
she had opened her arms for him.