Chapter 7

SEVEN

Cooper

I’m in no shape to help anybody, clean up after an attack, or much of anything else, but I can lie on a bed at the palace just as easily as I can do it here. And I’m damned if I’ll let Natalia go back there after yet another attack without me. She won’t admit it, but I know that’s a big part of the reason she’s not sleeping. She worries about her friends, and maybe there’s a touch of subconscious fear, but whatever it is I want to be there for her.

And I want to be with her.

I hate hospitals, but I’m not naive enough to think I’m just going to get back in shape after a few days of rest. I’m probably weeks away from any semblance of normal, though I won’t admit that out loud, so if I can recuperate while simultaneously spending time with the only woman to catch my eye in a long time, it’s win-win for me.

“Cooper, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Natalia pours herself a cup of coffee but doesn’t look at me.

“Why not?”

“I’m not going to have time to take care of you.”

“I don’t need a nurse, I just need rest. Maybe food.”

“Well, that’s not a problem but if there’s been another attack, I’m going to be working double shifts. Between regular duty shifts, increased security briefings, and the clean-up, I probably won’t even see you.”

“Eventually you’ll need to sleep, and we both know you sleep better with me.”

“It was one night!” Natalia protests, laughing.

“So you don’t want me there. Is that it?” I figure I’ll get to the crux of the problem by being blunt because I know she wants me. There’s something else giving her pause.

“You know that’s not true.” She turns to look at me. “But every time there’s an attack, things get a little crazy, and you’re not in any condition to defend yourself. You need to relax and heal, not lie around the palace waiting for something else to go wrong.”

“You know better than that. If there was an attack, right here, right now, I’d be out of bed ready to defend you, the nurses, and the whole fucking hospital. I’m injured, but I’m trained to push through the pain. Just like I did when I was captured. Just like you would.”

“Even if that’s true, I don’t think Sandor would allow me to have a guest right now, depending on what’s going on.”

“Sandor probably wouldn’t, but I might.” A tall, dark-haired man with a bright smile and a very expensive suit walks into the room.

Natalia freezes, her eyes widening as she hastily puts down her coffee cup. “Your Majesty. What are you doing here? Sandor said sometime today but that you would call first!”

“We got permission to land so I thought I’d come meet the man who was your commanding officer in Iraq.” King Erik smiles and holds out a hand to me. “Erik Hassani. You must be Captain Cooper.”

“Yes, sir.” I sit up straighter as I shake his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Is this the guest you were just talking about?” Erik asks Natalia.

“Cooper and I were hoping to spend a little more time together,” she says quickly, “but I understand the timing isn’t great.”

“Thankfully, we have a lot of layers of security, and everything turned out okay, but we’re down a Royal Protector with Lennox on maternity leave. If Captain Cooper would like to spend part of his recovery in Limaj, I have no problem having him at the palace.”

I turn to Natalia. “See? It’s fine.”

She narrows her eyes slightly and looks from me to King Erik and back again. “Are you sure, Coop? You need medical attention too and you probably?—”

“We have a doctor on staff at the palace,” Erik interjects. “So if you’d like your friend to come spend some time with you, he’s welcome. But I’ll leave you two to decide. I’m going to go meet with someone I knew during my years in exile, who happens to be here, so you’ve got about an hour to decide. I’ll swing by here then and we can leave together, okay?”

She nods. “Yes, sir. I’ll be ready.”

“We’ll be ready,” Cooper corrects, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

Erik and his bodyguard disappear, and Natalia comes over to sit on the edge of my bed.

“Cooper, what’s going on? Why do you want to come with me?”

“Why don’t you want me to?” I counter.

“I do want you to, but what’s the point if I’m going to be working twelve or fourteen-hour days and you’re going to be sitting in a room by yourself?”

“We’ll be together at night, we could eat together, and you know damn well I’m not going to be in bed more than a few days before I start walking around and building up my strength. I’d much rather do it there than here or at a hospital in the States. Besides, this is literally our only chance to spend significant time together before I have to report to Hawaii.”

“But what’s the point of that?” she whispers, her gorgeous brown eyes filling with tears. “We fall in love just in time for you to leave? Being a Royal Protector is a lifetime commitment once you’re officially sworn in, and short-term, I signed a five-year contract promising at least that long. If I leave any sooner, I have to pay them back for everything they spent on my training, which I could never afford. And legalities aside, the people of my country desperately need the changes King Erik is making, and he needs me to help protect him, so he lives long enough to make them.”

I smile and reach for one of her hands. “I understand all that, which is why I want to spend time together before I have to decide whether or not I’m staying in the military. I’m at a crossroads too, just for different reasons.”

She stares at me—that might be shock on her face—and then she kisses me. I lost a tooth, my face looks like Muhammad Ali used me as a punching bag, and I’m probably the ugliest man alive at the moment, but this beautiful woman fuses her lips to mine and then slides her tongue between my lips like a lady on a mission.

I never thought I’d kiss anyone again, much less Natalia, and I dig the fingers of one hand into her hair, kissing her back with all the passion I dreamed about the entire time I was captured. I have strong feelings for this woman so convincing her to let me do a good chunk of my recovery there with her is the only way I can think of spend time together. Otherwise, I’ll be here and then either back home in Virginia or in Hawaii, neither of which are conducive to exploring a relationship.

“When they had me,” I say in a throaty whisper, looking into her eyes, “thinking about this was what saved me. Remembering that night, what it was like to touch you, kiss you, make love to you… that’s how I stayed sane.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers against my mouth. “But I’m glad I was able to provide some comfort, even indirectly.”

Our foreheads are pressed together, and our eyes are locked

“Does this mean you’re kicking me to the curb,” I ask after a moment, “or that you want me to come to Limaj with you.”

“I want you to come with me,” she responds without hesitation.

“It’ll probably be a few days—they may not release me yet, but I’ll talk to the doctors and see when they say I can bust out of here.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully, the worst of the aftermath will be over, and we can spend time together.”

“I’m looking forward to that.” I grin. “And maybe a few other things.”

* * *

Natalia is gone within the hour, but I feel good knowing I’m going to spend some of my recovery with her. King Erik even offered to send his private jet for me once I’m released, which is incredibly generous.

I sleep on and off the rest of the day, watch a little TV that night, and am just about to doze off again when someone knocks on my door. I glance up in surprise and grin at Louie.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask, holding out my hand.

“Came to check on you.” He pulls me into a half-hug.

“You flew to Germany from D.C. just to check on me? You could’ve called.”

“Had some business in the area,” he evades, sinking into the chair next to my bed. “Also thought I might see Natalia, but it looks like she’s gone?”

“Yeah, there was another attack at the palace, so they called her back early.”

“That sucks.” He pauses. “You planning to see her again?”

“As a matter of fact, I’m going to spend most of my recovery in Limaj.”

“Nice.” Louie seems to have something on his mind, and I cock my head.

“Whatever it is, Marine, just say it.” Since there’s no such thing as a former marine, and Louie served ten years before moving to the NSA, I don’t hesitate to get his attention.

He chuckles. “I guess I was wondering what your plans are. Beyond recovery.”

I arch my brows. “What do you mean? Am I looking to leave the military?”

“Are you?”

“Not necessarily, but I have some time before I have to decide.”

“What about Natalia?”

“We’re not there yet, man. We’ll see what happens once we’ve spent time together where I’m not her commanding officer. And even then, I’ll probably have to get to Hawaii at some point.”

“So you wouldn’t be interested in something with the NSA?”

I hesitate. “It would depend on what, when, and how much.”

“Money’s pretty good, benefits excellent, work is interesting.”

“Honestly, I’m not ready to make any decisions,” I admit. “I need to heal my body and mind, focus some attention on Natalia, and then see how long until I can go back on active duty.”

“Fair enough. But will you talk to me before you decide anything?”

“Absolutely. I like options.”

“You got that right.”

We shoot the shit for a while before he heads out, and I spend a long time thinking about his offer. Moving to the NSA wouldn’t be a bad thing, but I’m not sure I want to sit at a desk. Louie gets out into the thick of things once in a while, like his time at the base in Iraq, but mostly he sits in front of a computer analyzing data, reports, and intelligence. I don’t know if that’s enough for me. Right now, I don’t know much of anything except that my ribs hurt and I’m horny as fuck.

Hopefully, both of those things will change in Limaj.