Five Ways To Surrender. Elle James

he had finished both hands, he released her and stepped back. “We need to get some rest. Morning will come all too soon.”

      “Shouldn’t we stand watch?” she asked.

      “Actually, I’d planned on staying awake and keeping an eye out for trouble.”

      “You need rest as much as I do.” Alex lifted her chin. “I can take the first shift.”

      “I don’t mind staying awake all night. I’m used to it. It’s part of the job.”

      “I can stay awake half the night,” Alex insisted. “I’d rather you get some sleep to keep sharp.”

      He studied her for a moment. “Keep an eye on the valley below. If you see any movement whatsoever, wake me immediately. Even if it’s an animal scurrying out from under a rock. Wake me.” His brows drew downward. “Understand?”

      She popped a salute and smiled. “Yes, sir.” Then she took up a position at the mouth of the cave and sat, leaning her back against the stone wall.

      A glance at Jake proved he was taking her up on her offer to get some sleep. He lay on the hard floor of the cave, bunched her shirt beneath his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you need the light?” he asked.

      “No,” she said. “The stars are enough light for me to see by.”

      There was a soft click, and the red glow from the flashlight blinked out.

      Alex could just barely discern the outline of the man lying on the ground, but she didn’t need to see him to know he’d be there for her if she needed him. The least she could do was let him sleep while she kept watch.

      Staring out into the night, she scanned the valley below again and again, going over all that had happened leading up to their escape. Some things still niggled at her.

      “Are you army Special Forces or something else?”

      “Something else,” he replied.

      “Delta Force?” she guessed.

      He snorted. “Please.”

      Not army Special Forces or Delta Force...

      “Mercenary?” she tried again.

      “I don’t get paid enough to be a mercenary,” he replied.

      “What does that leave?” She glanced over her shoulder. “Marine?”

      “Navy,” he replied.

      “Don’t you need a ship nearby to be in the navy? Or at least a body of water?”

      He chuckled. “Not if you’re a navy SEAL.”

      “You’re a navy SEAL?” she asked, unable to keep the awe from her voice. “Aren’t they the best of the best?”

      “So we’re told.”

      She glanced back at him. “What were you doing in the village?”

      “Intel had it that ISIS was in the vicinity,” he said. “We were on a recon mission.”

      “Recon?”

      “We were only out seeking further intelligence. We weren’t there to engage.”

      “But you did,” she pointed out.

      “Only because they surprised us. We thought they’d be several miles up the road. We were supposed to have some drone support.”

      “I take it you didn’t get it?”

      “No.” His voice was hard.

      “Did the rest of your team make it out?” she asked softly.

      “I hope so.” For a long moment, silence reigned in the cave.

      “What brought you to Niger?” he asked.

      Alex stared out at the night, thinking back over her reasons for leaving Virginia and her home. “I needed a new start, and I wanted to go somewhere I could make a difference with my teaching and my ability to speak French.”

      “Sounds like a breakup,” Jake said.

      She shrugged, though he wouldn’t see the movement. “Yeah. It was something like that.” She had broken up with her fiancé, realizing he wasn’t the right man for her. They’d been together since their first year in college. He’d proposed after they’d been together for six years.

      When they’d started planning the wedding, something had made her step back and rethink her decision to marry Paul. He’d been a good friend, and she liked his company, but there wasn’t any spark and no fire in their kisses. Sex with Paul had been something she did because she knew it was expected, not because she couldn’t wait to get naked and in bed with him.

      Rather than go into the sad details of her less-than-exciting life, she asked, “What about you? Are you married? Do you have kids, a dog and the house with the white picket fence back in the States?”

      He didn’t answer for a while.

      “You don’t have to answer,” Alex said. “It’s none of my business.”

      “You’re right,” he said. “It’s none of your business.”

      A flare of anger surged inside Alex, but she bit her tongue and refused to rise to his tart retort.

      “I figured the life of a navy SEAL wasn’t conducive to marriage or long-term relationships. So, no. No wife, no kids, no dog or white picket fence. Just me and my team. I keep it simple.”

      Alex told herself to leave the conversation there. But she couldn’t help asking, “Did you ever want more?”

      Again the silence stretched between them.

      “Sorry, I shouldn’t ask such personal questions,” she whispered.

      “The answer to your question is yes. There was a time when I was fairly new to the team that I thought I wanted it all. I thought I could have it all.” He sighed. “I was wrong.”

      “I’m sorry,” Alex said.

      “For what?”

      Her heart pinched. “That things didn’t work out for you.”

      “I’m not. The relationship wasn’t meant to be. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. It takes a special person to put up with our lifestyle. I don’t believe she exists for me. Now, let me sleep.”

      “Right. Zipping my lips here.” She clamped her mouth shut and refused to ask a hundred more questions of the navy SEAL. He needed sleep, and it truly wasn’t any of her business that he didn’t think there was a woman who could love him and the life he’d chosen to lead.

      Deep in Alex’s heart, she knew the man was wrong. But who was she to tell him that there was someone for everyone when she hadn’t been completely convinced herself?

      * * *

      JAKE LAY FOR a long time with his eyes closed, willing himself to sleep. Normally he didn’t have a problem dropping off into light sleep when he knew he needed the mental and physical recharge only rest could provide.

      But sleep wasn’t coming, and the more he lay there, the more he realized it was because of the woman sitting by the mouth of the cave. Since finding her in the village, he’d had a difficult time focusing on the mission at hand.

      Alex’s silky black hair, hanging down to her waist in straight lengths, made Jake want to reach out and run his fingers through the strands. And those ice-blue eyes made him look twice. He could swear he saw the vastness of the universe reflected in their depths. And her alabaster skin fairly glowed in the darkness.

      She was beautiful, smart and physically capable of keeping up with the grueling trek through the hills and rocky terrain. She hadn’t complained, even after sliding down the side of a hill, scraping the skin