Soldier's Pregnancy Protocol. Beth Cornelison

pines.

      “Alec, we’re headed for those trees!” Erin gripped Alec’s arm, digging her fingers into his hard muscles, as he toggled their parachute toward the hillside below. She could barely hear herself over the swoosh of blood in her ears and the adrenaline-charged cadence of her heart.

      “We’re fine, sweetcakes.” His voice was irritatingly calm and assured.

      When they landed, she was going to deck him for putting her through this.

      “Right on target,” he crooned.

      “You’re aiming for the trees?”

      She felt the vibration of his answering grunt against her back, reverberating in her own chest as if they were one.

      “Of course not. I’m gonna set us down in that clearing to the left. When we land, bend your knees—”

      “And roll. I know. I’ve done this before.” But when she’d parachuted with Bradley, she hadn’t had a throbbing knot on her head or memories of her husband’s death replaying in her mind like a film clip looped to repeat ad nauseam.

      “You’ve been skydiving before?” Alec sounded truly shocked.

      “A couple times. With Bradley.”

      They glided over the treetops, and she heard Alec’s smug hum of satisfaction, imagined the I-told-you-so gleam in his eyes. As they sailed smoothly to earth, Erin readied herself for landing as Bradley had taught her. Alec wrapped his arm around the top of her head and held it securely against him, protecting her head from further injury as he’d promised he would.

      Her feet met the rocky ground with a jarring thud, and her knees buckled. She tried to roll as Alec had instructed, but he lunged the opposite direction. She was hauled with him in a tumbling heap, falling awkwardly on top of him, butt first.

      Alec groaned. “I told you to roll!”

      “I tried to, but you went the other way! Next time, be more specific about direction.”

      He snorted. “Roger that, sweetcakes.”

      She heard the click of metal, and the pressure of the straps restraining her loosened. With a firm shove, Alec scooted her off him and sat up. Erin crawled to her hands and knees and stayed there while she fought for control over her ragged breathing and scampering nerves.

      Alec cupped her chin in his hand and brought her head up. “Look at me.”

      She did, jolting again when her eyes connected with the stunning color and intensity of his. The warmth of his hand on her chin and steadiness of his gaze made her pulse stagger for reasons that had nothing to do with their perilous jump from the airplane.

      “Pupils are still normal and even,” he said matter-of-factly.

      A twinge of disappointment plucked her. The intent of his touch, his level look was clinical, not comforting. Yet he didn’t release her chin. “You all right?”

      “I’ll live.”

      The corner of his mouth twitched. The closest thing to a smile she’d ever seen cross his face. “See. That wasn’t so bad.”

      She scoffed.

      His thumb stroked her cheek, and ribbons of warm sensation streaked from the spot he caressed to pool in her core.

      “I know you were scared, but you did great. Good job, sweetcakes.”

      Erin sighed and tugged her chin from his grasp. “Stop calling me that. My name is Erin, not sweetcakes.”

      His expression hardening, Alec squared his shoulders and started unfastening the parachute straps crisscrossing his chest.

      “Roger that.” His tone was as biting as the rocks cutting into her knees.

      She tugged at her own harness, wondering where the chastisement about his moniker for her came from. She’d never detected any condescension when he used the name, and she could think of plenty of things worse than sweetcakes he could call her. Hormones, she supposed. She’d been emotional and moody a lot lately.

      “Who’s Bradley?”

      Erin snapped her head up. “What?”

      “You said you’d parachuted before with Bradley. Is he your brother?”

      “I’m an only child. Bradley was my husband.”

      Alec hesitated before tossing aside his parachute harness. He lifted one black eyebrow. “Was?”

      The usual twist of grief squeezed her chest. “He … died two years ago.”

      The grim slash of Alec’s mouth softened. “I’m sorry.”

      “Yeah. Me, too.”

      Alec balled the parachute and stuffed it in its pack along with the riser cords and his harness. “Let’s get moving. We still have two miles to hike, and it’ll be dark soon.”

      “Two miles?” She gaped at Alec as he hoisted the parachute pack onto his back.

      He gave a quick nod. “Uphill. If you’re not up to it—”

      “What? You’ll leave me here to fend for myself?” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

      His scowl returned, and before he turned his back, she thought she saw a flicker of pain in his eyes. “If I were going to leave you behind, I’d have done that long ago. But since we’ve come this far, it looks like I’m stuck with you for the foreseeable future.”

      Erin raised her chin and fought back the sting of tears. Darned hormones! She didn’t want to cry in front of Mr. Macho. “I didn’t ask to be involved in your problems! Or to have my life turned upside down by men who want to get at you through me!”

      He glanced over his shoulder and sighed. His stony expression relaxed a crumb, though whether from resignation or remorse, Erin couldn’t be sure.

      “You’re right. You’re in danger because of me. So I will do everything I can to protect you. But I have other objectives that need attention, and I won’t coddle or babysit you.”

      She bristled. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

      “Good.” He started climbing the steep slope. “If the hike is too difficult for you—” he paused and gave her an as-I-was-saying look “—I’ll carry you.”

      His offer caught Erin off guard, landed square in her chest, leaving her speechless. Humbled. She had no doubt this man of many talents and reckless daring could carry her any distance he needed. She’d seen the ease with which he’d lifted the SUV driver at the storage building and had admired Alec’s muscular chest and arms from the first day she laid eyes on him.

      And he’d obviously already carried her from the SUV to the plane while she slept. The idea taunted her. She had no business entertaining thoughts of getting close to a man with a lifestyle as full of danger as Alec’s, but there it was. His drop-dead physique, shocking blue eyes and breathtaking heroics on her behalf were a potent mix.

      “I can handle two miles.” She fell in step behind him, sticking close despite his quick pace. The sinking sun drew the shadows of the trees and mountaintops in ever-deepening pockets of darkness. The sound of her own labored breaths—Alec didn’t seem winded in the least, darn him—blended with the crack of twigs and shuffle of leaves as nocturnal creatures stirred in the settling night.

      The frosty bite of the air at this higher elevation burrowed to Erin’s bones. Before long, she couldn’t control the chattering of her teeth or the shivering in her limbs. “H-how much farther? I’m fr-freezing.”

      Alec stopped and faced her. “Not far.”

      He raked a measuring scrutiny over her and stepped toward her. “How’s your head?”

      She opened her mouth to answer, but he chose