Oath of Honor

locker room, not looking in Wes’s direction, and quickly pulled on dry

jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. After donning thick wool socks and

kicking into her boots, she turned to Wes, who had stretched out on the

bench with an arm over her eyes. She might have been asleep.

Evyn smiled to herself. Wes was like every other first responder

she’d ever known—able to sleep anywhere, anytime, under any

conditions. She eased her emergency kit out of her go bag and crouched

next to the bench. “You asleep?”

• 153 •

RADCLYfFE

“No,” Wes said quietly. “Just enjoying being warm.”

“I know what you mean.” Evyn pulled out a blood-pressure cuff

and a stethoscope. “I want to check your BP.”

Wes moved to unbutton her cuff, and Evyn brushed her hand

aside. “I’ve got it.”

She unbuttoned Wes’s cuff and folded the sleeve up to her mid-

upper arm. Wes’s skin was lightly tanned, soft and smooth, the muscles

beneath firm and finely etched. She didn’t look at Wes’s face as she

wrapped the blood-pressure cuff around her biceps and checked her

pressure. “Ninety over sixty. Is that usual for you?”

“A little low,” Wes said, “but nothing worrisome.”

“Uh-huh.” Evyn wasn’t about to argue, but she wasn’t going to

let Wes self-diagnose, either. She checked her pulse. Sixty, slow and

steady, full and strong. Wes didn’t just look to be in good shape, she

was. “Do you run?”

“I row.”

“It shows.” Evyn pulled out a digital thermometer. “Put this under

your tongue.”

Wes moved her arm from over her eyes and turned her head to

look at Evyn. Her eyebrows rose slightly as she eyed the thermometer.

“I’m okay.”

Fatigue shadowed her eyes, darkening the green to nearly black.

Her lips were pale. She looked exhausted.

“Your vital signs are good, but you need fuel and rest.” Evyn

wagged the thermometer. “Under your tongue.”

Wes grinned wryly and opened her mouth.

Evyn slid the thermometer in, and Wes slowly closed her lips

around it. Her eyes held Evyn’s, and Evyn felt heat rush to her face. Her

thighs suddenly trembled, and she dropped onto her knees to steady

herself. Hell, she couldn’t even do something as simple as take Wes’s

temperature without starting to lose it. Well. She might be able to keep

her cool if she didn’t look at Wes’s mouth and imagine those moist,

sensuous lips closing around her. Wes put every one of her fantasies

to shame—and scared the hell out of her. She swallowed hard and

wondered if Wes could hear the tightness in her throat. Her heart nearly

froze when Wes’s hand moved toward her face.

Evyn stilled, feeling a little bit like a rabbit paralyzed at the sight

• 154 •

Oath Of hOnOr

of a predator drawing near. Wes’s fingers grazed her cheek, slid down

to her neck, and Evyn’s breath caught in her throat.

“You’ve got a bruise,” Wes murmured.

Evyn slipped the thermometer from between Wes’s lips and

pretended to stare at it. “Ninety-six. You’re too cold.”

“And your pulse is racing.” Wes’s fingertips rested over Evyn’s

carotid. “I bet if we took your blood pressure, it would be all over the

place. You need some rest too, Agent Daniels.”

Evyn wanted to move away from Wes’s touch. And she wanted

more of it. She wanted the fire streaming from Wes’s fingertips to

scorch through her, burning away fear and uncertainty and caution. She

wanted to explode. Her stomach trembled. She licked her suddenly dry

lips and eased away. “We both need a meal. Sit up, I want to check your

pressure while you’re upright. I’m not letting you walk out of here and

have you fall down halfway to the vehicle.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Wes said quietly, “but I’m not a

squid, you know.”

Evyn laughed. “I know. But I bet it’s been a long time since you’ve

had that kind of dunking.”

Sighing, Wes pushed upright. “True.” She closed her eyes. “And I

do have a little orthostatic hypotension.”

Instantly, Evyn forgot about everything except making sure Wes

was stable. She took her pressure again. “Seventy over fifty. You’re a

little dizzy, aren’t you?”

“Just a little.”

“Okay.” Evyn rose briskly. “We’re spending the night in Kitty

Hawk. You’re going to get some hot food into you and twelve hours’

sleep.”

Wes frowned. “I can sleep in DC. The trip back isn’t that long.”

“Sorry, I’m not taking a chance on you decompensating on an

airplane. Food, sleep, home tomorrow.”

“Should I ask who left you in charge?”

Wes sounded grumpy, which only proved she wasn’t at the top of

her game. Evyn had never seen her disgruntled by anything.

“I’m only in charge by default, Captain,” Evyn said softly. “I set

up that exercise. It’s my fault you went in today. I’m going to see you

make it home, safe and sound.”

• 155 •

RADCLYfFE

“That’s bullshit. The cable snapped. It was an accident.”

“It could’ve been worse.” Evyn shuddered inwardly. Wes had

been on her way down when she’d reached her. She couldn’t even think

about that without feeling as if pieces of her were going to tear apart