Page 25 of Deadly Betrayal

A lump rose in her throat. This man who wassaid to come from a country that exploited and disrespected womenin the worst way was the only man to ever ask her opinion. Morethan that, he was leaving the decision up to her. Tears burned theback of her eyes as she spoke around the lump. “The Hindu Kush canbe very dangerous at night, especially the Salang Pass. Perhaps itis best if we stop until first light. But if I remember correctly,this is a very small town and it is late. Do you think we will beable to find accommodations here?”

“Yes,” Shahram replied. “My friend’s brotherowns a small guesthouse. I spoke with him earlier and let him knowthat we might be stopping by.”

Despite her earlier irritation at herbrother, she couldn’t help feeling a bit proud of him now. “Howvery resourceful of you.”

Kaden smiled. “Done. We’ll stop for thenight.”

Again, the lump tightened her throat. Shahramsnorted. “What did you say your rank in the military was? You seemmuch more comfortable taking orders than giving them.”

Kaden shrugged, his expression supremelyconfident. “The mark of a good leader is admitting when anotherteam member has more knowledge of a particular matter.”

Azita laughed. “Well-said. My brother wasexpecting you to do the opposite of what I suggested.”

“Why?”

“To display your dominance, of course.”

A smile kicked up the edge of his full lips.“I prefer to display my dominance in other ways.”

The growl in his voice had Azita’s body goingup in flames. She fumbled to crack open the window, though itwouldn’t help. The heat was coming from deep inside her. With justa few words, Kaden had lit a fire in her belly, and now herimagination was running rampant.

What would it be like to have a man like himin her life, touching her, kissing her, making love to her? She hadno knowledge of such things beyond the few hurried sessions withFaroukh, sessions that had left her achy and depressed. There hadto be more. Attraction felt blissful. Why should sexual intercoursebe otherwise?

Fortunately, the car soon veered off the mainroad and into the small town, which in truth was no more than avillage. Moments later, they arrived at the guesthouse. As planned,Shahram did all the talking. Their luck hit a momentary bump whenthe owner informed them that there was only one room available. Shecould tell by Kaden’s expression that he didn’t see any issue.Shahram certainly would though. He’d planned to let her have hisroom while he stayed with Kaden.

Kaden leaned toward Shahram. “You can staywith us, my wife’s brother,” he murmured softly in Dari.

When Shahram started to protest, Kaden caughther in a huge yawn. She’d been up since before dawn and had workednonstop at the clinic, using her lunch break to visit the women’sshelter. She’d been determined to see as many patients as possibleon her last day.

Kaden pinned Shahram with a hand on hisshoulder. “She’s tired. Take the room,” he whispered so the clerkcouldn’t hear. Azita covered her grin with her hand. She could getused to having her own defender.

After being shown to their lodgings by theguesthouse owner, Kaden quickly surveyed the small room, whichconsisted of a mattress—the standard thin Middle Easterncotton-filled pad that looked hard as a rock and smelled like gymsocks—a tiny table with two chairs and a small washing alcove thatcontained a mirror, a jug of water, and a large bowl. A communalbathroom was several doors down from their room.

He supposed it was better than bunking in thecar. Barely. Truly grateful for the sleeping bags Hassan hadincluded with the survival gear in the Corolla, Kaden dropped hisduffel full of supplies and weapons onto the little table andwinced when the guns clinked.

Shahram was instantly by his side. “What doyou have in there?”

“Weapons.” Kaden matter-of-factly unzippedthe bag. There was no sense hiding them. He’d been brought in to bethe muscle in this ragtag team, right? Abdul-nasser had done well.The guns were mostly free of duct tape.

Eyes comically wide, Shahram stared at him.“Are you planning to start a war?”

Kaden threw his head back and laughed.Christ, this guy was too much. “Start a war? This place has been atwar for what? Over thirty years now?”

Shahram had the grace to blush. “Yes. I amwell aware. But if you go into Khan Tariq’s domain like some Yankeecowboy, you will be starting a war with a warlord. We do not havean army. He does.”

Azita inserted herself between them. “KhanTariq’s men will all be armed, my brother.” This was a woman whocalled it like it was. Kaden loved her no-nonsense approach tolife.

“As much as I’d like to drop in there, snatchthe girl up, and fly off, I can’t.” Kaden pointed to his shoulders.“No wings. We’re going to need to fight fire with fire. It’s theonly chance we’ve got.”

Azita squeezed past him to rummage in hisbag. Shit. He hoped she didn’t pull out a pair of his boxers. Herbrother would have to pray for her deliverance for the next fiftyyears. Although he had to admit, the idea of her slender hands onhis underwear sent a shot straight to his groin.

Luckily for all of them, she pulled out thebox of hair dye Gwen had given him. “What is this?”

“A friend suggested I color my hairbrown.”

She nodded. “Your beard and eyebrowstoo.”

Shahram took the package from his sister andexamined it. “Why have you not already done it?”