Page 10 of Kane

I make quick work of stowing the poncho and sleeping bag.

She’s about to put her feet into her shoes; moving fast, I yank the shoes from her hands before she can put her foot into them.

“Excuse me, may I please have my shoes back?” She’s confused more than pissed. Following me, reaching for the shoes.

I keep them out of reach, not hating the way her body angles past mine, so I get a brush of her against me, and a whiff of her scent—jasmine, something rich and warm and soft I can’t place; I turn the shoes upside down and shake them…a big-ass scorpion falls out of one of her shoes.

She screams, dancing backward. “Get it away! Get it away!” She dances right up to me, shrinking against my chest, half climbing me as the annoyed critter scuttles into the scrub.

Takes everything I’ve got not to crush her up against me and fill my hands with her slender curves. As it is, I curl my hands around her shoulders, laughing, just holding as she wigs the fuck out.

“Whatwasthatevilthing?” she demands. “Andwhywas it in myshoe?” She’s damn near irate.

Fuckin’ cute, is what it is.

“Scorpion,” I explain. “Nasty little fuckers. Venom on the stinger, so you gotta watch it. They look for warm places to hide at night, somewhere to beat the heat of daytime. If you take your shoes off in the desert, always shake ‘em out before you put ‘em on. Snakes’ll hide in ‘em too.”

She swallows hard, clearly freaked right the fuck out. I hand her shoes back, and she takes them hesitantly, like they’ve turned into scorpions. “I do not know if I can wear them, now.”

“You’re good, babe, promise.” I laugh. “’Sides, gonna need shoes.”

She turns them upside down and shakes vigorously, peers into them, shakes again. Finally, gingerly, she puts her feet into them. “I do not like the desert so much anymore.”

I just laugh, scatter the rocks and kick the fire apart, stomp the cinders and ash, kick dirt over the whole area till there’s no sign there was a fire here at all.

She watches, curious. “Why do you do this?”

“Oh. Well. Ain’t really supposed to camp out here, for one. But more to the point for me is respecting nature. Don’t leave anything behind, leave it better’n I found it.”

“I see.” She looks around—the only thing to see is desert, scrub, rocks, and the highway in the distance. Her car is a rectangular lump a few hundred yards away. “Now what?”

I throw a leg over my bike. “Hop on.”

She moves toward me. “Is it safe?”

I grin. “You’re with me, darlin’.”

She just hesitates, blinks at me. “Should we not have helmets?”

I shrug. “Never bothered.” I eye the headpiece she’s wearing. “That thing on your head gonna come out in the wind?”

She looks up, as if she could see it. “Oh. I do not believe so. It is woven into my hair.”

“Well, you feel it comin’ loose, lemme know.” I jerk my chin. “Climb on. Daylight’s wastin’.”

She puts a hand to my shoulder—my whole body is wracked by an electric shock, like I grabbed hold of a downed power line. She feels it, I know she does—she stifles a gasp, jerks her hand away, swallows hard.

Hesitates.

I twist on the bike to look at her. “Yeah, I felt that too. But the only way out of here is me, all right?” I hold her eyes. “I got you. Ain’t a thing bad gonna happen when I’m around, Anjalee, and that’s a promise. Now climb on and hold tight.”

“You scare me, Kane.” Her voice is very quiet, very faint.

Shit, I feel the same damn way. I don’t say this, though.

“Me? I’m just a big ol’ teddy bear, darlin’.”

She lets out a slow breath, nods once, and I see determination, even a bit of rebelliousness spark in her eyes. “Very well. I will ride this motorcycle with you.” Her hand goes to my shoulder, jerks as the shock goes through us both again, and then grabs me more firmly. Still, she hesitates. “YoupromiseI am safe with you?”