Page 14

C harmaine

“Grab her.” The deep voice penetrated my eardrums, his thick accent giving away his nationality.

Screaming, I took off running, bolting into the jungle. Blood covered my hands, the stench horrific. Panic rushed through me as I heard heavy footsteps behind me.

“Don’t let her get away!’

No. No! I couldn’t allow them to catch me. I took a sharp right turn, sliding behind a tree. When I took a quick peek, the sight of three men holding assault rifles almost forced a sharp cry. I covered my mouth with both hands to stifle the sounds, fighting to simply catch my breath.

The moment they turned the opposite way, I took off running again. My feet pounded on the ground. Every few seconds, I tossed my head over my shoulder. They were gaining on me.

Suddenly, all three surrounded me. They were maybe twenty feet away.

Oh, God. What was I supposed to do?

One of the bastards grinned as he sauntered closer. “There’s nowhere to go.”

I scanned the jungle, noticing a long tree limb. I grabbed it, holding it out like a spear. “Don’t come any closer.”

The three soldiers laughed, glancing at each other in amusement. They started to advance and I threw out the stick as far as my arm would allow, shifting back and forth from foot to foot. “Get away from me!”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, senora . You’ve made some people very angry. They want to have a talk with you.”

“I’m nobody. Just leave me alone.” When one came close, I managed to swipe the stick across his face. To my delight, I caught him just under the eye.

He yelped, jerking back and slapping his hand over his eye. “That bitch.”

“Get her. Now!” the first one yelled.

And the two men advanced.

“No. No!” I jerked up, flailing my arms. “Let me alone. Let me alone.”

“Whoa. Hold on. You’re safe. You’re okay.”

A different voice. A light. Cold. I was so cold. What? “No. Just… Go away.”

Arms suddenly pinned me where I was. They were huge and strong, holding me tightly. When I was pressed against a warm body, I continued to struggle.

“It’s Maddox. Remember? You were having a nightmare.”

“Maddox. Who…” The fog began to lift from my brain and I remembered. “Lieutenant.”

“That’s me. Just breathe for me.”

I did as he asked, taking several deep breaths as I continued to blink. “What is this place?”

“Like I told you a few hours ago. I know of a couple caves.”

“Wha… Caves. Really?” I’d been out for several hours?

“Yeah. It’s safe. Although I’ve been watching.”

As the images started to fade, the panic settling, I knew I must have passed out. He was still holding me, both arms wrapped around me protectively. A part of me wanted to shove him away but having him so close felt much safer. “The nightmare seemed so real.”

“I’m sure it did. They’ll fade in time. Just try and relax. We’ll stay here for a little while longer. First light should occur in an hour or so.”

“Are we going to be able to get away from them?”

“That’s my plan and I usually follow through with a mission.”

He seemed so certain of himself. For a couple of minutes, we sat quickly, the soft glow of a small lantern at least allowing a comforting feeling. “They were going to kill me.”

“Undoubtedly. After they extracted whatever information from you they needed. Or maybe they kept you for another purpose.”

“Selling me on the black market,” I said quietly.

His deep breath continued to rattle me. “Possibly. You knew the other women?”

“Yeah, at least two of them. Are they going to be alright?”

“I’ve already made contact for someone to bring them to safety.”

“I don’t know anything about Alfaro, at least not really. Other than what I wrote about him months ago.”

“Yeah, well, they didn’t know that.”

I could tell by the tone of his voice he didn’t believe that either.

I shifted my hand to my chest, able to feel the small lump.

Whatever I’d been given had likely been the reason my friends were dead.

The guilt was heavy, outweighing the anger.

I’d been such a fool to think I could step outside the boundaries of my profession. I was shaking almost uncontrollably.

“What do you do when you’re not reporting? In your free time.”

He was trying to keep me calm.

“You mean providing human interest stories?” I corrected, although I felt a twinge of guilt and I wasn’t certain why. Maybe because he’d risked his life to save mine.

He half chuckled. “Whatever you call it.”

“I don’t really have any free time.”

“That’s a shame. Everyone needs to relax.”

“I sometimes read a book. What about you?”

“I run a ranch.”

“Wow. You don’t seem like a rancher.”

“How so?”

“Because you’re good at killing people,” I admitted.

His sigh was heavy. “That’s a necessity of my former job. You never lose the skill. At least if you’re smart.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“If killing another human being becomes easy then you’re less than human yourself.”

I pulled away just enough to be able to turn around. When I folded my legs under me, he acted as if he was going to stand. I placed my hand on his arm. “Don’t leave. Not yet.”

He was stiff, his body language matching his prickly personality. But he eased back down.

“How’s your wound?” I asked. In the dim light, I was able to see his features much better than before even though half his face remained shadowed.

“I’ll live. Just like I told you.”

“Nothing bothers you. Does it?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you act infallible, as if nothing can hurt you.”

He offered a grumpy look to match his stern features. “I bleed red just like everyone else.”

“You don’t let anyone into your world. Do you?”

“This isn’t about interrogating me.”

“I didn’t know that’s what I was doing.”

As he reached over to one of the bags, I watched his arm extend. He was muscular everywhere, both arms covered in stark ink. The tee shirt he was wearing was still wet, clinging to his chest and highlighting his sculpted abs. I had no business thinking of him as a handsome man, but he was.

Even the thick tousled hair falling low on his collar and across his forehead was sexy. With his angular jaw, he had a dominating look about him. My guess was that any time he entered a room, he took control. His aura reeked of danger as well.

He handed me a bottle of water, giving me a slight nod. When our fingers touched, there was an instant feeling of chemistry. Our eyes locked and there was a strange sense of understanding. We were two lost souls right now, forced to count on each other. Doing so was something I wasn’t very good at.

I preferred taking care of myself. However, in this situation, I’d done a piss poor job. “Thank you.”

“Sure.” He tried to look away, but for some reason, his gaze held. “This is still going to be dicey. I don’t want you to think we’re out of the woods.”

“I know. I’ll do what you tell me to do.”

“Good. I don’t need shit right now.”

Another quiet moment shifted between us.

I took another sip of water and handed him back the bottle. The same electric current ran all the way up my arm. This time, I quickly pulled it away, rubbing my elbow. “How many of these missions do you do?”

“First and last.”

“I’m that much of a bother?”

“It’s dangerous and I’m retired.”

“You seem like you’d be a career Navy man?”

The fact he instantly bristled allowed me to know he’d endured something horrible or tragic while serving his country. “I’m not. I’m just a rancher.”

“Horses? Cattle?”

Now he stood as if my questions were way too invasive. “We’re not friends, Charmaine. We can’t be.”

“Why not?”

“Because I need to remain unattached in order to protect you. I have a change of dry clothes. You need to get out of those.”

“So I won’t catch a cold?”

His look was one of disdain. “After you do, why don’t you go back to sleep.” He pulled out several items, gently placing them near me.

“I need to pee first.” I started to stand and didn’t realize soon enough I’d gotten up too quickly. When I fell forward, he caught me, once again pulling me tightly against his chest. Our lips were close, too close.

The awkward moment was extended. I had my hands gripping his upper arms, my fingers digging into his shirt. The few seconds was excruciating and I was certain the man was going to kiss me.

Especially when he lowered his head. I found myself leaning into him, longing for the slight intimacy to happen. His eyes darted back and forth across mine. When he sighed, he also looked away.

“Just watch your step. Only go right outside the mouth of the cave.”

“Okay.” Swallowing, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the lump in my throat. He held onto me for a few seconds and I could swear he was reluctant to let me go.

But he did.

As I headed outside, another wave of sadness settled in.

He was on the other side of the cave when I returned, watching the entrance like a trained solder. I returned to the spot where I’d been. He’d placed another shirt on the cold surface for me to lie on. As I eased down, I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off him.

Whoever Lieutenant Grant was, I knew one thing for certain.

He was hiding behind a thick layer of armor. No one would ever be able to get through to him.

Certainly not me.

Besides, I had no desire to get myself entangled with some grumpy guy.

Not even one who’d saved my life.