Page 35 of Rogue

Go figure: when the Marine drill sergeant said, “Be unpredictable,” he’d been staring straight at Mr. Unpredictable himself.

I move past my hiding spot to a patch of dry dirt and dig in, wetting the soil enough to get a good mud mask going. Lathering it on, I take special care with my stomach and face, which will be the most exposed part of me. I don’t worry about muddying my hair. I pulled it back into a tight bun so a simple dousing of water does the trick. I freeze and listen. Dead silence. Hard to know if this is a good thing or not.

Still, I spend precious seconds to gather bark, leaves, and mud along with a piece of thread I’d brought, and hastily fasten together a fan that I use to settle the dirt across the path I’ve taken as I backtrack to the fallen tree. Gathering leaves, twigs, and whatever else I can quickly fold into my one arm, I lay down on my side then wiggle my way beneath the trunk. When I’m fully beneath the tree, I settle the mulch around my body, camouflaging myself with the leaves I’ve gathered. Then, stretching my arms forward, I use the fan to smooth out any footprints or sign that another person is present.

When all is settled, I inch my body backward. The decomposing tree’s a large one—the perfect hiding spot. When it’d fallen, it landed on a small crop of rocks, elevating it enough for me to squeeze beneath it. Unlike the favorite tree I’d preferred to hide beneath outside those Pricks’ compound, where my body barely fit. No, today’s hiding spot is roomy enough for two. Two peeps in the deep. Two birds of a feather. Two bugs in a rug . . .

I barely finish the thought when I hear a branch snap and then suddenly, I’m not alone anymore.

Before I can process, draw in a breath, blink, a body stops, drops, and rolls until his chest is flush against mine. Pushing against me, shoving me with his big body deeper into my hiding place.

Nowourhiding place.

My girls instantly perk up with hello.

Hell, no. “Get out of my spot,” I hiss at him in a low tone.

His breath smells like cinnamon, sweet and savory and mixed with sugary syrup, like Sunday-morning pancakes hot of the griddle. He’s close, his face mere centimeters away. Close enough that I can see the amused crinkles within the fine smile lines around his eyes.

He doesn’t budge.

“Go. Do you want them to find us?”

His hand touches my face, his fingers caressing my cheek. Drawing a line, followed by another that swirls at the end. “They won’t,” he replied as he finishes and withdraws his hand.

I frown in confusion until he shows me the muddied tip of his finger. Damn, I’ve forgotten the mud mask on my face.

He shifts against me, rolling his pelvis into me. I brace myself for the onslaught of dirty, naughty words that are sure to accompany the swell of his man-toy up against my happy place.

“Gum?”

“What?”

“Do you want a piece of gum? We’ve got roughly eight minutes until company arrives.” He doesn’t wait for my response. Waving a stick of gum in my face, he unwraps it, one-handed. With dexterity, and fingers far too capable for my liking, which leave my imagination running rampant with thoughts of what else his fingers can do.

He runs the gum across my lower lip. “The next time I feed you, it’s going to be more flavorful than this,” he tells me.

I bite down hard, snapping off the tip and quickly chewing it, with warning.

He chuckles. “Tsk. Tsk. I like things a bit rough.” He presses the stick against my lips and feeds me the rest.

“How did you find me?” I demand, needing to get my wayward emotions under control and refocus on the real objective here. Dodging the enemy. I’ve been careful about covering my tracks . . .

“You have a fondness for hiding beneath trees.”

“How would you know that?”

He sighs. “You haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Figured what out?” I struggle to keep my temper in check. I detest surprises, and my life has recently been one long hailstorm of them.

“Tuesday mornings. You never missed a single one. Not in three months.”

“You were there?” I gasp. Crap. I’d been so careful. “You were spying on me?”

“Them. The encampment. Hayden assigned me to scope things out and report back to him about their goings-on. I’ve never seen him more surprised when I informed him we had company. Lovely, voluptuous company. That’s why we grabbed you.”

“Because I’m a big-busted, voluptuous bitch?”