Page 8

8

Finn joined the rest of the Wolves assembled at the entrance to the Dragon’s mouth—a dark hole in the desert floor.

Cade and Ethan were securing additional belay ropes that would take them down to the small platform Liev had set up earlier in the day while Duke and Luca were busy completing multiple checks on their full-face dive masks, ensuring the integrated communication systems were functioning properly.

Finn took a knee and peered over the rim of the cave entrance. The view was partly obscured by the jut of a rocky ledge, but the edge of the raft bobbed far below. A small orange dot, rimmed with floodlights in the darkness. Liev was already down there, his voice scratchy on the comms as he worked with Nik.

“It’s a long way down.”

He turned to the feminine voice. Rose Wyndham approached, her complexion paler than it had been earlier. Her hands were white-knuckled around a coil of climbing rope. She had changed into a navy wetsuit flashed with silver that molded to her curves in a way that made his mouth go dry.

Damn. He paused before he stood, giving his body a moment to recalibrate.

There was a flicker of doubt in her moss-green eyes.

Finally on his feet, his pulse easing, he dusted dirt from his knees. “You’ll be fine. You’ll be perfectly safe with me.”

She tilted her head, assessing him. Memories of another green-eyed woman swamped him. The one who had trusted a man and almost died. The echo flared in his head, delivering an almost physical pain to his chest, but he squashed the surprise hit of emotion, bringing himself back to the here and now.

He’d righted that wrong. “How are you getting on with the ropes?”

She opened her palms to show him a ratty-looking knot. “I’m not sure where I’m going wrong but I am. I’m good with most things in the water, but dangling from a rope over a precipice is not my cup of tea.”

“You need to be doing these things regularly.” He gave a soft grunt of acknowledgment. “You get rusty otherwise.”

“I imagine you never forget.” One delicate eyebrow lifted at him.

He took the rope from her and laid it on the ground to detangle it, ignoring the hit of heat he felt from her fingers. “This is my job.”

Her gaze narrowed. “What exactly is your job?”

“Problem solver.”

“Problem solver? That’s a job title?”

He loosened a knot. “We go in where there’s a problem and sort things out.”

“Do you work for the woman?” She stared at him then and the words hovered between them, unspoken.

The Widow.

“You spoke to her?” He was interested. The Widow rarely descended to speaking with civilians.

“Well, she spoke to me…” Rose pressed her hands to her hips, her chin jutting slightly.

Cute as fuck.

“She’s persuasive. Here. I’ve sorted this out.” He stood up and moved closer. “I need to loop these through your harness. May I?”

She nodded, the paleness of her skin highlighting the sprinkle of freckles on the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks. He had the insane urge to press his lips to them. He loved she hadn’t covered them with makeup.

Freckle analysis? What was up with him?

He reached around her waist, threading a rope through the back of her harness. Her nose bumped against his chest and as he reached around her, his breath disturbed soft hair exposed on her neck. His body nudged hers, making his blood unexpectedly heat. Double damn. He pulled back, threading the rope through the D rings around the curve of her waist, above the sweep of her hips.

“Thank you.” The color of her cheeks pinked, making her freckles stand out even more and she self consciously tucked loose hair behind her ear. He tugged the rope tight and pulled hard, checking the rope was secure. Her body jerked toward him, so close her scent teased his nostrils. Fresh and green, a nod to her namesake.

Fuck, now he was noticing what she smelled like.

“You’re good to go,” he muttered, trying not to pay heed to the roughness she triggered in his voice.

“Ladies, are you ready?” Luca perched on the rim of the cave entrance, a bulky haul bag suspended from his waist, his body angled at forty-five degrees above a free-fall into the bowels of the earth. “Taking this kit down for Liev. I’ll be back for Harris shortly.” He shot Finn a mock salute, and with a push from his legs, he vanished, his howl echoing out from the cavern.

“Jesus.” Rose blanched.

“Ignore him.”

“Are we doing that?” She inched closer to the entrance edge. “I don’t think I can do that.”

Luca’s whoop echoed as he hit the raft below, and his rope went slack.

“Don’t worry, we’re going down nice and slow together. I won’t let you fall. It’s perfectly safe.”

“How do you know that?” Her eyes were a little too wide.

Because I’ve done this shit more often than I can count. “We’re doing it the less dramatic way. We’ll drop through the choke point and descend from the ledge.”

Rose nodded, but her cheeks were bloodless as he helped her climb down to the ledge from where they would rappel to the water below.

Finally on the ledge, Finn clipped his climbing harness to hers, the carabiners clinking together as he locked them side by side. The sound reverberated off the sheer rock walls.

“Okay, I need you to come here. Stand with your back to the edge.” He kept his voice low, despite the adrenaline for the mission to come that surged through his veins .

She moved beside him, her chin raised, but there was a visible tremble in her arms, her chest rising and falling briskly under the thick neoprene.

He locked his arms around her waist, securing their harnesses for the descent. Her arms flew around his neck, the soft sweep of her hair brushing his hands .

Focus, Finn . “I’ve got you. Find your feet.”

“Uh, huh.” She pressed against him as she searched for a toehold on the ledge. Her scent danced around him, blocking out the mineral damp of the cave.

Finn closed his eyes, trying not to breathe her in, trying not to notice how perfectly she fit in his arms, how her body seemed made to be held by his.

“Okay, I’m good.” Her voice was muffled against his chest.

Finn exhaled slowly.

Time to go.