by Cherry Adair
The woman was a mass of contradictions. She should have fainted the second he clamped his hand over her mouth. Hell, she should have freaked out when she saw the men. But she hadn't.
Bravery or conspiracy?
She wasn't going to cooperate with his stereotypical notion of a delicate blonde. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to be taken in again. The timing of her presence couldn't have been worse. And the similarities to the journalist six years ago were too obvious to be coincidence. Yet he couldn't believe the enemy would think him fool enough to be conned the same way twice.
"What do they want?"
Lord, her mouth looks like sin when she whispers.
"My ass, sweet cheeks. My ass. You're in the wrong place at the wrong time."
By her description of the assassins he had a damn good idea who they were. But Judas, he didn't want to believe what his gut was telling him. Believe it or not, he had to be prepared. And he would be, once he could get rid of the girl. ASAP. She was a complication he couldn't afford.
So his enemies were upping the ante, were they? How the hell had they tracked him here?
"You could be wrong." She shivered, and he knew it wasn't just from the frigid cold. "They could be here to… to… something!" She sounded panicky.
"I'm going to get you across the river," Out of my hair one way or the other.
"Good. You'll come with me?"
"And look over my shoulder for the rest of my life? No, thanks. They started this. I'll finish it. Here. Now."
She grabbed his wrist and held on, her fingers cold. "Who are you?"
He hesitated. "A security expert."
"Bull."
"The information is on a need-to-know basis. You don't need to know. We'll wait another fifteen minutes. If there's no more activity, we'll head for the bridge."
"What about Duchess?" The edge of fear crept back into her voice. The dog's ears swiveled, either at the sound of her name, or the tone in her mistress's voice.
"I'll try to get her over, too. If not, she's not stupid. She'll head for the cabin and keep out of sight. I'll make sure she's returned to you."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
"How, if you're dead?" She looked him straight in the eye without flinching. "Tell me how you think you can fight all those men by yourself!"
"You'll get your dog back. On my word."
"You'll see her personally to my front door in Sunnyvale."
"You'll get the dog back."
"You," she insisted roughly, "personally. To my front door."
Snow, like bits of lint, drifted around them. Her cheeks were pink with the cold, her eyes hot, her mouth—He jerked his gaze to the soft strands of wind-ruffled fair hair framing her face.
Without thinking, Jake tucked a strand back under her damp knit cap. It felt like the finest Chinese silk. A few filaments caught on the calluses on his thumb. He absently rubbed the silky length between his fingers, getting more pleasure than he deserved from the small tactile treat.
His eyes met hers, and he saw they held a gleam of fear, anger, and anticipation. He let his gaze skim down and linger on her mouth.
Plump, soft, arousing. Don't go there, buddy. His blood pounded, a compelling primal beat.
Marnie narrowed her eyes at that look. "Don't change the subject!"
Jake dipped his head. He just wanted a taste. A refresher, to see if their last kiss could possibly have been as profound as he remembered.
He didn't want to talk about hand-delivering her dog. He didn't want to think about all the wet work he had to do in the next few hours. He didn't want to contemplate what he would have to do to her if the visitors were her allies.
They had another fifteen minutes together, tops.
The last kiss they shared was to be quick. Quick, he promised himself, touching his mouth to hers.
God, he tastes good. Desire shot through her. Shocking and intense. How could a mere kiss affect every nerve ending in her body? She could have gone on kissing him forever.
The second he stopped kissing her, Marnie opened her eyes and gave him a mild look, as if the kiss had been no big deal. But her heart was going a million miles an hour.
He gave her a quirky look back, then picked up a goopy handful of mud. Resigned, she closed her eyes again, knowing what he was about to do.
"You're sure this is absolutely necessary?"
"I'm not taking any chances." He smoothed it over her cheeks and chin. Icy mud. Warm hands. "Okay, open."
She opened her eyes.
Duchess stood watching them, head tilted, eyes puzzled at this new game. The dog whined hopefully.
Marnie could just imagine what she looked like. "This isn't a game, girl. Shhh."
Jake was busy smearing his own face. Marnie grimaced, then dug a handful of the dark sludge and covered her hands.
"You look like you know what you're doing." Jake followed suit, then wiped his right palm down the leg of his jeans.
"War games. Ninth grade. Kane had a friend I had a crush on that summer. It was either blend in with the boys or have Grammy teach me how to make ribbon roses."
They stood at the same time. Jake drew his gun, then held it loosely in his right hand. The weapon was big, black, and menacing. He indicated their direction. She and Duchess led the way through the trees, Jake close behind them.
The river was a good mile away. It had been years since Marnie had explored this part of the mountain. The terrain was steep and slippery. The trees grew closer together here, and the sparse undergrowth made the going easier, despite the fact that they were heading uphill. Oppressive clouds added to the wind chill. Pockets of snow shone white on the ground.
Every noise spooked her, although she managed not to jump each time a branch snapped or a rabbit raced through the undergrowth. Not that she didn't have every valid reason in the world to be incontinent right now. Her gaze darted from tree to tree, waiting for one of the ninjas to pop out.
Well, she'd wanted a grand adventure. Be careful what you wish for, Marnie thought with grim amusement as a sharp breeze zipped through the trees and filtered through her damp jacket. She tugged her woolen cap over her ears and ignored the cold.
The sound of the river got louder. Duchess danced ahead, disappearing through the trees. Jake gave a soft whistle and she loped back, tongue lolling as if she were grinning and delighted with the game.
But this wasn't a game. A chill washed through Marnie as they came to the bank and she got an up-close-and-personal look at the river.
There wasn't a snowball's hope in hell of getting her across. The noise of the water rushing over the rocks was thunderous. They stood side by side, watching the boiling brown mess flip logs like matchsticks in its race to the Pacific.
Marnie nudged Jake's shoulder with hers to get his attention. "How did they get across?"
"Must have done a helo jump. Probably beyond the ridge. I didn't hear it."
"Where's the bridge?" Hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket, shoulders hunched, she looked up at him. "It washed out completely, didn't it?"
"Looks like." Jake glanced away from those clear blue eyes peering out at him from a muddy face. "Probably with a little help from your pals back there."
"Oh, yeah. My pals. Happy, Grumpy, and Snoopy. Give me a break, okay? Unless you plan on tossing me in there, let's make other plans before we freeze to death."
She walked around him so they were face-to-face. The mud was drying and starting to crack on her skin. Jake knew what it felt like, but she hadn't complained. So far.
"Look, I hate to tell you this, but I'm so scared I can't decide which to do first, throw up or wet my pants. Could we please find a nice warm place to defrost while we figure out what to do about those guys?"
"We?"
"Fine, macho man. You. Personally, I don't care who comes up with the best escape plan. Just as long as someone does." She turned on her heel and walked away. The dog looked back at Jake reproachfully before bounding afte
Jake stared at Marnie's back for a moment and scowled. She was unpredictable as hell. Between them and any sort of decent cover was a pod of determined men. Resigned, Jake caught up.
"Not so fast, Red Riding Hood." He caught her arm, leaving a muddy handprint on her wet sleeve. He was surprised to feel muscle beneath the padding of her jacket. Even so, her bones were as delicate and breakable as a cat's. He let go.
"Just where do you think you're going?"
Her breath came in little white puffs. She gave him a blank look. "Nowhere." After a moment a smile lit her eyes. "Fast, apparently. Got any brilliant plans, Mr. Big Bad Wolf?"
Jake bit back a smile. "Like your fairy tales, do you?"
"Most of the time. Right now I'd appreciate the arrival of Superman rather than wussy Prince Charming in his dumb white pantyhose, wouldn't you?"
She was trying hard not to look terrified, Jake thought, watching the irregular movement of her chest as she struggled to maintain her flip attitude. Not that she didn't have every reason to be scared shitless. "You don't think they'd send all those guys to get me if I wasn't hard to kill, do you?"
"Are you faster than a speeding bullet?"
"You bet."
She looked at him. "Yeah, I believe you are."
It was snowing harder now, making visibility poor. It was midafternoon but looked like dusk. Which gave him the advantage.
"Look, you can't go off half cocked here. I know this mountain like the back of my hand. Those guys don't. What we're going to do is get to a cave about two miles downriver from the dam. It's our best shot. Stay close and alert."
"What cave? I've been coming up here all my life, I've never seen a cave."
"Want to stand around and chat about it? Or should we get going before they pick us off?"
"Good point. Lead on, Macduff."
Chapter Five
« ^ »
Marnie didn't know what Jake Dolan did for a living. It was moot at this point. An undisclosed number of men were searching for them with an impressive arsenal of weapons.
Jake had one gun. A plus.
And her. A minus.
She didn't much like the odds.
She wasn't an idiot. Right now she was a liability to him. She'd seen spy movies. The dumb blonde always got killed first because she was a… dumb blonde.
Jake knew what he was doing. At least he behaved as though he knew what he was doing. Marnie wasn't going to argue.
The cloud-thick sky hung directly over their heads as they made their cautious way through the trees. There were several places, Marnie knew, where they'd be sitting ducks. The small clearing up ahead was one. Her heart had lodged in her throat half an hour ago and stayed there. She walked as close to Jake's left side as she could get without ducking under his arm and hugging his ribs.
Which would have been nice and cozy. Unfortunately they weren't in a cozy situation. As the trees thinned, it became evident the snow wasn't about to stop, not anytime soon. The flakes drifted in slow motion as a continuous fall of white, blanketed the branches, and drifted silently to the frozen ground.
The forest was quiet. Eerily quiet. Icy wind sliced right through her damp clothing and chilled her to the bone. The mud on her face and hands had dried like a cement face pack, making her skin itch and burn.
Ahead, Duchess paused, ears pricked, hackles raised. Jake put his arm across Marnie's chest.
They stopped. Alert. Listening.
Tension, sudden and electric, arced between them. Someone was waiting for them in the clearing.
Jake pulled her behind a broad tree trunk, his weapon drawn and raised to fire.
Marnie hunched her shoulders to make a smaller target and held her breath. A branch snapped. Something small scurried across the ground behind them. Her eyes burned as she searched the surrounding area for movement.
"Stay here," Jake breathed in her ear.
She wanted to grab the front of his jacket and close her eyes tight. Instead she nodded and watched him slip from one patch of deep shadow to the next. He paused a beat to make a hand motion to Duchess. The dog shot from sentry duty to her side.
Jake melted into the trees.
Marnie welcomed the familiar weight leaning against her hip. She and Duchess waited, ears and eyes strained for the slightest movement. Moments later she heard a soft pop, quickly followed by another.
She sucked in a shaky breath, then held it.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jake emerged through the trees.
She released the breath she'd been holding as he came closer. Her gaze checked him for bullet holes. He looked hale and hearty. Covered with mud, but big and strong and dangerous.
"Two down." His voice barely carried the few inches between them. She shivered at the cold tundra in his eyes.
"You killed them?"
He gave her a droll look. "What did you think I was going to do? Tell them not to play on my mountain?"
Marnie narrowed her eyes and summoned her defenses. "Cute. I'd feel way happier if you'd given them a group discount so they were all gone."
"Bloodthirsty wench, aren't you?"
"As long as the blood isn't ours."
"Yeah, well, so far the home team is ahead. This is the plan." Jake took her chin in his hand and stared coldly into her eyes. "Don't deviate, don't improvise, don't slow down. Scared is good; it'll keep you sharp. Terrified is bad; it could get us both killed. Understand?"
Marnie nodded. She was scared and terrified, and hoped it didn't show too terribly much. Although Jake must surely have heard her heart flub-dubbing, he didn't mention it.
"We get through the clearing. Fast. Know where the old logging road is?" He waited for her nod. "Go up there to the left. As soon as you're above the dam, take the fork. Keep as close to the trees as you can, and haul ass." He narrowed his eyes. "Any questions?"
"Where will you be?"
"Right on your tail, sweetheart. Right on your tail. Let's go."
Adrenaline had an interesting way of heating the body, Marnie decided, moving quickly through the trees, Jake on one side, Duchess on the other.
They came to the clearing, a serene glade, surrounded by Douglas fir and enormous ponderosa pine. The ground was slippery with needles and cones over muddy, half-frozen earth.
Other than the tail end of a deer on the far side, there was nothing but grass, small piñon shrubs, and sparse clumps of snow in the deep shadows.
She paused, gathered herself, and started to run. She aimed for the center, where three large rock outcroppings formed a halfway point. Duchess panted as she loped alongside her. Peripherally, she saw Jake moving up beside her.
She was almost there when she heard a high-pitched whine.
"Down!" Jake hissed behind her, sharp and urgent.
She turned to see him flying at her. They fell in a tangle of arms and legs, Marnie flat on her back, Jake on top of her. Their rolling bodies thumped into the base of the rocks. She saw stars and comets as her head bounced on the hard surface.
"Ow!"
His mouth was close to her ear. "Lie still."
Considering he had her spread-eagled and flat on her back, with his body covering hers like a two-hundred-pound X-ray blanket, it was impossible to do anything else.
A round of whines.
Bits of rock ricocheted off the boulder directly above them.
Jake pressed her harder into the damp earth as more gunfire came from the fringe of trees beyond the meadow.
"I don't like this," he muttered roughly against her jaw.
"No kidding? Darn, and here I thought you were loving it."
"How close are the strikes?" he asked against her ear.
"So?" His warm breath puffing in her ear was extremely distracting. "None of them is a great marksman. What's your point?"
"They wouldn't be here if they weren't the best. If they wanted to take us out, they would have."
Marnie inhaled a shaky breath, her face smothered by his chest. She smelled the damp wool of his sweater, the sharp scent of pine on his jacket and the strangely comforting and familiar smell of the man himself.
"Want me to go and ask them why they haven't shot us yet?" she demanded, blinking snow out of her eyes and glaring at his ear.
"If you know them well enough, feel free."
"Maybe I'll just stroll over there and ask them to knock some sense into your thick skull," Marnie said, exasperated now as well as frightened. "I told you I didn't invite them. Either believe it or get off me. You're mashing me into the ground."
"Just following Dolan's law of Survival number two. Never trust anyone."
"What's rule number one?" she asked, although she thought she probably knew that one.
"Never believe a cute blonde."
"You think I'm cute?"
She felt his hot breath against her neck, but he didn't answer. Exasperating man.
Pressed intimately from head to toe, she was dynamically aware of how solid and strong his body felt. His heart beat a tattoo against her crushed breasts, and one of his long, muscled legs was wedged dangerously in the apex of her thighs. His hot breath seared her forehead as he held her down with his body, his arms wrapped around her so nothing was exposed.
"If we die today, you'll be sorry we didn't make love," she whispered directly into his ear.
"Where the hell is your off switch?"
"I told you, I talk when I'm n—" He put a large, muddy hand over her mouth. Her voice muffled, she said, "They've stopped shooting. Where's Duchess?"
"Behind the rocks. Don't move."
He took his hand away and shifted against her. The heat of his body and the musky scent of his skin overwhelmed her. Marnie was aware of every move he made.
From the other side of the rock Duchess gave a low, quick bark to indicate she was in one piece.
"Okay?" he asked, his voice strained as he shifted down her body a little more. Now his narrow hips were nestled between her thighs. Their jigsaw puzzle pieces matched perfectly.
His chest pressed her breasts flat, making breathing difficult. Eyes riveted to his, she said breathlessly, "Can we get up and run? Or are we going to lie here and wait for them to come right up and shoot you in the back of the head?"
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