As soon as Clint put his hands on her, she tensed like he knew she would, but then she surprised him by purring like a kitten being stroked. He began at her neck and shoulders, working the kinks out while making a gradual descent down her spine. He knew exactly where to touch her and how much pressure to apply to loosen the knots. He was going to push her to exhaustion once they got on their feet, but if things went according to plan, she was in for a nice treat at the end of the day.
Maybe if he was lucky he’d get a treat, too. His cock jumped with excitement at the thought of sinking into her tight pussy. Shit! He better concentrate on getting them off the island alive and worry about his own needs later.
“That feels good.” He was pretty sure she was talking about when his massage transferred to the bunched muscles in her neck and shoulders a second time. She became so relaxed that her head rolled back against him, landing somewhere between his chest and shoulder. “You’re turning out to be a man of many talents.”
If he wanted to, he could read a lot into her comment but chose to remain quiet, realizing he should have left her alone. He made a mental note to do so in the future. Her sighs of pleasure made him think of the sounds she’d made earlier. He was trying to ignore the way her bottom fit snug against the cradle of his thighs, rubbing up against his hard cock, what the arch of her back did to her rounded tits. It was a struggle not to let his hands slide down the front of her and grab those enticing mounds.
“How did you know where to find me?” she asked after a while.
He’d been waiting for the questions to start coming. “I had Susan express mail me the letter left at the florist shop. It turned up several sets of fingerprints, one of them Raul Rodriguez. I took a chance he’d have you stashed somewhere on his island.”
“You know him then?”
“I know of him,” Clint corrected, not adding that Rodriguez was as bad as they come, mixed up in just about everything illegal and not a scrupulous bone in his body. He and Mark had come up against a lot of Raul Rodriguez’s over the years. It was the nature of their business.
She leaned forward, giving him better access to her spine, and gasped when his hands moved to her hips. There was nothing dainty or fragile about Sarah but Clint found he liked her full curves. His hands traveled up her sides in a rough caress.
“Raul was after Susan. If Danny hadn’t been sick that morning, she would have opened up the shop as usual and they would have been waiting for her.” She shifted her body beneath his hands, pushing into his administrations and silently letting him know she liked it rough. He filed that information away for the future.
“That’s what Susan figured when she arrived later that afternoon to find the shop closed and a note slipped under the door addressed to you.” He wisely ignored her breasts by moving to her upper arms and rubbing them briskly.
Sarah’s tone indicated she hadn’t known a note had been left behind. “What did it say?”
“The usual things—don’t call the police or they’d kill you. That someone would contact you once Susan told them where she’d hidden the statue so you could retrieve it and send it to them. In exchange for her safe return, of course. That’s why she notified me.”
“You sound skeptical.”
Clint shrugged. He didn’t believe in sugarcoating the truth no matter how brutal. “Men like Rodriguez can’t be trusted. Once he got what he wanted, you would have become fish bait.”
“Or Susan.” Sarah shivered beneath his hands. “So, it’s a statue he wants back. He never said. Only that it was something Mark had given to her.”
“Mark was always picking up some trinket for Susan and the boys wherever we went, cheap souvenirs he’d find at roadside flea markets.” His fingers dug into the knotted muscles he found at her nape.
“Does she have the statue he’s talking about?”
Clint shrugged. “The last thing Mark picked up was a cheap imitation of a religious artifact when we were in Jerusalem, but he didn’t give it to Susan. When we get back to the states, I’m going to take a closer look at it.”
“Do you have it?” Sarah inquired, purring with obvious pleasure when his hands found another muscle needing attention.
“No, but I know where it is. Come on, time to get going,” he said abruptly, deciding they’d wasted enough time. If she moved against his straining zipper one more time, he was going to lose it. Before she could pull herself away, his hands pushed against her shoulders so he could get to his feet. He moved to undo the pins holding the net to the tree. “I’ll meet you on the ground.”
****
Sarah recognized when she was being dismissed. She didn’t know what his problem was but it seemed he couldn’t get away from her fast enough. That was fine with her. Besides, she needed a few minutes of privacy. She got to her feet slowly, watching Clint’s deft movements as he took their bed down.
As if sensing the direction her thoughts had taken, he muttered, “Don’t wander off, and watch where you drop your drawers.”
Sarah’s mouth dropped with astonishment, her eyes rounding. She supposed he had her best interests at heart, but if he thought she was going to go to the bathroom under his watchful guard, he was in for a rude awakening. Not bothering to acknowledge his remark, she turned and shimmied down the tree, jumping the last few feet before heading off to find a private bush. Hopefully something with big leaves.
Clint was waiting for her when she returned. Leaning coolly against the tree they’d spent the night in, his ankles as well as arms crossed. Sarah tried not to think about what she’d let him do to her. It was easier to push it to the back of her mind. But one thing she couldn’t forget was how good it had felt climaxing after so many months of abstinence.
As she neared Clint she began to realize something was wrong. He seemed unapproachable; his flinty expression was hard to read. Piercing black eyes didn’t so much as blink while she casually strolled up to him.
“I thought I told you not to wander off,” he muttered in a low tone, a clear indication he was angry.
“You did, but…” Sarah realized her mistake in halting too close to him, too late. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt, hauling her closer still, until her breasts were crushed against his unyielding chest.
He brought his face to within inches of hers. “What the fuck did I tell you about following orders?”
Who did he think he was, manhandling her that way? She reminded herself he was there to rescue her, which included protecting her as well, didn’t it? “I know what you said, but there are some things I refuse to do in front of you.” She actually heard some of the seams to her shirt give out beneath his grasp. “I hope you have another shirt I can borrow,” she said, hoping to lighten the mood.
“Don’t fucking push me Sarah, please.” Clint muttered beneath his breath. “I promise you won’t like the consequences. Remember that the next time you disobey my orders.” He released her without another word, and bent to grab his duffel bag before turning to walk away. “I suggest you fucking keep up,” he said over his shoulder, stepping into the jungle.
Crossing her arms, Sarah’s gaze followed Clint until he disappeared. She wondered how far he’d go before doubling back to get her when he realized she wasn’t behind him. Would he continue on and just leave her? In his present mood, he just might.
A few moments passed before she decided now wasn’t the time to show her independence. She’d better do what he said. Nevertheless, even a few minutes hesitation turned out to be a mistake. She could hear him thrashing ahead, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, wait up!” Her gaze darted over the ground and bushes thoroughly, looking for snakes and any other nasty creatures as she followed him. She wasn’t about to plow through the jungle like he was obviously doing, even if it did seem he was getting farther away from her. “Clint!” Damn him! “Wait up!”
Sarah caught her foot on a ground root and fell to her knees. That’s what she got for cursing him. It would serve h
im right if she did get lost. “Clint!” She pushed to her feet slowly and trekked on. Maybe if she called him by another name, like jackass or asshole, she’d get a better response.
She parted a leafy branch in front of her, and came face to face with a snake and not the green garden variety either. They looked at each other for a moment before she released a blood-curdling scream, and immediately swung around to go back the way she’d come. “Clint!” she screamed as she took off, stumbling blindly in haste.
A few feet into her panicked run, Sarah was brought up short by the sudden appearance of a wild boar that didn’t look anything like the cute little pig in “Charlotte’s Web”. This creature was as big as a large dog, with long, razor-sharp tusks protruding out of his mouth and going up the sides of his long tapered snout. He snorted and stomped his foot in warning. She screamed again, scaring some innocent birds in the trees overhead.
Frozen with fear, her eyes remained riveted on the boar. Sarah was trembling so badly she would have sunk to the ground if it hadn’t been for the threat of the snake behind her. Slowly, she turned her head to see where the legless reptile had slithered.
“Clint!” Sarah was so scared she almost wet her pants. The large gray hog snorted threateningly and pawed the dirt some more. Was it getting ready to charge? “Clint!”
Clint suddenly broke through a clump of tall bushes about three feet away from her. His expression was thunderous as his eyes zeroed in on her with frightening intensity. If he was concerned about her safety, there wasn’t an inkling of it revealed on his dark face or in his glittering eyes.
“For fuck’s sake, stop your damn screaming!” he snarled, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. “They can probably hear you all the way to China!”
Sarah was too afraid to take offense at his uncaring bark. She was more afraid of the snake than of him at the moment. “There’s a big snake!”
“Where?” his head jerked back and forth, looking for it.
“And a wild boar!” Sarah continued, in the same breathless voice.
“Where?” His head whipped back around, his gaze scanning the area.
Sarah realized the animal must have taken off when Clint stormed through the trees to her defense. “It was there!” she said, pointing to a bare spot on the ground where the dirt had been stirred up.
She watched Clint bend at the waist, and brace his palms against his thighs as he sucked in mouthfuls of air, like a man who’d just emerged from being held under water for too long.
“Shit! When I heard your frantic screams, I thought Rodriguez’s men had gotten to you. I nearly broke my damn neck getting back here, until I realized they would have never let you continue screaming like a fucking banshee. All you did was probably succeed in giving our location away.”
“Clint.” Sarah’s frightened eyes darted nervously in every direction looking for the repulsive and probably poisonous snake, and barely listening to Clint. “I don’t understand it. The snake was right there.” She pointed. “And the boar was there.” She started to move toward him. Where had it gone?
“Don’t come near me right now. It’s all I can do to keep from shaking some sense into you. So do us both a favor and don’t make shit easier by coming to me.”
He certainly wasn’t in a very compassionate mood. And what was he angry about? She’s the one whose life had been threatened. “What about the snake? Don’t you want to know what it looked like?”
“Did it bite you?” he rasped, pinning his gaze on her in a way that made Sarah feel like vermin.
“No, but─”
“Then I don’t give a fuck, Sarah.” Sarah wasn’t expecting him to turn on her like a wild animal. She jumped back with fear. “Your hysterical screaming has probably alerted everyone on the island where we are!” His voice raised an octave with every word he uttered.
As the enormity of what his words meant became clear, Sarah felt the blood drain from her face. “I’m sorry…I…I’m…” She stumbled to get the words out. No wonder he was so angry. “I’m scared of snakes and I…I thought you’d left me.” She turned away.
****
Clint was unprepared for the tears he’d seen swimming in her eyes. He suddenly felt like the hardhearted bastard Mark had called him over the years. Her soft-spoken words took the fire right out of him, making him see Sarah in a different light. In spite of her spunk and sass, she was a vulnerable woman, thrown into a situation out of her league, and handling it the best way she could.
How was he supposed to deal with this Sarah? The overwhelming urge to take her into his arms and offer comfort, something he’d never contemplated doing to another living being, surprised him. But he brushed it aside. He’d been raised hard and he lived hard. He wasn’t about to start turning soft now. When it mattered, soft wouldn’t save their lives.
He bent, unzipped his satchel, and dug around in the bottom until he found what he was looking for. It occurred to him Sarah might be hungry, though he gave her credit for not complaining about it. He was trained to survive for days without food, as long as he had plenty of water, but Clint knew she needed food for energy. “Here.” He tossed her an apple when she turned back to face him.
He hadn’t meant to look at her, but their eyes met when she caught the fruit against her chest. She’d managed to pull herself together fast, yet she couldn’t disguise the brightness still lingering in her eyes or the dirty tear tracks lining her cheeks. “I won’t leave you Sarah.” He felt he had to reassure her. “Besides, Susan will have my hide if I come home without you.”
The faintest smile softened her mouth. “Thank you.”
Clint didn’t know if she was thanking him for the fruit or his comment. When her tongue came out to moisten her lips, his eyes dropped. For a crazy moment, he wondered what kissing her would be like. Just the thought hardened his resolve not to let her get to him. “Let’s get moving, we’ve wasted enough time.”
When he propelled her forward, she didn’t complain. She munched contentedly on her apple until there was nothing left but the core. Clint saw her toss it in the bushes, knowing she could probably eat another one, just like he knew she’d never ask. She did request water once in a while though, and he made sure she had as much as she wanted. With the sun beating down on them, hot as it was, it wouldn’t take long for dehydration to set in, and that was a complication he didn’t need.
Time crept slowly by as they traveled quietly. Clint knew they’d have to pick up their pace soon. In spite of what he’d told Sarah, he knew Rodriguez was smart enough to cover all his bases. He probably had teams heading in all directions looking for them now. Moreover, they would definitely have an advantage. He didn’t doubt for a minute they’d be traveling in vehicles he and Sarah couldn’t hope to outrun.
“How you holding up angel?” he asked, casting a glance over his shoulder. His watch told him they’d been walking steady for three hours now, and she hadn’t griped once.
It seemed to take great effort for her to raise her eyes to his, and Clint swore the tiny ghost of a smile on her mouth was meant to reassure him. “This is like a walk in the park,” she said with humor.
He made a brief assessment of her condition, taking in her sweat-streaked face and damp, dirty clothes. Her hair, which she’d twisted into a thick braid, looked more brown than blonde. She was stumbling more than walking, and he knew she was exhausted. Yet he knew they had to keep going.
“Here.” He halted. “Have another drink.” He unclipped his canteen from where it hung on the outside of his duffel bag, popped the top, and handed it to her.
Sarah smiled gratefully, as she took it from him, and put it to her mouth. He watched her throat work as she swallowed, before surprising him by tipping the canteen over her face. He watched the cool water bathe her overheated flesh, washing the sweat and grime away until it met the obstacle of her shirt, soaking it down the front. As the material clung to her breasts, he was suddenly reminded of what she looked like in just her underwe
ar. Wet underwear. He swung around and started to walk again.
That was a complication he could do without, too.
Wanting Sarah.
Only it was too late.
Chapter Six
“Here’s your canteen,” Sarah said after a few moments.
“Keep it, you need it more than I do,” he said briskly, not halting.
She watched his backside for a moment before recalling what happened the last time she let him out of her sight. She hurried to catch up, slipping the canteen’s shoulder strap over her neck and arm. Already the water she’d poured over her skin had evaporated, leaving her hot and sticky again. Lord, it had to be a hundred degrees or more. Now she knew what it felt like walking into an incinerator. Coming from Florida, she should be used to the heat, but the only strenuous activity she did there was lie out in the sun.
She wondered how much longer they’d walk before stopping to rest, how much longer before she collapsed and he was forced to stop. He was just as hot and dirty, yet his energy level never seemed to waver.
Her belly growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since the apple, which seemed like hours ago. She wasn’t going to complain though. If Clint to go on without food than she could, too. How did he do it? Going by the bloody scratches on his arms, he wasn’t a machine.
Right about the time she found herself having to concentrate just to put one foot in front of the other, he drew to a halt. Swaying with exhaustion, she would have fallen if he hadn’t been close enough to catch her. She was conscious of him checking the ground around them first, before lowering her gently. Unless he was blind, he had to realize she couldn’t go any further without a break.
“We’ll stop here for a couple of hours. Get some rest.”
No Escape Page 6
