Tempted by a SEAL (Alpha SEALs Book 8)

by Makenna Jameison

  Yeah. That would stop them for all of five seconds.

  Fucking hell.

  “Oh my God!” Emma exclaimed breathlessly as they raced down the flights. “They came after us! They’re right up there. Ohmigod ohmigod!”

  Hunter glanced up, watching as the door rattled.

  Four-three-two—Boom!

  Kicked open in no time.

  He grabbed Emma and pulled her into the hall on the fourth floor. Didn’t look back as they ran. It looked exactly like the floor they’d just left. Carpeted hallway. Closed doors. But it was better to run to another part of the building before the men began shooting at them from above in the stairwell.

  “Holy crap!” Emma said as they ran down the hall. “Who were those guys?”

  “Friends of the ones from the pub. They probably all tie back to the terrorist group after you. There’s another stairwell this way,” he said, hustling her along. His arm went around her waist, his hand securely gripping her hip. Guiding her in front of him.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I memorized the floorplan of the hotel when I checked in.”

  Hunter didn’t bother checking this stairwell, just pushed the door open, tugging Emma alongside him. Keeping his arm snared around her slender waist. If someone came from behind, he could shield her with his body. Protect her.

  But when they were out in the open?

  He needed to move her somewhere safe.

  “They’re probably going down to the lobby. The other stairs are near the front of the hotel, but we should be able to go out the side. Hell. I hope Mason doesn’t run into those assholes on his way back.”

  “I hear sirens,” Emma said. “The police are already on their way. Oh my God—all those poor people hiding in their rooms. They must be scared out of their minds!”

  “No doubt someone called the police after hearing the gunshots. They’ll probably lock down the building when they arrive. But we don’t know how many of those guys are here coming after you, which is why we’re leaving.”

  “This is bloody unbelievable,” she muttered, hustling along in front of him. “My entire life is turning into some sort of action movie—and I hate action movies.”

  Hunter smirked, watching her red hair swish back and forth as she ran down the stairs. This was not time to be ogling Emma, but hell.

  She was gorgeous no matter what she was doing.

  They ran down the stairs to the first floor, Hunter pausing at the door that opened to the lobby. Ten feet away was an exit to a side street. They just had to cross a small part of the lobby and get through the door. Ten feet until they were out.

  “We can wait for the police,” Emma said breathlessly. “Turn over the information.”

  “We can. They’ll be here shortly—”

  A door to the stairwell above them suddenly burst open, banging loudly against the wall, and footsteps pounded down the stairs. Hunter grabbed Emma and pushed open the door as a man came running down the stairs from several floors above. The concierge was ducking behind his desk as hotel security rushed about the lobby with walkie-talkies, and the man behind the check-in counter was talking rapidly on the phone, nervously eyeing the front door.

  Hunter didn’t speak with any of them, just pushed Emma through the door to the side street. Glanced around.

  Sirens sounded in the distance, but he wasn’t waiting for backup.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Don’t know. Don’t care.” Hunter hustled her over to a parked car, dropping his backpack to the ground and grabbing his tools.

  “Are you going to steal a car?” she asked incredulously as he quickly picked the lock.

  “Borrow. I’m borrowing a car. Go around and climb in,” he said, ducking down to hotwire the engine. It purred to life as Emma sank into the passenger seat, and a moment later he was pulling out into traffic, watching in the rearview mirror as a man came bursting out the side door of the hotel. He clenched the steering wheel, watching as the man looked both ways, searching for them.

  As much as he’d love to peel out of there, the God-awful traffic in London prohibited it. And there was no point in drawing attention to themselves when they’d left unnoticed. Were hiding in plain sight. Someone would certainly notice their car missing, but those assholes after Emma were momentarily without a clue.

  He signaled and made a right turn, cursing under his breath. Trying to get used to driving on the wrong side of the car. The wrong side of the road.

  Fucking hell.

  He could fly a helicopter. Drive a goddamn tank if he needed to. But this ridiculousness of putting the driver on the right side of the car was unnerving.

  And wasn’t that an understatement.

  Emma released a breath, shrinking down into the seat beside him. Closing her eyes as she exhaled. She clutched her backpack tightly, her fingers turning white.

  “Breathe,” he commanded. “We’re safe. We’ll find somewhere to hide out while I figure out our next move.”

  “I know. I know—it’s just. I can’t believe this is happening. Any of it. A week ago, I was doing research for my paper—pretending to be an aid worker, perhaps, but nothing terribly uncouth. Just another foreigner visiting Kabul. And now I have international terrorists chasing after me.”

  “I think we should head out of the city,” he said, his voice low. “I don’t know how many of those guys there are, but we need to lay low. I’ll copy whatever papers you have and get them to my CO. He can deal directly with the rest of the Brits. Share them with the Pentagon.”

  “Right. I already made copies on my thumb drive. I have the hard copies, too, but we can upload them easily to a computer and send them off.”

  Has gaze swept to her. “Where’s the thumb drive?”

  She swallowed nervously.

  “Emma, I think we’ve already established that you can trust me.”

  “It’s sewn into the lining of my backpack. I have my laptop as well, but I wiped it from there, just to be safe. In case it was stolen. Luckily I kept it on my person as my flat was ransacked—all my research is there. I keep backups of course, but bloody hell. I don’t need to lose all of my work as well in the midst of this disaster.”

  Hunter let out a low whistle. “Mind telling me what’s on the papers you found? I’ve been shot at, chased out of a hotel, run out of a pub—I think at this point you can assume I’m on your side. Never mind the fact that the whole reason I was in the damn pub conducting surveillance in the first place is because I was looking for you.”

  “Looking for me? What on Earth do you mean?”

  “Our latest SITREP indicated there was a missing British archeologist in Afghanistan. It seems that a friend of yours went to the American Embassy when you disappeared. They contacted the Brits, and the rest, as they say, is history. Mason and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and did a little off-the-books work.”

  “Lily. I left my friend Lily in the market a week ago. I spotted some men I thought were looking for me, which is why I deserted her there. I didn’t want her involved in any of this. I’m sure she was worried sick when I never went back to the housing the aid workers were staying in, but I didn’t have any choice. It was safest to just leave immediately—disassociate myself with all of them.”

  “You haven’t tried to contact her?” Hunter asked, glancing sideways at her. Watching as she nervously bit her lip, her eyes worriedly meeting his.

  “No. I feel terrible, but I had to get out of Kabul as quickly as possible. And I didn’t want her to be involved in any of this. I took those papers I discovered, but she didn’t know anything about it. No one did.”

  “Mind telling me how you snuck back into Britain?”

  She blew out a sigh. “It’s kind of a long, complicated story.”

  “I figured. Enough about that though. Tell me what’s in the documents you have.”

  She nodded. Searched his gaze before he glanced back at the road. “It’s a list
of targets—terror targets. Sites in the U.S. and Europe. The entire document was pages and pages long—but I grabbed the list from the pile of materials so they wouldn’t notice that the entire thing was missing right away. I wish I had time to copy all of it—photograph it with my phone or something, but I stumbled upon it so quickly I just grabbed what I could without thinking. I thought I’d be helping—I didn’t really think of the consequences. That they’d come after me if they discovered who took them.”

  “Where’d you find it?” he asked incredulously.

  “Outside of Kabul. I wanted to visit some of the areas I’ve been researching once more. I stumbled upon a parcel that must’ve been inadvertently dropped. It certainly wasn’t very well hidden. Some of the papers were coming out, so I looked at it.”

  “And took what you could.”

  “Unfortunately, yes. As soon as I realized what I’d found, I decided to leave Kabul as quickly as possible. I was there on a 6-month work visa but made plans to leave the following day.”

  “Did you tell anyone?”

  “Not a soul. I left my closest friend Lily alone in the market—I literally just turned and headed off in a different direction when I became concerned. I told my friend I’d meet her in ten minutes, but I had no plans to go back. I just left.”

  “And they saw you,” he ascertained, narrowing his gaze as he followed the signs leaving downtown London. The city was beginning to light up for the night, and his eyes swept over to the Tower Bridge. Damn shame he hadn’t gotten to really play tourist while he was here, but that was life.

  Duty called.

  “Apparently so,” she said. “A colleague of mine told me that some men were asking about me the day before. I thought visiting the bazaar would be a good move—get me out of there.” She blew out a breath, rubbing her shoulders with one slender hand as she relaxed into the seat.

  “You’re tired.”

  “Yeah. It’s been a long few days—a long week. I want to hand over the information to whoever needs to see it—extricate myself from this entirely.”

  “I’m not sure that’s possible,” he said, frowning. “Get some sleep. I’ll find somewhere to go for the night.”

  “But what are you going to do? Your flight leaves in the morning.”

  “I’ll catch a different flight. As soon as we find a safe place to stay, I’ll contact my CO. Let him know the change of plans.”

  She yawned, and he narrowed his gaze. “Sleep, Emma. You’re safe with me.”

  “You don’t even know where you’re going,” she protested. “I’m the local here. I should probably be the one driving. Have you ever even driven on the right side of the road before?”

  “Not a chance in hell are you driving—you’ll fall asleep at the wheel. And what do you think I’m doing right now? Driving on the damn wrong side of the road. Besides, that’s what GPS and road signs are for. I’m pretty sure I’m capable of finding a place to stay for the night.”

  “Typical man who thinks he knows everything,” she murmured, closing her eyes.

  Hunter quirked a brow. “What makes you think I’m typical?”

  “Touché,” she said softly.

  A moment later, she was fast asleep. Her chest gently rose and fell, her lips parted slightly, and Hunter felt a tug in his chest he didn’t want to examine too closely. He muttered a curse. Usually if he spent this much time with a woman it was in bed. Or they were at least naked, he thought with a smirk. Bed, sofa, kitchen table—he wasn’t picky. Usually he was trying to undress a woman, not offer her dry clothes.

  Hunter grabbed his phone from the center console, pushing the button for speaker as he called Mason.

  “The hotel is goddamn mob-scene,” Mason said as he answered. “What the hell happened?”

  “They tracked us to my hotel room,” Hunter said, eyeing Emma. She remained sound asleep, and he relaxed slightly. Hell. Since when did he concern himself with not waking a sleeping woman?

  Since he’d run into her.

  Since he’d discovered that goddamn terrorists were after her.

  Her head was resting against the window, her long red hair tumbling down over her shoulders as she quietly slept. His tee-shirt was massive on her, drowning her feminine figure, but there was something damn appealing about seeing her in his clothes. He’d just met the women a few hours ago. There was no reason he should feel possessive toward her—but there it was.

  He’d protected her. Made sure she felt safe.

  His chest filled with masculine pride—the only better feeling might be if she was beneath him. In his arms and in his bed. Her thighs parting to welcome his now aching cock.

  But a night like that wasn’t happening.

  Where the hell they were going he didn’t have clue. But all that mattered was keeping her safe.

  “Left a few bullet holes in the place,” Mason said. “I couldn’t even get down the hall to my room.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Down in the lobby. The place is crawling with police. Never mind that I just left the station—now they have a shit ton of other questions. Gonna have to call the CO again.”

  “We shouldn’t have been involved in the first place.”

  “Nope. Too late for that now though. You know what they say—better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission.”

  Hunter guffawed. “Who the hell says that?”

  “People. People do. So where are you anyway? I assume since you’re calling you’re not still being chased.”

  “Not at the moment,” Hunter grunted, eyeing the rearview mirror. “Emma’s got some info we need to pass on though. We’ll find somewhere safe to stay for the night and I’ll send the documents she discovered.”

  “You need any help?”

  “The situation is under control.”

  “Roger that. And how does Emma feel about spending the night with you? She didn’t seem too thrilled with you at the pub.”

  “What can I say? Rescue a woman from the bad guys a few times and they change their tune.”

  Mason chuffed out a laugh. “Right. I’m sure she’s crawling all over you—not. Better make sure you get a room with two beds—she sure the hell wasn’t looking at you with interest earlier. Will you be on the flight out in the morning?”

  “Unlikely. I want to lay low for the while. Make sure she’s safe. And don’t worry about our sleeping arrangements,” he muttered, irritation rising in him. Where Emma slept was nobody’s business but his own. He sure the hell didn’t want Mason imagining her naked body beneath the sheets.

  “Bring her back to Little Creek with you. It’s safe there with half the damn Navy around. Hell, we’ve got our team, Ice’s team—we’ll watch out for her.”

  “I damn well might. Better than letting these assholes chase her all over London. Even if she turned over the papers she has, they’ve seen her. They know where she lives. What she looks like. It’s not safe for her to stay here alone.”

  “Agreed. Let me know if you need backup. I can head out and meet you wherever the hell you’re going.”

  “Will do.”

  Hunter heard commotion through the phone as Mason muttered a curse. “Maybe I should just head to a pub and find another woman to spend the night with. What the hell—finish off our little UK stop in style. Doesn’t look like I’ll get back to my room anytime soon. And you’re off playing hero to the woman you rescued.”

  “Yeah, just how I prefer to spend my nights,” Hunter muttered. “Outrunning men shooting at me.”

  “You made a hell of an impression here,” Mason quipped.

  “Not the kind I wanted. Over and out,” Hunter said.

  He gripped the steering wheel after they’d said their goodbyes, glancing at the road signs. Stealing a glance over at Emma, sleeping soundly beside him.

  Hell.

  What exactly had this woman gotten herself mixed up in?

  Chapter 5

  Emma awoke with a start as a car door closed, looking
around in confusion in the dark. She blinked and sat up straighter, rubbing her stiff neck as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, and her stomach rumbled in hunger. How many hours had passed since they’d left London?

  She shifted in her seat, her feet bumping into her backpack. Her eyes followed the movement outside, and she watched as Hunter crossed in front of the bonnet of the car, his profile showing in the lights from a cottage he’d stopped at.

  Unwelcome memories of the past few hours came quickly flooding back.

  Running down the stairs in the hotel.

  Stealing a car.

  Falling asleep as the American Navy SEAL she’d met hurriedly drove them out of London.

  She glanced down at the oversized shirt she had on, remembering her own soggy sweater stashed in her backpack. Let out a sigh as she leaned back against the seat once more.

  Hunter pulled open the door to her side of the car, the interior dome illuminating his muscled forearm. His thick fingers wrapped around hers as he helped her stand, and he reached in and grabbed her backpack, clutching it with his own in one large hand.

  His spicy, clean scent washed over her, and she resisted the urge to lean closer. To let his strength and warmth surround her.

  She didn’t even know this man, yet she felt safe with him. Which was utterly ridiculous because he was one man against an entire group that appeared to be chasing after her. If they wanted her badly enough, they’d find a way. He’d be powerless to stop them, and she’d be powerless to avoid being kidnapped. She didn’t need to get out of London, she needed to get out of the damn country.

  “How long was I asleep?” she asked as he released her hand.

  “A couple of hours,” he said, quietly shutting the door. He looked down, meeting her gaze. Somehow he looked even more dangerous in the dark—the scruff of his beard. His chiseled features. The broad muscles across his torso and arms. His muscled chest filled out his tee-shirt in a way that was positively drool-worthy. And for some reason this man had assumed the role as her protector. That was fine for the evening, but what exactly was she supposed to do the next day? The next week?