by Vanessa Kier
Max clamped his lips together so he wouldn’t laugh. But she cracked him up. She sat so primly in her seat, her posture perfect thanks to her ballet training. Her voice was cultured. Yet her words were so fierce. Revealing the heart and passion of a warrior.
The contrast delighted him.
Damn. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like laughing. How pathetic was that? Shoving aside the sadness that thought caused, he watched Emily. More than just angry over the situation, she genuinely wanted to help. And once she focused her attention on a subject, he bet she wouldn’t stop until she’d accomplished her goals.
His humor fled, replaced by admiration. And that was quickly followed by a jolt of arousal that had him shifting in his seat as he imagined being the focus of Emily’s sensual attention.
“I’m sorry you have to be here for this,” he said, when he thought the danger of him laughing or reaching over and kissing her had passed.
Emily shook her head. “I’m not. It’s time I woke up to what’s going on in the rest of the world.” With a hiss of anger, she twisted and reached behind her. “Ugh. Too far.” She unfastened her seat belt and crawled into the back seat.
Max did his best not to react to first her breast, then her butt sliding past his cheek, but it was damn hard not to give in to the temptation to turn his face and place his mouth on her. Didn’t matter which part. He just wanted a little nibble.
Ah, hell. The last thing Emily needed was his adrenaline-fueled lust.
He tried to focus his attention on the road. But Emily’s sounds of exertion just made him think about what she’d sound like in bed. Great. This was a first. Not the sudden desire for sex. Adrenaline tended to have that effect on a guy. In fact, he was surprised it had taken him this long. But he usually just felt the urge for a quick roll in the sheets. Thinking that he’d like to take his companion to bed and not let her out for a week or so? That was new.
Yeah. He was Mr. Smooth for sure. Uh-huh. He’d been in the wild for so damn long, he’d lost any traces of civilization. And people used to think his brother, the career military man, was the barbarian.
Ha.
Max waited for Emily to reappear. Instead, he heard her moving deeper into the cargo compartment. “Emily, what are you doing?”
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing, so I’m taking photos.”
“Can you even see enough to get decent shots?” Dawn’s deep shadows still blanketed the road.
“Yeah, I’ve changed the settings to adjust for the low light.”
“All right. Go for it.” He was just relieved that she’d focused her attention on something positive, rather than holding on to her fear of him.
About fifteen minutes later, Emily returned to her seat, camera in hand. She alternated between checking the images she’d already taken, and pointing the camera out the window. But eventually, her hands dropped to her lap. He glanced over and found that her head was tipped back against the headrest. He shook his head. She was asleep.
Damn. He was really going to have to relearn that trick.
On second thought, never mind that. Sleeping that deeply was too dangerous. She was lucky he was there to watch over her. Lucky that he wasn’t the type of man who’d take advantage of her.
No matter how sexy the pale curve of her throat was in the soft morning light.
Keep your mind on the road.
Right.
Still, he couldn’t help but notice that asleep, she looked younger. More vulnerable. There was a quiet sense of self-sufficiency about her when she was awake, despite her delicate appearance. She’d proven her mettle by keeping up with him in the jungle. When he’d seen her blisters, he’d been triply impressed. He respected and admired her strength and the single-minded determination that had kept her going despite the pain.
He knew something about that, himself.
Emily roused from her nap almost an hour later. She rubbed her eyes and glanced out the window. “Where are we?”
“We’re still on the road heading north.”
“Where are those cars going?” Several vehicles had turned off onto a side road that cut across a field of cassava.
“See those buildings in the distance at two o’clock?”
She peered out the window, then nodded.
“The people in those cars probably have relatives over there.”
“Oh.” She lapsed into silence.
Strange how comfortable it felt to be quiet around her. Usually he worried if a woman shut up for too long. Too often it meant she was mad at him. Or plotting something he wouldn’t like. But with Emily, the silence didn’t make demands or hint at upcoming threats.
He liked it.
After another hour, Max pulled over. Emily helped him lower three of the five-gallon gas cans from the roof so he could fill the tank. Not long after they hit the road again, it crossed a bridge over a trickle of a river. On the other side, the quality of the road changed. The relatively even pavement gave way to smooth, well-packed dirt, then to the potholed and rutted dirt so prevalent in this part of the country.
“It’s such a shock.” Emily raised her camera and started snapping photos.
“What is?” Although he thought he knew.
“The change in road condition. Paved to dirt. You’d think that we’d entered a different country.”
“Nah. Just a different region. One where the funding either doesn’t exist to fix the roads, or where the politicians choose to use the funds for other projects.” Such as building expensive homes. For themselves.
Christ. He really was turning into a bitter, cynical man. He needed to take Dietrich down and get off the continent before there was nothing left in him he’d want to face each day in the mirror.
Or that Emily would want to get to know better.
Right. Like he’d even have a chance with her if they were both back home. After all, she blamed him for the death of her friends. Hard to build trust after that.
Not that he planned to go back home any time soon. In fact, he didn’t have any plans past taking Dietrich down.
“Life’s so difficult here,” Emily murmured. “The poverty. The inequality.”
“You got that right. Which is why so many people have joined the rebels. They’re hoping for a better life.”
Emily snorted softly. “As if men who terrorize villages and gun down innocents are capable of creating a fair and prosperous democracy.”
“Sometimes, when you’re desperate, you’ll grasp at any straw to get out of where you are.” Dammit. What had made him say that?
She shot him a speculative glance, but to his surprise, she kept silent.
Another point in her favor. If he wasn’t careful, he might end up falling for her.
Wait. What?
Impossible.
Even if her friends’ deaths weren’t between them, it wasn’t like they had anything in common. Her whole life revolved around dance. While he didn’t even know if he liked the ballet. The only time he’d attended, he’d been so thoroughly caught up in the allure of his date that every shift of her body and every breath she took had ratcheted up his arousal. By the end of the show he’d been so desperate for her that they hadn’t even made it to the car. He’d found a deserted corridor and taken her in an alcove.
Shit. He couldn’t even remember her name, but he sure as hell remembered the way her nails had dug into his back and how she’d urged him on with throaty moans and dirty words.
Not the kind of encounter the refined Miss Emily would welcome.
Stop thinking about sex.
See, there was a reason he focused on getting his revenge on Dietrich. It kept his mind off other, more dangerous topics. And yes, he recognized the irony of thinking that killing a major international arms dealer was safer than sex with a sheltered American woman.
Around ten o’clock that morning, Max’s eyes began to drift close. “Time to stop,” he announced. He pulled the Jeep over to the side of the road, then
drove into the jungle until the vehicle was hidden from the other cars.
“Do you want me to drive?” Emily offered. She’d dozed off once or twice more, but for the most part had stayed awake. She’d kept his mind alert with her occasional questions about the politics and economics of the region, and had tactfully avoided asking about his work.
He was tempted to let her drive. After all, he was racing against the clock. But his body was already pulling him toward sleep and he wanted to be awake when she took her first shot at driving over these roads. Besides, she wouldn’t be alert for danger like he would. So it wasn’t safe to have her drive while he slept. “Nah. Let’s both sack out for a few hours.”
She nodded. He lowered the back seat and spread the sleeping bags out in the cargo compartment so they could lie down next to one another. Despite his exhaustion, Max wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep with Emily’s seductive feminine scent tickling his nose and her warm, sexy body just inches from his. But after a few moments of fighting the urge to pull her into his arms, he fell into the abyss.
He slept for a couple hours. To his surprise, Emily was still asleep when he woke up.
Deciding to let her rest, he reached into the passenger seat for the map and spotted her camera lying on the floorboard. Curious as to how her shots came out, he picked it up. Noticing that the battery was low, he swapped it out for the one she’d left charging on the dashboard in its solar panel pouch. After removing a container of stew and fried plantains from the supplies Rene had provided, he flipped the camera on while he ate. The first photo on the LCD screen must have been from Emily’s homestay. It showed her and a local woman grinning at the camera, both with native cloth wrapped around their bodies. Regretting that he hadn’t personally seen such joy on Emily’s face, he scrolled forward.
More people, this time without Emily present. A village. Workers at a palm oil plantation. The jungle. Another village. The jungle with a white blob in the background. A few villa—
Wait a sec.
Max scrolled back. What was it that had snagged his attention. The people?
No.
He took a good, long look at each of the photos until he came to the ones of the jungle. There. Peeking out from behind some palmetto fronds. Something white. Manmade.
Like the piece of a plane.
EMILY AWOKE, ONCE again, to a hand on her shoulder and someone calling her name.
“C’mon, Emily. Wake up.”
She blinked, squinted against the sunlight and realized that she was lying in the cargo area of the Jeep, with Max leaning over her. He’d removed his baseball cap, and the intensity of the expression on his face had her sitting upright. Danger.
From Max? No. He might be at the center of much of the violence of the past few days, but he’d also saved her life. He’d stuck around to make certain she was safe when he could have just dumped her at the embassy and driven away. No matter what trouble he was mixed up in, he wouldn’t hurt her. So that meant there was an external threat. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, then grinned. “Nothing. In fact, for the first time in days, something is right.” He held out her camera.
“Hey! What are you doing with that?” She reached for it, but Max kept the camera just out of her reach.
“Come outside. I need you to tell me where you took a couple of these photos. It’s important.”
“Why?”
Max just shook his head. “Finish waking up and go do…” He waved toward the bushes. “…whatever you need to do. We’ll talk when you’re finished.”
Wondering what bee was up his butt, she waited until he’d walked around to the front of the Jeep before she slipped outside. A few minutes later, wishing she had coffee to truly wake her up, she joined Max. He’d spread one of the maps over the hood and frowned as he glanced between the map and her camera. A plastic bowl of bean stew and fried plantains held one side of the map down. When Max heard her approach, he thrust a spoon at her and nodded toward the food. “Eat while we talk.”
Surprised that Dr. LaSalle had provided a full meal, she took a few bites, then crossed her arms over her chest and gave Max the evil eye. “Why were you going through my photos?”
He shrugged, unrepentant. “Curiosity. I wanted to see what you’d put together.” He jiggled the camera. “You’ve got a good eye. Some of these are professional quality.”
Her cheeks heated, but she wasn’t going to let his praise derail her. “Thanks. So what’s so important that you had to wake me up?”
Max showed her the LCD screen of the camera. The shot was of a section of jungle framing a brilliant red flowering plant. “Wait…” She turned the camera, then pointed to a spot on the right. “What’s that there? That white bit?”
“I think it’s part of a plane.”
She studied the photo. The white object did seem to be manmade and slightly rectangular, but it could have been anything. “What makes you think that?”
Max hesitated.
“The truth, Max. Don’t even think about lying to me.”
When he still seemed reluctant to speak, she let out a frustrated growl. “Max, I’ve witnessed my friends being gunned down, have run for my life through the jungle, have missed the last flight out of the country, and have been forced to run for my life again from trigger-happy rebels. I think I deserve to know just what the hell is going on!”
“Emily, trust me, it’s safer if you don’t know. Just tell me where you took this photo and once you’re safely over the border you can forget the whole thing.”
She leaned forward until her nose almost touched his. “Is this photo one of the reasons Crystal was shot?”
Max stepped back until there was more than a foot between them. “I don’t know. Ziegler has a personal grudge against me. But…” He glanced down at the camera. “Maybe the shooting was more strategic than I thought. Maybe he saw your friend, thought she looked like me, and shot her in a calculated move meant to stop me from finding the plane. Maybe he didn’t fire in a fit of anger.”
She jabbed at his chest with her fingertip. “Whatever it is you’re involved in, I want to know about it. I need to know why Crystal and Sue died. You owe me.” It was a low move, but she didn’t care. She was tired of being kept in the dark. She snatched the camera. “If you don’t tell me, then oops, I guess the photos are going to be erased and my memory will suddenly become faulty.”
She had no idea where such tough words came from, but they had the desired effect. He glowered at her. She raised her eyebrow and stared him down.
Finally, he looked away. Gave a deep sigh. Returned his attention to her with a frown of resignation. “Tell me where you shot the photo, then I’ll explain everything while we’re driving. Time is short.”
“Where are we?”
He raised a brow at her change of subject. “Still on the minor road. We should be coming up to the crossroads with the main north-south road soon.”
“Then let’s get on the road. All of those photos were taken during my homestay, so we have miles before we’re anywhere near the area. You explain first, then I’ll figure out where exactly I took the photos.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a rueful smile. “You’re tougher than you look, Ms. Emily Iwasaki.”
His words warmed her, but she refused to let him see her softening. “Well? Do we have a deal?”
He nodded. “Yes, but there’s only so much I can tell you.”
She started to protest, but he cut her off.
“It’s for your own protection. If, God forbid, you’re captured, the less you know the better. I’ll tell you enough that you understand the danger we’re in, but no more.” He held out his hand to shake. “Do we still have a deal?”
She hesitated, then took his hand. To her shock, he pulled her in close. “I like you,” he whispered as her body rested flush against him. “It’s dangerous and probably stupid, but I have to know…” Before she could ask what, he lowered his mouth and kissed her.
It wasn’t a polite kiss. He plundered, demanding she let him inside. With a little groan—it had been so long since she’d been kissed—she opened her lips. Mmm… He tasted delicious. The lingering taste of spices from the stew mixed with a rich, intoxicating taste that was unique to Max. Strong. Passionate. Dangerous.
Probably addictive.
This sudden flare of arousal didn’t make sense. He was keeping things from her. Being around him put her in Ziegler’s sights. Yet instead of backing away, she leaned into him. Because there was just something about Max’s brand of danger she couldn’t resist. That made her blood sing.
Max jerked away from her, breathing heavily. “Ah…” He ran his hand over his hair.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you dare apologize.”
He blinked in surprise.
“Despite my outburst yesterday, I don’t hate you, Max. Or didn’t you notice that I kissed you back?”
“Um.” He ran his hand unsteadily over his hair again.
She’d never seen him so off balance. It was kind of endearing.
“I might not fully trust you,” she said, “but I know you won’t hurt me.”
“Good. That’s good, because I wouldn’t. I won’t. I would never have hitched a ride with the tro-tro if I thought Ziegler would follow me and two innocent women would die.”
She nodded, seeing the remorse and the grief that he probably thought he kept hidden. She felt a stab of regret that she’d lashed out at him yesterday. Yes, Ziegler had killed Crystal because of her resemblance to Max, but Emily hadn’t seen any headlights behind the tro-tro to indicate that Max had been followed that night. He hadn’t known he was putting anyone in immediate danger. “I believe you. Now, I think we’d better get on the road so you can start that explanation.”
“SO, TALK,” EMILY said fifteen minutes later, once they’d merged onto the road.
“Here are the basics.” Max’s fingers tightened on the wheel, then slowly relaxed. “Ziegler, the white man who shot your friend, is the right-hand man to an international arms and intelligence dealer named Heinrich Dietrich. Dietrich is wanted by a number of different governments, but he’s always eluded capture.”
