For a brief moment, there was no Sebastian. No Tomas. No jaguar. There was only Bethany and the need to celebrate cheating death.
“Wow,” Bethany said, laughter in her voice. She looked up at him, her green eyes bright, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. He wanted to kiss her. Again.
“Ese, that was intense.” Sebastian and Tomas came toward them. “We saw the whole thing.”
Xavier pushed Bethany away. “Where the hell were you?” he growled. Every terrifying scenario he’d repressed while dealing with the situation surged forward. “It’s your job to guard her.”
Sebastian’s unending, easy smile turned into a frown. “Did you think we’d let her be turned into cat food? Once we realized she’d lagged behind, we came back, but the cat was between us.”
“She was never in any real danger,” Tomas added.
“Xavier.” Bethany touched his arm. “I’m fine. We’re fine. Let’s not make an issue of it.”
Xavier looked back at her. Her cheeks were still flushed.
“I’m a little shaken,” Bethany admitted, “but no one was hurt so I call it a successful encounter.”
Xavier wasn’t so sure. He’d never been that close to a big cat. It was thrilling, humbling and he never wanted to do it again—especially not with Bethany next to him. Seeing her in danger shook him more than he expected, and he didn’t like surprises.
“We still have light. Isn’t it a little early to stop?” Bethany asked. Nightfall was over an hour away and they’d been making good time with the adrenaline from the jaguar encounter to spur them.
She wanted to get as far as possible. Hell, given a choice, she’d use a flashlight and hike through the night.
Though she couldn’t imagine the men agreeing and even she knew it wasn’t a great idea. Being cornered by a jaguar was frightening during the day, but the thought of being stalked by one at night made her shudder and rethink her place in the food chain. She might as well roll around in a marinade and write “eat me” on her forehead.
“A little,” Xavier agreed. Sliding his pack off his shoulders, he lowered it to the ground and bent to unbuckle the straps.
In the brush behind them, Bethany caught a glimpse of Sebastian and Tomas as they scouted for any obvious dangers and set a few traps.
Xavier continued, “But this is a good location, and we can’t count on finding another one.”
“What’s so good?” Bethany prodded, offering a guide’s curiosity about her new jungle environment as she set her pack next to Xavier’s. “Why here instead of under the trees?” They stood in a clearing, free from the canopy for the first time since they had begun their hike into the jungle.
“You noticed?” he asked sounding surprised.
He didn’t expect much from her, did he? She might be a desert guide, but it didn’t limit her observation skills to the Mohave. “I can see the sky. Of course I noticed,” she replied, keeping her tone as professional as possible.
Until now, the jungle world obliterated the blue above them, allowing only the occasional shaft of light to break the leafy monotony. “Aren’t we more sheltered there?” Her back to him, she bent down to pull out her gear for the night. Now that the adrenaline waned, sleep sounded perfect.
“We are,” he agreed. The leaves on the ground crunched as he came up behind her. “But shelter isn’t everything. Turn around.”
“Excuse me?” Bethany looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun with an open palm.
“Stand up and turn around.”
What did he want? A fight? To talk?
Another kiss?
The thought made her shiver but she rose. “What?”
Xavier placed his hands on her shoulders, and for a moment, Bethany stiffened.
“Relax. Shut your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Humor me.”
Humor him? Lips pursed, she considered the request. “I suppose you earned it,” she mused. After all, he had saved her from the jaguar.
He rolled his eyes and turned her away from him. “Shut your eyes,” he whispered in her ear.
A shiver rushed from the base of Bethany’s spine to her shoulders, and the sudden sense of cotton in her mouth had nothing to do with fear.
She shut her eyes.
Xavier leaned closer, until her back was pressed against his chest.
“Imagine the jungle at night,” he elaborated, surprising her with a whisper, his voice as warm as his breath against the side of her bare neck.
“See the dark sky. No moon. Just stars and the fire on the ground, illuminating the night.”
She pictured it in her mind, and it was just as beautiful as the desert. His hands slid down her arms, leaving heat in their wake. “Do you see it?”
Bethany nodded, hypnotized by his voice, the vision he created and his touch.
His hands slid back up her arms. “Now, see this as if from a distance. See the fire under the trees. The shadows it creates. The flickering of the flames.”
Bethany translated the scene to the desert. Taking shelter beneath a rock shelf—not the canopy but the same effect. In her mind, she watched herself lighting a fire and the light reflected off the rock, just as it would reflect off the canopy. Both stone and leaf would glow with the flame.
And announce their presence to anyone within a few miles. “The reflection on the canopy gives us away,” she murmured.
Xavier’s hands tightened on her shoulders and he turned her back to face him.
Bethany opened her eyes, not sure what to expect. Sometimes Xavier seemed to expect nothing from her. Sometimes, he seemed to expect everything.
What greeted her was curiosity and pleasure. “Yes.”
She wanted more of that look, and the ribbon of warmth that followed caught her off guard. To want anything from Xavier was asking for trouble. But to want his approval?
She was safer with the jaguar.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, fighting back the sense of warmth. She didn’t want that feeling. Not in association with him.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, unaffected by the challenge in her voice. “You really are a guide, aren’t you?”
“Did you think it was just talk?”
He shrugged. “It crossed my mind. This is your sister. A lie or two would not be out of line in getting what you want.”
A lie or two? Did he know about the money? The ribbon of warmth chilled. Did he already know?
She swallowed back the rush of fear. He couldn’t know. If he did, she wouldn’t be here and he wouldn’t be risking Eva’s freedom for a stranger with no cash.
She forced herself to smile up at him. “I don’t have to lie,” she replied. “I’m a helluva guide.”
For a moment, he stared into her eyes then he cupped her jaw with his hands. “I believe you.”
Chapter 5
Xavier came out of the jungle, his hands empty. “Nothing in the snares,” he informed.
Taking a seat next to Bethany, he picked up his plate of rice and refried black beans. “Who taught you two how to set a trap?” he asked, gesturing with his fork.
“You,” Sebastian replied.
Bethany snickered then shifted her focus to her plate when Xavier flashed a scowl at her.
“Bethany and I will take first watch. We sleep two to a tent tonight,” he announced.
Bethany’s fork stopped midway to her mouth. She’d been fighting the ghost of his touch since he left to go check the perimeter, and the thought of sleeping next to him unsettled her. “I’m sleeping with you?”
“Two to a tent.”
“Why?”
“Jaguars,” he answered. “Or rather one jaguar, in particular.”
“Did you see it?”
He shook his head as he finished a mouthful of food. “No, but I found fresh tracks. It’s wary of the group, but it’s out there, waiting for one of us to break away from the pack, as it were.
“Besides,” X
avier continued, “we slept in the same tent last night. What’s the problem now?”
“Has something changed, chica?” Sebastian asked, his tone teasing. “Tomas can take the shift if you like, and you can sleep with me.”
He wished. Bethany set her plate down. “Nothing’s changed.”
She’d deal. After all, this was her issue. Obviously, it didn’t bother Xavier. At all. Which made her angrier. “It’s fine,” she snapped. “Just fine.”
Xavier turned to her, his face shadowed in the light. “I wasn’t asking your approval,” he asserted, his voice tight.
Bethany glared at him, annoyed that he remained so unaffected. But the better question was, why did it bother her?
Taking a deep breath, she let the anger leave with the exhale. “I wasn’t giving approval. I was commenting, as a professional, that it was a good idea.”
“And I am saying—”
“Do we need to get you two a room?” Sebastian interrupted.
Bethany whipped her head around to glare at the man. “Excuse me?”
“All this tension. Fighting. Passion. You two are either going to kill each other or make love. I’m betting on the latter, though Tomas says differently.”
Bethany’s eyes widened. “Excuse me? That is out of line.” She turned to Xavier, but his arched eyebrows told her that he was just as surprised by Sebastian’s outburst.
“Leave me out of this,” Tomas muttered. Rising, he stretched, muscular arms high over his head. “I am going to bed.”
“Ese, I’m just teasing them,” Sebastian called as Tomas walked to the tent.
“Now isn’t the time,” Xavier reminded. “Get some rest. We leave at daybreak.”
“You’re the boss. You two work this out. Buenas noches.”
Sebastian put his plate down and went to his tent, leaving them alone.
Bethany pushed her food around with her spoon, but the rice and black beans no longer looked appetizing. She glanced at Xavier through her lashes. He devoured the rest of his dinner.
She envied his ability to shrug it all away.
“Even if you’re not hungry, you should eat,” Xavier commented. “You’ll be grateful for the calories tomorrow.”
She hated it when he was right. Picking up a spoonful, she forced herself to chew and swallow.
“Don’t let Sebastian get to you,” Xavier reflected, setting his plate on the ground. “He talks a lot. Almost as much as a woman.”
Bethany’s fork dropped to her tin plate, the ping like a fighter’s bell.
Then she noticed the smile in Xavier’s eyes. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?” she guessed.
He shrugged. “You seemed upset.”
Xavier was the most confusing man she’d ever met. One moment he acted annoyed with her. The next, he teased her with a familiarity that touched her. As if they knew each other. Which they didn’t. She shook her head, puzzled.
“You weren’t upset?” he asked.
She shook her head again. “I was, but—” She stopped herself, not sure how much she wanted to reveal. Despite their shared troubles with FARC, she and Xavier were strangers.
“But what?” Xavier pressed
“You confuse me,” she confessed before her brain caught up with her sense of emotional preservation and told her to shut the hell up.
His grin broadened. “I confuse you?”
“You do.”
“How so?” His curiosity seemed genuine.
Bethany opened her mouth and then clamped it shut. She didn’t want to have this conversation. It was too much. Too close. She had enough drama to concern her without adding more.
Besides, he didn’t want her on the rescue mission. He’d tried to talk her out of coming.
What if his curiosity was another manipulation? It was hard to tell. As much as she wanted to confide in someone, it couldn’t be Xavier. She’d seen the charm. Felt the woo.
And it left her confused and wanting.
“You just do,” she finished, her reply sounding lame even to her own ears.
Xavier shrugged again, but she noticed the disappointment in his eyes. “Time to pay attention,” he declared. Taking out his guns, he took the safeties off and set them on his lap.
Bethany followed suit.
Ten minutes later, she wished he’d say something. Anything. It wasn’t as if the jungle was silent. Bugs chirped. The occasional breeze rustled the leaves on the tree. And unknown animal noises punctuated the quieter sounds.
But the silence between her and Xavier was louder than anything else, as far as Bethany was concerned.
Bethany adjusted her position, stretching her legs out then crossing them in front of her. She glanced at Xavier. He sat as still as a rock. She envied that.
Little flickers of light in the jungle caught her attention. Cocking her gun, she squinted for a better view. “What are those?” She’d read about them but never expected they’d light up the dark like crazy, hypnotic Christmas lights.
“You’ve never seen them?”
“We don’t have fireflies in the desert,” she said her voice low. She was unable to look away. “They’re beautiful.”
“I thought you hated bugs,” Xavier contradicted.
I do,” she said. “But not all. Just the ones that lay eggs in people’s arms.”
She remembered how she would hunt for caterpillars when she was young. She’d kept them, feeding them and waiting for the moment when they cocooned and morphed into butterflies. She hated creepy, crawly bugs but these little spots of brightness, she could deal with these.
On the other hand, Samantha thought bugs, all bugs, were cool. “Samantha would love this,” she reminisced, her chest tightening.
Xavier looked over at her. “She’s okay, you know.”
Just when she’d convinced herself the mercenary didn’t care about her, he saw past her words and into the meaning.
Jerk.
A tear slipped down her cheek. Damn, she hated crying, and that was all she seemed to do as of late. She brushed it away. “I know.” Her voice broke and she took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. “They’ll keep her alive. But is she hurt? Is she hungry? I hate not knowing.”
Xavier slid closer, until they were thigh to thigh. Running his hand up her back, he guided her head to his shoulder and stroked her hair.
Bethany sighed. Unlike his earlier heated caress, this one was comforting. Safe. And right now, she needed safe. She needed to feel like everything was going to be all right.
“Tell me about Samantha,” he ventured.
Tell him about Samantha? Bethany smiled. “My sister was the kid who brought home hurt animals. Spoke to the new kid in school. She’s always been the one who watched out for those weaker. She’s the good one.” She thought about the last time she and Samantha were together. The teasing and taunting and how her sister had refused to retaliate. “The nicer one.”
Xavier chuckled, his laugh low and comforting. “You are not so bad.”
Bethany wiped away the last of the tears. “Gee. Thanks.”
“I do what I can.” He stroked her hair again. “Tell me more,” he said.
“What do you want to know?” Bethany asked, eyes still open, watching the lights.
“Your best memory,” he whispered.
She sighed at the suggestion. There was no best memory of her and Samantha. Just Bethany, being bitchy.
“The last Christmas we were together,” she lied. “When she told me about the contracting job that brought her to Colombia.”
When she’d shot her sister down. Ridiculed her.
“I was so proud of Samantha. So pleased she got the job. It was an adventure.”
I wanted it for myself. I was jealous. Cruel.
“I’ve never been more proud of her.”
I wanted to show her up.
“You love her very much,” Xavier remarked, still stroking her hair.
“More than anything,” Bethany replied.
The pain that consumed Bethany was almost as tangible as the jungle that surrounded them, and Xavier found himself unable to resist touching her. But not as a lover, he told himself as he stroked her hair, tracing the pattern of the braid. This was comfort. Nothing more.
Liar.
She sniffled and a tear slid down her cheek before she swiped it away with an angry fist. “Sorry. It’s just that, Christmas was the last time I saw her.”
“It’s okay,” he responded. These tears he understood. He still didn’t like them, but he understood.
“Tell me about you,” she encouraged.
“Me?” The thought of revealing himself made him more uncomfortable than tears.
“You,” she coaxed, poking him in the chest with her free hand. “Tell me about you and Eva.”
“There’s not much to tell,” he stated.
“Not good enough.” She sat up, her cheeks pink from crying. “How about growing up? Did she tag along after you? Did you get along?”
“Yes,” he agreed. Eva had followed because she had no choice. He was her brother. Her protector.
“And your parents? How are they taking all this?” she pressed.
“They died when I was ten,” Xavier disclosed. “Car accident.”
Bethany’s hand touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a long time ago.” He’d told the story so many times it seemed to belong to someone else. Something he related to with total emotional detachment.
Except that he wasn’t detached. Not really. But the pretense made the pain bearable and allowed him to be the man that others needed him to be. That Bethany needed him to be.
Bethany’s hand grasped his, and she squeezed hard. “I lost my Dad when I was sixteen, and it almost tore our family apart. I can’t imagine losing both parents. And at the same time.”
Xavier stared past her into the small fire. He’d never forget the day his parents died. The police at the door. His siblings’ tears. His tears.
He hadn’t shed one since. Not even when Miguel died.
“What happened after they died?” Bethany asked. “Where did you go?”
Mercenary’s Promise Page 6
