by Cindy Dees
It crossed his mind not to mention it to her. He hated the thought of her being harmed, not to mention being away from her. It was more than the mind-boggling sex he'd miss. He'd gotten accustomed to her presence. He even liked arguing with her. She was smart and articulate, even if some of her ideas were full of crap.
Dammit, he felt protective of her. He wanted to take her all the way home to Washington by himself, to personally tuck her back into her safe little world before he left her side. In the meantime, he wanted to keep her right here with him where he knew she'd be safe.
Except he couldn't promise to keep her safe in the days to come. His mission was an extremely risky one.
He cared about her too much to be selfish.
He sighed and looked her straight in the eye. "Kimberly, if you want to, you can follow that group of soldiers. They've made a clear path you'll have no trouble following. If you take it slow, they'll be long gone by the time you reach the road. You can flag down a truck or a bus and get the hell out of here right now if you want. It could be dangerous, but you could be home tomorrow."
Her green eyes darkened nearly to black as she stared back at him. She swallowed convulsively. "Do you want me to go?" she finally whispered.
"Hell, no, I don't want you to go!" he exploded.
She stared at him a little longer, her expression softening until he swore he saw tears glistening in her eyes. "If you don't object," she said quietly, "I'd rather stay with you."
His chest felt tight but he managed to squeeze out an answer. "I don't object."
Sonofagun. Who'd have thought she'd voluntarily stay for more of the misery and danger she had to know was coming? Decidedly un-Emily. Relief flooded his gut and he avoided examining her motives too closely. She wasn't bailing out on him when she had the chance.
Their gazes locked and strong emotion swam in her gaze. Something passed between them. An awareness. An understanding. An acknowledgment that their relationship had changed. They were in this together now.
He didn't know why in the hell she'd made that choice, but he wasn't about to question it right now. All that mattered was that she'd chosen to stay. With him.
"Ready to go chase us an army?" he asked lightly.
He grinned at her answering look of dismay.
"Cheer up, darlin'. We should catch 'em within twenty-four hours or so." He added, "If you're lucky, they won't have the rifle and we can go home."
She looked at him keenly. "Just out of curiosity, do you know what will happen if you go home without the gun?"
"Yeah, that's easy. I'll be court-martialed."
Chapter 14
Kimberly gulped. "Really?"
He answered casually, "Yeah, really. Colonel Folly gave me a direct order over the phone. He was explicit. Get that rifle back. That's my duty."
"It's not fair!" Kimberly exclaimed. "That's too difficult a mission to assign to one guy. Isn't there some law about not having to follow illegal orders?"
Tex grinned. "Yeah, there is, but this isn't an illegal order. Like I keep telling you, I've got the training to carry out the order."
She huffed. "I realize you've got the survival skills of Daniel Boone, and the rock-climbing skills of Spider-Man. But that doesn't mean you can take on dozens, if not hundreds, of rebel soldiers by yourself."
"Why not?" he asked blandly.
"This is just the sort of brainwashing I was talking about! Your boss has you convinced you're some sort of superhero, and you're not!"
He looked back over his shoulder with a wide grin. "Wanna bet?"
Oo-oh! Sometimes she just wanted to wring his neck.
They walked until early evening and stopped by mutual consent to camp for the night. They fell into the usual routine of Tex going hunting for a spot to sleep while she harvested what berries and ginger root she could find.
She looked up from where she dug as he approached a little while later. He moved with panther-like grace toward her, perfectly at home in this tropical wilderness. His male beauty was stunning.
"I found us a sweet little camping spot," he announced.
She sighed. "Too bad you didn't find us a sweet little four-star restaurant while you were at it."
"All in good time, darlin'. Think how much more you'll appreciate a fine meal when you get home."
She rolled her eyes. "I'll appreciate a greasy burger from a fast-food joint when I get home."
"You're on. I know a little hole-in-the-wall that serves the best burgers on the east coast."
She looked up at him sharply. There it was again. The casual reference to a future for them after they got out of here. She couldn't afford to think beyond the present. Each hour, each minute, was enough of a challenge to get through already.
"Come on," he said quietly. "Let's bed down early tonight. Tomorrow could be a long day."
She didn't need to ask why. He expected to make contact with the rebels tomorrow.
He led her into yet another thicket, but she was surprised when a small clearing opened up in the middle of it. She set up a real camp while he went hunting for water. She set to work weaving a bed like she'd seen Tex do. She had room to lay a small fire so she took care of that, too. Tex had the cigarette lighter, so she'd have to wait until he got back to light it. She laid out the roots and berries she'd stuffed into her shirt over the past couple of hours.
She stood back, pleased by her efforts. She hoped Tex would be, too. Who'd have guessed it was possible to wax domestic in the middle of a tropical jungle? She wasn't usually the fussy, frou-frou type under any circumstances. Besides, she wasn't actually being domestic. She was just helping with the chores.
The night noises gradually started up around her. One by one, the different creatures of the dark added their chorus to the overall din.
Tex had been gone a long time. She wasn't exactly worried about him, but she was concerned at what snag he'd run into that had slowed him down.
For once she actually heard him coming. He pushed through the wall of brush, his head emerging at knee level into the little clearing. She lowered the heavy stick she'd held poised over her head
"Hi, honey, I'm home," he announced.
She put an irate hand on her hip. "Did you go out with the boys again after work for a drink? I told you to call me when you're going to be late, Ward."
He stood up, grinning. "Sorry, June." He looked around the clearing at the camp she'd built. "Nice job."
She felt warm all over.
Tex continued. "We may be staying here for several days, so get comfortable and knock yourself out giving it all the comforts of home."
She frowned. "Why are we staying here?"
"The rebels are camped about a mile away. They've arrived at wherever they're going."
"Really? And where's that?"
"A big encampment. Tents enough for something like two hundred men."
"Is this the rebel headquarters you've mentioned seeing before?"
"No. Their headquarters had a compound of permanent buildings. This is a temporary deal. But I'm guessing they've been here for several weeks and plan to be here a couple more."
"Doing what?" she asked curiously.
"That's what we're going to find out," Tex replied grimly. "You're about to get a crash course in covert surveillance."
"I don't think I like the way you just said that," she responded cautiously.
"It's tedious work under the best of circumstances, and because we don't have any binoculars or optical gear, it's going to be dangerous, too."
She looked at him intently. "How dangerous?"
"Depends on how close we have to get to see and hear what they're doing."
She gulped. That didn't sound encouraging at all. "Is this the part where we crawl around on the ground with twigs and grass in our hair and make like snakes?"
"Yup."
"Does this mean more mud?" she asked in resignation.
"Yup. Not the full body deal like before, but on your face and hands
for sure."
She sighed. Well, at least she could scrub that amount of mud off herself on a daily basis.
"Normally a full team would set up a watch rotation where we each take turns observing. Since there's only me, I'll have to do all the watching and you'll have to do the hunting for food and water."
"Why can't I take a stint at the watch?" she asked.
He blinked at her in surprise. "You don't know what to look for."
"So teach me. How hard can it be to make a list of stuff that I should come get you if I see?"
He considered her idea. "I suppose I could do that. You're highly intelligent. You'd make the right call…"
A burst of heat spread through her. He thought she was highly intelligent? Cool.
"Even if you just relieved me a couple hours a day, it would let me hunt for real food for us and catch a little nap." He nodded. "That would help out a lot."
She grinned and stuck out her hand. "We have a deal, then."
He took her hand in his, the firm grasp sending shivers across her body. But instead of letting go of the handshake, he tugged her close. "I'd rather seal the deal with a kiss, myself," he murmured.
She laughed up at him in the gloom. "Why am I not surprised?"
His lips were warm and gentle against hers, kissing her with tenderness tonight. He lingered over the moment and she savored the unhurried mood of the evening.
He ran his hands up and down her arms, chasing away the chill of the night air before he pulled her slowly into his arms. His mouth molded to hers as he enfolded her in his slow heat and easy strength.
She murmured against his chest. "Do you have to go watch the rebels tonight?"
He answered into her hair, "I got close enough to hear that they're going somewhere nearby tomorrow to enter the last phase of preparations for something. We'll need to follow them then. But for tonight, there's nothing pressing going on. They were all more interested in getting drunk and sleeping in real beds than anything else."
She groaned quietly. "I don't even drink, and that sounds great."
A chuckle rumbled against her ear. "That bed you made looks pretty comfortable. Have you given it a try yet?"
"Nope. For all I know, it'll collapse the moment we sit down on it, or it'll poke us all night long."
He eyed it over her shoulder. "Nah. Looks good from here. Did you learn to do that just by watching me yesterday?"
She nodded.
"Are you the arts and crafts type back home? Weaving? Knitting?"
"Heavens, no! I can't sit still long enough to do anything like that. I don't have the patience for it."
"Then I'm doubly impressed at how fast you picked that up. I learned it from bush people in Brazil. They're very primitive, but unbelievably intelligent when it comes to living in the jungle."
"Do they wear clothes?" she asked innocently.
"No, as a matter of fact, they don't for the most part. Fabric rots too fast in the heat and humidity to bother with it," Tex answered laughingly. "Are you proposing that they may have stumbled on an important survival concept?"
"Maybe we should test the theory."
She felt Tex's grin against her ear. "I like the way you think, Miss Stanton."
She ran her palms appreciatively over his solid chest. "I like the way you feel, Mr. Monroe."
Tex was leisurely about everything he did this night. It even took him a maddeningly long time to take her clothes off. He paused between every button, kissing her and tasting the new bit of flesh exposed as he slowly peeled back her garments.
By the time she managed to push his hands aside and divest him of his clothes, she was ready to tear them off his back. But even then, he caught her hands in his and restrained her from following her urges.
And then he laid her on the bed. If she didn't say so herself, it was pretty comfortable. The boughs cushioned her body, their resilience absorbing her weight gently.
Tex's knee landed beside her leg and he loomed over her, a black shadow in the dark. "Ah, yes," he remarked. "Just the way I like my beds. A little spring and a lot of woman in them."
She smiled up at him, reaching for the width of his shoulders. But he forestalled her.
"I found something while I was out. See if you can tell what it is by feel." He put one hand across her eyes, blocking out what little light there was.
Her other senses leapt to heightened function. Cool air caressed her skin, and the jungle sounds seemed even louder. She waited, curious. And then something trembled against the back of her hand so lightly she could barely feel it. It touched her again, on the stomach this time. It was impossibly soft. Weightless. It tickled.
She squirmed under the sensation. "What is it?" she asked as it trailed down the length of her arm, raising goose bumps as it went.
"A peacock feather," Tex murmured.
He trailed it up the inside of her calf this time. Her legs fell apart at the gentle caress and the feather continued its path up the inside of her thigh. Tex touched her all over with the feather, tantalizing her with it until her whole body was hyperaware, hypersensitized.
And then his fingertips replaced the feather, touching her lightly, unpredictably, all over her body. Her skin tingled. Her breasts ached. She burned from head to toe. And then she lurched practically off the bed when his mouth closed on her most private places without warning, his tongue swirling hot and wet over the swollen throbbing of her core.
She groaned deep in the back of her throat.
His hand reached up and closed over her mouth. "Shh, we're very close to the rebels," he murmured.
But then his mouth closed on her again, driving her out of her mind. She bit down hard on her lower lip to keep from crying out as he drove her over the edge of pleasure again and again.
Her limbs trembled all over and she had no strength left to move by the time he rose up over her. When a burning sword of steely flesh replaced his mouth, she thought she'd die from the pleasure of it. Somehow her body began to move again, responding to the pulsing intensity of his. Her limbs wrapped themselves around his heat and strength, clinging to the solid bulwark of him in a storm-tossed sea of desire.
Their desire churned and surged around them, and he became the wild waters, climbing to impossible heights and crashing down in breathtaking drops that tore the breath out of her lungs. Their bodies lunged and pounded into each other like wild flowing rapids. She gasped for air and he was there, taking her cries into his mouth, devouring her with savage need.
They drove each other onward, ever higher, ever more frenzied, until finally their desire broke upon itself and exploded in a rush of sparkling droplets and white foam.
Slowly the waves of pleasure retreated, leaving behind the bedrock of Tex's shoulders, the solid, reassuring presence of his big, warm body. He was an island of humanity in the midst of this alien, inhospitable place. She clung to him, even after the tremors of excessive pleasure ebbed and departed from her body.
He was her sanity. Her touchstone in the midst of this madness. No matter how angry she got at his misplaced hero complex, or how much his "I'm in charge" attitude irritated her, he was always there for her. Steady. Smart. Strong. Solid.
How could such a dangerous man feel so safe to her?
She'd seen the results of his work already. He'd shot and killed a man without so much as flinching. He could undoubtedly kill with his bare hands. Heck, he probably had. But when he laid those hands on her, touched her and held her, she felt more sheltered, more protected, than she had in her entire life. It was amazing having someone look out for her for a change, someone who believed she could do a tough job, but who was there with a helping hand whenever she needed it.
He rolled onto his back and she settled into the crook of his arm.
Her first day in the jungle seemed like a distant memory to her now. She'd been so afraid. So out of her element. So completely clueless.
It wasn't like she felt totally at one with the jungle now, but she knew what
to expect. Knew how to react. So slowly and quietly that she hadn't really even noticed it, Tex had taught her how to survive out here.
If something happened to him tomorrow, she had enough faith in her new skills that she'd make it out alive one way or another. When had that happened?
Tex had the same quiet confidence about him, too. She'd labeled it being a chauvinistic jerk initially. But that wasn't it at all. He knew his capabilities and had faith in them. Could she put the same trust in his skills as he did?
"A penny for your thoughts." His smooth voice drawled like honey in her ear.
"I was thinking about whether or not you're as good as you think you are."
"At what?" he asked, sounding distinctly alarmed.
It dawned on her that saying something like that to a guy immediately after making love with him maybe wasn't exactly the best timing. Giggling, she clarified, "I was thinking about your combat training."
He subsided beside her. He was silent for a time and then asked, "Do you trust me with your life?"
She answered without hesitation. "Absolutely."
"Then why don't you trust me with my own life? I have a pretty powerful vested interest in keeping me alive, you know."
She sighed. "Yeah, but in my case, your duty is to keep me alive. In your case, I think you consider death to be a viable alternative in certain situations. That's what scares me so bad."
He shrugged casually, belying the tension in his voice. "But there are some situations worth dying for."
"I've never seen one. So I have a hard time agreeing with you on that."
He grunted. "Lucky you. I've seen more than I care to count."
"How is it you're still alive, then?" she asked, perplexed by his logic.
"Because of superior training, teammates who are completely loyal to one another, and a good dose of luck."
She flinched. "That whole luck thing makes me nervous. I hate the idea of your life hinging upon luck."
He laughed quietly. "So do I. That's why I work so hard on the training part and on having the best possible teammates."
"Some teammate I make," she mumbled half under her breath.
