Caught in the Crosshair

by Han, Barb

  Completely consumed by the swell, an explosion of energy burst through Jaden’s chest, vibrating to the ends of his body.

  Then darkness descended from all angles.

  ***

  Pain rifled through Jaden’s legs and up his spine until his entire body ached to the point of constant, dull throbbing. He shifted on the rock. Rain pelted his cheeks as the wind howled. He squinted. A fog thicker than the storm clouds overhead clouded his mind. He couldn’t focus. What had happened?

  A memory cut through his mind’s haze in the way a fin slices waves. The shark. A stab of pain. His knee. A tiger shark could easily bite a turtle shell in half; a man’s leg would snap in two without much effort. Jaden closed his eyes as he checked his leg, almost afraid to touch below the knee in case the shark had gotten hold of him.

  Pain aside, all his body parts seemed to be in order.

  After pulling back his hand, he squinted an eye open through the burn. He checked his fingers. Blood. Not enough for a shark bite though.

  Lifting his head brought blinding pain to his neck as both hands went to his face, and he used the butts of them to hammer his forehead. A salty, dry coating covered his tongue. If the shark hadn’t gotten him what had?

  The wave.

  Probably slammed his leg into a rock.

  And Lauren. Where was Lauren? Lauren was his mission.

  He had to find her.

  Damn it. He’d known it was a risky move using the radio back on the boat. They’d most likely intercepted the transmission. He’d either miscalculated the time or the cartel had upgraded their equipment. He needed to get a message to Gunner.

  If it wasn’t the cartel, then someone inside the agency could’ve given away his position. A mole? Nah. He really was becoming too cynical. Considering every possibility was habit.

  Stretching out his foot and groaning from pain, he heard a hammering sound bite through the howling wind. What was that? A plane. No. A chopper. Sounded like a chopper. He popped to his feet, but his bad knee gave and landed him hard on his backside. His people would be scouting the seas for him by now.

  “Here. Down here.” he shouted, the words bouncing off the thick clouds above and back down to him.

  Ignoring the pain, he shouted again as he patted himself down looking for a flare. Nothing.

  The roar of the engine faded. By now, the chopper was too far. Flare wouldn’t help. He railed against the urge to spew out another round of swear words. Besides, what good would it do? He’d still be hurt. Stranded.

  Damn.

  His best chance to get them to safety disappeared into the clouds.

  Thunder clapped in the sky.

  What the hell had happened to Lauren? She could’ve been injured. The thought of her lying somewhere bleeding racked his insides.

  A quick scan of the area provided no reassurances, no sign of her. But what had happened? God, not the shark. No. He was sure she’d reached the island in time. Or had she? If she hadn’t stopped to warn him. If only she’d kept moving. But, no, she hadn’t. She’d tried to protect him and got herself in trouble.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jaden caught something move by a nearby boulder. He scrambled to his feet. Couldn’t make out what was bobbing up and down.

  “Thank goodness you’re alive.” Lauren said looking relieved as she rounded the corner, rushing to get close to him.

  “Seems that way.” He couldn’t admit to himself just how happy seeing her made him. Instead, he told himself it was good to know he could trust his instincts a little. “Tell me everything you know about Max. Every interaction you’ve had with him. Every phone call for the last decade.”

  Taking a step forward, his foot slipped on loose rocks. He caught the top of a big boulder to steady himself. His dry mouth reminded him dehydration was swallowing him, all the water around a constant reminder of an insatiable thirst. Nothing fit to drink. His stomach was tight, queasy. He could only imagine how torn up he must look, especially if his insides were any kind of gauge.

  “Sit down first,” she said.

  He opened his mouth and tried to catch raindrops on his tongue to ease the dryness, unable to admit to himself how much his heart danced from the sight of her. “How’d you get me here?”

  “I managed.”

  “Are you crazy, coming after me like that?”

  “What choice did I have? You saved my life. Remember? It was the least I could do for you. Besides, you’re bleeding.”

  Leaning back, he summed up his injuries as nothing more than a few scratches. “Not bad.”

  “You won’t be walking for a while.”

  “This? No. I’m fine. A few scrapes.” He scratched his head, wincing in pain as the movement dulled his aching body. If he was honest, the sight of her calmed more than his physical aches and pains. But that was ridiculous. They’d barely met.

  Still, for half a second he wondered if she felt the emotion tethering them together with an invisible electric line as much as he did. “You changed the subject. Tell me about your relationship with Max. When did the calls from him stop?”

  ***

  “Let’s see. It had to be a few days before the other call came. What else can I say?” A beat later came, “Wait, I heard a train when they called. Wherever they were hiding him must’ve had a track nearby.”

  “Which means they most likely called from the States. They couldn’t have had Max for long.”

  Lauren brushed tight curls back from Jaden’s forehead and leaned in to get a better look at his face. Thank goodness the bleeding had stopped. She didn’t even want to think about doing any of this without him. “How’re those injuries?”

  For a brief moment, her gaze flicked from his arms to his luscious lips. An image popped in her mind of those lips pressed against hers …

  Or not.

  This was not the time for an inappropriate fantasy.

  Besides, he was injured. And they were stranded. “The pain. Is it bad?”

  His broad shoulders rolled, his expression tensed as he moved, showing he was unwilling to own up to his true amount of pain. “We have to get out of here soon,” he said.

  “Not until you rest.”

  She moved to a neatly stacked pile before returning a moment later with a wadded up piece of cloth, which she touched to his forehead to blot the blood.

  “Ouch.” He jerked back as his hand closed tightly on hers.

  “Sorry. The salt.” She wrung out the piece of material one more time before touching it to his arm, afraid to acknowledge to herself how strong her physical attraction was to a stranger. She chalked it up to the fact that he’d saved her life countless times already.

  Blotting the cut, she did her best to conceal just how frantic she’d been moments before, when she didn’t know if he’d break consciousness. “How does this feel?”

  Maybe it was the circumstances, but she wanted to know more about this man, be closer to him. As cut as his body was, it was warm to her touch, and his skin was surprisingly soft. She told herself her interest in him didn’t go any deeper than her needing to know if she could really trust him. The notion was foreign. Lauren didn’t trust anyone.

  “Hurts. Hard to tell what hurts the most though.” He issued a dry crack of a smile. “It’s nothing a good night of sleep won’t cure.”

  Good that he could joke under the circumstances.

  He gestured toward the rocks. “Find anything we can use?”

  “Not much. Pretty barren.”

  “See real land anywhere?”

  “Thought I saw something over there.”

  Jaden’s gaze moved from where she pointed to the sky. “Doesn’t look good.”

  “The rain comes and goes. I’m more worried about you, though.”

  “I’ll live.” He stretched out his leg, laid his head back on a rock.

  “What’s the plan?” She glanced up at the sky.

  He adjusted his position to get comfortable. But then he shot straight up from pai
n and grunted.

  “You’re seriously hurt, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “It’s all right. What doesn’t kill you —”

  “Doesn’t kill you.”

  “I was going to say makes you stronger, but yours is better.” His thick lips curled in another wry grin.

  “What can I say? Ever the optimist.” She focused on those fantastic lips of his, deciding she liked his face even more when he smiled.

  Following down the line from his face was even better. His body was muscular, cut. Most would consider him a perfect male. Lauren couldn’t say she’d argue with that logic.

  He leaned forward and met her gaze.

  His hand came up, lifting her chin, his touch rippling volts of electricity through her. Before her body could launch a full-on assault, she blinked and scooted back, refusing to be taken in by those perfect blue eyes.

  She’d almost died today. That would get anyone’s blood pumping. She needed to talk about something else. “What is it you do when you’re not saving women from scary men and dangers in the water?”

  “I told you.”

  Right. Secret security agency. That would explain his taut body.

  “Doing what exactly?”

  “Things I can’t talk about.”

  “Don’t want to, or can’t?”

  “Both.”

  “Because it would make news?”

  His gaze intensified, but he didn’t speak.

  “Sounds dangerous.”

  “It can be.”

  “Why are you really looking for me? I have no secrets, and the government can’t possibly care about my life.”

  “Sting,” he said honestly. “We watch everyone who might be remotely connected. I didn’t know they kidnapped your brother. That changes things.”

  “You think I’m involved?” she said incredulously.

  “Surely, you knew those men back there were cartel.”

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “No, you just brought an overnight bag full of money to complete strangers.”

  “No. I brought a hundred and fifty thousand dollars to save my brother’s life,” she shot back.

  He contemplated that for a moment. “You weren’t supposed to lead us anywhere.”

  Her eyes shot icy daggers at him. “You do think I’m involved.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Until now?” she demanded. It was high time she knew exactly where she stood. They were stranded out to sea. He was her only hope of survival.

  “Before today, I was convinced you were innocent. Then, you led me straight to the men with guns. You brought an overnight bag full of cash. You tell me what to believe.”

  “That I’m innocent. That I hate those scumbags worse than you do.” She raged against the tears threatening. A few tumbled and rolled down her cheeks anyway, salty as the cursed seas. She told herself she was angry at her brother for not being stronger, for not leaving that horrible childhood they’d had behind, for not doing as she had and refusing to let it ruin his life. All of this had nothing to do with Jaden’s accusations.

  “Not possible.” A flash of darkness moved behind his eyes. “Then tell me more about Max. What’s your involvement with him?”

  She heaved a sigh. “I should know about my own brother. But I don’t. I didn’t know about his illegal involvement until you told me.”

  “Are you saying you had no idea before?”

  “Of course I did. He’s been doing shady things for a while. We haven’t spoken in a decade, save for that one time, remember?” Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence.

  “Why’s that?” Her file hadn’t revealed any contact. Yet, Jaden couldn’t be sure. She was smart. Very smart. Smart enough to negotiate her way through one of the most deadly cartels and set up a meeting on a beach.

  She glared at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Look, I got a dead man back on the beach who should be alive right now.”

  “Which is an interesting point.”

  “Meaning?” he asked.

  “Where’s your cavalry?”

  His stone-faced features cracked as if the thought rattled him. “The way I see it is we have each other right now and not a heck of a lot else going for us.” He managed to say, “Sorry,” and look like he meant it.

  She glanced up at the sky. “Your job teach you anything about weather?”

  “I’ve seen a lot of storms.”

  “Any chance this’ll pass?”

  “I’d hoped.” His voice was filled with dread. “See those large, rounded puffs of clouds covering the sky with a grayish veil? Always comes before the weather gets worse.”

  “Great.” Things could actually get worse?

  “You’re cold.” His hand closed on Lauren’s arm, sending shivers up it, and she felt herself being drawn toward him.

  She pulled back immediately.

  Clutching at her wetsuit, she hopped to her feet.

  He grabbed her ankle, stopping her from taking a step while the pain of movement caused his face to crinkle. “Look. I’m outta line.”

  She should’ve felt anger, and she did, but she also felt her pulse rise and tingles skitter across her nerves. She cleared her throat.

  He pulled her closer. “Our body heat will warm us both.”

  His touch caused her nerve endings to quiver and her senses to kick on high alert. Her gaze dropped to his broad chest, and she watched as it rose and fell in rhythm with hers.

  “I shouldn’t —”

  “Hold on, sweetheart. You’re shivering. It’s the best I can do.”

  At that moment, Lauren wanted nothing more than to relax into his strong body, to let him ease her mounting concerns about the weather, and better yet, about her life. She wanted to get lost in his touch and feel his warm, perfect skin blanket her.

  “For now, we’re safe,” he soothed.

  Looking out onto the surf, she was utterly dumbstruck. Because angry as she might be, she couldn’t ignore the fact she’d felt none of those pounding feelings inside when other men had touched her. She’d never reacted to anyone’s touch the way she did with this man’s.

  Numb from such an overload of emotions descending on her, she didn’t fake a smile. Instead, Lauren clamped her lips and held back the urge to frown. She forced her thoughts to her brother. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I hope you know that.”

  “Innocent people rarely ever do.” A grimace took hold of his expression, planted itself there.

  “Tell me the truth. How hurt are you?”

  Jaden rubbed his side, causing his weight to shift and his leg to brush against hers. There again came a jolt of electricity making her feel like she’d been struck by a thunderclap.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  She reminded herself to breathe, while folding her arms again and squeezing her elbows tight.

  “You’re shivering.” Jaden’s arm went around her shoulders.

  She ignored the spark of fire from his touch and scanned the skies. Blackness everywhere. No hope for a break in sight. “If you’re feeling better, shouldn’t we get going?”

  “As soon as I stop bleeding.”

  Thunder clapped in the sky directly overhead. A fierce reminder there wasn’t much time to regroup. “Let me see what I can do for your cut.”

  Quickly she moved to the pile of supplies she’d gathered and back. “I can make a Band-Aid with this.” She couldn’t steady her hands being so near to Jaden, unsure if it was anger or something else entirely, and she nearly dropped what she was holding. “Close your eyes.”

  It would help if his intense blue eyes weren’t staring directly at her.

  He leaned his head back on a rock as he winced. “And how is it that you know how to do this?”

  She went to work placing the scrap of material on his cut and tying it with the straps. “You grow up like I did and you learn to do plenty for yourself.”

  Too much, probably. Lauren had never been able t
o allow herself to rely on anyone else.

  Every muscle in Jaden’s body tensed as she pulled the strap closed.

  “Sorry. I’m hurting you,” she said meeting his gaze. His shifted from hers, skipped over her breasts to the makeshift Band-Aid she’d fashioned on his hand.

  Being so close to Jaden caused her pulse to pound in her veins and her body to spark, reacting to the sexual chemistry. And here she knew next to nothing about him. What was it about this guy that was getting to her?

  Maybe that was the attraction. A strong mystery man who’d swooped in to save her like a superhero. A real-life good guy.

  Who wouldn’t be attracted to that?

  Jaden leaned forward until his face was inches from hers.

  The move caused her body to heat and desire to swell inside her.

  His hand came up to her shoulder, and her tension melted under his gentle massage. She searched his pale blue eyes and caught a glimmer of sexual spark in return.

  “Let me warm you up.” He bent further until he could wrap his strong arms around her and pull her up until she was kneeling inside his thighs. Her hips were inches from his skin. Heat pulsed between them.

  “You’re exhausted aren’t you?” He brushed back her hair and really looked at her. “Close your eyes.”

  Lauren did. She allowed herself to be tugged forward and enveloped by his muscular frame. His skin was soft and warm. Her head made its way to his chest.

  He pulled her in close until she could breathe his breath. It smelled warm and like peppermint.

  Everything about this man heightened her senses and brought her body to life, his warm and salty scent, his solid-walled chest, his beautiful eyes, and those lips … oh God, those lips.

  He stroked her hair as his lips brushed her forehead, and she felt a yearning well up from so deep inside that it made her head numb.

  The weather had turned.

  She sensed he knew it too.

  Lauren grabbed hold of his waist, not so much as a conscious decision as just raw instinct, basking in the warmth his body provided for another moment.

  A thin layer of mesh kept her naked skin from his bare chest.

  Reminding herself that he’d likely saved her life back there in the water, again, she decided her attraction to him was really gratitude, nothing more. And what did it matter? No matter how strong her feelings for him were at the moment, they wouldn’t last. Lauren didn’t do “close.” Not since her mother. Not since her brother. Not since opening up to her young and handsome English professor who’d made her almost believe in the redemptive power of love until she got a nasty phone call from his wife. Jerk.