His dark eyes glittered. “I know it academically, but it’s not the same as believing it in your soul.”
“Do you think anyone else survived?” she whispered, laying her head back down.
“I hope so.” He kissed the top of her head, and it felt like the most natural and elemental gesture in the world. It wasn’t only sex he was good at. It was everything.
Sleep was dragging at her consciousness, pulling her into its depths. “I can’t believe some lucky woman hasn’t snapped you up,” she murmured. She drifted off to the sound of his heart beating beneath her cheek and the wash of the ocean, a soft cadence against a distant shore. As far as being marooned on a tropical island went, this wasn’t so bad.
* * *
The phone rang next to Eban’s ear, and he bolted upright, heart pounding, blood thundering through his veins. It took him a moment to figure out where he was. Hotel room. Jakarta. He’d returned to get a couple of hours’ sleep.
The phone rang again. He snatched it up.
“Winters.” His voice sounded like someone had cleaned out his throat with bleach.
“I think we’ve got something.” It was Alex Parker.
Eban tried to get his eyes to stay open, but it was like his lids were glued shut. It was six AM, and his alarm started to beep even as he threw his legs over the side of the bed. “What?”
“FBI identified one of the dead terrorists as one Kenga Kaswali. He was one of the men who deserted with Darmawan Hurek. Kaswali was married to a woman from Sulawesi.”
“Tell me she phones home twice a week like a good daughter.”
“Not quite. But every few months there’s a call from Bandaneira in the Banda Islands. We found a similar pattern in some of the other phone data of relatives of deserters suspected of accompanying Hurek.”
“Can you narrow it down further?”
“Ten minutes ago, I’d have said no, but then I intercepted some messages between US Geological Services personnel and the embassy in Jakarta. USGS were asking about getting a team back on the island Darby O’Roarke was abducted from as there’d been some unusual eruptive events recorded there. They wanted to know how stable the region was for foreigners. Embassy advised against travel to that part of the world following the hotel massacre until security improved.”
Eban didn’t know where the guy was going with this.
“I decided to take a look at the data they were talking about and then checked out some satellite images.” Excitement vibrated through his voice. “Check out the screenshot I sent you.”
Eban looked at the image that appeared on his laptop. “Holy shit.”
“I don’t know where the terrorists are, but I think we might have maybe found Quentin and Haley. Or Darby.” The man sounded like he was trying to physically calm himself down. “Even if it is not them, it’s someone who needs help.”
Someone who’d gone to a lot of effort to build a giant SOS visible from space.
“Have you informed FBI HQ?” Eban went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stank.
“They’re sending the warship to the area. The thing is…the company I hired out of Colombia arrived in Jakarta last night, and they have a helicopter full of equipment fueled up and ready to go. Turns out they are acquainted with Max Hawthorne from having served together in the SAS. They also said they could squeeze the two of you on board if you wanted to go along for the ride. If it doesn’t pan out, they’ll refuel in Bandaneira, so maybe you can use the trip to ask questions of the locals about Hurek and his band of murderous thugs. Can’t hurt.”
“Give me directions—”
“I can do better than that. A car will pick you up in fifteen minutes. By the way, I get the impression that your big bosses don’t want us to do this little reconnaissance, so if you want to come along you, might want to not answer their calls until you’re airborne.”
And by then it would be too late.
“I’ll be ready. Get some sleep, Alex. I’ll call you when we get there.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Quentin took several quick, deep breaths in succession, then dove beneath the aquamarine surface of the crystal-clear water. It could have been the perfect getaway if he wasn’t fishing so they had something to eat while Darby kept watch for their enemies from camp.
He duck-dived down to the bottom, searching for a fish to lunge at with his makeshift spear. He waited on the sea floor, slowing his pulse, calming his mind. The sun dappled the surface of the water above him, blinding when the solar rays caught it just so. Creatures darted around him. Too small and nimble for him to catch.
The pressure in the walls of his chest built. That need to draw in fresh oxygen. A flash of silver to the left drew his peripheral gaze even though he didn’t move. Slowly, a large fish swam closer. Quentin waited for it to swim past before lunging with his multi-headed spear.
Yes!
Elation filled him as he successfully caught the creature. He swept it upwards and kicked hard, breaking the surface and drawing in a massive breath.
“Woot!”
He turned while treading water and almost dropped his catch.
Haley sat naked on a rock, her clothes wet and laid out to dry as if she’d just done laundry. She looked confident and provocative and was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.
He climbed out on the rocks—they’d decided to avoid leaving any tracks in the sand—and dispatched the poor fish who would feed all three of them for several days.
Then he placed the spear on the rock while taking in the view.
She hiked a brow and smiled, drawing one knee up. She was going to kill him. Blood flow to his brain was going to be permanently cut off and diverted to his dick and that would be the end of him.
“Your skin is going to burn.” His voice came out as gravelly as the bottom of the seabed.
“I washed my clothes.” Haley ignored his comment and pointed to the t-shirt and shorts that had once belonged to him.
“I can see that.” He stared down at the rivulets of water draining from the boxers he wore. “I washed mine too.”
“Now you’ve caught dinner, you should dry your clothes on the rocks with mine.”
“Then we’d both be naked.”
Haley bit her lip in a gesture that shot straight to his groin.
Sold.
He stepped out of his boxers and slapped them down on the hot rock.
It was Haley’s turn to stare lustfully.
He thought better of leaving the clothes exposed on the rock and gathered them up. He held out a hand, and she reached up to take it, and he jerked her to her feet, enjoying her surprise as she fell against him. She laughed and scooped up their footwear. He led her to the soft sandy earth beneath the trees where they’d stored the boat, out of the searing sun. He spread their clothes on top of branches to dry, then pressed her against a smooth tree trunk and kissed her, craving her mouth like she was that gasp of fresh air after holding his breath for too long.
It delighted him, the way she opened for him immediately. No hesitation. She tasted of salt and warm sunshine, and he could spend hours exploring her mouth. She drew her knee up the side of his leg and rested it against his hip. He lowered his head to suck on her pretty nipples, her skin already slightly reddened from the sun.
His hand slipped lower, through the folds of her vulva, before sinking deep into her wet heat.
She moaned as she rose onto the tiptoes of one foot, the other foot still hooking his hip. He loved the fact she wasn’t afraid to show him what she enjoyed. He loved it so much his cock was on fire.
She went to slip a hand around him, but he wasn’t done yet. Men were simple when it came to orgasms. Women were not. It wasn’t just a case of mechanical stroking for women. They needed teasing and coaxing, and the clitoris needed worshipping with just the right amount of pressure. He sank to his knees, placing her foot on his shoulder so she was exposed to him. Then he started negotiating his way to her climax, using his
tongue.
She resisted for half a second before sinking one hand into his hair and grabbing hold. She rested her head back against the tree trunk. He reached up to tease her nipples, one at a time, making them pebble against his touch. Then he found the exact tactics that worked for her, the rhythm that had her writhing against his mouth, seeking more pressure, seeking release. He worked her until she was gripping his hair tight enough to hurt and spreading her thighs wider in an effort to get even closer. When she came on his tongue, he absorbed her shudders and treasured her flavors. He grinned as he rose to his feet, right up until the moment she sank to her own knees and licked him from root to tip.
Oh, shit.
He held on to the tree as his knees almost buckled. It was a battle for him to hold on to his control as she did to him what he’d just done to her. But he wanted to be inside her again. Wanted to be looking her in the eye when they both came.
After a blissful minute, he eased away and drew her to her feet. He kissed her, closing his eyes so he could imagine them somewhere where they were safe, maybe her island or in his bed…
Her fingers found his painfully hard dick, and she guided him to her opening, teasing them both along the way. He lifted her up and thrust inside, cushioning her back against the hard trunk with an arm wrapped around her waist, the other beneath her ass as he worked himself in and out, wishing he had one more hand.
“Touch yourself. Make yourself come.”
Her eyes held his as she slipped one hand lower, the other grasping him around the nape, holding on for dear life as he pumped inside her like a madman.
It took only seconds before he felt her muscles clench and quiver around him. She gasped out a quiet cry of ecstasy. His balls tightened, and pleasure shot along his length, white light crashing through his senses and leaving him blind, drained and sated, sweat sticking them together wherever their skin met.
He came back to the real world slowly, as if he were waking from a deep sleep. A buzzing noise sounded in his ear. He looked around for a bee or mosquito.
But it wasn’t an insect.
Shit. He quickly withdrew from Haley who still hadn’t caught on.
“That was—”
He put a hand over her mouth, startling her. Then she blinked, and the buzzing noise became louder. A boat engine.
They grabbed their clothes.
“Hide behind that large tree over there and don’t move. I’m going to try and retrieve the fish I caught before whoever is in that boat reaches the cove. If we’re lucky, it might be the good guys.”
He ran, keeping low. No time to lose. He crouched at the edge of the woods, but the fish on the spear was out of range without him revealing himself.
He ducked as he spotted the boat approaching the beach at high speed, squatted behind the rock, quickly pulling on his clothes, which were still wet and lightly dusted with sand. Then he ran in a low crouch back into the woods, breathed a sigh of relief when he got to the tree he’d told Haley to hide behind. But the relief was short-lived. She was gone.
* * *
Haley ran up the mountain path to camp. She was barefoot and felt hideously exposed but kept between the trees for as long as possible before scrambling on her hands and knees up the gully on the other side of where Darby’s tent was pitched to avoid being seen from the beach.
Were these the same people who’d been in the helicopter last night? Had they spotted her running into the woods and decided to come back to scoop them up at their leisure?
Or was it a rescue team?
Haley hadn’t stuck around to find out. She had to warn Darby, even if it meant abandoning Quentin. She swallowed painfully at having left him in possible danger, but he’d be more able to avoid being seen if he was alone.
Darby needed her. Haley couldn’t leave the girl to face this new predicament unaware. She couldn’t risk the young woman having somehow missed the arrival of the boat, strolling down to meet them, and walking straight into a deadly situation. She would not allow that to happen. She’d warn Darby, grab the pistol, and head back to find Quentin.
She didn’t regret seducing Quentin. Their “relationship,” for want of a better word, was the only thing that had been good about this entire nightmare episode. But she did regret letting her guard down at the worst possible moment.
She paused in her mad dash, as she needed to cross a few feet of ground where she could be seen from below. If she crawled, she should be hidden by the long grass. She peeked through the blades, and her mouth went dry.
Men with guns had beached their boat and were spreading out along the cove. They didn’t look like good guys. It wouldn’t be long until they found the RIB and knew that someone had landed here.
Assuming it was the same militants and not some new enemy.
She crawled through the grass, past a rocky bluff that stuck out and hid her from view from below. Then she ran, ignoring the sting of rock cutting into her feet.
Once in camp, she stood in the center of the small glade of trees and tentatively called out, “Darby?”
No reply, so she headed along another path to where they’d set up their watch position. There was a small overhang where you could sit in the shadows and look out across the ocean.
Haley arrived, calling out again. “Darby? Where are you?”
“Haley?” Darby hurried from around the corner with a worried frown. “What is it? What happened?”
Haley wished she didn’t have to shatter this young woman’s fragile calm. “A boat came.”
Darby froze.
“I think it’s the bad guys,” Haley didn’t try to cushion the blow. “Quentin’s still down there. Give me the pistol. I’ll sneak back down and be ready to rescue him if they find him. You hide. Okay?”
“I fell asleep. Oh, my god, I fell asleep and then I needed to pee, and they found us.” Darby was hyperventilating and shaking so hard, Haley tried to calm her down.
“This is not your fault. It is not your fault. We are all doing the best we can, so please don’t beat yourself up.”
Darby nodded, swallowing noisily. She dipped into the pocket of her jacket and drew out the gun.
“I need to hide, but where?” The young woman bit her lip as she handed over the weapon.
Haley clasped her shoulder and peered down into Darby’s big green eyes. “Don’t tell me in case…” It was Haley’s turn to swallow loudly. In case they caught her and tried to torture Darby’s location out of her. “Just hide and don’t come out until you know it’s safe.” She gave her another squeeze. “I have to go.” Quentin was in danger, and she couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt.
“Wait,” Darby ordered sharply. She ran over to a little bag of supplies she’d brought with her. She held out a green floppy hat. “It’s not much, but it might help hide your hair and face.”
Haley took the hat gratefully and placed it on her head, drawing the string tight. It was a long way from gold dresses and Jimmy Choos, but she was so very grateful for the gift if it might help save her life.
Darby’s skin was ashen. “I wish I was brave enough to come with you.”
“You are brave, Darby.” Haley touched her arm, remembering what Quentin had said to her when the hotel was being attacked. “It would be nice if one of us survived this thing. It would make everything we do worthwhile. Go,” Haley ordered. “Hide. We’ll call for you when it’s safe.”
Haley headed back along the path towards where she’d left Quentin, using the gully to work her way down the mountain, never having felt so damn scared in her life. She hoped to make the woods at the bottom of the hill before any of the newcomers left the beach area. She reached the shade of the trees and blew out a huge breath of relief. A parrot flapped and squawked above her head, and she looked up, her right hand going to her throat in fear.
Her pulse raced, and she told herself to relax. “It’s just a bird, dummy.”
But as a strange man stepped out of the shadows, a malicious grin stretching
his lips, she realized she should have been paying attention not to the bird, but to why the bird spooked.
The man was dressed in grubby fatigues and sweat-stained tee, and she recognized him from the village where they’d been held captive. He tried to grab her arm, but she was done being anyone’s plaything or making it easy for them. She jerked away and raised her left hand and aimed, pulling the trigger of the pistol before he could bring his rifle around to shoot her.
He fell to the ground, still alive, still struggling to aim his weapon. So, Haley shot him again. Point blank range.
* * *
Quentin was secreted beneath an undercut bank with the roots of a large palm tree hiding him from view. A crab did its weird sideways walk before disappearing down a burrow. The waves lapped about three feet away from where he crouched. The soothing sound of the water made it hard for him to reconcile the fact that armed men were once again hunting them.
Where was Haley?
Had she gone to warn Darby or did he need to worry about them both being captured and hurt?
Haley was smart. Both women were. He was pretty sure she’d have gone up to the camp. From there the two women had supplies and could hide out long enough for some USGS grunt to pay attention to the fucking data and send a rescue mission.
The new arrivals were not friendlies, nor were they Indonesian military. They’d quickly discovered the boat hidden under the foliage, and he’d heard the excited chatter between the men even if he didn’t understand the language. He didn’t think they’d radioed their find back yet, because the radio was back on the inflatable they’d left unguarded on the beach.
If he could get hold of that radio, he could call directly for help.
If.
His options were limited. He could hide, which was only an advantage until these assholes reported back to base, and the island swarmed with terrorists who’d already proven their bloodthirstiness. Or he could attack, which would probably get him killed. But what the hell, he was trained. And protecting Haley and Darby was all that mattered.
The men had spread out, presumably to search for clues as to their whereabouts.
Colder Than Sin (Cold Justice - Crossfire: FBI Romantic Suspense Book 2) Page 21