“We can’t.” His tone brooked no room for argument, not like I was going to disagree anyway. He was the expert here. “It would take us too long to reach her, and that’s the direction they’re most likely to assume we’ve gone since the closest town is that way. She’s already on her way to warn the other two men I brought with me, and we’re moving to plan D.”
“Plan D?” What happened to B and C?
“We’re going to circle part-way around the camp and head into the deepest part of the jungle.”
I swatted yet another bug away from my neck and cringed at the idea of spending even more time in this God forsaken jungle. “Okay.” My voice shook with fear, and Brecken reacted by bending down to stare straight into my eyes while reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze.
“As long as we’re careful to limit the tracks we leave behind, this is the last route they’ll expect us to take because it’s the hardest and longest one.”
Hard and long. My gaze dropped to his crotch and then I lowered it to the ground like that was what I’d intended all along. Geesh! What was it about this guy that was making my hormones go crazy? He was talking about marching me through the jungle in my weakened state for who knew how long, and I’d actually taken the time to check out his package. It was official—either I was an idiot or I really did have a white knight complex.
“Stay right here.” He squeezed my hand one more time before letting go and pulling my nightshirt from his pack. “I’m going to lay a false trail but it will only take a few minutes.”
Watching him walk away was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I wanted to beg him to take me with him, to let me help. The only thing holding me back was the knowledge that I wouldn’t be any help to him at all, only a hindrance. Freezing my muscles in place, I closed my eyes and thought about the periodic table of elements. It was something I’d taken to doing since I’d been taken. For some odd reason, reciting it in my mind helped to calm me down each time I’d started to freak out. It wasn’t until I’d reached Iodine that I felt his hand on my elbow and opened my eyes again.
“Ready?”
I nodded swiftly.
“I won’t lie to you, the next couple days are going to be tough as hell, but I’m going to get you through this and back home safe and sound.”
Safe and sound was an excellent concept, but I didn’t think a place like that existed for me anymore. I wasn’t sure how much he knew about my dad’s business, so I kept my mouth shut and offered him a weak smile instead.
He turned away from me and placed my hand on his lower back, his body heat warming my hand once again. “Stay right behind me.”
“You’re not about to lose me. I’ll follow you anywhere you take me.”
Chapter 3
Brecken
Blood pumped through my veins at her vow. My brain knew it was motivated by my rescue of her, but my cock didn’t give a damn why she’d said it. He wanted her to follow him straight to the nearest flat surface. I glanced at the ground and shook my head. Or vertical would work. A tree was something I could work with if I leaned back on it so the bark couldn’t damage her skin. I caught myself considering a tree about twenty feet ahead of us when I realized what I was doing.
Down boy! I needed to get my head out of her panties and back on the mission before she paid the price for my distraction. Once she was safe, I could think about making her mine. After I made sure she was comfortable—checked over every delectable inch of her body to make sure she hadn’t sustained any serious injuries, got some much-needed water into her and gave her as much food as she could handle. She was still a fucking knockout, but she’d lost enough weight since she’d been taken that it was clearly visible. Her cheekbones were more pronounced and her tits weren’t nearly as full as they’d been in the photo her dad had given me. The same picture I carried with me because I couldn’t bear to let go of it.
Shoving the raging desire I felt for Hadley down, I trekked forward. There was no sign they’d detected her disappearance from the camp yet, but I couldn’t bank on our luck holding much longer. We needed to put as much distance between us and them as possible. I felt like shit for doing it, but I set a grueling pace which I knew would be hard for Hadley even if she’d been one hundred percent. I heard her breathing quicken behind me, but she didn’t offer a word in protest and kept her hand wrapped tightly in my shirt.
We made it about a mile before I heard her muttering underneath her breath, reciting the periodic table. The check I’d done on her had revealed she was a chemistry major, biochemistry to be more specific. A little bit of extra digging had uncovered her intention to make her career in cancer research. If my reaction to her photo had been strange, the pride I felt about her life goals was even odder. Respect for her desire to help others would have made sense, but what I’d felt was deeper than that. It was similar to the reaction I was having to how she was handling our march through the jungle. My precious girl was one hell of a woman.
Another half mile later, Hadley stumbled. I stopped and turned to make sure she was okay. She managed to stay upright, but I could tell she wasn’t going to be able to make it much further. When she waved me on, letting me know she was fine, I marched forward once again but at a slower pace. I kept an eye out for a good place to rest and heaved a deep sigh of relief when I spotted a fallen tree trunk on the ground fifteen minutes later.
“We need to take a break,” I explained, leading her to the spot and helping her sit down.
“I know I do,” she sighed. “But I’m pretty sure you’re part robot and could keep walking forever.”
Her eyes were lit with humor and held a hint of female appreciation as she looked up at me. Her skin was shiny with sweat, her face bright red from the heat and exertion, bug bites were visible on her hands and neck and yet she sat there cracking jokes. My heart swelled with that unfamiliar feeling once again. Had there ever been a more perfect woman to walk this Earth than Hadley? It was hard for me to imagine there was.
I dropped my pack to the ground and dug through it for supplies. “There were many occasions when I was in the Army when being part robot would have been a big help.”
“You were in the Army?” She laughed lightly, looking surprised by my response.
“Yeah.” I kept my answer simple, not wanting to get into what I did during my time there. The training I’d received and the missions I’d gone on provided me with invaluable experience that I was putting to good use with my company, but I didn’t want the things I saw and did back then to touch Hadley in any way.
She took the canteen I held out with a shaky hand, drinking from it greedily. “Slow down,” I murmured, wrapping my fingers around the hand holding the canteen and moving it away from her plump lips. “If you drink too quickly, you’ll get sick.”
“Crap, sorry,” she muttered. “I know better, but it’s been too long since I’ve tasted anything so good. I promise I’ll slow down.”
Her free hand came up to gently pry my fingers away, and I wanted to complain at the lost contact. Her skin was chilled, and I wanted to strip her out of the clothes I’d brought her and warm her up the best way I knew how—with as much direct skin-to-skin contact as possible. With her naked body writhing against mine. When I handed her a protein bar from my pack, the look on her face made me feel like a monster for letting my little head do the thinking and delaying, even for a minute, getting some food into her stomach when she was starving. Literally starving, judging from the way her eyes lit as though I’d conjured up a lobster tail, which I knew was her favorite meal since I’d left no stone unturned when it came to finding out as much about her as I could. The protein bars I’d brought weren’t the best tasting, but her little moans as she slowly ate it told me how much she appreciated the meal, such as it was.
“I should have brought some MREs with me.” Hadley cocked her head and raised an eyebrow questioningly, still chewing on the last bite she’d taken. Perched on a tree trunk in the middle of the jungle,
she still managed to have the manners of a princess. With each passing minute, I was more determined to get her out of this jungle and back home where I could treat her like one.
“Meals ready to eat,” I explained. “Not that they taste any better than the protein bars, they’re worse actually, but at least they’d give you the illusion of eating a meal.”
She swallowed the last bite and beamed up at me, patting her stomach. “As wonderful as you’ve made an MRE sound, I don’t think I could handle one since I’m completely full.”
She was so damn sweet, and it killed me to know the only reason she was full from a fucking protein bar was because they hadn’t fed her enough. Her stomach had to have shrunk a ton over the last two weeks. I didn’t know what else they’d put her through, but I was going to find out soon. First, I needed to know if she could handle a couple more miles. The sun was rising already, light shining through the trees above us and we needed to make more progress before the killer afternoon heat in a few hours.
Sinking to my knees in front of her, I slowly reached one hand out to her knee. She flinched, a reflexive action I tried not to take personally, and then held still. “How are the boots working for you? Not too small? No blisters?”
She jerked her head back and forth but kept her eyes locked on me.
“Do you think you can handle a few more miles?”
She gave me a quick nod in the affirmative, fear and shame still alive in her eyes. I gritted my teeth, holding back the howl of rage which crept up my throat. If I’d brought my sniper rifle with me on this mission, there would be no doubt the guys who’d taken her would have gotten what was coming to them after we’d made it to safety. I tried my best to not let my anger show outwardly, the last thing I wanted to do was scare Hadley any more than she already was. I wanted to be her rock. The person she turned to for comfort. The one who made her feel safe. And the man who kept her out of harm’s way. If that meant waiting to kill those motherfuckers, then so be it. But one day Hadley’s vengeance would be mine.
Chapter 4
Hadley
The look on Brecken’s face was fierce, and for some reason I took comfort in it. Deep down inside, I knew his anger wasn’t directed at me. No, it was on my behalf. I felt horribly guilty for flinching away from his touch. He’d rescued, clothed and fed me. At no point had he done anything to harm me. I knew this, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from tensing up the second I realized he was going to touch me. But once I felt the warmth of his hand on my leg, I wanted more. The contradictory feelings were enough to make my head spin—my heart and mind at war with each other. Swallowing down my fear, my voice croaked a bit when I spoke.
“I can make it as far as you need me to go.”
I was surprised to find it was true. I was beyond exhausted and ached all over, but with Brecken by my side and some food and water in me much of my self-doubt had disappeared. I’d survived my kidnapping. Brecken had rescued me. The least I could do for him was find whatever strength I needed to make our escape go as smoothly as possible. I could do this. No, I would do this, come hell or high-water as my mom always said.
“You sure? Because I can carry you if need be.”
I shivered at the thought of Brecken having a better reason to carry me, other than our tromp through the jungle—like on our way to a bed. If we’d met any other way, I didn’t think he’d look at me twice. In the light of the morning, I’d gotten a much better look at Brecken and couldn’t help but believe he was way out of my league. Tall, dark, ruggedly handsome, muscular and confident. Really, the list of his attributes could go on and on. And on some more.
I was cute, in a nerdy kind of way. I was a late bloomer and still saw myself as I’d been in high school, flat chested with braces and no sense of my personal style. Enough guys had asked me out once I was in college and away from home for me to know I was attractive, but I hadn’t fared well in the dating scene. Socially awkward didn’t go far enough to explain my personality. Put me anywhere near a hot guy, and you’d be guaranteed to find me blushing and stammering. Maybe even tripping over the ground or pouring something all over myself. Or on the nearby hottie, which had happened more times than I liked to admit.
Who knew my kidnapping would rid me of my awkwardness? At least around Brecken. He’d already seen me at my worst, literally. It was oddly freeing to know there wasn’t anything else I could do to make me look worse in his eyes. The very same ones which flashed with heat and approval when he looked at me. I refused to let him down and lose the fluttering in my belly when he glanced at me.
“I’m positive. Lead on, Macduff.”
He helped me to my feet, chuckling deeply. “Hopefully we won’t need to fight to the death. But if we do, you can be damn sure I’ll stand between you and anything which intends you harm.”
Holy crap! He’d gotten my nerdy Macbeth reference. With that, he’d managed to be even hotter. Add in his determination to keep me safe, and those butterflies took flight again right along with my heart which melted. Brecken didn’t realize the impact of his words on me. He went about the business of getting us out of here, leading the way through the jungle once again, while the foundation of my world seemed to shift with him at the center.
I trudged behind him for the seemingly endless march. We’d walked for what felt like forever, until the sun was high in the sky and my clothes were drenched with sweat. I heard the sound of running water in the distance, making my mouth water with thirst. Brecken held up a hand, signaling me to stop, and pulled a set of binoculars out of a pants pocket. He scanned the distance ahead of us before swiveling in a full circle to search the jungle. The foliage was so thick, I wasn’t sure if he could even see anything in some locations, but he took his time and did a thorough check before dropping the binoculars back in his pocket.
“There’s a waterfall ahead.”
Except for the moment when I’d heard him say “Fluffy” and realized he was there to rescue me, I’d never heard sweeter words. A waterfall meant water. Hopefully clean water I could drink. And if lady luck was on my side, maybe even use to clean off a little bit. I hadn’t bathed for more than two weeks, and I’d practically kill to get clean. My hope must have shone from my eyes because Brecken grinned at me.
“Yeah, I thought you’d like the sound of that.”
Heck yes, I did!
“We need to stop and rest soon anyway.”
I liked the sound of that even better.
“It’s getting too hot for us to keep going without running the risk of overheating and dehydrating. There hasn’t been any sign of us being followed. If we’re lucky, there will be a cave behind the waterfall where we can rest for the day, wait out the hottest hours of the day before we go further.”
I felt like sobbing with gratitude. Brecken wasn’t showing any signs of needing to slow down. He was as sure-footed as he’d been when we first started out. While I gasped for breath, he didn’t seem winded at all. If we were stopping to rest, it was because he was concerned for me. A part of me wanted to tell him I didn’t need to stop, that we could keep going, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. I was too busy nodding my agreement and trying not to cry. If I could even manage tears, I wasn’t sure I was hydrated enough for my body to manufacture any.
When we reached the waterfall, I almost fell to my knees in gratitude. It spilled into a small lake, filled with crystal clear water. “Please tell me we can drink it.”
Brecken pulled a couple white tablets out of a pocket. He seemed to have everything in those darn things. He dropped them into his canteen and filled it with water. “In thirty minutes it will be.” Then he pulled another tablet out of a different pocket and dropped it into the water. “And this will help with the iodine flavor so we’ll be able to choke it down more easily.”
A nervous giggle crept up my throat as I thought about something else I’d like to choke down. It was even something he was packing in his pants, just not in one of the endless pockets he seemed
to have. My laughter earned me a strange look from Brecken, and I was glad he couldn’t read my mind. How embarrassing would it be for him to discover the clueless virgin he’d rescued was picturing herself on her knees in front of him with his cock shoved down her throat? Talk about taking awkward to a whole new level. Or maybe not, considering I was almost sure I’d spotted a half-chub in those pants a time or two when I’d glanced his way.
Taking a deep breath and getting a good whiff of myself, I wasn’t sure how it was possible for him to be attracted to me like this. I glanced at the pool of water longingly and Brecken caught my look.
“Go ahead and get cleaned up, but make sure to keep your clothes dry. You’ll need to get dressed as soon as you’re out, and I don’t have a spare set for you to use. I don’t want us to be caught at a major disadvantage out in the open like this.”
There was only one way I could think to keep my clothes dry. “Can you turn around please?”
His dark eyes scanned my body, flaring with heat before he swiveled on a heel and gave me his back. I quickly stripped out of my boots and clothes, leaving them on a rock near the edge of the water. Once I’d moved far enough that my body was covered, I called out to Brecken. “The coast is clear.”
He was quick to face me again, his eyes locking on me right away. “So is the water.”
I glanced down, only to find my naked body clearly visible. “Crap!”
“You’re fucking adorable, precious.”
It was a compliment a guy might give his little sister, but the way he was looking at me was anything but brotherly. It put thoughts into my head, naughty thoughts I’d never had for any of the guys I’d gone on dates with in the past. It’s probably the other part of why I’d never had any second dates. I’d never felt chemistry like this with anyone before Brecken. After my kidnapping, I was determined to make the most out of each day I had because I wasn’t sure how many more I had. For all I knew, today could be my last.
Save Your Soul (Body & Soul #2) Page 2