WAR: Disruption

by Vanessa Kier

  Great. Looked like she’d be here all day. Emily sighed, and settled in to wait.

  At some point, she dozed off. When she awoke, over an hour had passed. Her stomach rumbled, but she didn’t dare unzip her pack to retrieve any food.

  By the time the entire field was weeded and the uprooted weeds burned, the sun was well on its way toward the horizon. Emily almost cheered when the group finally gathered their supplies and headed back down the path.

  She gave them fifteen minutes to get back to the village, then pushed to her feet. Her muscles were stiff after so many hours in one position, so she eased her body through a series of stretches. Once she could move without wincing, she ate some groundnuts and dried mango and washed them down with a huge drink of water. Then she shouldered her pack, slung her camera around her neck, and headed toward the spot where the villagers had found the plane debris. When she located the piece, which sure looked like it came from a plane, she snapped several photographs from various angles and marked the spot on the GPS.

  She investigated further, moving steadily to the west and northwest of the field and found a few more pieces scattered haphazardly throughout the jungle. As she’d thought before, it appeared that these were pieces that had fallen off while the plane was still in the air.

  She looked up as she walked, picturing the plane disintegrating as it fell. She imagined the panic of the courier and the desperate attempts of the pilot to forestall the crash as they—

  Her right foot fell into space and her stomach pitched like a falling plane. Her dancer’s reflexes kicked in and she threw her weight backward, grabbing the nearest tree before she fell headfirst into a gully. Oops.

  Peering down into the small gap between the thick canopy of trees growing at the bottom of the ravine, she spotted another piece of debris. She marked the GPS location, then checked the sky.

  Shoot. Dusk was falling.

  Still, despite the hours-long delay, she was satisfied with her work. Once again stowing her camera in her rucksack, she set the GPS toward the Jeep and hurried through the jungle.

  Toward Max.

  HALF AN HOUR after Emily left, Max’s body had simply shut down despite the worry gnawing at him. Now, after sleeping for nearly three hours and grabbing a meal from the limited supplies provided by Emily’s homestay mother, he felt stronger. Not ready to take on one of Dietrich’s men in hand-to-hand combat, but not invalid weak, either.

  His mind sure as hell was sharper today. Unfortunately, it had already concocted a dozen different scenarios where Dietrich’s men or the rebels captured Emily. He’d always sucked at waiting. If he didn’t have a mental problem to chew on, then he needed physical activity to keep him busy. He had to find a way to occupy his time until Emily returned or he was going to do something stupid. Like get behind the wheel and drive after her.

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, he climbed out of the Jeep.

  He hobbled around the vehicle several times in each direction, testing his strength. When he felt his energy flagging, he opened the cargo compartment and organized their remaining food supplies. Shook out the sleeping bags and rearranged them. Checked the levels in the water bottles and wondered what the odds were of finding a stream. Figuring it was worth a search, he gathered up the water bottles. He’d just closed up the Jeep when he heard the helicopter.

  Shit.

  This time it sounded as if the chopper was traveling west to east, and at nearly top speed.

  Was it Dietrich’s? If so, what was he up to? Had he found the location of the plane? Is that why the helicopter was in such a hurry? Was it on its way to retrieve men to start a new search on the ground? Were he and Emily on the wrong trail?

  Or did the helicopter belong to the military? Were they searching for Emily, believing he’d kidnapped her?

  He waited until the helicopter passed out of earshot, then headed out to look for water. A few minutes later he found a sluggish stream and filled the water bottles. Thanks to the advanced filtration system, he was able to drink immediately. After refilling his bottle, he carried the bottles back to the Jeep.

  He glanced at Emily’s watch. Ugh. Only an hour and a half had passed. Great. At this rate, by the time she returned he’d be a raving lunatic.

  Dammit, he should have set a time limit. Told her that unless she returned by a specific time that he’d assume she was in trouble and go looking for her. Not that he was in any shape to run through the jungle on a rescue mission.

  He couldn’t even take the Jeep and search for her, because what if she arrived to find him gone?

  He rubbed his temples. Okay, what else could he do to occupy his time? Bracing his hand on the Jeep, he decided that a cane would come in handy.

  He limped over to a nearby tree and used his knife to shape a thick branch into a workable cane. Then, walking very slowly, he found a banana tree and picked as much fruit as he could carry in the sling of his shirt. The fruit would stretch their current inventory of food.

  By the time he got back to the Jeep he was drenched in sweat and shaking with exhaustion. He barely managed to set the fruit in the cargo compartment and crawl inside before he crashed.

  He slept for another couple hours and awoke reenergized. He drank some water, ate a few bananas, and took another antibiotic pill. Then he slid out of the cargo compartment and frowned at the sky. The sun was going down. Where the hell was Emily? The Jeep wasn’t that far from the village. She should have had plenty of time to walk there, find her photography spot, and be back by now.

  Fear crept up his spine and he paced back and forth along the Jeep, balancing himself with his new cane as he tried not to think about the possibility that Emily might have been caught while he’d been sleeping. He hated to admit it, but he’d slept deeply enough not to notice any cries of triumph if the rebels or villagers had found her. If Dietrich’s men had snatched her, they wouldn’t have made any noise.

  Dammit, this wasn’t helping.

  Of course, she might be delayed for a less sinister reason. Maybe she’d sprained an ankle or suffered some other injury. Even walking through the jungle now that the light had nearly faded was dangerous, as the evening brought out certain predators. But at least she had the night vision goggles. And basic medical supplies.

  He really wanted to search for her, but since he didn’t know what direction she’d be returning from, he was likely to miss her in the growing darkness. Argh. He beat his head lightly against the side of the Jeep. He was stuck here. God, how he hated this.

  With one more angry glare at the sky, he leaned on his cane and started walking another circuit around the Jeep, determined to build up his strength and endurance so he wouldn’t have to send Emily out on her own again.

  Come on, sweetheart. Come back to me.

  IT WAS FULL dark by the time Emily stumbled across the Jeep. She’d been walking so long that she’d begun to wonder if the GPS was mistaken and she’d taken a wrong turn. Or maybe she’d camouflaged the Jeep a little too well. But finally she spotted the mosquito-net-covered vehicle. She was so happy to see it that she almost wept.

  The passenger side door opened. “Emily! Thank God.”

  She pulled the goggles off as she hurried toward Max. He enveloped her in a tight hug, but the weight of her rucksack threw them off balance and they fell against the front of the Jeep.

  As soon as they were balanced again, Max pulled her against him, kissing her with fierce desperation. She dropped the goggles and ran a hand soothingly over his hair and down his back as she gentled the kiss. Then she shoved at his chest. “Let me get the backpack off, Max.”

  He grunted, but only gave her enough room to slide free of the straps and drop the pack to the ground before his mouth returned to plunder hers. His body pressed her against the Jeep and his erection pushed against her belly.

  Her exhaustion fled as the urgency of his kisses transmitted itself to her. Heat flared, igniting nerve endings that she’d thought numbed for the night. But no. This was w
hat she wanted. What she needed. To feel Max’s body against hers. To touch her tongue to his, drinking in his uniquely addictive flavor. To run her hands over the tight muscles of his back while his hands cradled her head, holding her still as he made love to her mouth.

  He made her feel beautiful. Whole.

  Her fingers dipped under his shirt, finding bare skin slick with sweat. She kneaded the supple muscles beneath her fingertips and urged him closer. Slid her hands up his back until the rough texture of gauze stopped her cold.

  She pulled away. “Max! Your wounds.”

  “Don’t. Care. Need you.” He took her mouth in another voracious, possessive kiss.

  An unexpected wildness rose up inside her and she met his aggressiveness with a fierce possessiveness of her own. He nipped her lip. She raked him lightly with her nails. He nibbled on her scars. She closed her teeth over his earlobe.

  Max’s palm cupped her bare breast. She gasped as lightning shot to her core. Sneaky man. When had he opened her shirt and unfastened her bra?

  Giving her a wicked smile, Max lowered his mouth and took her nipple between his lips. He suckled hard, and she grabbed his head, digging her nails into his scalp to keep him in place. “More.”

  He worked her breast with his mouth while his fingers lightly pinched and shaped her other breast. When he lifted his head, she whimpered in protest and twisted, trying to get closer to his heat and power. Max silenced her with a kiss. Then his fingers undid the snap on her cargo pants. She shimmied her hips, helping him push her pants and panties down her legs. He lifted her to sit on the hood of the Jeep, then, bracing himself with his hands, he knelt awkwardly between her legs.

  “Max! Don’t hurt—”

  His mouth touched her most intimate flesh and her protest was drowned by a cry of pleasure. Her head fell back as his tongue and lips teased her, bringing her right up to the edge. “Max, I’m going to come!”

  “Good. Do it.” He removed one of his hands from her hips and thrust two fingers inside of her. He curled one finger against the spot that drove her crazy at the same time he lightly clamped down on her clit.

  She exploded, the pleasure bursting through her and destroying all the tension of the past couple of days. She forgot who she was. Forgot the danger they were in. All that mattered was the heated pleasure that arched her back and tore a cry from her throat.

  Before she’d fully recovered, Max rose to his feet. She heard the faint crinkle of a wrapper, then he thrust inside her. She gasped as her sensitive tissues protested the invasion and Max stilled. Once her body had adjusted, she nodded. He planted one hand next to her on the hood to support his body, then started a steady, gentle rhythm, peppering her face with kisses in between thrusts. His free hand stroked her throat and her breasts. Gradually the pleasure built inside her again. She started matching his thrusts. He increased the tempo and his touches became firmer. Relentless. More demanding.

  The pleasure continued to ratchet up until once again the pressure became too much and she exploded. Only this time, Max was with her. She heard his satisfied roar mingle with her own exultant cry. She stroked her hand down the back of his head to his neck and along his spine. Realized that he still wore his shirt.

  She heard an odd sound from the jungle and froze. “Did you hear that?” She glanced toward the trees.

  “What?” He pushed away from her and withdrew.

  “I don’t know.”

  Max removed the used condom, tied it off, and set it beside her on the hood. Then his hands settled gently on her hips. “I’m glad you’re back,” he said quietly.

  Her mouth quirked up on one side. “Yeah, I kinda gathered that.”

  “Smartass.” He tapped her on the tip of her nose and she grinned at him. She couldn’t remember when she’d last felt this lighthearted.

  The sound came again. “There. Hear it? It sounds like someone’s cutting wood.”

  “Yeah, I hear it.” He stepped away from her and yanked up his pants. “Get inside the Jeep.”

  Obeying the urgency in his command, she slid off the hood, pulled up her panties and pants, and refastened her bra and her top. “Why? What is it?”

  “That sound is called a grunt. It’s a male leopard’s way of warning us this is his territory.”

  “Oh.” The leopard called out again, and this time it sounded even closer. Emily snatched up the night vision goggles from where she’d dropped them and darted toward the driver’s seat. Remembering her backpack and camera, she started to turn back, but saw that Max had already tossed them into the passenger seat.

  They’d just closed the doors when a shadow detached itself from the trees. Emily wanted to turn on the headlights so she could see better, but was afraid that she’d scare the big cat away. Instead, she watched the leopard through the lens on her camera.

  “Wow,” she breathed. The leopard strolled toward the Jeep with the aggressiveness and arrogance of a predator defending his territory. She fired off a series of shots, hoping that the windshield wasn’t distorting the images too much.

  The spotted cat stalked without hesitation to the side of the Jeep where she and Max had just made love. For one panicked moment Emily feared that Max had left the condom sitting there, but then she saw that the hood was empty. Wanting a better view, she crawled over to the passenger seat and put one knee between Max’s legs and the other on the floor.

  The leopard sniffed the side of the Jeep and the ground beneath it, then glanced up at her. Max’s hand tipped her head forward. “Don’t meet its eyes,” he whispered.

  With her head bent, she peered up at the cat through her lashes. The leopard grunted so loudly, chills slithered down her spine. After a couple more grunts, the leopard peed on the Jeep’s front wheel, looked around, then leapt onto the hood. He turned his head toward Emily, staring at her through the windshield.

  She cowered back and dropped her eyes. “Easy, Em. He can’t get through the glass.” Max touched her back between her shoulder blades. The reminder that she wasn’t alone, that she was safe, pulled her back from the primitive fear she felt at the leopard’s challenge.

  The leopard swiped at her with his paw. His claws scraped down the windshield. Shaking his head, he backed up. Swiped at her again. When he still failed to connect with Emily, he grunted, then paced across the hood several times, his tail switching. Finally, he grunted another challenge, then peed on the hood before leaping off and stalking back into the jungle.

  Emily let out a shaky laugh and clambered back to her own seat. “Oh. My. God. That was amazing. Scary, but so damn cool.”

  “Yeah.” Max leaned over and brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I know you must be exhausted, but we need to find somewhere else to camp tonight. Just in case he comes back. I can drive.”

  Emily shook her head. “It’s okay, I’ll drive. We won’t go far, right?”

  “Just until we’ve put a little space between us. Leopards have a huge territory, but hopefully he won’t bother us again if he thinks he’s run us off.”

  “All right.” As she drove, Emily told Max what the villagers had found and how she’d spotted the piece in the gully. “I think the rest of the plane is down at the bottom.”

  “Good work.”

  Max’s voice sounded strained, so Emily glanced over at him. “Max? Are you okay?”

  He didn’t respond, just put his hand on her thigh and squeezed lightly. She thought back over what she’d said. “Max, it all worked out. The villagers didn’t spot me.”

  His grip tightened. “That…” He shook his head. “That was too close. What if they’d been hostile? If they’d been actively searching for you?”

  She didn’t want to remember the fear she’d felt when she’d heard the voices. Didn’t want to risk triggering a panic attack, so she tried to make light of it. “Yes, well, you’ve trained me well. I’m much better at sneaking through the jungle than before.”

  Max just shook his head.

  By the time they reached the
road, the energy boost Emily had experienced during their bout of lovemaking had evaporated. “Where to? I have to warn you, if you want to cover a lot of distance, then you’ll have to drive. I’m on the verge of collapse.”

  “Pull over to the other side and find the first level place that’s out of sight. We could both use a good night’s sleep.”

  Hallelujah! For once, the man wasn’t going to ask her to push her limits.

  No, that was unfair. He hadn’t pushed her out of spite, but necessity.

  Regardless, when she finally found a place for them to spend the night, she barely had the energy to force down the food Max insisted she eat before she stretched out in the cargo compartment and fell into a deep sleep.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Day Ten

  AFTER SLEEPING LATE the next morning, Max watched as Emily quickly and efficiently cleaned and bandaged her bloody, blistered feet. He hated seeing the proof of the pain she was in. She’d already been hurt enough.

  But like him, she had the fierce will of a warrior who kept going despite the pain. Only, Emily was very clear about how far she could push herself without negatively affecting her performance. Something he wasn’t so good at. He had a tendency to work until he dropped, particularly now that he was working alone. Kris had always been good about stopping him before he hit that point.

  He rolled his shoulders. Yet another reason to consider joining Kris’s team when it was safe.

  As Emily finished doctoring her feet, he had to admit that maybe, if he’d been paying more attention to his body’s signals of exhaustion and gotten some rest, he would have noticed the guys following him that night in Ouaga. Then he wouldn’t have ended up as Ziegler’s prisoner.

  He couldn’t afford to make such a mistake with Emily’s life.