“I don’t know if I would have told you anyway. I couldn’t bear to break your heart, Hunter.” A tear spilled out of her eye. “Not in person…”
It had to be the damnable tropical heat. Sudden moisture blurred his vision. Meredith was suddenly all starlight and twinkles and—love.
“It was never you over him, Hunter. He was Courtney’s father. I honestly thought he deserved the chance to raise his son, but I was wrong. Eddy married me in January and he left me three months later. He wasn’t even there when Courtney was born. If there were any way possible, I’d go back in time and do everything over again. I’d run to you and tell you what happened and that I was pregnant. I’d trust you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I should never have left. You needed me.”
“You were hurt and I was getting married and—”
“I was stupid.”
She offered a small smile. “It’s nice to hear you say that, but this was all my fault. We were kids, Hunter, and kids make stupid mistakes. What do we do now?”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I blamed you for everything.”
“And I condemned you for leaving me when I was the one who cheated.” She pressed her face into his chest, breathing hard and trembling. “I love you, Hunter. I always have. Don’t let the mistakes we made yesterday destroy what we could be today. Stop running. Forgive me and let me love you.”
He closed his eyes and let the past drop dead at his feet. “There’s nothing to forgive. You’re right. We both made mistakes, but you may not want me anymore. I’ve done things; my hands aren’t lily white and I’m not sorry. I did what I had to do.”
She pressed herself in closer, as if that was possible. “I’m not your judge. You’re honorable and protective and… Please. Let me in again. Let’s pick up where we left off.”
A single golden ray of warmth spilled into the pitted craters of his heart. With Meredith in his arms, he could almost believe again. Maybe that ragged heart could heal.
Placing a small kiss into the top of her wet blonde head, he set himself in the center of the target again. Bull’s-eye. One hundred points. Winner take all. With the next words out of his mouth, she’d have the power to kill him for sure. Whispering the words that had tortured him nightly for years, he did as she asked. He let her in. “I love you, Merry.”
She raised her eyes. “I know.”
The distasteful memory of her marriage nagged at Hunter. There was only one way to erase it. Make love with this woman. Claim her with his body, his scent, his soul. Join with her. The primeval instincts of a warrior raged with the barely existent civilized man within.
Hunter encased her sweet face in his big hands, a precious pearl caught between rugged workday tools, blistered and rough as sin. Her chin tilted a fraction upward, encouraging him to jump off the ledge.
Very slowly, he dipped his head to accept the offering. The rug that had been jerked out from under him all those years ago settled back beneath his feet. The sweetest taste filled his mouth; the sweetest perfume, his nose. The savage caveman within him roared to power, only to be tempered by the gentle man he used to be.
Hunter kissed her softly. Passionately. He gave his mouth license to trail wet kisses over her chin and tender nibbles down her neck.
She clung to him, returning fervent kisses to his forehead, her fingers splayed through his hair, hugging him to her. Maybe even forgiving him the way he’d forgiven her. When her body demanded more, he eased his mouth away from her far enough to look into her eyes again. Timid hope still shimmered there.
She had to understand once and for all. “I’m going to marry you the first minute we’re out of here, but mark my words. You’re already mine. Heart. Body. Soul.” He lifted her off the ground, her ass once more clutched in his hands. “And everything in between. Got that, Meredith Flynn? I’m going to marry you.”
The most glorious smile lit up her face. She kissed the end of his nose. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Hunter. You’re my heart and...” Another kiss branded his nose. “My soul and...” Moist lips and a hint of tongue blessed his mouth with, “And everything in between.”
He pulled her into the most carefully suffocating embrace he could. This was why he’d gone to war. Meredith was everything good and pure and right with the world. She was worth fighting for, and now that he had her back, he wouldn’t screw it up again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“So you’re the one who’s been toting the supplies all this time?” Eric asked.
Meredith caught the playful undertone to his voice. “Yes. Why?”
He seemed amused. “Let me show you something.”
Seth was cleaned up, doctored, and bandaged. Eric and Hunter had already performed minor surgery on Teague and removed the bullet in his chest. During that intense surgery and while Eric held Teague in a stronghold, Hunter sent Meredith to the entrance of the cave, supposedly to watch for intruders. She knew better. He hadn’t wanted her to witness the pain poor Teague had to endure while his new, good buddies helped him.
Afterward, Hunter and Eric had disappeared outside and had shortly returned with two huge fish, already cleaned and skewered. They knew how to roast it, too. Having something more substantial than fruit to eat made a difference in her outlook. Teague’s and Seth’s, too. Both men fell asleep after they’d eaten.
Cracking the lid of the supply crate, Eric removed the bottled water, the MREs, the medical kit, and everything else. Reaching into the bottom of the container, he pulled up the three sealed plastic boxes Meredith hadn’t had time to investigate yet.
“You, my dear, are Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. You’ve had your hands on the ruby slippers the minute you grabbed hold of this handle. You could’ve been home by now, provided you used these to get inside Burdette’s camp.”
“I what?” Okay, now he made no sense at all.
“What are you talking about?” Hunter took one of the boxes and broke the seal. Out came an ACS suit, only the emblem on the chest of this one declared ACS3. “I didn’t know there was a third prototype. Hey, there’s a rifle in here, too.” He peered into the bottom of the supply crate. “Look. Tackle.”
“Yeah, yeah, you and your fishing.” Eric took over. “If you recall from our intelligence briefing, ACS1 is designed to camouflage men and women in a multiplicity of combat environments. Once some of the bugs are worked out, ACS2 will camouflage vehicles and heavy armament, short-range missiles, bunkers, stuff like that.”
Hunter grumbled, “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
Meredith couldn’t help but smile. Pessimism still hovered around him like a grim shadow of his former self. Oh, the plans she had for that grumpy man. Her whole body thrummed in anticipation of taking him on. Or under.
“Oh, yes,” Eric replied. “It’ll work, Hunt. Believe me. I’ve been working closely with Teague, and—”
“You’re the mole,” Hunter accused.
Eric blinked. “You knew?”
“Hell, yeah. How else could three geeks in camouflaged underwear take down Ky, Seth, and you as fast as they did?” Hunter grunted like that was a no-brainer. “No way could they have hit three trained covert operators unless someone told them how to look for us. I knew it wasn’t Ky or Seth. It had to be you. You’re a fat-assed snitch, Reynolds.”
Eric grinned. “Exactly. I came here to train the MI team, not you guys. You’re the pros, remember?”
“You bastard,” Seth rasped from his makeshift mattress. “You got me killed.”
“I got you shot with paint,” Eric corrected matter-of-factly. “I was in collusion with the good guys, Seth, not Burdette. There is a difference. Teague and I were the only ones who knew the beta test included the ACS3. Alex and Jed thought the fewer who knew, the more sound the results and the integrity—”
“I’m shooting them in the face right after I shoot you,” Seth promised steadily, his eyes still closed. “Soon as I feel better, you’re going down, Reynolds.”
/> “Are you comfortable?” Meredith asked Seth.
“Yes, ma’am. Just planning me some payback.” His fingers were interlocked on his chest, but all of them were wiggling. “Only I won’t be using a paintball gun.”
Eric shot Hunter an amused grin. “Now I’m really worried.”
“You should be,” Seth promised groggily. “I’m buying me a taser and an Uzi. Now shut the hell up. Some of us are trying to sleep.”
“Anyway.” Eric lowered his voice as he lifted an ACS3 out of its box. He set the boots, rifle, and helmet aside. “These little babies are state-of-the-art third-generation. They don’t just mimic environment like one and two do.”
Meredith’s ears perked up. Why did she not know this? “That must be what Teague meant. He said you knew something, Eric. I thought he was delirious. He was talking crazy, telling me there’s two and three of something. I just didn’t know what.”
A shadow darkened the sparkle in Eric’s eyes. “I’ll bet he thought Burdette’s men got hold of these suits when they overran our camps. That would’ve been bad. Burdette might have gotten everything he wanted.”
“And more.” Hunter held up one of the syringes he’d recovered from his close encounters with Burdette’s men. “If Masters was telling the truth, Burdette planned to kill off Jed’s team and brainwash us guys into believing we’d killed ’em. He’s here to discredit MI’s work in the ACS field once and for all.”
“How’d you know?” Eric asked.
Hunter stilled. “I have my ways.”
Meredith gulped. Translation: Masters was most likely dead. The dark side of Hunter seemed contrary to the gentle man who lay beneath the rough exterior of that hardened warrior. He was the ultimate bad boy—lover, poet, killer. He took her breath, and not always in a good way.
Eric didn’t wait for further elaboration. “The ACS3 takes environmental mimicry one step further than the first prototype. Whereas the first system mimics surroundings through holographic imagery, the third contains imbedded infrared crystals to cool or warm the soldier wearing it.”
“Are you telling me they’ll disguise a guy’s heat signature?” Hunter’s brows lifted.
“And negate the enemy’s use of thermal imaging.” Eric purred. “That’s exactly what the ACS3 is supposed to do—make a man invisible at every level.”
“So a soldier in full-up combat gear would be completely undetectable? Not even night-vision goggles would pick him up?”
Eric nodded. “It’s amazing science that will revolutionize the—”
“Wait a minute.” Hunter lifted a palm to Eric’s face. “Are you telling me the MI team would’ve been able to see us, that they would’ve killed me, Ky, and Seth, while we had no way to intercept or defend ourselves? You didn’t think you needed to tell your own team something important like that, buddy? You traitor.”
“I’m telling you, Hunt,” Seth murmured sleepily. “The guy needs to die.”
A frown creased Eric’s brow. “Give me a break, Hunt. You’re the one who shot everyone on the MI team in the first go ’round, remember? It was you who proved ActiveCamouflage isn’t a failsafe, that it isn’t the perfect answer.”
“Yeah, well—”
“Well, nothing. You weren’t using night-vision optics when you did it either, so knock off the traitor bullshit. I’m no snitch. What do you care if MI upped their game and made it harder for you to kill them? You’d still have been the last one standing, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah, well...” was all Hunter had to offer.
Meredith caught his covert glance in her direction. The man was all testosterone and ego, no doubt thinking of when he’d captured her. She could tell. He was more than a little proud of himself for undermining the MI beta test without using high-tech to do it. The brat.
“So how do we use these bad boys to go after Burdette?” Hunter changed the subject. “Stand outside their security fence and shoot ’em with more of your poison darts?”
Eric beamed. “You liked that, huh?”
“It sure surprised me that someone else was taking those guys out,” Hunter admitted. “You saved the day.”
“Wait a minute.” Meredith held a hand up for silence. “Poison darts?”
Hunter pointed at Eric. “Me and Seth were on our way out of Burdette’s camp. Eric gave them a damned good reason to let us go.”
The TEAM’s lead agent grinned like a little boy at Christmas, his brows lifted high and a sparkle in his eyes.
“And you wanted one for a pet,” Hunter said sarcastically to Meredith.
“What?” she asked. “I don’t get it.”
“The poison he used comes from those pretty tree frogs you were yammering about this morning,” Hunter explained.
“I wasn’t yammering.” She caught another covert glance and a smile. “I just thought those little guys were unique and colorful and—”
“Cute,” Hunter cut in. “Admit it, Meredith. You thought they were cute.”
She rolled one shoulder. “Maybe.”
“Not all tree frogs are poisonous,” Eric explained. “I wasn’t sure I’d even found an actual poison-dart frog until the first man dropped. I was looking for a brown phantasmal. It’s a tiny little bugger, but it secretes a chemical through its skin that’s a hundred times more potent than morphine. The brown one I found must’ve been good enough. Whoever that guy was I shot, he never knew what hit him. Sure scared the creep with him though.”
“Jonesy,” Hunter said. “Not sure who you hit first, but he’s the guy you took out while we were escaping. Sure made everyone think twice about stopping me and Seth.”
“At least he died quickly—not what they intended for Seth,” Eric murmured.
Hunter thumped Meredith’s kneecap. “Jonesy is the guy you shot in the leg. I overheard him talking. He planned a nasty payback for you, so I’m damned glad Eric caught up with him first. But whatever you do, don’t touch the frogs in this jungle.” His brow spiked with his usual bossy attitude and his index finger in her face. “They’re not cute. They’re dangerous.”
“I wasn’t going to.” She ducked her head into her shoulders, wanting to kiss him again. Or that finger.
“So what’s the plan?” Hunter asked.
“You tell me.” Eric’s voice lost the excitement. “We can wait until morning or we can go after them tonight. Either way, we’re outnumbered.”
“How many do you think?”
“I’ve dropped five, no make that six. You?”
Hunter held up seven fingers. “Seven, if I count the two kills with the stakes.”
“That was quick thinking, Hunt, but there’s at least a dozen more guys in that camp, unless Burdette’s brought in reinforcements,” Eric said grimly. “I’ve been listening for chopper blades since you grabbed Seth, but I haven’t heard anything. Have you?”
Hunter indicated negative. “I contacted Alex. He’s got men in country and headed our way. Jordan and Lee. Zack, David, and Adam, too.”
“And Alex?” Eric made it a question.
“What do you think?”
“I think we take Burdette’s camp come morning.”
Meredith interrupted. “That’s still six-to-one odds, guys. You’ll be outnumbered.”
“Won’t be the first time.” Hunter winked at her before he turned to Eric. “Have you seen the fence?”
“There’s another running to the north of us, just beyond Burdette’s camp. What’s up with them?”
“Damned if I know. Seems Burdette wants to run the table. Keep everyone out while he hunts us to extinction.”
Eric shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. I get the green shit in the hypos, but the fence looks like it’s meant for something bigger than a few guys.”
“Wish I had a couple of Mother’s Tattle Tales,” Hunter mused, “or a Flyby. Then we’d know.”
Again, Meredith had no idea what these guys were talking about.
“A Tattle Tale is a listening device—a bug.
A Flyby is a tiny drone with satellite capability and video,” Eric explained when he noticed her blank look. “We’ve also got a smaller drone that looks like a dragon fly. Sweetest little spy ever. Mother tagged it TEAMdragon. She’s our world-class spy-gear provider. If we had one of those babies, we could scout the perimeter, map Burdette’s fence line, and get inside his camp in nothing flat.”
“Maybe inside one of his rigs.” Hunter turned to Meredith. “You’ll stay here at our rear flank. Keep Seth and Teague company until the guys get here. Can you handle that?”
“But why don’t we just wait for Alex and his guys?” That seemed like the best answer, and Meredith didn’t want Hunter and Eric taking chances they didn’t have to. She’d already lost two friends.
Hunter scowled. “It doesn’t work that way. A man doesn’t sit in his cave waiting to die. He strikes first.”
“The best defense is the best offense?” she asked.
“And surprise is always the best defense,” Eric added. “Burdette knows he’s got us outnumbered. I don’t get it though. He should have his men already hunting us.”
“They are, but he’s hired a bunch of losers. He only had one spec ops guy last I saw...” Hunter lifted his shoulders like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“That gives you eight to my six, you bastard,” Eric groused.
Meredith put her palms to the sides of her head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this. You’re keeping score?”
“Maybe,” Hunter mumbled, a mischievous glint in his eye.
“It’s a guy thing,” Seth said. “Like football stats. Passing. Rushing. Receiving—”
Hunter punched a fist into his palm. “Touchdowns.”
Football she understood. “How will I recognize your guys once they get here?”
“They’re ugly as dirt,” Eric muttered playfully. “No, really. Jordan’s never without his Ray-Bans and a ball cap. He’ll probably lead. Lee will follow. They’ll be wearing cammies with black polos. Course, you won’t be able to see their shirts with all their gear. They’re both tall drinks of water, built for speed and agility, not like your friend here.”
Hunter (In the Company of Snipers Book 14) Page 19