by Debra
She used the commotion to race in behind the mercenaries. Not the smartest move, she thought, too late, as it put her on the wrong end of Will’s gun, but she stayed put, ready to act.
More lights crisscrossed in the distance. They had only a few minutes before Lancaster and Scott arrived.
The options were too few. She felt around in the dark until she found a pinecone. Not a great weapon, but a decent distraction. She jumped up and hurled it at Max. It found its mark in the middle of his back. She crouched behind a tree as one of the men charged her direction. “Will, run!” she shouted. “The others are nearly here.”
“You first,” he called back.
Guns growled as bullets flew between Will and the one mercenary. She had to move or she’d be caught for sure on the wrong side of the crash site.
“Charly?” James was nearly on top of her, but he was looking high, instead of low. “Come on now. We can come to terms.”
She knew his terms. Breath held, gauging her options and dwindling time, she listened, eyes closed.
One more step. Come on, one more.
Finally, he moved, and she drove her elbow into his knee, then jumped up and punched him square in the throat. Leaving him choking, she ran for her life to where she’d left the packs. It sounded like a war zone behind her. The only good news was that the chaos would keep any wildlife at bay for a while.
She hitched her pack on her shoulders, praying Will would show up. Hearing boots, she spun around, knife swinging.
“Easy.” Will caught her arm with quiet authority. “It’s me.”
She flared her free hand, unwilling to drop the knife. He let her go in favor of picking up his pack. They moved farther into the trees before Will stopped her.
“Too close,” she said.
“We won’t stay long.” He pulled her down beside him. “Are you hurt?”
“No. You?”
“I’m fine.”
“Then let’s move. They’ll find us here.”
Will shook his head. “They’re too distracted.” But the four men were already searching around the plane, trying to get organized.
She wanted more space. Now.
“Did you kill James?”
She shook her head, trying to slow the panicked beat of her heart.
“Oh. Here he comes.”
She saw him stagger out, joining the others in a circle of gathered flashlights. The angry voices carried up to their position.
“Hunt them down!”
“You let them get away?”
That was probably Scott, but it was impossible to tell which man had shouted amid all the raised voices. Charly wanted to cover her ears, wanted to shut it all out. The tension rolled off the mercenaries in waves as the arguing and accusations were hurled back and forth.
Will’s hand, warm on her shoulder, was the only thing keeping her from bolting. Irrational, but true—her flight reaction had her by the throat and wasn’t letting go. Suddenly a gunshot rang out across the mountain, sending birds that had recently settled for the night into a swirl of panic and feathers flitting across the dark sky.
She, too, jerked in response, but Will had gathered her close. His strong arms were the only security, his embrace the beginning and end of her world. She clung to him, smothering her urge to scream against his warm chest. They were still too close. Any sound and they, too, would be dead tonight.
“You can’t leave him there,” Scott said.
“Watch me,” Lancaster replied.
She couldn’t look, but she heard the sounds, the smack and thud as punches were thrown. She hated the senseless killing and violence. Nothing was worth this. No one deserved Lancaster’s blatant disregard for life. She wondered if she’d ever find her temper through the icy fist of dread clamped around her heart.
“It’s too close to the wreck. The guide talked about predators.”
“I don’t give a damn. The pilot’s dead. What’s one more body? We’ll be gone by first light.”
“You’re inviting trouble.”
“You have your orders. Track them down.”
“Impossible in the dark,” Scott argued. “We’ll camp here. Protect the site.”
“Go find them!” Lancaster shouted. “Now.”
Another hard smack, then someone was spitting, choking. “We can’t track them in the dark. We don’t know who’s helping her, just that he has skills.”
“I hired you for your skills! We aren’t leaving witnesses.”
“One thing we agree on,” Scott declared with a threatening finality that chilled her. “I’ll take care of it in the morning. We camp here. Get rid of the body.”
“No.” Lancaster sounded like a petulant child.
“You shot him, you get rid of him.”
Will gave her a gentle squeeze. “Is there anywhere to hide up here?” he whispered against her ear.
With a nod, she pushed back. Moving carefully so they wouldn’t draw Lancaster’s attention, she led them back to the safety of the ridge.
Chapter Fifteen
Will wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but she’d gotten them away safely, unerringly finding their packs as they retreated from the crash site with no more than the moonlight to show the way. He had to admit her skills were more than a little eerie. She moved with absolute silence when she wanted to. He knew damn well if it hadn’t been for her khaki pants he would’ve lost her.
“I’ve said it before, but I’m glad you’re on my side,” he said, walking deeper into the shelter. He dropped his pack against the back wall of the small cave she’d found.
“Same goes,” she said, her voice catching.
He wanted to soothe, but exhaustion and adrenaline left him searching for the right words. “Thanks for not listening to me.”
“Sure.” She continued to stare into the dark, eyes wide, searching for Lancaster’s next inevitable attack.
He put his arm around her, squeezed her shoulder. “You made those wolf calls, right?”
“One of them,” she admitted, rubbing her hands over her arms. “The first one.”
The woman he’d thought could never break was about to shatter. He had to do something. Anything. The world outside the cave started to come to life again. Small things rustled. A sound similar to her wolf call rose into the sky.
“Is that one looking for you?”
“No. He knows a fraud when he hears it.”
She’d sounded pretty genuine to him. A sudden screech split the air, making him jump. “Christ, that’s loud.”
“Screech owl,” she whispered, hugging herself. “Worse when it bounces off the rocks.”
He had to work, but he got her pack off her shoulders, set it beside his as the owl cried out again. “Will it go on all night?”
“So what if it does? It can’t hurt you.”
“It can sure as hell keep me awake.”
“You sound like My Cousin Vinnie.”
He turned. “What?”
“The movie? The city-boy lawyer trying to cope with the differences of a small town in the Deep South.”
“I know the movie.” She was starting to sound closer to normal, but she wasn’t there quite yet. “I’ll start a fire.”
“That’ll lead them right back to us.”
“I don’t think so.” He patted his gun. “But they’re welcome to try. We’ve got solid rock at our back, which leaves them only one approach. I guarantee I’ll shoot first, and I don’t miss.”
“Fine.”
He figured the chill gripping her from head to toe had more to do with her easy agreement than his weapons expertise.
When he had a small fire going, he came back for her. “See anything?”
“Not yet. What if they see the fire?”
“It’ll be okay.”
She turned, and his heart clutched at the pain in her midnight eyes. “He shot James. Because of me.”
“No. James died because he signed on to work for a crazy man.” He gathered her in
to his arms, helpless to do anything else. “It’s not your fault.” She didn’t cry, but tremors ripped through her frame, pain and anxiety determined to find a way out. “Lancaster’s gone off the edge.”
“Not the right one,” she said after a minute.
He choked back a laugh. “He won’t get away with it, I promise.” He ran his hand up and down her back.
“I believe you.” Her breath quieted, and her heartbeat wasn’t as wild against his chest. “I want to help you take him down.”
“That’s good. I’ll need you.”
She wriggled in his embrace, pressed a kiss to his cheek, then stepped back. “Okay. Let’s make a plan.”
“Sure.” He was glad she’d turned the corner, but a manic rush of energy with no safe direction could be as problematic as the brittle shock. “But let’s settle down for a minute first.” He handed her a canteen.
She took a long drink, swiped her hand across her mouth. Then she shrugged out of her jacket. “I’m antsy.”
“It happens.”
She rooted through her pack, making a happy sound when she found some sort of wipes she used to clean away remnants of the day. “Want one?”
He accepted with a smile, started thinking about what they had left to eat. It was better than thinking about suffering another night alone with her in tight quarters. Another night when he couldn’t touch her like he wanted to.
“Will?”
He turned, nearly bumping into her.
Charly looked up at him. She wanted to take a bite out of that square, beard-stubbled jaw more than she wanted another meal of granola bars and beef jerky. But it was clear he was expecting her to break apart at any moment. He was probably right. Part of her still felt shaky, but for increasingly different reasons than shock and death. She knew she should wait until they were done here. Until they had some time off the mountain to see how they felt about each other when life was normal again.
Should sucked.
But they shared the meal, and she gave a valiant effort to diverting her thoughts away from jumping Will’s hard body. “We should talk,” she said.
“About?”
“Anything.”
He gave her a wary look over the top of the canteen. “Tell me about your first solo hike.”
“No.” She reached down and loosened her boot laces. “Something else.”
He shifted his feet. “Okay.” He pointed to his chin. “See this scar?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She wanted to kiss it. Along with any others she could find.
“Happened when I was eight. Nine? No, eight, because—”
He went quiet when her hands gripped his hips. “Will?”
“Wh-what?”
“I’m done talking about the past.”
“You are?”
She nodded. “Let’s talk about right now.” She trailed her fingers up over his chest. “I want you.” She had to clear her throat, but she pressed on, determined to get the words out. “I want you to make love with me. Here. Tonight. Tomorrow doesn’t matter. Might be too late.”
“Charly, what you’re feeling, it’s just a basic reaction—”
“Stop. We both know this isn’t ‘just’ anything.” She pulled her braid over her shoulder, started combing it out with her fingers. “Do you want me, Will?”
His answer was to grab her with greedy hands, jerking her right up against his hard body. She had a split second to gasp before his mouth found hers. Claimed her. The heat of it rolled through her, sizzled and popped like sparklers.
She clutched his shoulders, straining for balance as his tongue swept into her mouth, one sensuous velvet stroke after another. Her body was primed and ready for him instantly. She felt as if she’d been ready for him her entire life. Pushing layers of fabric out of the way, she sighed in delight when her hands found warm skin at last.
He broke the kiss only long enough to strip off his jacket and shirt, then push away the barrier of hers. The firelight danced, highlighting acres of sculpted muscle. A better view than she’d imagined.
Amazed, hardly believing her eyes, she reached out, trailing her fingertips across his pecs, down the washboard abs. He was stunning and she was...
“Stunning.”
She blinked. That had been her thought, but Will’s voice. Aimed at her. She didn’t want to call him a liar, but in her opinion the simple cotton bra—her entire body—was better defined as serviceable.
“Not too late for second thoughts.” He tipped her chin up and she had to close her eyes or meet his gaze. “Do you want me to stop?”
No coward, she stared into his blue eyes, burning hot. For her. It was astounding. In all her fantasies, and her rare real encounters, no man had looked at her quite the way Will did now. “No second thoughts here.”
His smile was a wicked flash before he leaned in and took her mouth once more. Kisses over her jaw, down her throat. The rough whiskers on his jaw scraped her skin as he nipped at the sensitive curve of her shoulder. She gasped as his hands cruised over her breasts, thumbs slipping behind the thin cotton to tease her nipples.
With a flick, her bra was undone and tossed aside. She couldn’t find the energy to care as his mouth replaced his hands on first one breast and then the other. Running her fingers through his hair, arching into his lavish attention had her nearing a climax already.
She reached for his waistband, carefully opening the button fly around his erection. His breath shuddered across her skin when she closed her hand around him. She tingled, inside and out, as sensation layered over sensation while he learned what her body craved.
Him.
He laid her back on the sleeping bag as if she was the most exquisite treasure in his world.
And when he rose over her and drove into her with one swift thrust, she felt treasured, even as a sudden climax ripped through her. She reached for him, stroking everything she could reach. His broad back, his narrow hips, his biceps and shoulders strong as iron. Even that tiny scar he’d gotten when he was eight. Or nine. With her whole body she embraced him, drew him in and held as his rhythm seduced her, carried her up toward another peak.
Had anything ever felt as good?
Never. She wanted it to go on and on, felt as though it did as his body went taut on that final bolt of pleasure. Still intimately joined, he brushed her nose with his, then kissed her with such tenderness, she shivered beneath him.
He braced on one elbow. “Cold?”
“No. Probably never again.” She kissed his chin.
“But you have goose bumps,” he teased, his teeth scraping gently over her shoulder.
She caressed his calf with her toes. “Whose fault is that, I wonder.”
He rolled to his side, tucking her close and wrapping himself around her. “Sleep. I’ll take the first watch.”
“All right.” She smiled into the banked fire. If he felt half as good as she did right now they were most likely invincible.
Chapter Sixteen
Will came awake suddenly, blinking to make sense of the near dark around him. He was alone under the sleeping bag and the sun wasn’t more than a vague rumor in the sky beyond their shelter. That made two days running that Charly had managed to wake before him. How did she do that?
Though she moved silently, he knew her absence had been the distraction that pulled him from sleep. It wasn’t the most comfortable self-realization. As a rule, he didn’t actually sleep with the women who’d shared his bed. Or sleeping bag, as was the case here.
He sat up and smiled, watching her braid all of that silky midnight hair. Just hours ago he’d had all that in his hands. His body heated, recalling the feel of it sliding over his skin.
Their clothes were a mess and the closest thing they had to a shower was an ice-cold stream somewhere in the distance. Yet, wardrobe malfunctions aside, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a woman as beautiful as Charly.
Knowing her had changed him. Made him want more than he could have. More than her body, he wanted to
be the man she needed. However things went with Lancaster today, he knew he wasn’t the same man he’d been when he’d arrived in Durango.
“Going to laze around here all day?” She cast a look at him over her shoulder.
“I wish.” His easy, instinctive answer surprised him. He decided to roll with it. They could get serious later. “When this is over, we need to come back up here.”
She bowed her head a moment, then shifted around to face him. When she met his gaze, he noticed the sheen of tears in her eyes, but her voice was steady. “To banish this entire Lancaster debacle and reclaim this area as a more positive experience.”
He nodded and reached for her hand, lacing their fingers. She had such strength in her hands. “Capturing Lancaster is step one, honoring Clint step two. But I don’t want you standing at your shop and looking up here only to have that view haunted by dread or pain.”
“I know bad things happen, no matter what or who caused them.”
“You also know living is more than just surviving the bad things.”
She blinked several times, and her eyes, clear now, locked with his. Leaning closer, she brushed her lips lightly across his cheek and then his mouth. “You are a thoughtful man, Will Chase.”
She kissed him again and he let her, sinking into the kind, if overblown, compliment she offered. “It’s a gift,” he murmured against her warm skin, more than willing to change the subject.
“You are a gift,” she corrected gently. “We should make time to visit the places that haunt you, too.”
He froze, uncertain how to interpret that. Yes, he wanted her, but it was hard to believe she really wanted to be with him beyond this misadventure. No intelligent woman would. Not after the things he’d told her. The list was too long and, aside from his parents’ home, the places that haunted him were on the other side of the world or locked in vaults in the dark corners of his mind.