Keep My Baby Safe

by Bella Grant

  “Excellent.”

  “My family?”

  “Safe, for now. Throw the phone into the river, understand?”

  “Yes.”

  The phone chirped as the call ended. Dan and Tasha looked at each other as he pulled the knife from Simon’s throat.

  “Your only chance is to do what we told you. Finish what you’re supposed to do on this run, then disappear. When is the cargo supposed to be unloaded?” Dan asked.

  “Tomorrow, at our last stop.”

  “Okay. Don’t do anything stupid,” Dan cautioned.

  “When this is over, I’ll put in a word with the U.S. consulate,” Tasha offered. “Maybe they need someone there. Keep that phone but never use it until I call you, got it? If you don’t hear from me in a week or so, you’re on your own. Take your family and get away the moment you get back to Talish. Give me the number.”

  Simon nodded frantically. “Yes. I’m so sorry. I didn’t have a choice. Thank you,” he said before reading off the number to Tasha as she punched it into her phone.

  “Don’t fuck with us,” Dan warned. “This is a one-time offer. You fuck with us, and your little girl will miss her daddy.”

  “No! Thank you. I will do as you say. Thank you,” Simon said as he backed out of the room.

  Dan tossed the knife onto the bed. “Fuck!”

  “Are you hurt?” Tasha asked as she stepped in close and looked him over.

  “I’ve been better. Christ, Simon is strong, and this fucking floor is hard.”

  She tossed her weapon onto the bed beside the knife and fell into his arms. She’d been so scared during the fight. One mistake and she could have lost him. She pursed her lips so she wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing any more people she cared about, and most especially not Dan. She hadn’t realized it until now, but Dan was becoming special, even more so than Roger had been.

  “I was so worried. You could have been killed.”

  “I’m still here,” he said, his voice flat.

  She pulled back to glare at him as a ghost of a smile played at his lips. “It’s not funny, Dan.”

  He touched her face. “I never said it was. But I am still here, and I’m not going any place.”

  She stepped into his arms again and held him tight. He held her for a long time.

  “You ready?” he asked as he pushed her gently out of his arms.

  “For what?”

  “We didn’t finish this morning.”

  “Are you shitting me?” she squawked.

  “No, and I could use a nap.”

  He smiled that smile. She couldn’t believe it, but even after watching Dan fight for his life, she could feel her desire for him stirring. She began unbuttoning her blouse, but she was keeping her gun under the pillow.

  Daniel

  “Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Connolly,” Phillip said, directing them down the gangway to the dock where the inflatable boats were waiting. The boats were large enough to accommodate eight, plus the pilot and guide, though six was more comfortable and less crowded. It took three boats to carry all twenty passengers.

  Their lovemaking after Simon had burst in on them had been explosive. The idea of fucking, then going to sleep with him inside Tasha so he could wake her up again had gone out the window. They’d simply fucked. They’d fucked hard and fast the first time, crying their mutual completion to the world as they burned off the adrenalin from the attack.

  Even after he came, he was still jacked up. He’d been terrified Simon would overpower him and kill Tasha, and he wondered if that fear was what gave him the strength to subdue the giant of a man. As soon as the blistering heat of his orgasm had passed, he’d taken her again, slower and more gently. When he got close, he’d finished with her on top, then they’d slept.

  He’d slept for hours until she woke him up with his cock in her mouth. That had led to yet another round of hard, sweaty fucking. They’d finally emerged from their room in time for dinner, much to the amusement of everyone aboard. They’d completely missed that day’s excursion and had to endure much teasing over it, but he didn’t care. He saw how the other men looked at Tasha. He was surprised their wives weren’t constantly kicking them under the table. Besides, it’d set a precedence that would work to their advantage tomorrow.

  After dinner and another round of slow and easy love-making, their pillow talk was a discussion on how to slip away without being noticed. After much debate—and a fair amount of touching and kissing—they’d worked out a plan.

  They walked down the pier to where the smaller boats were tied off. It was time to put the plan in motion.

  “Wait! I forgot my hat,” she cried before she turned and ran back to the Queen.

  He waited until the guide started the boat engine. “Wait! Laura’s not back. She must have gotten into another boat. Hang on while I find her.”

  He climbed back up to the dock and pretended to look for her, though he knew exactly where she was. “She’s in another boat,” he called. “Go on without me!”

  He started walking toward her as she talked to the guide in her boat. She waved and started walking toward him. His boat surged away, then hers, the third boat following in their wake. They ducked low then hurried away from the dock and crouched in the trees that lined the river.

  “I can’t believe that worked.” She grinned as they watched the three power boats speed away.

  They stayed under cover, watching the Hangula Queen. After almost an hour, a large raft with a boat on either side puttered into sight. As they watched, Simon, along with other members of the crew, unloaded three pallets of supplies and the generator and loaded them onto the barge. The raft had settled much lower in the water, and as the boats backed away, he could tell they were struggling with the load.

  “That’s going to be a problem,” he muttered.

  He hadn’t planned on them taking another boat farther upstream. They’d brought no supplies because that would raise suspicions. He’d assumed wherever the supplies were going would be near where the Queen docked. Their plan had been shaky from the start as they improvised, but their asses were really hanging out now.

  “Come on,” he whispered and began to move along the bank as the boats pulled the barge away from the Queen.

  The barge was low in the water as it was pushed against the current, so their progress was slow, but it was still faster than they could move on land. They had to cross streams that fed into the Hangula, and the deadfall of trees slowed their progress further.

  They were sweating, panting, and covered in dirt when they stumbled across a skiff tied to a tree at the bank. The barge of supplies was still in sight, but they wouldn’t be able to keep up with it much longer. He inspected the craft. It had a small gas motor and a couple of paddles, and was exactly what they needed.

  “Get in,” he said as he untied the mooring line and tossed it into the boat. He shoved it into the river with a grunt, climbing aboard as it started floating. He scrambled to the back and checked the motor. If it didn’t start, they were screwed. Trying to paddle against the current was probably slower than being on foot. He primed the engine and gave the rope a pull. It started easily.

  “Now we’re in business,” he said with a grin as he grabbed the steering arm and gave the motor just enough throttle to hold against the current.

  “What are we waiting on?”

  “For them to get far enough ahead so they don’t hear us.”

  He waited about a minute then killed the engine. He could just hear the two boats pushing hard against the current. He restarted the motor and gave it enough throttle to make slightly better than walking pace.

  He followed for about fifteen minutes then killed the engine to listen. Hearing the buzzing roar of the hard-working motors of their quarry, he restarted the motor and putt-putted after them. With their motors laboring so hard, it was impossible for the men they were following to hear the softly purring motor. After about two hours of off and on l
istening, he killed his motor. He couldn’t hear his target’s motors anymore and he felt a flush of panic.

  “I don’t hear them,” Tasha hissed.

  “Me either!” He started the motor again and opened it up. They roared along for fifteen minutes, traveling much faster than they were before, then again killed the engine. He could hear the motors again, but they were coming from the side. He started the motor again and drove the skiff until he saw a smaller tributary. He turned and killed the motor just inside the mouth. The sound came from ahead of them again.

  He followed, pausing often until he no longer heard the motors. Since his boat didn’t have to work as hard, he hoped the people he was following hadn’t been able to hear them.

  “Which side?”

  She stared at him a moment. “Left.”

  He knew she was guessing, but at least if they were on the wrong side of the river, it wouldn’t be his fault. He beached the craft and they climbed ashore. With Tasha’s help, he pulled the boat well up into the trees where it likely wouldn’t be seen, then they crept through the brush until they could hear men shouting. They kept moving until they found their objective. The men struggled to pull the generator ashore. At least they were on the correct side of the river.

  “Good call,” he whispered as they watched the four men work.

  “Lucky guess,” she amended.

  “Either way, we won’t have to swim.”

  She grinned and nodded. They watched for a while. Once the generator was ashore, the men dumped supplies off the barge and loaded them into the back an old U.S. army truck. As they worked, it began to rain.

  “Of course,” Dan muttered.

  As if they weren’t wet enough from sweat already, rain in Orkut only made it feel hotter. They continued to crouch in the stifling heat and rain while watching the men move like a line of ants, each bringing a small portion of their booty to the truck. When the vehicle was loaded, the generator was attached to the truck. Two of the men left in the boat and the other two climbed into the cab of the truck.

  “Come on!” he urged as he moved after the vehicle.

  His first thought was to catch the truck and get inside the back somehow, but he gave that idea up. If they got caught, they were totally fucked. He let the truck disappear down the muddy track so they wouldn’t be seen.

  The road was rough and the truck was slow. They could easily keep up at a slow jog, but unlike flesh and blood, rubber and steel didn’t get tired.

  “I’ve got to stop,” Tasha panted as she slowed to a walk.

  Dan did the same. It was a good thing she called a break. He was about to drop. “I didn’t think about this part of the plan,” he panted.

  “Me either.”

  They could still hear the truck as it labored along, but it was steadily getting fainter and farther away. It wasn’t like the truck could get lost. They’d stay on this road until they caught up with it again.

  They walked until he caught his breath. “So, you like nature hikes?”

  She twittered out a laugh. “Oh yeah, I’m having a grand time.”

  He chuckled. “You should. It’s not every woman I take on a date to the jungle.”

  “I feel privileged.” He smiled and took her hand. He glanced at her, and she smiled back. “I can walk by myself,” she said.

  “It’s not for you, it’s for me.”

  “You’re not scared, are you?” she teased.

  “A little.”

  “Of what? I thought you trained for this kind of stuff.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about.”

  “Oh. What then?”

  “You.”

  “Me?” she asked, clearly surprised by his answer.

  “Yeah. After what happened on the boat…”

  “You were worried about me? What about you? You were the one who had a gorilla trying to drive a butcher knife into his chest.”

  “Yeah, and if he’d killed me, you would have been next.”

  “I had my weapon.”

  He frowned. “I know. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

  “What then?”

  He took a deep breath and looked at her, watching her eyes. “I don’t want to lose you, okay?”

  She pulled him to a stop. “What are you saying? Are you saying you’re…in love with me?”

  “No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never been in love with anyone before, but I feel something. Since that night when I told you what happened in Mexico. I don’t know what to call it.” He tugged her hand to start her walking again. “At first I thought it was simply lust. I mean, look at you. You walk into a room and every head turns, but that’s not it.”

  “You don’t lust after me?” she asked, a smile teasing her lips.

  “You know that’s not true,” he replied with a smile of his own. “But it’s not only that. I mean, yes, I want you so bad that even now, I’d like to throw you down on the ground, strip off your clothes, and make wild, passionate, love to you right here. But it’s more than that. You quiet the voices.”

  “Voices?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know what else to call them. The whispering that says I fucked up, that Gretchen is dead because of me. The voices are still there, but they aren’t as loud. Sometimes, especially when I’m making love to you, I don’t hear them at all.”

  She looked at him as he walked. “I guess I can say the same. I’ve stopped blaming myself for what happened to Derrick and Rich.”

  “Good.”

  She smiled. “You convinced me that I couldn’t have known. It was killing me that you tried to stop them and I didn’t back you up. I couldn’t figure out what you’d seen that I missed.”

  “You didn’t miss anything.”

  “I realize that now. But for a few days, I thought I’d let the entire team down.”

  “But not now?”

  She smiled again, and it touched him. “No, not so much.”

  It was such a sweet little smile. She was so many women. Brilliant spy, sex kitten, tough bitch, and soft seductress all packed into one. Was he falling for her? Maybe he was. They’d been working together, eight to twelve hours a day, six days a week, for three months. He’d spent more time with her than any other woman in his life. Taking their relationship to the intimate level and having her help him put his past behind him, he’d started seeing her in another light. He liked what he saw. She was everything he wanted and admired in women. Strong when she needed to be yet soft when she wanted to be. Not to mention devastating in bed. She twisted him up like no woman ever had. He simply could not get enough of her, and she’d met him stride for stride.

  They walked for a time, chatting about this and that to pass the time. It had stopped raining several hours before, but it was starting again.

  He pulled himself from his thoughts and looked at the sky. “It’s going to be dark soon. We need to find shelter.”

  “Where?” she asked as she looked around.

  “Leave it to me.”

  For the next hour, he broke off tree limbs and used them to construct a frame against a fallen tree. The frame secured, he covered the limbs with large leaves, weaving them into the branches to hold them in place to shed the rain and to give them a semi-dry place to sleep. It wasn’t the Grand Orkut, but it was better than sleeping in the rain. Next, he formed two makeshift bowls out of the same broad leaves to catch the rain, then they foraged. The pickings were slim, but he finally found enough edible berries that they’d have something to fill their stomachs with.

  “You went five days like this?” Tasha asked as they sat under the shelter, the rain pattering against the leaves as she nibbled the sweet red berries. The shelter wasn’t totally watertight, but there were only a few drips.

  “Yeah, why?”

  She shook her head. “Just wondered. Remember when I said I didn’t know if I’d be able to resist a shower?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I’ve changed my mind. I know I wouldn’t be
able to resist a shower. It’s only been one day and already I’d gladly trade these berries for a bath.”

  He grinned. “It’s still raining.”

  “Right.”

  “No really. It’s not as good as soap and water, but I took a couple of showers like that when we were on the run. I’d strip down and use my hands to scrub the dirt and mud off myself, the rain washing it away. It’s slow, but it works.”

  She stared at him a moment and smiled and began to take off her once white shirt.

  “Leave your clothes in here so they can dry. I suggest standing in the road. More rain there.”

  She walked into the road dressed in nothing but her panties and bra and stood, her face up to the rain. He watched a moment, his cock hardening. Standing in the dim moonlight, she looked like a sprite as she used her hands to work the water through her hair, the rain slowly washing away the sweat from their long walk. As he watched, she scrubbed her face, then worked on the rest of her body, her hands gliding over her skin. Fuck it. There had been no sign of anyone for hours, and they were probably still hours away from where the truck had stopped. Even with the rain hissing loudly around them, they would hear the truck coming long before anyone driving it would hear or see them. He stood and peeled out of his clothes. He decided he needed a shower too. He joined her in the road.

  “I was beginning to wonder if you were coming,” she purred. “I need you to wash my back.”

  He unclipped her bra and she didn’t protest. He hung it over a nearby limb and ran his hands slowly over her back, enjoying the feel of her skin beneath his fingers. After a moment she turned in his arms, taking him into a full, deep kiss as she caressed his manhood. He pulled back and began kissing down her body, the rain making her skin taste even sweeter than normal. He settled to his knees in the muddy tracks of the road as he continued to move lower, slipping her tangas off her as he did so.

  When he began kissing the center of her sexuality, she moaned softly and draped a leg over his shoulder, holding tightly to his head for balance. He licked and probed, holding her ass to help steady her. He pleased her for many long moments before she began gasping harder. She tried to pull away, but he held her firm, his arm around her leg to prevent her from escaping. She fought harder, trying to lower the leg over his shoulder as her cries became louder, the leg she was using for support quivering with effort.