“I’m just so hot.”
He lowered her down to sit on the bed. Next thing Mia knew, a canteen was tilted to her lips, and she was greedily drinking tepid, metallic water. Mia had never tasted anything so good in her life.
Mia perked right up. She tilted her head so she could smile at Aiden. “Hi there, lover boy.”
His calloused fingers grasped her chin, lifting her face more toward the murky light. “What happened to your face?”
“The commandant hit me.” Mia pouted. This time it worked.
Aiden’s face went tight, and he barely breathed. “I’ll kill him.”
It was very satisfying on some visceral, primitive level. Mia waved her hand like it was not a big deal. Brave, brave Mia. She felt very British for some reason. Keep a stiff upper lip, lads. “It’s nothing. Really, I’m fine.”
Aiden stared at her, his brows gradually lowering in a gold bar over his glacial eyes.
“That’s just like you, Mia.” There was an annoyed tone in his voice.
“Excuse me?” Mia narrowed her eyes at him. She did not like his tone of voice.
“You came back for me. You risk yourself to get me back to my team. You somehow manage to get kidnapped by a madman. You blow it off that he hits you!”
Aiden’s face was turning red. Mia couldn’t believe it. He was being so unreasonable. He obviously knew he couldn’t yell because they might be overheard by unwelcome parties. But he was spitting out the words in hissing whispers.
Brave Mia was morphing into thoroughly pissed Mia. She glared at him. “You like it that I’m brave! You said so!”
“I changed my mind!”
Mia squealed in outrage, kind of like Doris Day in a ladylike snit. Being in a movie was growing on her. Her inner drama queen was coming out.
Mia slugged him on the chest. He didn’t even blink.
Aiden showed his teeth in a shark grin.
Mia’s lips trembled. A lone tear welled and leaked out of one of her eyes. She guessed that she didn’t have enough liquid in her to squeeze out two tears. But it didn’t matter.
Aiden groaned. He swept his arms around her and pulled her close. His breath was warm in her hair. “God, Mia, I can’t stand it that you’ve been in danger.”
“Oh, Aiden!” Mia clutched him. “Kiss me quick! And then let’s go rescue Marti, okay?”
His warm, firm lips settled on hers. For several glorious, Technicolor moments, they sucked face like champs. Mia moaned in her throat. She had missed him so much!
Aiden must have missed her, too. His hands were suddenly everywhere on her. Next thing Mia knew, her jeans and panties were down, and Aiden was lifting her up against the white, plastered wall. His long, roughened fingers bit into her butt cheeks. He thrust up into her quivering center, his big hot boner sliding deliciously home. He growled low in his throat. “Mia!”
Mia hissed in her breath. She looped her arms behind his neck and locked her legs around his waist.
His wild bucking set yellow sparks off behind her eyeballs. Mia wound her arms in a stranglehold around his brawny neck, holding on tight for the ride. Aiden’s hard hammering nailed her to the wall. He was grunting like a demented bear. It was quick and dirty and good.
Afterward, all Aiden had to do was zip himself back up. Mia took a little longer to put herself back together. When she was ready, he pulled her close for a firm, possessive kiss. He nuzzled her neck, his breath sending renewed shivers down her spine. “What’s this about Marti?”
“Oh, yeah! I forgot, my bad.” Mia told him about her best friend and Cadero and the revolution.
Aiden smiled. His electric-blue eyes glinted at her. “You never stop surprising me, Mia. You’ve saved me days of trying to pull together hard intel. Let’s go see about setting up a meeting with Cadero.”
When they snuck down the back stairs of the cantina, Aiden and Mia walked right into a trap. There were soldiers everywhere with guns. Fortunately, the bartender and a few others were on Mia and Aiden’s side. They had guns, too. Mia kind of hunkered down against the wall, her hands over her ears, while the bullets whizzed everywhere. After a while, the soldiers all fell dead to the floor. The acrid smoke was still eddying in the air when Aiden casually turned around to talk to the bartender.
That’s when Mia saw the soldier who was hiding behind a big potted palm. She realized that he had the drop on Aiden. His lips were pulled back in an evil smile.
Mia leaped to her feet and yelled a warning. Aiden whipped around. Mia’s heart stopped. Almost as though time had frozen, she saw what was going to happen. Aiden wasn’t going to be able to beat the soldier to the draw.
It was an action movie, so Mia had to take action. Her man was in harm’s way.
Quick as a flash, Mia pulled a knife out of her sleeve and threw it. The knife turned end over end in slow motion. Then the point struck the soldier in the throat. He threw up his hands, gurgled, and fell to the ground.
Mia grinned. “I love how things work out at the movies.”
Aiden was openmouthed. He looked at the dead soldier and then at Mia. She shrugged, like she threw knives at bad guys every day, and tossed her head. “I got skills.” He grinned.
Then everyone got down to business. The bartender told Aiden where to meet Cadero. Someone slapped a big floppy hat and a blanket thingy over Mia, to her disgust. “Did somebody go upstairs to get these things when I wasn’t looking?”
No one answered her. Everyone was too busy getting rid of dead soldiers.
Then they were off, following one of the men from the bar. He seemed to be a nervous, overly cautious man. He led them in circles, all over town, edging around corners and slinking over rooftops. Mia thought it was really kind of neat. Now she knew what it was like to be inside a cat’s head.
Aiden and Mia ended up in a deserted alley, standing under a broken arch. Cadero was waiting. He wasn’t wearing a floppy hat and blanket thingy. Lucky him. Mia took her hat off and fanned her hot face with it.
“Aiden Smith? I am Cadero.” He said his name with a lot of pride and stuck out his impressive chest. With narrowed eyes, he looked Aiden up and down. His big, scarred hand was resting on the big gun holstered at his hip.
“I understand you’re the leader of the revolution.” Aiden looked him over, too. His big hand was curved over the top of the big gun hanging from a strap over his shoulder.
The testosterone was so thick in the air that Mia sneezed. They both looked at her. They both frowned. “Sorry. Just get on with it, okay? We haven’t got a whole lot of time.” Mia was thinking that more than half of the movie had to be over already, and they hadn’t blown anything up yet. Mia didn’t want the audience to get bored.
“The woman is right.” Cadero flashed a smile, but his black eyes were cold. “We are to be comrades in arms, yes?”
Aiden smiled. It wasn’t the sexy grin that he always flashed for Mia. He looked dangerous instead. His electric-blue eyes were very bright and hard. “All right. Let’s make our plans.”
Mia stood around, kind of bored, while they hashed things out. Then they were shaking hands and grunting their good-byes. Mia quickly looked from one to the other. She threw up her hands. “Hold it! Hold everything! What about my friend? I want her back, like now!”
Cadero flashed another glimpse of very white teeth. “Your chica is safe. You do not need to fear for her. She will stay with me for a little while longer.” He turned and walked away, his man falling into place behind him.
“But that wasn’t the deal!” Mia was furious. Cadero didn’t turn around, and she couldn’t go after him because Aiden was holding her back. He had a hand wrapped around one of her upper arms, and his tight fingers rubbed the scratchy blanket thingy unpleasantly against her skin. “Let go of me! Come back here!”
“Mia, this isn’t the way to help your friend. It isn’t safe to stay here. Come on, we’ve got to get back to headquarters!” Aiden began hauling her back down the crooked alley the way they had come.
He was walking fast. It was hard for Mia to keep from stumbling, not because he was striding so quickly, but because he was moving her along with him when she didn’t want to move.
“But what about Marti?” Mia tried digging her heels into the cracked pavement, but she couldn’t get much traction. She wasn’t doing anything to slow them down, let alone braking.
Finally, Aiden stopped. He pulled her into the shelter of a deep-seated doorway. Letting go of her arm, he laid his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. The look on his face was real serious. “I will see that Marti is gotten back safely. Do you trust me?”
Mia looked up into his baby blues, seeing the sincerity reflected there. Reluctantly, she nodded. “Okay. But if you screw this up, Aiden, you won’t screw me!”
Aiden gaped, his jaw sagging. His hold slackened, and Mia twisted free. She stomped up the alley, but not before she saw the utter shock of comprehension on his face.
Mia grinned, evilly, and slapped the stupid floppy hat back on her head. Instantly, heat encased her head, but she knew she could handle it. She had just thrown down a major power play and won. A guy can always be motivated by sex, right?
She heard Aiden’s heavy boot steps slapping up behind her. “Mia!”
“Talk to the hand, Aiden!”
Mia didn’t turn around but speeded up. She decided that Marti was going to be all right. Her hunky action-hero would see to it! She rounded a corner of the twisted alley.
“You there! Chico!”
Mia faltered, nearly tripping on her own feet. She whipped her head, feeling hot breeze under the brim of her awful hat as it smacked her forehead. She saw a uniformed soldier planted wide-legged several feet in front of her. He seemed to be staring straight at her. Her heart started pit-a-patting at a rapid rate. She swallowed and froze in place. She quickly looked to both sides, hoping she wasn’t the one being singled out, but unfortunately there wasn’t anyone else there. It was just her and the empty, twisted alley between the solid walls of the buildings. She seemed to hear the single raucous cry of a happy vulture.
“Yes—you!” The soldier pointed at her. He had out a pistol. Luckily it wasn’t pointed at her. “Chico!”
Mia was glad that her awful disguise at least made him take her for a boy.
The soldier was standing in the mouth of the narrow alley. Behind him, on the wider street, a troop truck lumbered slowly by. “Have you seen a big man pass this way?”
Mia didn’t dare look beyond her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blur of motion. She guessed that Aiden had jumped into hiding in one of the deep doorways. But if the soldier decided to come closer, he would be able to see that part of the alley. Mia felt the sick drumming of her pulse in her ears. She shook her head vigorously.
The soldier wore star-quality, wraparound black sunglasses. The sunlight glinted off the silver rims. He half-raised the pistol. “Are you sure, chico? A big man with a scar on his face?”
She shook her head again, but more slowly. She shrugged, making the heavy, woolly blanket thingy sway around her dirty, blue-jeaned legs. Nervously, she scuffed at the dirt on the pavement. Under cover of the blanket thingy, she slid a couple of her knives free from their places in her sleeves. She carefully angled her arms so that she could sweep her hands out past the heavy covering. Sweat made ponds of her armpits, and huge drops trickled down her spine and down the backs of her legs. She ignored what her mind was screaming at her. Idiot! Bullets travel faster than knives! Do real people die in the movies—inquiring minds want to know!
The soldier snorted his disgust. He lowered the pistol. “Imbecile!” He turned around and stomped off out of sight. Dust motes danced in the sun where he had been.
Mia stumbled to the nearest cracked plastered wall and sagged against it. She breathed really fast through her nose. She felt like she might possibly want to be violently sick. She was still gripping tight the hard hilts of the knives. The whole world appeared to be far, far away, and she blinked owlishly at it through a shocked haze. I could be dead right now! Aiden could be dead!
Through the blood pounding in her head, she heard a low, penetrating whistle.
Mia straightened and stumbled a few steps back the way she had come.
A large hand fisted in the blanket thingy on her shoulder, whirled her around, and jerked her nearly off her feet. Mia fell forward against a broad, familiar chest. She smelled sweaty male musk. She burrowed against him, sweeping her fists around him.
He flinched.
“Ow!”
She had forgotten the knives in her hands. She eased back from him. She still felt kind of disconnected, so she was only mildly concerned. “Oh, sorry! Did I hurt you?”
Aiden glared down at her. He reached a hand behind himself, gingerly feeling around on his back. “You did that on purpose!”
“If I’d done it on purpose, I’d have done this!” Mia stepped in close and angled one of the knives suggestively high up between his brawny thighs. The point pricked fabric. She literally felt his entire body stiffen. He didn’t twitch a muscle. She didn’t think he even breathed.
Mia felt a really heady sense of power. It was a very interesting sensation. It drove away all of the nausea. Mia relished it.
“Uh, Mia? Sweetheart?”
The shock finally dissolved. The world came back in a rush. Suddenly, she felt much better. “Don’t worry! I like it too much where it is!” She stepped back and serenely smiled up at him from under the brim of the battered hat.
“Shit!” Aiden breathed through his nose. His eyes were blazing blue flame. He looked like he was going to say something hasty, but then he apparently thought better about it. He shifted the big gun slung from his shoulder into his hands. “Is the soldier gone?”
Mia nodded. She felt a renewed rush of anxiety. “But I think we should get out of here fast, Aiden! I caught a glimpse of a truck with armed troops. They’re looking for Cadero, but I don’t think they’d mind finding you!”
“I think you’re right. Let’s go!” Aiden started walking. Mia kept pace with him. He glanced down warily. “And put those knives away! Don’t you know it’s dangerous to play with sharp objects?”
Mia rolled her eyes. She hiccupped on a hysterical giggle. “Oh, all right!”
Chapter Eleven
When Aiden and Mia got back to headquarters, the first thing Mia did was trash the hated floppy hat and wooly blanket cover thingy in a big metal can. It had been the worst disguise ever designed. She never wanted to see it again. The next thing she wanted was an ice-cold soda. She didn’t have any money, so she vigorously kicked the machine until it delivered. She greedily sucked soda down, like a frat boy sucking a keg dry, and wiped her mouth. She crunched the can on her forehead, just because in movie land she could, and tossed it for a three-pointer.
She was pleased. Apparently, she had all kinds of unrealized talents.
Aiden had watched her performance. He shook his head and sighed in a put-upon way. “Mia, stop showing off.”
Mia stuck out her tongue. Then she grinned at him. “You’re just jealous because I’m more macho than you are!”
Aiden quirked his brows. Laughter gleamed in his electric-blue eyes. He flexed his bulging biceps but didn’t say anything. Mia looked at him. He was gorgeous. His uniform was a little dusty, but he wasn’t rumpled and streaked with sweat and dirt like she was.
Mia knew she looked a fright. She thoughtfully scratched an insect bite on her arm as she shot a longing glance toward the exit. She really wanted a shower, being all sticky and sweaty and fragrant, but Aiden and she had been ordered to go directly in to see the general.
Mia pouted. She was a civilian. She had shower rights.
Aiden hadn’t missed that glance of hers. He eyed her sternly. “Come quietly, or I will put a stronghold on you, sweetheart.”
Mia grumbled but she went.
The general was waiting for them. He glanced at Mia’s streaked, dirty appearance, but he didn’t comment. Inste
ad, he stared fiercely at her, his hands clasped behind his back. He rolled his unlit cigar between his teeth. “I want you to recount every detail of your capture and escape, Dr. Haven. Any detail could be of vital importance.”
“Yes, sir.” Mia resigned herself. Report first. Shower second. She decided to omit that she and Marti had been snatched out of a theater by on-screen goons. But she told the general everything else that she could remember.
When she told about the dramatic meeting with the commandant, she ignored Aiden’s low growl, and also his muttered curse when she described the fun-house torture room. She just kept pulling stuff out of her memory for the general. He asked questions here and there, which triggered more details that she hadn’t even realized she knew. She even told the general about counting the doors in the cell block corridor.
The general’s bushy eyebrows twitched upward. His hard eyes warmed with a gleam of approval. “Very good, Dr. Haven! That’s solid information we didn’t have.”
It didn’t take long for her to tell everything she knew about the cave and Cadero’s men. But the general grilled her for more details— like how many men had she seen, and what kind of weapons were they armed with, and could she find the cave again? He seemed a little disappointed that she couldn’t do better with her answers. At last, Mia just spread her hands helplessly. “I’m sorry, general. That’s as good as it gets.”
“All in all, you’ve done very well, Dr. Haven.” Then the general turned to Aiden. He bared his big teeth around his cigar, his expectation obvious. “All right, Smith! Tell me about this Cadero.”
While Aiden made his report, Mia played with one of the knives hidden under her sleeves. She caught a few odd glances tossed her way from the uniformed personnel, but she ignored them. Mia grinned to herself. A kickass mama, who could take down a bad guy with a knife thrown at the throat, didn’t care about the opinions of others. She was an action-movie goddess! She could make or break her own rules. She rocked!
She sighed. She let her inner bravado sag into disgruntlement. I stink and want a shower!
Roberts, Sarah - Action Hero Junkie [Movieland] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 12