He watched her as she pulled the top over her head and folded it before handing it to him. He grinned as he rolled it instead of leaving it folded. “It’ll fit better this way.”
She nodded. He took in her sexy appearance. Perhaps having her ditch the top was a bad idea. The skin he saw now just made him want to reach out and touch every inch of it.
“When it gets cold I’ll need that back. It’s not a heavy sweater top but it keeps me at least a little warmer than this thing will.”
“You’ll get it back,” he assured her. She would get that and the blanket because he knew it was going to get cold tonight. The night temperatures didn’t drop to freezing, but it was cold enough that she would need something to help her stay warm. He wouldn’t mind serving as her blanket, but he was going to have to keep watch. Now that he knew those guys were too close for comfort he was not going to be sleeping very comfortably—if at all. He had to protect her; he had to get her home.
Chapter Nine
“We know she’s down here,” Alexei nearly growled as he looked at the necklace he had found midway down the hill. Fortunately he had a rope that he was able to use to sturdy his descent. If it hadn’t been for the shift of the sun he wouldn’t have even seen the necklace, but with the shift came the glitter from the stones that helped make up the skate. She had definitely fallen down the steep hill, but what he didn’t know was how she had gotten out in the first place. Clearly she hadn’t gotten out on her own. When his rage from losing his prisoner settled he could tell that the ropes had been cut. But nobody knew about their compound. From the documentation on the old place it was listed as destroyed, at least that’s what he had read. He knew it wasn’t, but nobody else knew that. Nobody should have even thought to look for him there. He doubted the local cops had been smart enough to figure it out.
“We’ll get her back.” Iakov slowed the jeep so they could get a better look into the brush area.
“Da,” Alexei nodded. “We will get her back and we will kill the one who helped her escape.”
“I hope that will be my job,” Daniil licked his lips, hungry for blood as always. He was a killer without conscious and Alexei knew that worked to his advantage—for now. He would have to be sure to keep watch over him. As Ambrosii had always told him, “keep those who work under you in sight for you never know when they will try to take over your position.” He had told him to watch the most lethal for even though they seemed uncontrolled with rage, they were controlled enough to kill. That meant they could kill him and that meant they were a potential enemy to him.
“Da, you can kill, just not her. That is my victory.” He would allow Daniil to kill whoever this guy was, he was sure it was a guy for he didn’t think a woman could have pulled off the climb. Then again, perhaps he should not underestimate a woman. He thought he would have reduced Aaron Bowman’s daughter to tears by now, but she hadn’t cried. No matter what he did to her, or how he starved her, she hadn’t cried; she hadn’t begged for her safety or her freedom. He liked her less for her strength and he craved, more now than before, to break it—to break her.
“We stop here. We can leave the jeep parked. They are on foot. They are in there somewhere and the jeep will not go all the way. Park it there,” he pointed to an area just inside the start of the tree and brush cover. It wasn’t thick, but it would hide the vehicle if any planes flew overhead. They never had a problem with that happening, but he wasn’t the type to take unnecessary risks. He did not need today to be the day some tourist demanded drop off near the trail so they could hike down. It was still far enough away not to be an issue for them, but he wouldn’t risk any possible trouble. He was always prepared, just as his brother had taught him to be.
He stuffed the necklace with the broken clasp into one of his pockets and then he pulled his weapons out the jeep with him, as did the others. “The girl is mine; her rescuer is Daniil’s kill. If we are separated be sure to bring them both back, should either of you find them first.” Alexei knew at some point they would have to break off from each other. The area was too big not to. He also didn’t know how much of a head start they had, but he knew they did not have a vehicle which meant they couldn’t have gone too far. What he didn’t know was if they would take the obvious path toward the trail, or be smarter. No matter; when they came to that fork in the road they would separate into two groups and explore both paths. Eventually they all led to the same place. He would have his revenge. He would not let anybody deprive him of that sweet victory. She would die, and it would be at his hands. Her father would know; Alexei would be sure he knew.
They had increased their speed. Akira wasn’t a stranger to running. She was a skater, she stayed in shape running and doing ballet and of course skating, but this was different. This was life or death and for some reason it made each step seem to increase in difficulty. Jet may have forgotten that his longer legs meant he could take wider strides at a normal pace while her shorter stature meant she had to work just a little harder to keep up with him. She wasn’t out of shape and she wasn’t having difficulty keeping up, she just had to work harder to do it. Considering her options she wasn’t going to ask him to slow down even a fraction because slowing down might be just what the bad guys needed to catch up with them.
She would say she did perfectly fine for most of the day. It was when the sun started to set, when she realized they had been moving at double speed all day that her body gave out. She crashed to her knees feeling every second of the day’s hike. They were supposed to be going down, but the way the terrain sloped and curved there were areas where they had to go up first.
“We can’t stop here,” he told her as he took hold of her arm. “Just a little farther and then we’ll stop for the night so you can get some sleep.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll get what I can,” he said as he helped her up. Her knees almost buckled again, but she willed herself to press onward. She tried to tell herself this was no different than a competition, no matter how tired she was she had to keep moving. Of course this was different than one of the competitions and shows she had been a part of, but if telling herself it wasn’t different kept her moving then she would tell herself those words for as long as it took. It was like dangling a carrot just trying to help her get to the finish line.
“You need rest, Jet.”
“I’ll get what I can,” he told her once again. She decided to let the discussion rest for now because they weren’t in a position to argue about it.
She thought things were going relatively well given the circumstances. She figured if they had to stop to sleep and stop due to limited visibility, then the guys chasing them would have to stop as well. But then Jet assured her these guys were probably well rested from their previous night’s sleep. He was right. She had been in that chair which meant she barely slept, and Jet had cut his sleep time down significantly so that he could come in and rescue her while they were still asleep. Jet was probably fine, while she was beyond exhausted. She wasn’t sure how her eyes were staying open. The longer they walked, and the darker it became, the more sleep called to her. Jet had also pointed out that he didn’t want to turn on the flashlight because he didn’t want to give away their position.
Jet didn’t seem to be having any trouble navigating as the light faded and the sky grew darker. But if he didn’t want her to step off a cliff he was going to have to give her more light than just the moon. Actually she needed sleep, but she wasn’t going to ask for him to stop. He said they needed to keep moving and she respected that.
Thankfully, about an hour after the sky completely darkened he found a spot for them to rest. She had to climb up a rocky slope first, but once they were up she knew it would be worth it. She was tired and cold. She needed her top back, and that blanket was starting to seem like a necessity too.
“We’ll be okay up here for the night. They’ll be down there; if they keep moving I’ll see the lights they use to navigate and I’ll handle it.�
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“Jet,” she shivered. “I need my top.” She almost felt her teeth chattering.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He swiftly opened the pack and pulled her top out. She took it just as swiftly and pulled it over her head, hoping the fabric would warm her cold arms.
“I didn’t want to make us stop.”
“Akira,” he warned. “You should have said something.”
“I’m saying something now.” Her fingers tugged on the blanket still attached to the bottom of his pack. He obviously got the hint because he removed it, unfolded it and wrapped it around her. “God, it’s cold out here. I was fine last night.”
“You were sheltered by four walls,” he reminded her. “You don’t have anything to keep you from the wind out here, or to cut down the impact of the cold temperature. Come here,” he leaned against the tree and opened his arms for her. She edged closer to him and he pulled her onto his lap. “I’ll help keep you warm for a little while, and then I have to keep watch.”
“You need sleep.”
“I’ll get a little. I’ll just make sure I don’t sleep too comfortably.” He wrapped his arms around her. She looked up into his eyes and smiled.
“I like being in your arms. I have dreamed about this for so long…well, not the chased by really bad guys with guns part, but just being in your arms—being with you.” She blushed and looked away. He slipped two fingers underneath her chin and prompted her to raise her head and her eyes to look at him.
He brushed his thumb over her lips. “If you knew how hard I tried to fight this, how long…”
“Why? I know you say it’s the age thing, but Jet, I’m a grown woman.”
“I’m an old man.”
She chuckled. “You’re not that old and you know it.”
“Maybe I was just afraid you would wake up one day and realize you could have done better.”
“There is nobody better for me, Jet. I love you. I’ll always love you. I love you so much it hurt knowing you couldn’t love me the same, but I didn’t want to...I never meant to…lose the friendship.”
“You never lost it, and you never will. For the record, I do love you. I’m in love with you and I’m not going to fight it anymore.” He leaned in and kissed her, pressing the palm of his hand against the coolness of her cheek. His tongue danced with hers, drawing her deeper into the embrace. She wanted this. She wanted him and now he was hers. This was really happening. This wasn’t a dream. This was her reality.
She deepened the kiss as his hand gently moved to caress her body. She felt it when he slipped his hand beneath the blanket and stroked her quivering belly. Then his hand traveled ever so slowly up to her breasts where he took his time with deliciously captivating strokes of the small mound covered by her clothes. Right now she wished she hadn’t put the top back on because having his hands on her body without the obstruction of fabric had been another dream of hers. She moaned as she deepened the kiss even more and he returned with his own low rumbling moan.
He pulled away from her, his eyes darkened with desire. “Woman, you can make a man forget what’s chasing him.”
She smiled. She liked knowing she could turn him on. She liked knowing that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. “I better get off your lap, I guess.”
“Are you warm?”
“Scorching,” she winked as she eased off his lap. She was not mistaking the hardness growing between his legs. While she wanted to explore it they both needed to stay alert and she knew it.
“Get some sleep,” he told her.
“You too.”
“A little,” he agreed as he lay down beside her and wrapped his arm around her. There is where she wanted to be, not with the crazy that followed them, but with him. She loved this man, and knowing that all of her dreams about being with him were finally on the verge of coming true she wasn’t ready to have that snatched away from her. They had to make it down off this mountain and back to Texas. They just had to.
She wasn’t sure how long she had slept, only that it was still dark when Jet placed his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t move,” he said so low she wouldn’t have heard him if he weren’t mere centimeters away from her ear at the time. Her eyes opened slowly and her ears perked up. She could hear the voices coming toward their direction.
“I’m going to take care of this. You stay here. Stay low and don’t move.”
She wanted to protest his putting his life in danger. They were down low; they wouldn’t see them up there, but then she realized even if they didn’t see them something still had to be done. If he let them pass then they would have plenty of time to set a trap. Still, she didn’t want him to risk his life. There were four of them, and only one of him. From the noises she could hear she only heard two voices, but that didn’t mean the others weren’t there with them.
“Be careful,” she said instead of the words that were really in her heart and on her mind—don’t go. Jet knew what he was doing and she had to trust him on this and have faith in his abilities.
When he left her she watched him until he faded from sight. He was taking the roundabout way down instead of climbing down and she guessed that had more to do with the element of surprise. If he came at them head on they would see him. Plus, she couldn’t tell how far away they were so they could have been close enough to see him make the descent had he gone the same way they had gotten up there. She couldn’t see any lights. She could only hear their muffled voices and so she assumed that meant they were still far enough away not to see him coming, but close enough to be dangerous.
The way their voices raised she would think they were arguing. They must have been arguing because it wouldn’t have been smart to talk as if they were mates at a bar having a good time while they were trying to sneak up on somebody. Of course they didn’t know that she and Jet had stopped to sleep. If they weren’t tired they probably figured she and her rescuer wouldn’t be either. They probably assumed that she and Jet were still moving ahead of them.
The voices weren’t audible anymore and she wondered if that meant Jet had gotten them or if they had gotten him. She hadn’t heard gunfire and she thought she would have heard that if Jet had gotten to them first.
The silence seemed to go on for so long. In those moments where she could only hear the distant sounds of the nocturnal forest inhabitants making their ruckus she felt an ache in her heart for Jet. She would never forgive herself if he died because of her.
She heard the subtle hint of movement and she knew he was okay. She looked up expecting to find Jet, but what she found was the one they called Iakov standing over her while pointing his gun at her head and looking highly satisfied at the predicament she was now in.
“Jet,” she whispered in a tear strained voice. He hadn’t made it.
“Get up and move,” he motioned with his gun. She complied, walking in the direction he told her to walk. “I’m going to get a sweet reward for delivering you to Alexei. He isn’t that far behind us. Maybe a couple hours at most. Sweet,” he whistled. “Da, it’s going to be sweet. I told that fool Kostya you all had to stop for the night. He did not believe me, but I was right. I knew you did not sleep comfortably and you are a weak woman,” he laughed. “I have you.”
She turned on him so fast she didn’t know where her sudden rush of bravery came from. Maybe she was angry because they had killed Jet, or because this creep was standing here laughing over her heartbreak.
She lunged at him, knocking the gun out of his hand. He placed both hands on her arms trying to hold her still, but with the furry of a wild woman in rage he couldn’t steady her. She kicked his shin and then went straight for the area she knew would at least give her enough time to run. She got him square in the seat of his pants with a solid kick. In one angry howl he backhanded her so hard she fell a few feet backwards. She lay sprawled out on the ground. She tried to get up. She was ready to get up and fight some more, but when she turned her head she saw Jet tackle Iakov like a line backer
. A few punches and then a solid head lock followed by the breaking of bones and she knew the monster in front of her was dead.
She pulled to her feet swiftly.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
She ran to him, throwing her arms around him. “I thought they had you. I thought you were dead.”
“They split up before I got to them. I went hand to hand with the other one and when I got back up here you weren’t where I left you. I heard him,” he gestured to Iakov with a subtle nod of his head. His eyes narrowed as he took in the blood trickling down her chin. He growled.
“It’s not your fault, Jet. I’m all right.”
“It shouldn’t have happened,” his anger was highly evident in his tone. “It shouldn’t have happened at all and definitely not on my watch.” He took hold of her arm. “Come on. We need to get our things and keep moving.”
“I know. The others aren’t far behind.”
“So I heard.”
He was obviously in the mood to get moving fast, but he took the time to clean her new injury. She was going to look like a walking punching bag by the time they got out of this, but if they made it out of this she wouldn’t complain about cuts, scrapes and bruises. The most important thing was getting home alive—for both of them. In those few moments when she thought he might be dead everything seemed bleak. She felt so much pain and rage that she didn’t know how to handle it, which is probably why she lashed out when she had no chance of winning the fight. She figured he would either subdue her or kill her. With the rage she felt she figured he would have to kill her because she had no intentions of willingly surrendering. They were planning to kill her anyway and she knew that. If he had done it right there at least they wouldn’t be able to hit her father up for anything and she wouldn’t be back in that holding cell suffering their abuse once again. She was not going back there, not if she could help it.
On Thin Ice (Special Ops) Page 11