Evie shot up, her head slamming into his chin. She ignored his sharp protest of pain and launched from the bed. “You let me sleep all day?”
Hunter rose up on his elbow, his gaze focused on her body. Evie realized she was still butt-naked and grabbed his discarded shirt from the floor. When she stood, semi-clothed, her hands immediately went to her hips.
"If you call that sleeping, we need to start over. I didn't do my job right. Come here." Hunter held out a hand and her traitorous body longed to jump back between the sheets with her own personal sex god.
"Hunter. I have to be at work in thirty minutes." And the meeting. God, the meeting. She was supposed to be at Coldwater in thirty minutes. How could she have forgotten? She had to shower, change, and ditch Hunter. Fast.
"No. I have work. I need you to leave so I can get ready." Evie lifted her chin and crossed her arms, steeling herself for an argument.
"Work? Call in. You and your mom own the bar. Right?"
Evie spoke slowly, enunciating her words. "Yes. But we’re short handed. Why do you think I had to help break up that fight last night?"
Hunter's smooth forehead wrinkled and his brows dropped. "I don't know. I just thought you did that sort of thing now. You know, the new Evie."
"Well, the new Evie doesn't like to break up fights. Just like she doesn't like for people to ignore her when she tells them to leave her house."
Hunter's face darkened and he started to rise. "I don't follow orders." He sat now, the sheet draped over his hips barely hiding his hardness. His feet hit the floor, the sheet fell away, and Evie swallowed.
"Now come here." Hunter took a step forward and Evie bolted out of the bedroom door. "Evie," Hunter called after her, but she knew she had to get some distance. Now.
So she ran. She ran before her stupid mouth got the better of her and admitted the truth. Then Hunter would never let her go.
Her footsteps sounded like a herd of cows thumping on the hardwood floor. She'd always run flat-footed. Her dad said she couldn't sneak up on a deaf man shooting a cannon. Evie looked back over her shoulder, caught a heart-stopping glimpse of spectacular abs, and missed the first step of the stairs.
She grabbed for the banister and put on the breaks, sliding her palm down the smooth surface. But she had too much momentum and her shoulder slammed into the wall, rattling the old pictures and sending one of them to the floor. She felt a brief moment of gratitude that all her home decor came from the dollar store.
"Evie!" Hunter's voice was loud enough to shake the pictures almost as much as her football ram had done. Or maybe that was his heavy footsteps as he chased after her.
She knew she was a goner if he caught her. All her remaining resistance would fall away and she’d tell him everything.
She flew halfway down the stairs and looked back over her shoulder. Having been up and down these steps a million times, she took them for granted, knowing her feet would find the way. But her feet tangled and she fell forward again, face first. Her arms stretched overhead like she was diving for a winning catch and slapped the water with the force of a charging bull.
Warm wet enveloped her. She opened her eyes, but the liquid was dark. Dirty. So she slammed them shut again.
Evie flailed her arms like a preteen in an awkward stage. Her head broke the surface and she gulped in air.
She'd been underwater for maybe two seconds, maybe twenty— her concept of time was skewed by the rapid-fire heartbeat pounding in her chest.
She treaded water and spun around. Her entire living room was submerged, and only the top halves of her walls were visible. Muddy water swirled around her, obscuring anything below its surface. Her couch, gone. Recliner, gone. House, gone.
Evie continued circling, and it took a couple of passes before reality sank in. The torrential rain had finally pushed the Mississippi past her limits. And the river had pushed past the limits of her house.
By the time she completed her fourth turn, she started to get dizzy. Problem was, she didn't have anything solid to grab to stop the spinning. She stuck her arms out, scissored her legs, slowed her progress.
Finally, the room stopped and she stopped, but water kept swirling around her. She maneuvered herself around to face the kitchen. Her heart stopped. Again.
"What the hell?" Hunter's thundering footsteps came to a stop. Evie turned to him, completely dumbfounded.
"The river." Those two words were enough.
The kitchen was clearly visible through the submerged half of the wide-arched opening. It was all destroyed. Her beautiful black and white tile floor. Her refrigerator. Her...everything.
What would she do? All of her belongings were under water.
"Evie, don't move."
She ignored him, busy scanning her surroundings, her thoughts swirling as out of control as the river in her house. It was all gone. "The cell phone." Her video. Her proof. She'd left it on the back porch.
How could she ever hope to take them down now? She’d planned to bring the phone to the meeting and use it as leverage against Marcus. The one bit of evidence that would have proved her father’s murder was gone. The Mississippi had swallowed up her hope.
"Dammit, Evie. Freeze." Hunter's voice finally penetrated the fog of surrealism that had taken over her mind. She turned to him in shock and her mind snapped straight when she saw the pistol in his hand. Her mind snapped in two.
"You too? Why is everyone trying to freaking kill me?" Her entire world had been blown to pieces. First Marcus. Then Brown. Then Hunter. Now Mother-freaking-Nature.
What was next? A tornado? No, that would be too predictable. It would have to be a snowstorm. A blizzard maybe. "Go ahead. Shoot me. If you think I'm going to beg, you got another thing coming. My life could not possibly get any worse than it is right now."
"Shut up, Evie. I'm not aiming at you."
A picture frame floated in front of her on its way to the kitchen. Mrs. Buela smiled up at her from her perch in a 1940s Ford.
A shot blasted through the house. Water sprayed the right side of Evie’s face and she clasped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the explosion. The shot had deafened her. She turned, as if she could track the bullet into the water, and froze.
A black-and-tan mass floated past her shoulder. A water moccasin—its body as big around as her arm, minus a head. Her ears started ringing. Her chest squeezed tight.
Before she even saw him move, Hunter was down there with her. His hand shot past her and grabbed the snake and he tossed it toward her living room window. The damn thing was longer than her couch.
Hunter scooped her into his arms then and carried her to the top of her staircase. She knew her mouth was hanging open like a fish, but she couldn't help it. It was too much. She gave into that mental crack and fell apart. And let Hunter catch her.
Chapter 19
Hunter's heart was still pounding when he pulled Evie into his lap at the top of the staircase and wrapped his arms around her. It would take him a good year to get over the shock of seeing that water moccasin rear up behind her. The damn thing had been over six feet long.
Hunter had been so distracted by her body he'd failed to notice the entire Mississippi River had been making her way inside the house.
Evie's whole body trembled and shook. He recognized the signs of shock. He'd seen it plenty of times in soldiers in battle. But he'd never felt the need to offer comfort.
Until today.
"Listen, it's going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. This house is just a house. A rental, no less. You can get another one. Hell, I'll build you another one." His voice was raw. He'd almost lost her. Twice. The sheriff had been easy to ward off. After all, he was familiar with his kind of evil. But the water flooding her house…he was no match for Mother Nature.
Hunter held her at arms length and peered into her eyes. Her pupils were slightly dilated. Her mouth slack. "Evie, I need you to focus. We have to get moving."
She didn't even blink. "Snap
out of it, honey. If I have to, I'll throw you over my shoulder, but we gotta leave now." The river kept moving, still rising, and if it got much higher, her house would tear from its foundation. Whether they were inside or not.
Evie's bright blue eyes were dull and vacant. He needed to snap her out of it. He shook her, but her head flopped back and forth on her shoulder, disjointed. The way you wrested a soldier from shock was to slap him. But he couldn’t do that to her, particularly not when the swelling bruise on her cheek reminded him of another man who'd hit her.
Hunter gritted his teeth. Now wasn't the time to think about taking revenge. He had to get them to safety first.
Not knowing what else to do, he sealed his lips over hers. He put every bit of longing, of worry, of need into that kiss. He hadn't lied to her today. He couldn't get enough of her. Knew now he never would.
Evie's lips remained slack at first. Unresponsive. Hunter wrapped his hand in her drenched hair and brought her closer. Finally, he felt the tentative touch of her tongue to his and groaned in relief. But he didn't pull back. Didn't stop. His need for her surpassed everything else. His world had narrowed to the woman in his arms. His woman.
The possible terrorist.
Hunter pulled back and Evie touched her lips.
"You okay now?"
"I...I think so." Her voice was still shaky.
"Can you stand?"
"Yes," Evie said.
Hunter helped her to her feet and tugged her down the hall to her bedroom. He pulled the wet T-shirt over her head, ran to the bathroom, and returned with a towel. Evie collapsed onto the bed, her body deflating like a flat tire. Her hair hung in long, wet strings down her back. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, but they were still nowhere near normal.
Even so, they had to move. Now. Hunter knelt before her, his wet jeans constricting. "I need you to get dressed. Then we’re going to gather up a few things and look for a way out. Can you do that?"
Evie nodded but didn't move. Hunter pulled her hands from the edge of the towel. "Can you do that?" he repeated.
She blew out a sigh. "Okay. I can do that."
She stood, her legs unstable at first, and then crossed to her dresser. Once Hunter was satisfied she could complete the simple task without falling over, he went to the bathroom to dry himself off.
When he returned, Evie had pulled on a pair of low-slung jeans and a white tank top. Her wet hair was in a ponytail. But most importantly, she seemed to have overcome the worst of her shock. "What do we need to do?"
Pride swelled in him. She wasn't hysterical or breaking down and sobbing. He knew grown men who wouldn't have handled the situation with this much strength.
"Do you have a backpack or bag of anything up here?"
Evie disappeared into her closet and emerged with a yellow and blue backpack. Hunter cringed, but at least it wasn’t pink. He checked his watch. Five-thirty. A whole hour had passed in what seemed like a minute. Dark would hit sometime in the next hour and a half, which meant they would be camping outside tonight.
"You got a lighter?"
"I've got matches. And a lantern."
"How about a flashlight?" Hunter said.
Evie opened the top drawer on her nightstand and pulled out a flashlight. Hunter reached past her and pulled out her pistol. "You have a license for this?"
Evie gave him a pointed look, her annoyance clear. "Actually I do. It just happens to be in my purse. Downstairs. In the kitchen. You’re welcome to go check."
"I like it when you get angry. Your cheeks get all flushed and sexy." Hunter tucked her pistol into his waistband at his back. Evie scowled, her face turning even redder. Before he could check himself, he placed a quick kiss on her lips and was rewarded by the disappearance of her frown.
They gathered more items, gathering anything useful they could find upstairs. Unfortunately, her house wasn't military stocked, but they were able to scrounge up matches, some old rope and tarp from the attic, and extra socks. Hunter rolled Evie's quilt up with the rope and affixed it to the top of the backpack. She grabbed a nearly full bottle of water off her nightstand. Hunter risked swimming back to the kitchen for a knife, can opener, and some canned goods. It wasn't going to be a gourmet supper, but it would be a hell of a lot better than nothing.
He was satisfied they could get by for at least one night in the woods. His wallet and phone were sunk, right along with Evie’s. There would be no calling for help.
He opened the upstairs hall window over the front porch, and looked out, hardly able to process his surroundings.
Her entire property was underwater. The only things visible were treetops, raging water, and debris. The sky was grey, and it looked like the clouds were ready to deliver another deluge of rain. Thunder rumbled downriver. The shit storm wasn't over.
The closest house had to be a few miles away, so running into someone else was unlikely.
A loud clank echoed across the water, drawing Hunter's attention. He almost fell over in relief. An old aluminum fishing boat had gotten tangled in a small patch of cypress trees to his left. If he could swim to it, he could literally dock at Evie's front porch and pick her up.
"What do you see?" Evie crowded his side and slipped in between him and the window. Hunter wrapped his arms around her, unable to resist the temptation.
"I'm going to swim out to that boat." Hunter pointed over her shoulder and leaned down, using the opportunity to nuzzle her neck.
"Can you carry the backpack overhead so it doesn't get wet?"
"No." Hunter lifted his hands to the underside of her breasts, his eyes locked on the nipples hardening under her shirt. "I'm going to leave it here with you. I'll get the boat and bring it back."
Evie stiffened and pushed his hands down. "I'm coming with you."
She turned and he braced for a fight, but what he saw in her eyes wasn't anger. It was fear.
Hunter's hands covered her shoulders. "Listen, there are some really strong currents out there. It's too dangerous. I can go faster if I don't have to worry about a rip current pulling you under."
Evie bit her lip before nodding her head.
"Okay. You’re right."
Hunter placed a quick kiss on her lips. "Thank you. I'll be right back."
He folded his body through the open window and stood for a moment on the back porch roof. The water flowed by a few feet below him. Sticks, trees, and other debris were carried by the swift river current. The boat was about fifty yards downriver. Perfect.
He dove into the water and swam, not breaking the surface again until he needed oxygen. Hunter did a quick assessment of his immediate area and kept swimming, careful to keep an eye out for debris.
He was halfway to the boat when Evie called out. "Hunter, watch out!"
He turned and saw the end of a log racing toward his head. He ducked down and dodged left, kicking the water with all his strength. Something sharp scraped his calf and knocked his legs back, but when Hunter broke the surface again, the log was past him. Evie stood on the porch roof, hands pressed to her lips. He ignored the pain and waved at her before continuing on toward the boat. Of course, the damn log had hit his bad leg.
Hunter closed the distance quickly and heaved himself over the edge of the aluminum boat. The old POS was definitely not Bass Pro quality, but damn if it wasn't a gift from God. One paddle lay in the bottom. Hunter grabbed it and quickly rowed back to the house and grabbed hold of the porch roof. Evie tossed the backpack into the boat and he held it steady for her so she could climb aboard.
"Are we going to take the boat all the way to the Wharf?" Evie settled on the front bench, facing him.
"No. We don't know how much more water is coming or if the dam has busted. We need to get to the levee and hike back to town." Hunter pushed off, keeping a careful eye out for stray trees.
"That will take forever." Evie stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
Hunter tamped down his frustration. "Would you rather risk dying in a
flood? Look at the clouds, honey. What if it starts raining again and we're stuck in the middle of the river?"
He could see she still didn't believe him. "Can't you just row to the edge if we see more water coming?"
Hunter shook his head, rowing toward the levee with long, sure strokes. "I'm not Superman. We'd get about halfway before being swallowed alive."
Evie gripped the sides of the boat, her knuckles white. "But it’s a ten mile hike back to town…”
He picked up her thought and finished it. “We’ll have to spend the night outside."
Chapter 20
Evie would be stuck overnight with Hunter.
Again.
In the past twelve hours she'd not only slept with her ex, she’d had sex with him. Multiple times. And thinking about being in close quarters with him again got her all hot and bothered. Shit, she was acting worse than a horny teenager.
"You’re looking at me like you’re going to vomit."
Evie focused on him. He’d taken off his wet shirt, revealing his bare chest, and his pecs popped out each time he rowed, their already large mass growing even bigger. His abs rippled, his biceps flexed, and her thighs clenched. His dog tags jangled, the long silver chain shifting with his movements, and she found herself jealous of its proximity to him. Jealous and guilty. Why wasn’t she more afraid of what would happen now that she’d missed her five o’clock appointment with Marcus? What if something happened to her mother?
She flushed and quickly glanced at the water, afraid Hunter would be able to read her thoughts. "Sorry. I'm just not fond of sleeping outside."
"Who said anything about sleeping?"
Evie's gaze bounced back to his and their stares locked. She recognized the look as the one he used to give her right before he kissed her. Oh god, he hadn't forgotten that heavy-lidded look. If anything, he'd gotten better at it. Her insides turned to goo and little shots of pleasure pulsed through her core.
"You want to walk all night?" She knew that wasn't what he meant. Not even close. But she could help baiting him.
Men of Mercy: The Complete Story Page 14