He thought he loved her.
Unable to hold himself up much longer, Mack rolled onto his back, pulling Marley on top of him. He was still hard enough that his hard length stayed inside her, as if that part of him couldn’t stand to be separated from her either.
Marley continued to plant butterfly kisses on his face and he lay there, basking in her glorious touch, her womb quaking around him.
Her hips were rocking gently, her nipples scraping over his chest. Marley took his lips in a gentle kiss.
“I want more, Mack.”
As he stared at her and at the open longing and need in her face, he realized that he did love her. It didn’t matter that they’d only met the day before. He knew it like he knew the sun rose in the east and set in the west. And he would do anything for her.
Mack settled his hands on her hips and offered her an exhausted smile even as his cock sprang back to life. “I’m all yours.”
Chapter 21
At sunrise, they made their way down the river, looking for the safest location to cross. The Congo River wasn’t like any of the ones she’d seen across America. It didn’t have small cliffs or sandy shores. It was like the jungle had paused before picking up on the other side.
She spotted more than one snake meandering lazily through the water before ducking underneath and disappearing from sight. In that murky, zero-visibility sludge were some of the most venomous snakes in the world.
“Hey, you look like someone killed your dog. What’s going on in that head of yours?” Mack’s teasing tone freed her from her panicked thoughts about falling into a nest of snakes.
Something in him had changed after last night. He’d been ten times more attentive and caring this morning, not letting her out of sight for a second. It was as if he’d opened up some part of himself he’d been holding back.
Mack’s gray eyes were deeper with emotion than the day before and guilt threatened to choke her. He trusted her and now she was thinking of betraying that trust.
She swallowed past the ten-ton rock that had formed in her throat and looked away. Another swimming snake passed by with its nose raised out of the water, the rest of its body was camouflaged in the sludge. “I’m thinking about having to get in the water with one of those.”
Mack circled his arm around her waist and snuggled his nose against her neck. “Want me to carry you on my shoulders?”
“Mack, don’t be ridiculous. We both know that water is deep. We’ll have to swim.”
He nipped at her sensitive skin, and despite the guilt poisoning her veins, chills raced across her shoulders. God, this man made her feel so much. In the space of a day, he had turned her into a sex-craving nymph.
“I’ll protect you. Do you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you to protect me.” But you can’t trust me to protect you.
“All right, no more stalling. We’ll cross there.” Mack swatted her ass and strode off, his confidence stabbing a wound in her heart.
Marley rubbed her stinging derrière and grudgingly followed him to the edge of the river. It was the only reasonable spot to cross. A long limb jutted out halfway over the water and the river pulled together like an hourglass before flaring out again about twenty feet ahead. No matter how much she wanted to scream and run, she knew Mack was right. They had to cross the river.
Unfortunately, fear wasn’t schooled by reason. “How exactly are you going to protect me from what you can’t see?”
“With my knife. If those little boogers get too aggressive, I’ll take them out. And if they’re big enough, we can have them for lunch.”
No way. No freaking way. “I’d rather eat tree bark.” She handed over the knife anyway. “Just kill them.”
Mack chuckled and flipped the blade open. “Now, honey, you and I are going to have to have a serious talk when we get out of here. I don’t know if I can date a vegetarian.”
Marley stared at him incredulously. “You’re looking forward to this, aren’t you?” He actually wanted to cross this aqua deathtrap.
Mack let out a bark of laughter and scooped her into his arms. “Of course I’m looking forward to this.” He gave her butt a tight squeeze. “I’m looking forward to enjoying this every single day.”
Her heart flipped over in her chest, but she slapped his hand away, “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it, you crazy man.”
“Oh, you mean that?” Mack gestured to the river with the knife, which looked, for all the world, like a natural extension of his arm.
“Yes, I’m talking about the possibility that we’ll be eaten alive within the next minute.”
“I’ll eat it first.” Mack bared his teeth in a feral smile.
Marley gasped. “You are an adrenaline junkie.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Guilty as charged.”
She tried to keep her stern mommy-face look in place, but Mack’s eyes were twinkling and a handsome smile was playing on his sexy lips. God, this man would be the death of her.
“And you like it.” He gave her another hard kiss. “Now, come on, quit making excuses. I can’t wait to get you out of here and into a proper bed.”
Mack propelled her toward the tree limb and Marley leaned back, resisting. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. Just grab onto the limb, shimmy out to the end, and drop in. It’s only about a ten-foot swim to the other bank from that point. It’s the best spot I’ve seen so far. We could walk another five miles and not find one as good as this.”
Oh, she hated that he was right. Part of her had been holding out hope they might find one of those rope bridges like Indiana Jones always did, but she got the feeling there’d be no archaeologist swooping in on a rope to save them.
Not that Indiana Jones could beat Mack Grey anyway.
If she was going to cross this river, she definitely wanted Mack by her side. “Time to put on your big-girl panties.” She muttered to herself and wrapped her hand around the smooth bark of the tree.
“No panties,” Mack growled out behind her.
It was true. Her panties had vanished this morning, but this was no time to joke about sex. She hoisted herself up and hung from the limb by her fingers, slowly inching her way out over the brown, murky water. Something splashed in the water below her and she froze, slamming her eyes shut. “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”
“Marley, you know how I said no panties?”
What the hell was he still talking about her panties for? There was probably a bed of piranhas licking their chops beneath her, just waiting on her to fall. “What?”
“Marley, look at me.”
Marley clenched her jaw and shook her head. If she opened her eyes, she might look down and see the gaping maw of a giant crocodile.
“You know those panties you couldn’t find this morning?”
She managed to peel back an eyelid and glare at him over her shoulder, gasping when Mack came into view. He was standing on the shore behind her with his feet braced and the remnants of her underwear hanging from his fingers.
“A little souvenir.” He rubbed them against his cheek before shoving them back into his pants pocket.
Marley gasped out loud, “You are insane. I can’t believe you let me look for those for nearly five minutes this morning. I thought some monkey had hauled them off.”
“Not a monkey, honey, just me.”
Marley gasped, forgetting for a moment how badly her fingers burned from holding up her own weight.
“Keep moving. You’re almost there.”
Oh, she was going to move all right, and once they made it to the other side, she would lay into him like he couldn’t even imagine. She made it to the end of the limb before she even realized it. She dangled there for a second, steeling her nerves. Maybe if she swung back and forth, she could catapult her body a few feet closer.
“Just drop in and start swimming. I’m right behind you.”
The limb shook and Marley turned to see Mack swingi
ng his way toward her at a rapid pace. “Mack, stop! It can’t hold both of us!”
“I know. Let go.” He was less than five feet away now.
Oh, God, he was right. Somehow, Marley forced her fingers to uncurl. The water splashed up and over her head, sucking her under. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see. She was drowning. No! She kicked and kicked and kicked. Her head broke the surface and she gulped air while flailing her arms.
“Swim, Marley!”
Something jumped into the water behind her, but Marley couldn’t look at it—she’d panic if she did. She forced herself to swim, kicking with all her might. Please don’t eat me.
Her lungs burned as the river’s current tried to pull her away from her target—the closest jutting out area on the other bank. Something brushed past her legs, slimy and undulating, and Marley screamed, gulping a big mouthful of water. She scrambled and kicked and fought her way across until she grabbed onto the long weeds on the bank and pulled herself onto dry, blessed earth. Marley lay there panting, thanking God and feeling the dirt and grass beneath her fingers like it was precious silk.
It took her a moment to realize Mack had not followed her. Marley scrambled to her knees, edging as close as she could to the water. “Mack!”
There wasn’t even a break or ripple on the surface of the river.
“Mack! Mack, answer me!
Had she lost him? Where was he? Had he been eaten alive?
Please, please be alive. She couldn’t go back in the water to search for him, the very thought made her ill. She just couldn’t.
“Mack, for the love of God, answer me!”
Nothing. It felt like someone had wrapped a cord around her heart and yanked on it. She couldn’t leave him. Not after everything he had done for her. She cared for him too deeply. “Mack, I’m coming.” Her voice was weak but firm. She dipped her feet into the water and prepared to jump in. She would save him. Just like he would save her if the situation were reversed.
The water rippled and something burst through the surface with a loud roar. Marley screamed and scrambled backward, arms and legs trembling. Mack flopped onto the shore, his knife clutched in one hand, a dark green stringy substance in the other. She scrambled up to him, touching his face and arms, wanting to prove to herself he was okay.
“Are you bleeding? What tried to eat you? Did you kill it?”
Chest heaving as he fought for air, Mack lifted his arm. “Just some weeds.”
He held up the handful of wet, stringy seaweed and then his arm flopped back to the earth. “My foot got tangled. Pretty hard to cut myself free when I couldn’t see what I was slashing at. You okay?”
Marley wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to pummel his chest for scaring the shit out of her. She chose instead to gently lay her head on his chest and savor the strong heartbeat beneath her ear. “I’m okay. I thought something had you. I was going to go back in there to get you.”
Mack chuckled and squeezed her tighter to his chest. “I told you, I’m scarier than anything in the water.”
Oh, he was scarier all right. He scared the living daylights out of her. “I’m so ready to get out of this place.”
He placed a kiss on her head and rolled them both up onto their feet. “I promised you I would get you out of here safely. And that’s a promise I intend to keep.”
He had promised to protect her with his own life. And she’d been asked to betray him . . . . Marley glanced into the jungle, hiding her expression from Mack. The thought of betraying him made her stomach churn, but it was unbearable to think of her child suffering. What was the right answer when there was no right answer?
How could she not have realized her copilot was such an evil bastard? She’d thought she could read people better than that, but maybe Ramsey was some type of quirk on her radar.
“Come on, don’t think about Maddie right now, just think about getting out of here.” Mack entangled his fingers with hers, dragging her back into the thick jungle.
Touching him was almost painful, knowing what she had to do. Every breath, every step, every touch would be a lie. Mack obviously trusted her completely, and why wouldn’t he? She’d given him no reason not to. Although his men had grudgingly accepted her story about Ramsey, she could still tell they were more hesitant to trust her. She hadn’t merited their distrust at first, but now…
Marley continued to mull over her tortured thoughts as they made the slow and difficult journey through tangled vines and mud and bugs. Their wet clothes clung to their skin, the humidity in the air making it impossible for them to dry.
With each step forward, Marley knew she was one step closer to completing her betrayal. Mack seemed to sense her disquiet and left her alone for the most part, checking every few minutes that she was right behind him as they kept moving forward.
Her phone silently vibrated against her calf. Marley took a step and tripped over a small raised root. Mack caught her before she could hit the ground. “Let’s take a break here for a couple of minutes.”
She wiped a shaky hand across her face, not from exhaustion but from worry. The vibrating meant she’d received another message. She had to check it, and she had to do it without Mack knowing. God, she was a bitch for even thinking about hurting him. “I need to pee, going to step behind this tree.”
“Okay, holler if you need me. I’ll be right here.”
He didn’t even question her lie. Marley bit her cheek and quickly made her way around the tree before the truth tumbled out of her. She ripped her cell phone from her pocket and unlocked the screen, her hands shaking the whole time. I know where you are. I’m tracking you. If you fall out of line, I’ll know it.
Marley scrolled up to look at the coordinates marked on a graph picture in the text. There was a red dot marking her location and then a dotted trail leading northeast, to the location where he wanted her to lead the men. Mother of God, he really was tracking her. That meant he would know if Marley didn’t do exactly as he said. And there was no way for Marley to get to her daughter before Ramsey’s people did.
“Marley, you about done?”
She jumped and spun around, expecting to see Mack standing there, but he was still on the other side of the tree. He respected her privacy. “I’m . . . I’m, yes, I’m coming.”
How could she do this? She dropped her phone into her pocket and snapped the Velcro shut, locking it back in place. How could she betray this man she’d come to care for so deeply? This man who so clearly cared for her?
I’d do anything to save my child . . . Anything.
She needed some more time to think, to play out the possibilities in her mind, but time was something she did not have. Marley attempted to wipe her face clear of the fear and stepped out from behind the tree. Mack had his back to her, carefully scanning their perimeter, but he turned when he heard her approach.
His face immediately fell. “What’s wrong?”
So much for hiding her thoughts. Her father had always said she’d be a crappy poker player. She tried to laugh it off, but the sound that came out of her mouth sure as hell didn’t resemble a laugh—it was more of a croak.
“Did you see something over there?” Mack stepped around her, scanning the vicinity. “More guerrillas?”
Those heinous soldiers would be preferable to the despicable act she was even now considering. “No soldiers.”
She’d started to hope for a future with this man. Even played around with different scenarios about how she’d introduce him to Maddie and her family. They’d go out for ice cream together and play in the park. They’d have a picnic. It was so easy to picture Mack as a part of their lives. He just fit there, like he was made for them. Pain spread in thick tendrils out from her chest and down her arms. If she betrayed him and his team, they would all die.
This good and honorable man. His brave teammates.
And her, she’d probably die, too.
“You’re starting to worry me. What are you thinking about?�
� Mack stood right in front of her, forcing Marley to look up to meet his gaze.
She tried to think of a plausible lie to explain the expression on her face, but her mind went blank. All she could think about was how she’d been asked to betray him. Could she do something like that, even if it was to save her daughter?
Marley searched his gaze. Would he figure out a way to save her and Maddie if she told him about the threat? He’d promised to protect her with his life. She still had time to tell him . . .
She’d have to trust the fact that he would not act brashly and alert Ramsey. Trust also that Ramsey wasn’t close enough to hear them.
But hadn’t she already learned Mac had good instincts? He made decisions quickly, true, but they never lacked in judgment or logic. Her muscles pulled tighter than a bowstring and her ears started to roar. She could trust Mack. Just him. “Mack, I need to tell you something.”
Marley’s tongue darted out to wet her bone-dry lips.
Mack closed the distance between them, reaching up to gently caress her cheek. “Anything.”
“I—”
“What took you two so long?” Riser stepped out from the bushes beside them. Marley jumped and spun around, filled with sudden panic.
Riser’s gaze darted from her to Mack with a knowing gleam. “Oh, I see what took you so long.”
Mack’s arm encircled her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “Next time you should let me know you’re here before interrupting.”
Riser lifted his hands in surrender, but his face was full of mischief. “The boss man getting it on with the pilot lady. I was beginning to wonder if you could even perform anymore.”
Mack growled near her and Marley jumped in to intercede before the two got into some sort of testosterone-laden fight. “Of course he can. That’s a dumb thing to say.”
“So the she-tiger has claws. Good, you’ll need them to put up with his crap.” Riser softened his words with a smile and Marley realized they were simply teasing her.
Men of Mercy: The Complete Story Page 163