by Barb Han
“Wait, I heard a train when they called. Wherever they were hiding him must’ve had a track nearby,” she said. “Do you think he’s even on the island?”
“I hope so.”
Lauren leaned in to get a better look at Jaden’s face. Again, Jaden winced as he moved and Lauren guessed his injuries were worse than he wanted to admit.
“You need rest.” For a brief moment her gaze flickered from his eyes to his lips...for a split second she saw an image of those lips pressed against hers. This was not the time for an inappropriate fantasy. Besides, he was injured. And they were stranded.
“How bad is the pain?” she asked.
His broad shoulders rolled, his expression tensed as he moved, showing he was unwilling to own up to his true amount of pain.
“We have to get out of here soon.” He glanced up at the sky.
“Not until you can move.” She moved to a neatly stacked pile before returning a moment later with a wadded up piece of cloth, which she touched to his forehead to blot the blood.
“Ouch.” He jerked back as his hand closed tightly on hers.
“Sorry. The salt.” She wrung out the piece of material one more time before touching it to the gash on his arm, afraid to acknowledge to herself how strong her physical attraction was to a stranger. She chalked it up to the fact that he’d saved her life countless times already.
Blotting the cut, she did her best to conceal just how frantic she’d been moments before, when she didn’t know if he’d break consciousness. Maybe it was the circumstances, but she wanted to know more about this man, be closer to him. She told herself her interest in him didn’t go any deeper than needing to know if she could really trust him. The notion was foreign. Lauren didn’t trust anyone. “How does it feel?”
“Hurts. Hard to tell what hurts the most though.” He issued a dry crack of a smile. “It’s nothing a good night of sleep won’t cure.”
Good that he could joke under the circumstances.
He gestured toward the rocks. “Find anything we can use?”
“Not much. It’s pretty barren,” she admitted, tamping down the hopeless feeling trying to engulf her. They were stranded in the ocean on a bed of rocks in a storm.
“See real land anywhere?” he asked.
“Thought I saw something over there.” Jaden’s gaze followed where she pointed.
He glanced up at the sky. “Doesn’t look good for us to stick around here any longer than we have to.”
“The rain comes and goes. I’m more worried about you, though,” she said honestly.
“I’ll live.” He stretched out his leg and laid his head back on a rock before closing his eyes. He brought his hand up to touch her arm, rippling volts of electricity through her. Before her body could launch a full-on assault she blinked and scooted back, refusing to be taken in by those perfect blue eyes.
“What is it you do when you’re not saving women from scary men and dangers in the water?” She’d almost died today. That would get anyone’s blood pumping
“I told you.”
Right. Secret security agency. That would explain those muscles.
“Doing what exactly?” she pressed.
“Things I can’t talk about.”
“Don’t want to, or can’t?” She tilted her head to one side, her curiosity was starting to run wild.
He didn’t respond.
“Why are you really looking for me? I have no secrets, and the government can’t possibly care about my life. You think I’m involved with my brother?” she said incredulously.
He seemed to contemplate that for a moment. “You were a glorified babysitting job until you took out that loan and bought a ticket to the Caribbean.”
It was high time she knew exactly where she stood. They were stranded out to sea. He was her only hope of survival. “You do think I’m involved.”
“Not anymore.”
“I hate those scumbags worse than you do.” She raged against the tears threatening. A few tumbled and rolled down her cheeks anyway, salty as the cursed seas. She told herself she was angry at her brother for not being stronger, for not leaving that horrible childhood they’d had behind, for not doing as she had and refusing to let it ruin his life. All of this had nothing to do with Jaden’s accusations.
“Not possible.” A flash of darkness moved behind his eyes. “Then tell me more about Max. What’s your involvement with him?”
She heaved a sigh. “I should know about my own brother. But I don’t. I didn’t know about his illegal activities until you told me.”
“You had no idea before now?”
“I knew he was using drugs and had gotten himself into trouble before. We haven’t spoken in years.” Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence.
“Why’s that?” he asked.
She glared at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Look, I got a dead man back on the beach who should be alive right now.” His voice was laced with anger and guilt.
“Which is an interesting point,” she said.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“Where’s your cavalry?” She glanced up at the sky when he didn’t respond. “Your job teach you anything about weather?”
“I’ve seen a lot of storms.” He nodded.
“Any chance this’ll pass?”
“I’d hoped.” His voice was filled with dread. “See those large, rounded puffs of clouds covering the sky with a grayish veil? Always comes before the weather gets worse.”
“Great.” Things could actually get worse?
“You’re cold.” His hand closed on Lauren’s arm, sending shivers up it, and she felt herself being drawn toward him.
She pulled back immediately.
Clutching at her wetsuit, she hopped to her feet.
He grabbed her ankle, stopping her from taking a step while the pain of movement caused his face to crinkle. “Look. I’m outta line.”
She should’ve felt anger, and she did, but she also felt her pulse rise and sensual tingles skitter across her skin. She cleared her throat like that might get rid of them.
He pulled her closer. “Our body heat will warm us both.”
His touch caused her nerve endings to quiver and her senses to kick on high alert. Her gaze dropped to his broad chest, and she watched as it rose and fell in rhythm with hers.
“I shouldn’t—”
“Hold on, sweetheart. You’re shivering. It’s the best I can do.”
Looking out onto the surf, she was utterly dumbstruck. Because angry as she might be, she couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d felt none of those pounding feelings inside when other men had touched her. She’d never reacted to anyone’s touch the way she did with this man’s.
Numb from such an overload of emotions descending on her, she didn’t fake a smile. Instead, Lauren clamped her lips and held back the urge to kiss him. She forced her thoughts to her brother. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I hope you know that.”
“Innocent people rarely ever do.” A grimace took hold of his expression. Jaden’s arm went around her shoulders. “You’re shivering.”
She ignored the spark of fire from his touch and scanned the skies. Blackness everywhere. No hope for a break in sight. “If you’re feeling better, shouldn’t we get going?”
“As soon as I stop bleeding.”
“Where?” She’d been so focused on keeping her emotions in check she’d momentarily forgotten about his injuries.
“Here.” He pointed toward his shoulder. “And there.” He motioned toward multiple cuts on his right shin.
Thunder clapped in the sky directly overhead. A fierce reminder there wasn’t much time to regroup.
“Let me see what I can do for your cut.” Quickly, she moved to the pile of supplies she’d gathered and then back. “I can make a bandage with this.”
She couldn’t steady her hands being so near to Jaden, unsure if it was anger or something else entirely. And she nearly dropped the torn piece
of clothing she was holding. “Close your eyes.”
It would help if his intense blue eyes weren’t staring directly at her.
He leaned his head back on a rock as he winced. “And how is it that you know how to do this?”
She went to work placing the scrap of material on his cut and tying it with the straps. “You grow up like I did and you learn to do plenty for yourself.”
Too much, probably. Lauren had never been able to allow herself to rely on anyone else.
“That why you came to help your brother?” he asked.
“Not that it’s your business but, yes. He came to my rescue when one of my mom’s ‘dates’ decided he’d take what he wanted from her fourteen-year-old daughter while said mother was passed out.”
Every muscle in Jaden’s body tensed as she pulled the strap closed.
“Sorry. I’m hurting you,” she said meeting his gaze. His shifted from hers, skipped over her breasts to the makeshift Band-Aid she’d fashioned on his hand.
Being so close to Jaden caused her pulse to pound in her veins and her body to spark, reacting to the sexual chemistry. And here she knew nothing about him. What was it about this guy that was getting to her?
Maybe that was the attraction. A strong mystery man who’d swooped in to save her like a superhero. A real-life good guy.
Who wouldn’t be attracted to that?
“Let me warm you up.” He bent further until he could wrap his strong arms around her and pull her up until she was kneeling inside his thighs. Her hips were inches from his skin. Heat pulsed between them.
“You’re exhausted, aren’t you?” He brushed back her hair and really looked at her. There was a hint of vulnerability in those determined eyes.
The weather had turned.
She sensed he knew it, too.
Lauren grabbed hold of his waist, not so much as a conscious decision as just raw instinct, basking in the warmth his body provided for another moment.
A thin layer of mesh kept her naked skin from his bare chest.
Reminding herself that he’d likely saved her life back there in the water, again, she decided her attraction to him was really gratitude, nothing more.
And what did it matter? No matter how strong her feelings for him were at the moment, they wouldn’t last. Lauren didn’t do ‘close.’ Not since her mother. Not since her brother. Not since opening up to her young and handsome English professor who’d made her believe in the redemptive power of love until she got a nasty phone call from his wife. Jerk.
She regained her senses and stood up.
Chapter 7
The winds kicked up to a cacophony of lightning flashes against the backdrop of heavy clouds and thunder.
Thunder cracked as a lightning bolt raced sideways across the sky. Jaden’s ears rang, his head pounded. Lauren’s wide golden eyes threatened to fracture the emotional wall he’d built.
The air was heavy and thick.
Jaden crouched down at the edge of the water, thinking that he’d never been around another person who retreated quicker than Lauren. The moment he tried to get close, she’d back away. The best and only thing he could do was to give her space.
She moved beside him. He angled his face toward her and studied her.
“I’m sorry about the way I acted a few minutes ago,” she said. “I don’t know what it is about being with you that scares me.”
He must’ve made a face because she quickly added, “I’m not afraid of you. I don’t think you’re going to hurt me. There’s something about being around you, a pull, attraction, whatever you want to call it that catches me off guard. I’ve never felt this so strongly before and I’m pretty certain today might be my last on this earth. So, if it’s okay with you I want you to kiss me.”
Awareness shot through Jaden as he looked into her eyes and saw a dangerous mix of hunger and need there. He brought his hands up to cradle her face and tilt her chin toward him, drawing her lips near his. “This is a bad idea.”
“I don’t really care right—” The rest of the words were silenced when his mouth crushed hers. She parted her lips for him, and his tongue delved deep.
Heat and a shot of overwhelming need warmed rocketed through him.
He broke off the kiss far too soon when thunder rumbled, shaking the ground.
“Still don’t care?” he asked.
She didn’t answer because she had to have felt it, too. The two of them together would be an all-consuming fire that neither could afford. She couldn’t let herself trust anyone any more than he could.
Jaden refocused.
The swells had momentarily lightened up. Good. The winds were fairly calm. Better. He scanned the water. No fins. Didn’t necessarily mean no sharks.
From his position he saw a white object bobbing up and down with the waves. Jaden checked his leg. No blood. Good. Sharks were drawn to blood. The makeshift bandage she’d made had stopped the bleeding.
“Hold on.” Wading waist-high, he counted the waves, and on three dove into one. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard her protests about getting in the water again.
He broke the surface and squinted, trying to get a better look at the mystery article. He didn’t have to swim long before reaching it. A wind surfing board. Looked to be in decent condition and like it would hold his weight. This would keep them out of the water and insulate them against dangers lurking there.
Jaden planted his gaze on Lauren with laser precision as he paddled toward her. It didn’t take long to return to the rocky coast. He rolled off the board and examined it properly.
“Not bad. The rig and the sail have been ripped clean off though. Still, it should work.”
“Are we really supposed to leave on that?” She looked him up and down like he’d lost his mind.
He glanced up at the sky, at the darkening clouds, and said, “We have to go now.”
“Okay.”
Jaden slipped on his facemask and tucked his fins under his arm. He put on his belt and stuffed the small items inside pockets. “All we have room to carry is a whistle and your fins. It isn’t much.”
All Lauren’s hopes of survival rested on a ten-foot-long piece of foam and a man she barely knew. The last part didn’t seem as true as it might’ve when they’d first ended up on the rocky island.
But what she truly knew about him, his life, could fit in a thimble.
She followed his lead, climbing on the front of the board as he’d instructed.
It felt like she’d been swimming for hours when she caught her first glimpse of land.
Lauren pumped her arms until the board crested the wave again for what seemed like the hundredth time. At that height, she caught another glimpse of the mainland.
“Did you see that?” she shouted back to him against wind gusts that made rain pelt her face.
Another wave crashed down hard, and Lauren spun off the board. She swallowed a mouthful of saltwater, gagging. It burned the back of her throat and nose as she struggled to break the surface.
The surf churned her around as if caught during the Pamplona Bull Run in Spain.
When the wave released, she reached bottom, and then crawled up on all fours pushing forward without opening her eyes. Another swell crashed on top of her and churned her upside-down. Oh, God. Max. What would happen to him now? She wouldn’t survive, and he’d be killed. Her head pounded.
Jaden had said he’d save her brother. Why did words from a complete stranger offer so much comfort?
The board rolled, she took a face full of water up her nose and in her mouth. And then everything went black.
Jaden fought the rushing tide. He’d hit bottom. Sand chugged up his nose, in his mouth, his eyes. He coughed up saltwater, shook his head, and tried to get his bearings. He squinted through burning eyes.
The beach.
They were on the beach. Fatigue dragged him down like a shark pulling its prey under water. He rolled onto his side and wiped the sand from his face. Visibility suc
ked. He couldn’t be sure which shore they’d landed on, or if cartel waited nearby.
Lauren.
Where was she?
There. Not three feet away. She didn’t amount to more than a lump in the surf. His chest tightened. Nothing could happen to her. To his asset, he corrected. She didn’t move. He could barely make out her face. His gut tensed, his neck muscles strained. She had to be okay. For the sake of this mission. The cartel wanted her. He needed to figure out why. In keeping her close, he held the chips.
“Lauren.” His voice came out as a croak, his throat sore from choking on saltwater. The next thing Jaden knew, the surf crashed on top of him again, yanking him back toward the sea. He crawled toward shore, sat straight up, and then did a quick check for signs of more injuries. Legs looked okay. Muscles ached, and he was more tired than when he’d come off a three-month assignment in the jungle, but he was intact. He crawled to Lauren. She was folded over on her side, her chest slightly moving.
He felt for a pulse, got one, and then gently shook her.
Her eyes blinked open. Closed quickly. An inch-long gash scored her forehead above her right eyebrow. Blood pulsed from it.
“You’re gonna be okay, you hear me?” He couldn’t even think of what he’d do if something bad happened to her. A vise grip squeezed his chest when she didn’t budge.
He sure didn’t plan to leave her out there. No amount of pain would stop him from taking her to the emergency safe house. If they’d landed on the south side of the island as he suspected, Gregory would be waiting at Beachside Condos. Jaden couldn’t get a message to his contact with a dead cell. He hoped like hell Gregory would be ready for them.
Jaden lumbered to his feet and scooped Lauren up. He couldn’t see more than twenty feet in either direction. Chinks of debris flew past his head. If the winds had seemed harsh at sea, they’d more than doubled in velocity on the beach. Moving her out of the surf, he gently lay her down. He hated the thought of leaving her, even for a minute, while looking so defenseless. Damn it.