Her chair grated against the hard floor as she stood and slammed her fist on the kitchen table. “Which was in the trunk of my car.”
Chapter 16
It took a moment for the implication of what she was saying to sink in, but when it did, Jarrad’s posture altered noticeably. Gone were the squared shoulders and the bearing of a trained soldier. His instincts and military training where swirling inside his head as he tried to come up with a solution to locate the overnight bag which, it appeared, had been irretrievably lost.
If he’d been alone, Jarrad would have taken off to his gym and gone a few rounds with the heavy bag to burn off some frustration and clear his head as he worked the problem. But he wasn’t alone and he couldn’t leave Elle unprotected, even for a moment.
Seeing his resolve waver before her eyes, Elle’s confidence began to falter, also. Grabbing the memory card and throwing a few things in an overnight bag didn’t really make for much of a getaway plan, she was beginning to realize, to her detriment. Her eyes began to fill with the tears she’d been holding back ever since she made the decision to leave her old life behind and start over somewhere far away.
Seeing her eyes glisten, Jarrad couldn’t help himself. He stood and made his way around the table and took her in his arms, awkwardly at first, because he wasn’t sure how she’d respond. Elle leaned into him and nestled her face into his chest, no longer stifling the tears. No longer caring if he saw how vulnerable she felt.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed as she looked up at him.
Something about this girl wrenched at Jarrad’s heart. He felt her pain and her sense of isolation. His heart ached as he empathized with her emotional outpouring. This was a connection he’d never experienced before.
She could be the one. He thought.
Leaning down, his eyes fixed on the soft, heart shaped lips that trembled as she tried to control her sobbing, and Jarrad kissed her. At first, hesitantly in case he’d misread the desire he’d sensed smoldering inside her. As her lips parted, his kiss became one of entitlement, claiming her mouth with his tongue as she opened wider to receive him.
Reaching up, she laced her fingers through his hair, pulling him into her, harder and more demanding, as though his plundering kiss might right her past wrongs and bring her a moment of peace and security, no matter how brief.
Breaking away from her, Jarrad looked into her expressive, teary eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You mean you shouldn’t have stopped,” said a haughty voice she no longer recognized as her own. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.” She gripped the front of his tee, feeling the solid, perfectly cut pecs through the sheer fabric and raised herself on her toes to crush her mouth against his.
The growing evidence of his arousal against her stomach wasn’t lost on her, either, as his large hands cupped her curvy butt and lifted her off the floor, pulling her tightly against him. She moaned into his mouth as her heated sex brushed against the hardened cock that threatened to burst out of his pants.
And that was pretty much where it all went to hell.
Chapter 17
“Damn it!” Jarrad pushed Elle away with more force than he’d intended.
“I thought you wanted that?” Elle screamed as she pounded his chest with both fists.
“No, it’s not you,” Jarrad responded vaguely, barely aware of her reaction. His focus was on the main window of the house, overlooking the clearing. She obviously couldn’t hear it yet, but to his highly developed bear shifter hearing, it sounded like the approaching chopper was right outside.
“We have to go.” He grabbed her arm and forced her toward the rear of the house.
“Go where? Dressed like this?” Elle stood her ground defiantly. Of course, she looked ridiculous with her hands on her hips staring up at a man nearly twice her height and at least three times her size, wearing nothing but an oversized hoody.
“Chopper inbound. We have to go! Now!” he commanded.
“It’s not Spider, is it?” The realization of what was about to happen was beginning to crystalize in her passion muddled brain.
Jarrad shook his head before throwing another anxious glance out of the window. The thump- thump-thump of the approaching rotors was getting closer. “No.”
“How?” Her voice no more than a squeak. Her eyes wide with terror.
“Police report. I should have thought of that myself. You popped when the State Trooper ran your car through the system.” Jarrad smacked himself on the forehead with his palm. “I’m an idiot. Of course they’ve got access. Damn!”
“What do we do?”
“Run. We need to get out of here. Right now!” Their window of opportunity was closing fast.
Elle held her arms out to her sides and looked down at herself. Then she looked at Jarrad.
“I’m an accountant. Do I even look like the running type? Seriously?”
“OK, I’ll run. You just shut up and hang on. Can you manage that without arguing?”
“I beg your—”
Jarrad had already scooped her up in one arm as he raced for the back door, pausing only to pick up his cell and a garage remote from a counter top in the kitchen before bursting through the door and heading toward the tree line at the rear of the property.
Just as they made it to cover, the entire house and clearing were lit up by an array of blinding searchlights mounted on the helicopter that came over the rise with a thunderous roar, its ferocious downdraft producing a hurricane force swirl of dirt, leaves and fallen branches.
Shielding their eyes from the flying debris, Jarrad and Elle watched as the helicopter hovered in front of the house, presumably looking for signs of occupancy.
After what seemed to Elle like an hour, but in reality was less than a minute, Jarrad clicked the button on his garage door remote, starting a sequence of events.
The door to the garage began to slowly open. The light inside the garage came on. What happened next left Jarrad and Elle dumfounded and that was no small task given the horror and destruction Jarrad had witnessed with his own eyes during his tours of duty.
Chapter 18
Before either of them could even process what was about to happen, the gigantic Viper Attack helicopter swung to face the opening garage door before lighting up the sky as it released a lethal Hellfire missile directly into the garage.
An ear shattering explosion was followed by a five story high mushroom cloud of searing flame as the house, garage and everything in them was essentially vaporized. A raging fire took hold of the flattened structure, as if pulverizing the hand built architectural masterpiece wasn’t enough.
Spinning on its axis, the Viper turned toward the direction from which it had come, ploughing into the darkness, satisfied that its mission had not only been accomplished but an unmitigated success.
Elle stared at the roaring bonfire that, seconds ago, had been Jarrad’s pride. His sanctuary. Jarrad’s hands balled into fists. He’d go after these bastards who had destroyed his home. Pursue them and tear them apart.
Trembling with the effort needed to prevent himself from losing control in front of Elle, Jarrad managed to remain calm and in control.
Elle misunderstood his reaction. “I’m so, so sorry. Jarrad. This is all my fault. I need to get away. Far away from here. From you. Somewhere I can’t bring hurt to anyone else.”
Without taking his eyes from the flames, Jarrad wrapped his arm around her.
“You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart. These guys have fucked with the wrong guy. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. They’re the ones who’ll be sorry. They have no idea what they’ve started.”
Something in Jarrad’s tone told her that he had made more of a promise than a threat. But there was something else, too.
Did he just call me sweetheart?
Chapter 19
As the intense flames continued to devour the remnants of the cabin, they stood side by side, in silence. They looke
d an incongruous pair—the soft, delicate city-girl and the hardened, muscular ex-soldier. Yet, with his arm encircling her and holding her close, they fit together perfectly. As one.
Elle shook her head in disbelief. “Your beautiful house,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I brought this on you.”
“I’ll build another one.” Jarrad nodded as he spoke. “Maybe the new one will be more than just a cabin in the mountains. Maybe it will be a real home?”
He felt good having said it aloud.
“You mean—”
Jarrad’s nodding cut her off.
“But I’ve only been here five minutes. You don’t even know me. And in that five minutes, I nearly got you killed trying to save me and I’ve destroyed your lovely home with a small thermonuclear bomb.”
“Technically, a Hellfire air-to-surface Anti-Tank missile blew up my house and you didn’t fire it. Secondly, rescue is my job. It’s what I do.”
“But if it wasn’t for me, you’d still have your house and be sleeping peacefully in your own bed tonight, not standing in the freezing mountain air all…well…homeless.”
“But then I wouldn’t have met you.” His words hung in the air as Elle wrapped her arm around his trim waist. She didn’t fully understand what was going on, but she knew something was happening and for once she didn’t feel the need to analyze and rationalize her feelings. Perhaps that’s where she’d gone wrong before. Somehow, this just felt ‘right’ and she felt drawn to stay, if only temporarily, with this gorgeous man.
Maybe that’s where she’d gone wrong in the past. The few guys she had dated tended to be around her own age and it never lasted long. Perhaps she needed a more mature, experienced man. The thought had never occurred to her before, but suddenly it seemed so right.
Elle the ‘serial over analyzer’ hadn’t left the building altogether though. The small matter of the highly motivated and heavily armed cartel still hung over their quiet bonding moment. Running hadn’t worked. Fighting back didn’t seem like much of an option, not against people who could blow up small buildings at the press of a button. She needed a plan if they were to get this monkey off their back for good. But she had no idea what that might entail.
A cold mountain breeze picked up and Elle started to shiver. “What do we do now?”
Jarrad looked down at her, rubbed her back to warm her as best he could and smiled. “I told you, I’m a High Mountain Rescue man. It’s what I do. Come on.”
He scooped her up in his arms and made his way to a trail through the forest that would have been invisible to anyone else. This was Jarrad’s home turf. His country and he knew every inch of it.
“You don’t have to carry me, you know.”
“You haven’t got shoes. This is no place to be walking without shoes, especially at night. Now hold on because it’s going to get rough where we’re going.”
He started to move faster as his eyes adapted to the darkness of the forest. As he did so, Elle squeezed her arms tightly around his shoulders, enjoying the way the thick layer of muscle across his back rippled and flexed as he maneuvered her between trees and fallen logs.
The inky blackness of the forest floor made Elle feel like she was on some kind of scary and bizarre theme park ride. She couldn’t see a thing. The tall trees filtered out nearly all of the moonlight.
“How can you even see?” she asked with a blend of curiosity and raw fear.
“I’ve got good night vision. Army training,” he replied, proud at his quick thinking. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Remember, if we can’t see them, they can’t see us.”
“I’m worried less about them than I am about bears and mountain lions or whatever else attacks humans in these parts. I have watched ‘I Shouldn’t Be Alive’, you know,” she said gravely.
“Yeah they don’t call this place Big Bear Mountain for nothing,” he teased.
Elle clutched him even more tightly, her breathing becoming shallow and more rapid. Jarrad sensed fear brewing in her.
“Don’t worry, there are no bears, mountain lions or cougars where we’re going.” With that assurance, Elle’s terrified grip relaxed ever so slightly and her breathing began to slow.
“Now bobcats, they’re another thing altogether. You don’t want to run into a vicious night hunter like the bobcat. Oh man, even the big grizzlies run from them…”
Chapter 20
“Where are we?” Elle asked as Jarrad stopped near a small stream. She could hear the clean meltwater trickling between the rocks.
“A rescue cabin. They’re all over the mountain so climbers and hikers can find shelter if they get lost or caught in bad weather. We keep them stocked with blankets, canned food, fresh water and firewood all year round,” he said with pride.
“Did you say firewood and blankets?” Her voice wavered as she shivered from the cold. The temperature had dropped to near zero during their hike to the cabin.
“Sorry. Let’s get you warm.” He carried her to the door of the cabin and used his boot to release the latch before nudging it open with his shoulder.
“Is this what it’s like to be carried over the threshold?” Elle’s attempt at humor was met with a puzzled expression. “Never mind. Just light the fire, will you? I’m freezing.”
“How come you’re not cold,” she added as an afterthought. “You’ve only wearing a tee. At least I’ve got a sweatshirt and hoodie.”
“Army training. We’re trained to ignore pain. And cold, apparently.”
“Like Rambo?” she asked with a cheeky grin.
“Who?”
Elle rolled her eyes. Maybe it was a mountain man thing. Or a city girl thing. Either way, he wasn’t getting it. “Forget it,” she said as they entered the cabin and he made his way to the lamp and matches set out on a table near the door.
The welcome crackle of the wood as the flames took hold and the delightful smell of wood smoke reminded her of camping trips with her dad, when she was a little girl. Her mom never went, of course. Too many bugs for one thing and she was a ‘mint on the hotel pillow’ kind of traveler, for another. Her dad, though, always thought camping was a character building and bonding opportunity. Elle didn’t think so. The burning kindling brought back memories of those times and how she’d missed him since he passed.
Jarrad watched her brow furrow and she stared into the flames. “What’s on your mind?”
“My dad used to take me camping when I was a kid. I always told him how much I hated it. Now he’s gone. I wish I hadn’t said that.”
Jarrad thought it best to change the subject. “I’ll get some blankets then we can move the mattresses near the fire so you can stay warm.”
Still staring into the swirl of embers in the fireplace, Elle nodded vaguely.
Returning with a couple of small mattresses under one arm and a bundle of blankets under the other, Jarrad created a makeshift bed in front of the fire, which was starting to come to life, but not enough to stop Elle shivering. Wrapping her in a blanket, Jarrad began to rub her shoulders vigorously in an attempt to warm her up. She turned and looked up at him.
In the flickering light of the open fire he looked even more rugged and handsome, if that was at all possible. A day’s worth of manly stubble covered his strong jawline and his stunning blue eyes…well, they were the kind a girl could get lost in, as Elle was about to find out as she gazed into them, trying to read his intentions.
“We need to start thinking about a plan,” he said breaking eye contact at the same time.
“Seriously? That’s what you want to do now?”
A sheepish look spread across his face. Jarrad was being pulled in different directions. Jarrad the man also wanted to take her then and there. Jarrad the soldier felt the need to protect her and that meant not getting involved or becoming distracted. The last time he did that, it didn’t go so well. But that was before the cartel hit squad thought they’d killed their target.
So many complex emotions wrestling for dominance,
but in the end…
…the man won.
Chapter 21
Taking her by the shoulders, Jarrad gently pushed her down flat on the improvised bed before reaching down and pulling his tee over his head. The heat from the fire had him glistening with sweat, highlighting the extraordinary definition of his already ripped physique. Elle couldn’t take her eyes off him as his shoulder muscles rippled and bulged as he shrugged out of the fitted tee.
She no longer grimaced at the scar he’d shown her in the rescue helicopter earlier that day. She no longer saw him as an ‘older’ guy. All she could see was what she’d always imagined the perfect Adonis to look like in the flesh. He was, every inch of him, perfect. From his chiseled pecs and his rock like abs to his narrow, sexy waistline. There was not an ounce of fat on the man. His war wound in no way detracted from his sculpted perfection. Instead, it highlighted how strong and fearless he truly was, accentuating his ruggedness.
Elle stood motionless as Jarrad reached down to pull her hoodie and sweat up from her knees…to her hips…all the way to her breasts. Then he stopped.
The look on his face said it all. He liked what he saw. He wanted to see more, but he was asking permission. He was seeking approval to continue.
The old Elle would never have found herself in this situation. She’d date for months before she’d even think about becoming intimate, and even then, nothing as brazen as this. But that was the old Elle. Before she was forced to flee for her life. Before she watched a missile try to vaporize her. Before she met a man, almost a father figure, who made her feel safe and who was willing to risk everything to protect her.
She gave only the slightest nod. She was still mesmerized by his powerful body and the way his muscle striations took on a life of their own as he undressed her. But that tiny nod was all that he needed. As she raised her arms above her head for him to finish the job, he did so, leaving her almost naked and feeling wanton and voluptuous. She looked beautiful and sexy if the way his eyes lit up were any indication.
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