For a moment, he remained standing in front of her. Then he nodded. “We’ll take care of it when we get to the cave.” He hooked her arm and set off through the brush and across the narrow valley. At the valley’s center was a narrow stream with running water.
Jake squatted on his haunches and scooped water into his palm. He splashed it up into his face, washing away the dust. Then he scooped another handful and drank.
Alex dropped to her knees and slipped her sore hands into the cool stream, letting the water wash away the dirt and grit from the cuts and bruises. Then she scooped some and drank, praying she didn’t get deathly ill from contaminated water.
“We don’t know when we’ll find water again, or how long it will be until my men come back for us,” Jake said. “Drink up. But make it fast.”
Not willing to give their pursuers time to catch up, Alex drank as much as she could in a few precious minutes and then pushed to her feet.
Having crossed the stream, Jake held out his hand to Alex and helped her to navigate the wet stones in the shallow water, guiding her over. Her foot slipped on the last rock.
Jake pulled her into his arms and held her long enough for her to get her feet beneath her. And long enough for Alex to appreciate the warmth and solid strength of his body against her.
Heat seared a path from where their chests met all the way to her core. When he set her back from him, she ducked her head, afraid he might see the awareness in her eyes. The man had a hard body, one most women would find hard to ignore and even harder to resist.
Thankfully, Alex wasn’t most women. She couldn’t be so easily influenced by a man with delicious muscles and narrow hips. And the way he wore his uniform trousers, fitting snug across his tight bottom, shouldn’t affect her, either. Shouldn’t...but it did. Having spent the last couple hours with the man, following him through thorny brush and bramble, she should be too tired to think about how sexy this stranger was. Perhaps because she was tired, she was thinking naughty thoughts when she should concentrate instead on survival.
Squaring her shoulders, she picked up the pace. Darkness and distance made it harder to see that tight butt, and she didn’t want to lose him. Not out in the middle of the hills in Niger. She wasn’t sure what wild animals they might encounter. They weren’t far from one of the major national parks and wildlife preserves. For all she knew, they’d need those last few bullets to protect them from lions or other, more dangerous animals than the humans hunting them.
* * *
JAKE KEPT MOVING, determined to find a cave to hide from the men following them. Alex would need to rest before they continued on to find a way out of the hills and away from the ISIS terrorists that had taken control of the village.
Once they’d crossed the creek, he headed up the side of a hill, following an animal path to the dark, shadowy maw on the face of a bluff. By the time they reached the cave entrance, the path was nothing more than a thin trail, probably created by some surefooted sheep, goat or deer. He’d snagged Alex’s hand and held on as they navigated the treacherous hillside.
If either one of them slipped, it would be a long, bumpy way down. He wasn’t sure Alex could withstand another beating courtesy of a fall. Her hands were scratched, as were her elbows. And if her torn shirt was any indication, her back would be pretty messed up, too.
Jake had wet a bandanna while at the creek and stuffed it into one of his cargo pockets on the side of his pants. When they stopped, he’d attend to her wounds. She couldn’t afford to get an infection. Not when he was unsure of when his team would send out a drone to search for their whereabouts. The rescue mission could take days to find him. If the ISIS terrorists continued to hunt them, a drone might lead them straight to their location before help could arrive to extract them.
At the cave entrance Jake took out a small flashlight from his shirt pocket, aimed his weapon into the darkness and switched on the light, careful not to shine it for too long in case the ISIS predators were close enough to see the beam.
The cave didn’t go back far enough for them to hide in the depths. Anyone who climbed the hill and peered inside would see the man and woman huddled against a far wall.
“Too shallow,” Jake muttered.
“There’s another one farther along the bluff.” Alexandria motioned toward the west.
They left the shallow cave and eased along the narrow path, lit only by the stars beginning to pop out one by one in the indigo sky. Again Jake held Alexandria’s hand, helping her to keep her balance.
When they reached the second cave, he shined his light into the darkness and couldn’t see the back wall. He stepped inside, his weapon pointed into the blackness.
“Aren’t you afraid of animals?” Alex whispered.
“I’m more afraid of having to shoot one. If I fire a round, I give away our location.”
“And if a lion comes at us?” Alex asked, her voice shaking.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep us alive,” he assured her. “Stay behind me in case something does jump out. Or better yet, wait here.”
He entered the cave.
Alex followed. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather face a lion than a militant.”
“Suit yourself,” he said, and continued his perusal of the interior of the cave.
“So, what are you? A Special Forces soldier or something like that?”
His lips quirked. “Something like that.”
She stayed close enough behind him that he could almost feel the heat of her body, but not so close that she hampered his ability to use his weapon.
“Don’t the Special Forces soldiers work in teams?”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“So what?” He stalled, shifting the beam of his flashlight back and forth to cover every inch of the cave floor and the dark crevices that could contain wild animals. He even checked behind a large boulder near the back of the cave.
“So, where are the rest of your teammates?” she asked.
Completing his inspection, he turned to face her. “The cave is clear.”
“And you haven’t answered my question.” She raised her brow.
“We were separated in battle.” He took her hand and led her to the back of the cave and pointed to the cave floor. “You might as well bed down for the night back here. If someone does come into the cave, they won’t see us immediately.” He turned to leave.
She touched his arm. “Where are you going?” Her voice held a note of panic.
He covered her hand with his. “I’m going out to scout for a few minutes.”
“Do you have to?” she asked, smoothing her hands over her skirt nervously.
“I like to know what other options we have if we need to beat a hasty retreat.” He handed her a small penlight. “Here. Keep this. It’s not much, but it will give you a little light to see by. I’ll need my bigger flashlight out there.”
Alex held up the flashlight that looked more like a ballpoint pen, and cocked an eyebrow. “Like that’s going to do me any good against a lion.”
“No, but this might.” He pulled a handgun out of his belt and handed it over.
“I haven’t fired a gun since my father showed me how when I was a teen.” She smiled.
His lips turned upward on the corners. “I’m surprised you’ve fired one at all.”
“Oh, my father was all about taking care of yourself.” She weighed the handgun in her palm. “He