Page 130 of Dangerous Mission
As I set her down, using the width of my back to block everyone else, I take her face in my hands.
“They can wait.” I press my mouth against hers for a searching kiss. Proving to myself she’s real. “All goddamn day.”
When I pull back she smiles at me as she touches my cheek. “God, Memphis, you look exhausted. We’re taking a vacation to somewhere very quiet…”
“And dry,” I add as I grip her shoulders. “What do you have on?”
It’s orange and white and muddy, hardly recognizable as a safety vest.
“It was all I could grab out of the truck before I ran.”
I laugh at her cute expression as relief courses through all of my cells like warm honey. “A reflective vest is not the best thing to hide in, but lord, I wish I could have found you with a spotlight. I have half-a-mind to put a tracker on you, sweetheart. I’m never going through this again.”
“Fine by me. Oh—” She pulls back. “I lost the big Mag light right up there! Can you go get it? I’m kind of fond of it now. I even named it Hammerhead.”
I loop my hands around the back of her neck and bring her mouth to mine for another swift taste of her. “I’ll buy you another and I’m not worried about that damned thing.”
Studying her pretty face, I rasp through tight vocal cords, “You’re the only light I’ll ever need from now on.”
Her tears nearly crush me. But her words are the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my life. “I missed you so much. I was worried sick about you.”
I scoop her into my arms. “You don’t even know how crazy I went when I woke up and you were gone.”
“I’m sorry.”
I press my forehead to hers, trying to push out the memory of seeing our bed empty. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You did everything just perfectly.”
“It was crazy. Scary. Crazy. Exhausting.”
Fucking hell. I can’t imagine what it was like for her.
Hungry for revenge, I fight snarling like an animal. “Do you know who it was that drugged us?”
“He was speaking a language I didn’t know.”
“A dead male was found in the woods, but there’s no ID on him.”
She nods and hugs me tighter. “I wondered if he made it. The wreck… and I hit him pretty hard with the light.”
“God.” I rasp, refusing to picture that scene in my head.
“Take me home, please. I just want to forget about it all right now.”
Over my shoulder, I call out to the guys. “I need a blanket STAT.”
She laughs softly. “Actually, we need a bed.”
“Oh, that’s guaranteed. This time I’m staging armed guards outside of the house.”
When a blanket is tossed over my shoulder, I snug it around her without letting her go. “Let’s get you dry and get your feet taken care of.”
She wiggles her legs where they’re dangling over my arm. “I would say I want a massage later, but truthfully I don’t think I can stand it.”
A growl rumbles through me. She’s been through hell.
“We’ll get a doc to clean you up.” I don’t trust myself. Not with the risk of her getting an infection. I want an expert. Even if I have to carry her all the way to Carollia in my arms.
The team is gathered around the truck when I stride back with her, barking orders about having Agent Torres send a doctor. Justice, Beast and Truck close in around us, ruffling Aria’s hair, giving her a squeeze on the shoulder, offering words of praise for her survival skills.
