Duty Bound (Blackthorn Security Book 1)

Chapter 11

Lily watched the sun sink over the mountains, dragging the light with it. A short while later, the valley was plunged into a deep, unforgiving darkness.

“It’s time,” Blade said.

For the last few hours, he’d stared at the map, planning their route. Then he’d planned their backup route, and finally their backup-backup route, God forbid they had to use it. She couldn’t imagine hiking over the Khyber Pass.

He’d also studied the towns and villages in the region. When she asked him why, as they didn’t intend to visit any of them, he’d muttered something about a possible contact in one of them.

Blade heaved on his backpack, obviously expecting her to do the same. And she’d have complied already if she could have figured out how. She stared at the complicated array of straps, different partitions, and assortment of survival paraphernalia that went inside.

Seriously?

Not to mention the darn thing was bigger than she was.

He guessed her predicament, as the corners of his mouth turned up. “Here, let me help.”

She scowled at his amusement.

Blade picked up the pack as if it weighed nothing more than a child’s rucksack. She turned her back to him, then he slid it up over her shoulders. “Turn around.”

Lily faced him, irritated she had to ask for help.

He adjusted the padded straps over her shoulders so it was more comfortable then fastened the stabilizing strap across her breasts. She tried not to flinch when his hand grazed her nipple.

“How”s that?” His rough, growling voice softened.

She cleared her throat. “Fine, I think.”

They set off, Blade taking the lead. Unnerved by the dark and the cacophony of unfamiliar sounds, Lily stayed close to his heels. She didn’t want to think about the men out there, hunting them.

He moved like a big cat, silently prowling over the entangled terrain, while she stomped and stumbled and crunched her way along the invisible trail he was taking. Unlike her, he was dressed in full combat gear, thanks to the supplies his team had left for them, including lightweight body armor and belt-kit over his camouflage fatigues, his rifle in the ready position like he was expecting an attack.

He’d given her a vest too, which she wore over her khaki T-shirt. It added a level of warmth, although in the valley, it wasn’t too cold. Not like it had been in the mountains.

Although he’d turned off his head light, presumably so they didn’t attract unwanted attention, the night-vision scope he’d worn in the cave was still positioned over one eye, so he could safely lead them through the undergrowth. As before, he turned every few minutes to make sure she was still behind him.

“You okay?” he asked after they”d walked about a mile.

“Yeah.” Complaining wouldn’t get her anywhere, and she didn’t want to slow them down. According to the map, the road leading out of the valley toward Kabul was over ten miles away, which meant they still had a long way to go.

She’d have to conserve her energy.

One step at a time. She fixed her gaze on Blade’s sculpted shoulders, which supported his heavy pack with ease. After a while, she focused on his sturdy, resilient waist, then that oh-so-firm butt. She couldn’t help but stare as the fabric of his pants hugged his glutes with enviable precision.

He turned to check on her.

Lily glanced up, heat flooding her cheeks. Had he just caught her ogling his butt? “Not much of a moon tonight,” she murmured, raising her flaming face skyward. A scattering of clouds blotted the dark canvas with gray.

“The cloud cover is good for us,” he replied. “This is the most dangerous part of our journey. The enemy will be in the valley now, looking for us. They’ll guess which way we’re heading.”

“Maybe we should’ve taken another route.” She peered into the bushes. “Confused them.”

He shrugged as if they were discussing nothing more than which diner to go to for coffee. “We still could, but it would mean crossing the river, and then crossing it again to get back to the road. But if the shit hits the fan, we will.”

She didn’t like the sound of that.

Please, God, don’t let the shit hit the fan.

Lily glanced around. In the darkness, the trees looked like soldiers, their branches like rifles pointing at them. Low bushes evoked images of crouching Taliban fighters.

“Relax, it’ll be okay.”

Relax? Was he crazy?

They were trekking through an Afghan valley pursued by angry men with guns. How could she relax?

Shooting daggers at his back, she trudged on.

After another half a mile had passed, Lily asked, “Do you remember the first time we met?”

He shot her a blank look.

Clearly she hadn’t made the same kind of impression on him as he’d made on her.

“It was family day at the base. I was there with Joe and his father. Joe introduced us.” She had this image of him casually leaning against the wall, a lazy, knowing smirk playing on his lips. He’d pushed away, shook Pat’s hand, then nodded to her and said hello.

Actually, it’s wasn’t as polite as that.

He’d glanced at her—so self-assured, so confident—smiled that cocky smile, then dismissed her almost immediately by turning back to the others. She’d been intimidated by his blatant, physical masculinity. It had radiated off him like heat from a blazing fire, undeniable and potent. It was easy to see why the girls living around the base had fawned over him.

Not her though.

Raised, for the most part, by a single mother, her upbringing had been fairly sheltered. No brothers to jostle with, no father to show her what men ought to be like. Joe had been her first and only love.

When her mother died, Joe’s family took her in. She’d been sixteen at the time, and Joe had been her lifesaver. She”d been lost and he”d rescued her. Then she”d met his army buddies—in particular Blade, with his sexy grin and cocksure attitude—and she”d recoiled. Determined not to like him, and terrified his cavalier attitude would rub off on Joe, she”d made up her mind about him before she”d even had a chance to get to know him.

Cocky, arrogant womanizer. That”s how she”d pegged him. And for ten years, she”d believed it to be true.

Looking at him now, however, focused and vigilant, still turning to check on her every few minutes, she realized she might have got it wrong.

Sure, he was all those things, or had been, but he was also considerate, thoughtful, and passionate. Traits she had never attributed to him before.

Boy, was he passionate.

Not going there.

She forced her attention back to the terrain but couldn’t help a little shiver passing through her.

Tearing her thoughts back to the present, she shook her head and muttered, “Never mind. You probably don’t remember.”

On they walked, mile after mile, not speaking. The silence unnerved her, especially in the dark. But she didn’t want to put her foot in her mouth again.

Finally, Blade called a stop. “Do you need a break?” The eye without the night vision scope settled on her.

“Yeah, please.” Her legs felt like lead, and her neck and shoulders ached from the unfamiliar weight of the backpack. “I just need a few moments to recover.”

Annoyingly, Blade wasn’t sweating. Wasn’t winded. Wasn’t tired. This was like a Sunday stroll to him, and he seemed totally relaxed. She, on the other hand, was a hot, sweaty mess—and not in a good way.

“If you pop open those buckles, I”ll help you take it off,” he offered. “Give your shoulders a break.”

Lily popped, then the straps burst apart over her chest. Standing behind her, he lowered the backpack to the ground. She sank down after it with a groan, resting against the lumpy bulk.

“Don”t get too comfortable.” He didn’t remove his pack. “We’re not stopping for long.”

“How far until we reach the road?” She’d lost track of how far they’d walked.

“We’re about halfway there.”

God. How was she ever going to manage this? She took a woeful sip from her water flask then leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

Blade patrolled the area around her, weaving in and out of the trees, pausing only once to consult the map. The moments ticked by.

Now that she knew how exposed they were, she couldn’t relax. Feeling slightly better, she struggled to her feet.

Wordlessly, Blade lifted her backpack then slid it onto her shoulders. This time she fastened the buckles herself, but in memory of his touch, her traitorous nipples puckered. She avoided eye contact. The whole situation was ridiculous.

“Shh...” He held up a hand.

Lily froze, listening. Her senses had become fine-tuned to their surroundings, but she couldn”t hear anything other than the rustle of leaves and the occasional scamper of a small animal. Then a twig cracked somewhere behind her in the shadows.

She gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth.

It was them!

He put a finger over his lips, crouched down, then gestured for her to follow him, and to bring her backpack with her. Seconds later, he’d melted into the shadows.

Crap! Her heart almost leaped out of her chest.

Where’d he go?

One blink and he’d vanished. She ducked after him, panic setting in, but then saw his shadowy figure behind a tree.

Thank God.

He took her pack, then led her silently through the bush toward a small ditch. She looked at him questioningly, and he gestured for her to climb down into it.

There was no talking now. Heart pounding, she followed his instructions and lay flat on her belly, not caring about the damp mud seeping through her pants or the acrid smell of decaying leaves.

He quickly gathered some foliage, ripping off a branch or two with a sudden display of strength and then climbed in next to her. He pulled a hessian net out of his backpack’s top fold and threw it over them, then he positioned the branches on top of that. They were effectively camouflaged.

“Don”t move,” he whispered. He maneuvered into a sitting position behind his rifle, the muzzle poking ominously through the netting.

Lily hardly dared to breathe. She had an awful feeling the shit he’d mentioned was about to hit the fan in a big way. Sure enough, five minutes later she heard heavy, crunching footsteps. Shortly after that, three Taliban fighters, armed with rifles similar to Blade’s, appeared. They were searching the woods. For her.

Lily’s heart thumped so loudly, she was convinced Blade could hear it.

Please don’t find us.

Was this it? Would they be gunned down and left to die in this muddy ditch? Biting her lip, she tried not to think the worst, but the terror rose to choke her. She glanced over at Blade, seeking reassurance, but he was staring straight ahead. She couldn”t even hear him breathing. He was frozen, his finger on the trigger, ready to open fire on the three soldiers.

Even though she”d lived with Joe for ten years, she”d never seen him in action. She”d refused to go to any of the military events, not even the pub after a successful mission. Other wives and girlfriends did, but Lily bucked that long-standing tradition. Joe used to go, of course, and on those nights she knew not to wait up. Sometimes he’d stay over at Blade’s and not come home until the next day, which never sat well with her. As a result of her non-participation, she”d never seen him fire his weapon, not even during a training exercise. And he never talked about his work. She was given to understand none of them did. So, of course, this level of intensity boggled her mind. She’d never witnessed anything like it.

How could Blade stay so calm? The soldiers were only yards away, moving in their direction.

Closer… Closer…

Soon they”d reach the ditch.

Still Blade didn’t move. No muscle twitched, no limb flexed. No finger or toe quivered with pent-up anticipation. He was just a relaxed, controlled body beside her, motionless but lethal, waiting for his opportunity.

One of the men murmured something in a low voice, then all three halted. The man closest to them gestured toward the ditch, but the original speaker shook his head and pointed back the way they”d come.

Go away.

No such luck.

The men continued to approach. They got to the edge of the ditch and looked around. The closest one spoke again. It felt like he was standing directly above them. Lily peered through the hessian coverage. He stood less than a yard away. If she stuck out her hand, she could touch his foot.

She waited, desperately hoping they”d retreat.

Then it happened. The man closest to them stepped into the ditch, his boot clipping Lily’s shoulder. She winced, causing him to glance down. With a yell of surprise, he lifted his rifle and pointed it at her.