Risky Romance (Wolf Security #4)

14. Cody

CHAPTER 14

Cody

The world became a blur of green and brown as I rocketed down the muddy slope. My ass and back scraped over rocks and roots and each impact jarred my bones. Branches whipped at my face and arms, leaving stinging welts. But all I could think about was Jewel, lying motionless at the bottom.

“Jewel!” I hollered as I shielded my face from a spray of branches.

Her silence scared the shit out of me.

As I neared the bottom, I hit a mound. The world spun as I tumbled the last few feet, landing hard on my side with the rifle wedged under my hip. Fuck me. I stood and scrambled through bushes to where she lay in a small, level patch of mud. Around her was a mess of leaves, twigs, and dark mud that came down the hill with her. Massive tree roots, slick with moisture and moss, protruded from the earth, creating a natural, treacherous staircase up the slope behind her.

“Jewel! Whisper!”

She didn’t move and my heart pounded harder.

She lay on her side, half-buried in mud and leaves with her back to me. Her black hair was matted with grime and twigs. Her shirt was torn, and nasty scrapes ran down the back of her thighs. My mind lurched at how still she was.

I put the rifle on the ground and dropped to my knees beside her.

“Hey, you okay?” My voice sounded hollow, desperate. I gently rolled her over.

Her face was pale beneath streaks of mud, and she didn’t open her eyes.

Is that bruising around her neck? Jesus! Did Bruce try to strangle her?

My heart jammed in my throat as I pressed my fingers just above the line of bruises.

A pulse. Thank Christ! But she was out cold.

Dappled sunlight filtered through the canopy above, casting shifting patterns on her face as I patted her cheek.

“Can you hear me?” I shook her shoulder gently.

Nothing. Not even a flicker of her eyelids.

Dread settled in my gut as I ran my fingers over her head, searching for a wound. I found a large lump at the base of her skull.

I hissed through clenched teeth.

“Hey, wake up.” I patted her cheek again. My voice seemed to echo in the eerie silence of the jungle.

I sat back on my haunches, studying her.

What the hell do I do now?

I didn’t even have water to give her. Surrounding us on all sides was dense, impenetrable jungle. Thick vines hung from towering trees with trunks so wide it would take three people to encircle them. Ferns and broad-leafed plants crowded the forest floor, and their leaves glistened with raindrops.

To our left, the ground sloped away again, hinting at another steep drop-off. She was lucky to stop here. God knew how much farther to the bottom.

I undid the buttons on my shirt, removed it, rolled it up, and placed it beneath her head. I checked her hands for broken fingers. All seemed good. Other than that knock to her head, she got lucky. Crazy woman could have broken her legs. That would have been fucked.

A rhythmic thumping sound carved through the stillness. My blood ran cold.

The chopper.

“Fuck.”

I scooped Whisper into my arms, and she was lighter than I expected. Her limp body rolled into my bare chest as I scanned the bushes for cover.

A massive strangler fig with low-hanging branches stood to my right and back up the slope. Leaning into the incline, I charged uphill, trying not to slip on the moss-covered roots. The chopper’s beat grew louder, and I clenched my jaw, fueling both anger and worry as I aimed for cover.

I ducked under the branches and, cradling her body to mine, pressed my back against the trunk. The canopy above was thick enough to hide us.

I hoped.

The air was heavy with the pungent scent of damp earth and decaying plant matter as I held still, silently praying the bastards above would fuck off. Each thump of the helicopter blades seemed to match my racing heartbeat.

A damn mosquito buzzed in my ear, and I jerked my shoulder trying to flick it away.

She groaned.

“Hey. It’s okay. Shhh.”

She stirred in my arms, and my heart skipped a beat as I held her tighter. Her eyelids fluttered and a faint crease wrinkled between her brows.

The chopper’s roar intensified, and the downdraft shook everything around us. The damn thing was right overhead. Leaves and twigs rained down, and I hunched over her, shielding her face.

“What’s that noise?” she mumbled, her voice barely audible over the deafening noise.

“Shh, it’s okay.”

She wriggled again, and I gripped her tighter.

“Just keep still. We’re hiding.”

Her eyes snapped open, wild with confusion and fear. She tried to push away from me, but I tightened my grip, keeping her still.

“What the— Why the hell are you naked?!”

“I’m not naked,” I hissed. “Now keep still!”

The rhythmic thumping was so loud it boomed like it was inside my skull.

She darted her gaze around. “What happened?”

The chopper’s shadow darkened our hiding spot, and she stiffened in my arms. Dead leaves caught in the downdraft, peppering our battered bodies. It was right above us like a giant wasp gearing up to attack.

Jewel winced, squeezing her eyes shut, and gripped my arm so tightly her knuckles turned white.

I pressed harder against the tree trunk, praying the thick foliage would conceal us. Waiting for the chopper to piss off was excruciating. Sweat trickled down my forehead, stinging my eyes. My muscles screamed from holding still, but I didn’t dare move. Not with Whisper barely conscious. The last thing I needed was her stumbling out of our cover with those bastards overhead.

Finally, the downdraft shifted as the helicopter began to move. The thundering noise gradually decreased as it headed north, but I kept my hold on Whisper in case it swung back.

Only when the sound had faded to a distant hum did I relax my grip on her and she sagged against me.

“Looks like they’re gone,” I said. “How’s your head?”

She groaned, then suddenly stiffened. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

I lowered her to her feet, and she buckled over and emptied her stomach. She spat a few times and heaved again, producing more noise than vomit. Her body shook, and her face grew even more pale.

“It’s okay.” Not sure what I was supposed to do, I rubbed her back.

She flicked her hand, shooing me away.

I stepped out from the cover of the strangler fig and searched the sky through the canopy above. The drone of insects and distant bird calls replaced the thundering beat of the chopper. Clouds tinged with orange hovered overhead, but that was all.

Whisper stepped out from beneath the tree. “Sorry.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“No need to be.”

She touched the back of her head and as she winced, her gaze lingered over my torso.

Does she like what she sees?

What the hell?

I had no idea where that thought came from. I never worried about shit like that.

Her eyes narrowed. “You going to tell me why you don’t have a shirt on?”

I strode to where I’d folded it on the dirt and snatched it up. I tugged it on and did up the buttons. “I put it under your head when you knocked yourself out.”

“I what?” She picked a leaf off the mud streaked across her arm.

I indicated up the steep slope. “You fell down the fucking hill and hit your head. I had to come down and save your ass . . . again.”

“Really? Well, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” She tried to run her hands through her hair, but her fingers snagged in the matted knots. Her hand went to the back of her head, and she hissed in pain. Frowning, she studied the slope, and her eyes seemed to sizzle with panic.

“You don’t remember?”

She shook her head.

Oh crap. That’s all we need.