Chapter 3
Little damned fool.
What the hell is a woman like her doing in a place like this without a guard?
Fucking hell.
I’m going to chew someone’s ass.
Once I get us the hell out of here, that is.
The woman’s light as a feather. She weighs nothing against my side as I retreat into the dense, humid jungle.
I move quickly. Silencing my strides.
As I pull away from the edge of town, I cue up my mic by tapping my thumb on the silicone ring on my left hand. “I’m moving along the west side of the village in the tree line. I’ve got the redhead. Report your locations.”
One by one, Storm, Truck, Scout, and JT report in.
Each of us works our way toward our designated rendezvous.
Their quick action makes me proud. A few of the guys know each other, served together. But first missions as a new team can be hard. Looks like they are coming together well.
Now if I can just get there without my cargo disclosing my location.
Thankfully, all wiggling has stopped.
She’s frozen now, like a plank with soft womanly curves, locked against my side, except for the little gasps for air that are making her ribs expand and contract like a panicked bird.
Not hating the fact that she’s scared. Maybe she’ll get a damned clue and get out of town.
Once I’m clear of dangerous eyes, I drop her to her feet and uncover her mouth. My palm burns where her lips were pressed.
Gawd almighty.
Once I get a close-up look at those puppies—her full, damp lips—I know why. She could set the world on fire with those beauties.
My visceral reaction to her stunning perfection royally pisses me off.
Hot women equal trouble.
Second, I don’t do difficult.
She checks both boxes.
Immediate disqualification.
Not that I’m looking for any damned thing to do with a female. So, having my damned libido rearing up makes me act like an asshole.
I hate unexpected bullshit. And me getting a boner in the middle of an op is exactly that.
Fucking ridiculous.
She stares at me, her mouth open, the pulse on the side of her neck flying.
“Move it.” I don’t have time to coddle her. No matter how damned scared or angry she is.
Her eyes turn furious, her lips curl, and she has the guts to yell in my face. “Get away from me!”
I blink.
Fucking hell almighty, the woman’s got a set of lungs!
The whole damned village is going to hear her.
But that’s not what unhinges my jaw and makes me tilt my head .
It’s the fighting stance she adopts.
At least the woman got the stance right. Weight on the balls of her feet, hands high and loosely clenched. However, it will be useless against me.
My brows do something weird above my eyes. A disbelieving grin ghosts over my face.
Cute. She thinks she can take me on.
“What are you doing?”
“Get back!” she barks.
A battle cry follows. She launches herself at me like a pinwheel of flying arms and feet. She’s gone from zero to sixty in four seconds flat. It’s all fight-or-flight. None of the moves she throws at me are practiced. If that fighting stance was real, then the rest of it went to shit.
Damn. She acts like I’m not twice her size.
I grab her.
Wish I had some duct tape. But since I don’t, I clamp my hand over her mouth again.
That only makes her go ballistic. The woman’s wild.
“You’re only gonna hurt yourself, babe. You’re just wearing yourself out. Hot as it is, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack.”
With one hand over her mouth, I use my free hand to latch around her bicep and propel her deeper into the forest.
It feels a hell of a lot like I’ve got a wildcat on a leash.
I push us deeper into the dark green tunnel. The path is easy to follow, clear to a trained eye. I scouted it earlier because I like to know my escape routes for emergencies. Just like this one.
She’s angrier with every step. The little bottle rocket bucks against me.
“If you’re trying to get us dead, you keep on acting like that.”
With a growl into my palm, she jerks hard as she tries to get her arm free.
“Don’t,” I warn. “Your legs aren’t working too damned well right now. It’s the adrenaline. I’m keeping you from falling on your face.”
Point proven when her toe snags on a root.
“See?”
Cursing, I lift her upright by one arm like a parent does a toddler.
The last thing I need to deal with is a busted ankle.
She snags her toe again.
That’s it, I’m done.
I snatch her up and toss her over my shoulder.
I’m over it.
I’ve got to uncover her mouth because I can’t reach it when I’m carrying her this way. So, I also issue a threat. “Open that damned mouth of yours or start bucking like a mule and I’ll spank your ass.”
Holy hell, did I really just say that?
Clearly, the heat is getting to me.
She doesn’t listen…at all…because she turns into a pinwheel again, flailing her arms and legs.
“Dammit, Poppy. If you want to find out that I’m a man of my word, go ahead. Be warned, I got a big hand and you’ve got a tight, little ass.”
My words hit their mark. She goes stiff again.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she hisses.
“Try me.”
Try. Me.
My patience is thin. I’m hot as fuck. Santa Rosa is a nightmare, and the team has a ticking clock hanging over our heads.
So, I’m irritable as a hungry wildebeast.
I continue down the trail. She’s like a plank again, bouncing against my shoulder with her ass right by my face. The urge to bite it is dangerously strong.
Clearly, I have heat exhaustion. The sooner I get rid of her, the better.
Instead of chomping on her sweet butt cheek, I make my mouth busy doing something else. Grumping at her. “Glad you wised up, hotshot. Now hold still, and I’ll get us out of here.”
Once I know she will not go ape-shit on my head again, I pick up my pace and jog down the trail. She keeps her cursing in a low voice that only I can hear.
Colorful. Creative curses. Full of her southern twang.
A laugh builds in my gut.
Shit.She’s a spitfire.
A foolish spitfire with a tight, round ass and a pair of peach-pink lips that undoubtedly put her in the center of many men’s fantasies.
Definitely. Not. Me.
By the time we hit the small clearing where the team is gathered, my molars are in serious danger.
I drop her to her feet. This time, I’m the one that lunges back. I’ve got to get the hell away from her before I devolve into an animal. “Turn around, woman.”
For a beat, I wonder if she’s going to try to make good on the telegraphed threat that she’s going to claw my eyes out. But she remains locked in place, cheeks flushed, hair slipping from her ponytail, panting at me.
An alarm sounds deep inside my head.
D.A.N.G.E.R.
My thinking brain is throwing out all the stops. Because that’s followed by RUN.
Smart.
Since I can’t do that, the first thing I have to do is get those luminous eyes off of me. A man can only take so much. “Look behind you.”
She does. But barely. Keeping one eye on me, she angles to look where I’m now pointing.
Recognition hits. Her body sags with relief. “Oh, thank god.”
My team managed to get all her people safe.
This time, when she looks at me, her eyes are full of questions. They rove over me in a quick, displeased assessment. “Who are you, besides a giant, chauvinistic caveman?”
“I’m the man that just saved you. Beyond that, ma’am, who I am is not important. It’s need-to-know information.”
Her brow goes up after an almost eye roll. “Now he’s all polite.”
“It’s an act.”
That earns me another narrow-eyed glare. Then a huff. “Guess I owe you a thank you, Mr. Mysterious.”
“Yo, Beast!” Evan calls as he trots over.
So much for mystery.
She’s smirking at me this time. “Beast, huh? It fits.”
I don’t confirm nor deny. Instead, I make it known I’m not happy by showing her a scowl. The one that makes people leap into action. “Get your team ready to evacuate. I’ve got zero time to babysit. I’ve got a job to do.”
Guess that was the wrong thing to say.
The air crackles. Her cheeks burn hot with color. But her whole face tells a story. I’m about to get the wrath of an angry redhead.
“Babysit!?”
Her brows go up, then down. Her mouth does something interesting too. First, it narrows, then it goes flat. Her arms cross, and she announces through clenched teeth, “We’re not leaving. You’re not the only one with a job to do.”
Why do I see a long, hard road ahead when I look in those hazel eyes?
Fuck me running. My dick sure is happy at her announcement.
But the rest of me? I’m ready to punch a tree.