Chapter 72
Chapter Seventy-Two
My voice bounces with every step Scout takes. “Oh my god, you’re really strong.”
He chuckles between my legs, making my very happy pussy tingle. “You said the same thing last night when I held you up against the wall.”
I blush so hard I can’t think of a reply. He’s right. I did compliment him on that. And a lot of other things.
One big thing in particular.
He squeezes my hips and looks over his shoulder at me with a heavy dose of hunger in his crystal blue eyes. “We have to stop talking about this right now.”
I’m grinning as I press my cheek against his back, feeling the cool damp raincoat against my heated skin. “We’ll save that for later.”
We leave it at that as he makes the final descent to the staging area for the Devil’s Belly cave entrance. Ahead of us, there’s already a flurry of activity even though daylight is just starting to break.
Griff spots us first, or maybe he’s the only one that stops what he’s doing and watches Scout carrying me.
After the choking incident last night, Scout’s team gave him so much crap, I think it helped ease some of his disbelief that I was swept off my feet.
Which was one of the reasons I told him how I did. Not that I knew he’d inhale a chunk of tomato.
He studies us as we approach until I feel like crawling out of my skin, but Scout never even tenses. Instead he pokes fun at my brother.
“Morning, Kane, snorted any tomatoes this morning?”
Oh snap.
Griff shakes his head. “Fucker.”
As Scout places me on a chair, and fixes a second chair to elevate my feet, I remind Griff that there are lots of other words he could use. But my brother doesn’t take his eye off what Scout’s doing, as if he’s cataloging every movement.
When my man steps back and crosses his arms with a satisfied look on his face, my heart squeezes. The big brute has been taking care of me since we met. Not always happily on his part, but he’s always been keeping me safe, reassuring me, making me comfy.
Really comfy. Like boneless and hoarse from groaning his name comfy.
A wave of heat hits my face. That my brother also watches. He shakes his head, ruffles my hair and shoves his hands in his pockets .
There’s a thickness to his voice when he says, “When did you grow up on me?”
Oof. A movie plays in my head of my big brother always, always looking out for me and when we lost our parents a few years apart, he became my anchor.
“A while ago. You were on a few deployments.”
He nods and goes silent for a beat.
I grab his arm. “It’s not a bad thing. I’m just saying. I was busy becoming the woman I am today while you were off saving the world. It’s just what it is.”
His sad smile makes my emotions climb up my throat leaving a stinging trail.
Before I can say anything too sappy, Griff huffs. “So you’re marrying this fuc—I mean—this jerk?”
There’s no bite to his words now, they carry almost a teasing affection.
“That’s my plan.”
He chuckles. “Scout, when I told you to stay away from my sister, this is why. I just had a bad feeling she’d fall for those damned spooky blue eyes, and then I’d be stuck with your annoying ass.”
My irritation starts to rise, but he quickly sticks his hand out to Scout. “Welcome to the Kane family. I’m happy she didn’t fall for some Air Force dork.”
Scout’s brows go up, and he starts to laugh. “Me too.”
They share a hearty handshake followed by a violent back slap. “Thanks, man.”
“Break it up, you three.” Justice hustles into the tent. “Time for huggy-huggy later. It's game time.”
Motioning around to different things, Justice puts the guys to work before winking at me. “Figured you could use a break from those two.”
I shrug, a hint of a smile sneaking through. “I don’t know. It’s kind of like watching a car sliding on ice—there’s this strange fascination. You’re just waiting to see if it’ll glide to a safe stop…or if something gets dented with a bang.”
When I finish my weird analogy, I realize Justice is looking at me with his complete focus. “That’s so weird you said that.”
“Why is that?”
Truck limps into the tent. “What are we talking about?”
“About—” I start, but a whistle cuts through the air.
Truck holds up both hands. “Hold that thought, I’ll be back.”
Only I don’t see him again and I realize there’s some kind of big discussion going on over by the water. Beast and several men are motioning toward the cave. The professor is there. Someone’s voice goes a few decibels louder.
I growl in frustration. What is going on?
Stupid feet. Being bundled in gauze was fine as long as I was in bed with Scout. But now, I’m stuck waiting until someone comes back.
It seems like a petty problem though. Everyone is in mission mode at that point and I don’t want to be a distraction.
Justice and Beast suit up in record time. There’s no sign of Camile this morning, and I wonder if she’s staying away because she’s upset. From what the team said about the cave last night, I’d be too.
Is it greedy of me that I’m happy Scout’s not diving?
Yes, I decide, but I’m lucky this morning that he’s not. Griff too. But soon my brother will be back doing what he does. Rescue diving is Griff’s life.
Scout… I’m not even sure what Scout’s life is.
I scrub my hands over my eyes. “I can’t believe I don’t …
Scout appears at my elbow. He drops down on his haunches and looks at me with those cool, pale blue eyes that did have a hand in stealing my heart.
“You talking to yourself now, sweetheart?”
Before I answer, he’s pressing his lips to my temple. “I’m going to pick you up.”
“Where are we going?”
“As much as I want to carry you back to the truck, I’m not. I’m taking you over to the water’s edge with the rest of us. I don’t want you here by yourself.”
So thoughtful. But there’s an undercurrent to his voice that makes my forehead crease.
“Is everything okay?”
“We’ll see. There’s been a development.”
Justice jogs past us in his wetsuit. Beast is already by the water, propping his mask and snorkel on the top of his head. The others have stationed the dive tanks around the edge of the water.
The energy is focused and heavy, leaving no doubt, something is happening.
Scout carefully puts me down on a tarp that’s been placed over the wet ground. He covers my feet with the raincoat he brought for that purpose because he’s obsessed with taking care of my foot injuries.
Then he turns even more serious. “The professor and his student were using a UUV in the first part of the cave and they spotted some women’s shoes.”
“Oh no,” I breathe as I cover my mouth. “I hope they don’t belong to her…”
“Me too.” He looks toward the water, his brow drawing down tightly.
The surface is the color of mercury, and dotted with pockmarks from the rain. It’s deceptive. Water like that looks so calm, but it can be full of secrets and hidden dangers.
Scout folds his fingers over mine. “The other situation is that conditions are far worse than expected in the cave. It’s going to be a very hard dive. There’s a lot more current than anticipated.”
Fear strikes me, stealing my breath. The cave is already known for being incredibly difficult due to the narrow passages. I squeeze his hand as a shiver builds in my muscles. “Don’t let them go.”
“What if MZ’s trapped? It’s been days since the caves filled with rain. We are her last hope if she’s trapped in one of those chambers.”
Cold sweat peppers my skin.
“I don’t feel good about this,” I say, pulling him closer.
“Stop! Stop! Don’t!” A woman’s frantic voice echoes off the water and the walls of the cave, making all eyes snap toward the origin of the sound.
Standing between the trees, she looks almost ethereal in a ghostly operative kind of way. Pale blond hair hanging in long wet pieces, a dark coat, dark tactical pants and boots.
“Who is she?”
“Her,” Scout rumbles and stands to his full height. “That’s Allison Westerly, our missing woman.”
“Thank god,” I rasp as relieved tears fill my eyes.