Chapter Six #2
For the first time he could remember, he woke peacefully.
Not soaked in sweat from a nightmare. His family being slaughtered.
His teammates taking enemy fire and dropping to the ground around him.
Raiding homes that concealed some of the most abhorrent shit he’d ever witnessed.
Victims’ eyes that were dull and flat, stripped of hope and innocence from the trauma they’d endured.
He’d slept. The memories that visited his nightmares were, for once, silent.
Ivy snuggled in closer, her lush ass pressing against him.
He nearly groaned as his body reacted accordingly, and heat fired through his blood.
There was no way he could escape their cocoon without waking her.
Propping himself up on his forearm, he moved his hand from her stomach to her shoulder.
“Ivy,” he whispered. She rolled to her back, blinking up at him.
The sight of her sleepy, trusting eyes had his balls tightening. Yeah, he needed to get up. Now.
“Morning.” Her lips curved, and the smile shot straight through his chest.
“Can’t believe it, but I think you’re right.” He glanced toward the entrance of the cave where light was streaming through the gaps in the trees.
“Did you get any sleep?” She lifted her hands to rub her eyes, displacing the hand that was on her shoulder. His palm brushed down her back with the movement, and he failed to ignore how soft her skin felt.
“Surprisingly, yeah.” His voice had dropped an octave or two, but if she recognized the desire in his voice, she simply ignored it.
“Surprising because of the accommodations, your bunkmate, or because sleep isn’t something you get often?” There was a teasing light glinting in her eyes, and her lips were curved into a cute little grin.
“My bunkmate?” He found himself grinning along with her. It wasn’t smart to enjoy this woman’s company, but once they got out of the forest, they’d go their separate ways. Why that caused a sudden ache in his chest, he wasn’t sure.
She shrugged. “I’ve been told I’m a snorer.”
“When you’ve slept in a barracks with four other men, no amount of snoring is going to bother you.
” He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d fallen into a deep sleep, probably the deepest of his adult life, with her cradled in his arms. “And to answer your original question, sleep isn’t something that comes easily to me. ”
“Were you a soldier?”
“Navy SEAL.” He shifted, but didn’t throw the thermal blanket off, not wanting to leave her exposed. “I’m going to get up and check on our clothes, then I’ll heat something for us to eat.” He maneuvered the blanket, so it covered only her, and quickly started out of the tent.
“How can I help?”
He glanced back and saw that Ivy was sitting up, the blanket tucked under her arms, leaving her shoulders bare.
Her willingness to be an active participant in their survival and offer him help was something new to him.
He was always quick to turn down assistance others offered, but those offers were few and far between.
The way Ivy was staring up at him, eyes wide and eager to please, along with the sincerity of her question pulled at him in a way he’d never experienced.
“Let me get you some clothes, then I’ll show you how to heat an MRE.”
She smiled so brightly, it nearly knocked him back.
He wasn’t sure if she was always this easy to please or just found joy where she could get it.
Either way, he envied that quality. She would have every right to be complaining right now after two near-death experiences the day prior, the possibility of danger from what she’d overheard, her truck being stolen, and a night on the ground with a total stranger.
He walked to the spot he’d left their clothes and touched the fabric of his jeans, then hers.
They were mostly dry, and with the sun shining and the long hike ahead of them, they wouldn’t have to worry about the dangers of hypothermia.
After yanking on his jeans and shirt, he carried her clothes, or his rather, back to the tent and wiggled the fabric.
“Housekeeping.” He tossed them to her, and she grinned and grabbed them. Housekeeping? He rolled his eyes. This wasn’t him. He wasn’t playful or carefree. A few grunts and some curt instructions were more his style, but something about Ivy made him…the fuck if he knew. Less of an asshole maybe?
His life had no room for sunshine and roses.
No room for miscalculation or error. People’s lives depended on his task force’s ability to swiftly uncover and shut down trafficking rings in the United States.
He scowled as he made his way over to his pack and began sifting through the contents of the MRE.
“Okay, put me to work,” Ivy chirped.
He looked up, startled that he didn’t notice her approach.
He wasn’t sure if it was the good night’s sleep, too much alcohol from the previous day, or that Ivy was particularly nimble, but she’d gotten the drop on him.
Hadn’t made a fucking peep dressing or getting out of the tent.
Now she stood next to where he crouched over the backpack, looking fresh and pretty. Two things he had no business noticing.
Not trusting his voice, he jerked his chin toward the space beside him, and she sat on the ground at his side. Appreciation at her ability to follow his nonverbal cues popped into his head, and he roughly shoved it back down.
“These are ready-to-eat meals, like what the military provides.” He handed her a sealed plastic pouch.
“This one is—” he scanned the box “—cheese tortellini. To warm them up you place the pouch in this plastic bag, right up against the heat pad. Water activates the heat, and the meal will warm in about ten minutes.” He lined the sealed food pouch up against the heat pad and used their bottled water to fill the plastic bag up to the line.
Once he folded the bag, he laid it flat and set it to the side.
“Looks like we have a fruit punch electrolyte packet and two chocolate chip cookies.”
“Sounds great. It’s kind of like we’re on a picnic.”
He eyed her as he tore open the electrolyte package and poured the powder into one of their water bottles. “You always this positive?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t exactly positive when I nearly decked you in the shower. Or after, when I armed myself with your skillet.”
The corner of his lips twitched at the memory of her wielding the pan, hardly ferocious as she bared her teeth at him.
“Are you laughing at me?” She scrunched her nose up, but didn’t look upset, merely amused.
“Internally, yes.”
Her eyes glittered and crinkled at the corners. “I suppose, to a Navy SEAL, my choice of weapon could be considered…unsophisticated.”
“Anything can be a weapon,” he said passing her one of the cookies. “And you’re quick on your feet. If you hadn’t run from the estate when you did, those men would’ve found you. Trust your instincts, Ivy, because they’re solid.”
“Some of them maybe, but I had no reason to be afraid of you.”
The thought that he was the one who should be afraid of her hit him fast. “Anytime you don’t know where you are or who you’re with, being cautious is vital.
” They ate the cookies in comfortable silence, each taking turns sipping the fruit punch.
“This is ready.” He made quick work of opening the pouch that held their breakfast and steam plumed out of the bag.
“That’s amazing!” Ivy scooted toward him. If he moved half an inch, their knees would touch. “I thought the water would just warm it, but it’s actually steaming.”
“Don’t get too excited. The flavor isn’t terrible, but it’s nothing to write home about.”
She shrugged her shoulders, undeterred. “Good thing I don’t have the most discerning palate. Ash always says I’ll eat anything, and I guess from his perspective I will. He has a limited array of foods that don’t bother him, so he sticks to those things. Do you have siblings?”
He stilled, then took a breath and speared the tortellini with a plastic fork from the kit.
“No.” His voice was curt as pain sliced through him.
He blew on the food, then held it out to her.
She eyed him as she leaned in and ate the pasta off the fork, then closed her eyes and groaned.
“You were wrong. This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. ”
Just like that, his pain lessened, and he stifled a chuckle at her words. “Bullshit.”
“Well, if you don’t want any…” She pretended to make a grab for the bag.
Shit she was cute with her rumpled hair and wide smile. She had an air of innocence that had no place mixing with the decay that eroded his world. A place where humans decided to profit off the pain and suffering of others, peddling the flesh of vulnerable women and children.
“Eat as much as you want. There’s the potential for a long hike today, so get the calories in while you can.”
She plucked the bag and fork from his hands, then scooped out some tortellini. When she held it up to his lips, there was a jumbled sensation in his gut.
“Seriously? You really thought I was going to stuff my face and leave you to starve? I’m not a monster, Jude.”
He wasn’t sure why he was sitting stock-still, staring at the woman holding the utensil up to his mouth, urging him to eat. The intimacy of it felt too…real. Too honest. Too tender.
Her full lips curved. “Open up.” Despite always needing to be in control in every area of his life, whether that was in the field or home, he immediately did as she asked.
She gently eased the fork into his mouth.
The bagged meal wasn’t the best thing he’d eaten, but he couldn’t deny that the warm noodles and cheese were comforting—or maybe it was Ivy and the way she was trying to take care of him.
He locked eyes with her, and he swore a dusty pink blush rose on her cheeks.
If she felt the currents of electricity snapping between them, she didn’t say anything.
She took a bite for herself, then offered him more.
One last bite, that’s all he’d take from this woman. Anything more would be dangerous.