Chapter 14
PAYTON
My fault. It was all my fault.
I swallowed several times, but the taste of guilt and fear remained lodged in my throat.
I clasped both hands beneath my chin and tried to stop my shudders from rattling my teeth. “Are you sure he’ll be okay?”
Tarron remained glued to Reed’s side, his strong hands busy wrapping a bandage around Reed’s bare shoulder.
“I’ll need to remove the bullet once we’re somewhere safe, but he’s okay. The bullet seems to have missed all the vital areas.”
Reed held his arm loose across his lap and smirked at me.
“It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than a rogue bullet to take me down.” His bare shoulder gleamed where Tarron had washed away the blood from the wound. If it pained him, he hid it with smiles and teasing laughter.
If. It had to be hurting like hell.
Tarron fished deeper into his bag and thrust something into Reed’s hand. “Take those.”
He glared when Reed started to argue. “They won’t impair you, and they’ll help with the pain. Riding the snowmobile is going to hurt like a bitch.”
“I can handle it,” Reed grunted but tossed the pills into his mouth, swallowing them without water.
“We should get going.” Tarron gathered up the equipment he’d used to patch Reed up and shoved it all into a side pocket on his medical bag.
The night air roved over us, tousling Tarron’s hair and drawing a shudder down my spine.
Reed shrugged into his coat with a light wince and fisted his hand, driving his fingers into his gloves.
“Load up.” Mav swung upright from where he’d been resting on the log behind Reed.
He’d kept a close eye on the entire procedure and seemed pleased with Tarron and Reed’s end result.
I sidled up alongside Reed. “Are you sure you’re okay?” My need for reassurance brought us face to face, and in the moonlight, I took stock of the deep shadows welling beneath his eyes.
“He’s fine.” Maverick hooked an arm around my waist and guided me toward one of the snowmobiles. “I need you to ride with me.”
A protest built within me. I wanted to be with Reed.
I forced the thought away. I had no idea where we were going, and Reed needed Tarron with him to keep an eye on his wound.
My stomach knotted and released.
Tarron would watch over Reed.
They were closer than brothers, and after what I’d seen and heard tonight, there was no way Tarron would let any more harm come to Reed.
I swung my leg across the snowmobile and waited for Maverick to join me.
His body warmed my spine and shoulders, and the arm around my waist locked me in place.
Snow peppered the air in a flurry that drove tiny ice particles into my cheeks as soon as we left the meager safety the tree branches had provided.
My memory was fuzzy on the last time I’d been on a snowmobile.
The feeling of Mav behind me had a familiarity to it that I found intoxicating.
I wiggled closer to him and shielded my face from the storm, pulling my gear tighter across my face.
Engines hummed, the storm gathering power and blotting out most other sounds.
There was no way the mercenaries could track us down in this.
I took comfort from that thought, especially when Maverick tightened his hold on me as we made a sharp left and traveled across the thick powder that led up and over a low hill.
Talking became almost impossible unless I turned and screamed into his face.
I’d rather save my breath for later and talk to all three of them.
Reed and Tarron zigzagged ahead of us, the flash of their snowmobile cutting in and out in the storm.
I had no choice but to lean into Maverick when the hill turned into a steady downgrade that threatened to send me over the handlebars.
His face pressed into the side of mine, and all I could think about was last night and all the things we’d done together.
That moment of connection flared into something feverish and not at all upsetting.
The intimacy of sitting between his legs on the snowmobile warmed me in a way nothing else could. I shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position, and ended up with my ass pressed into his cock.
Heat pooled in my belly, and when I began to move away, he splayed a hand over my stomach, anchoring me in place.
The ride turned from a flight for our lives into a dangerously intimate moment that made me want it to never end.
It had to.
Reed needed treatment.
We were in a race against time, the weather, and men bound and determined to take me away from Maverick and the others.
Tarron slowed to a stop.
Yanking his balaclava away from his mouth and pointing ahead, he called to Mav, “Fishing village just ahead. Reed thinks they might be willing to trade with us.”
“Trade?” Confusion pinched my frozen forehead. “What are we trading for?”
“We need a ship.” Reed rotated his shoulder, and even in the darkness, I noted the sheen of sweat on his wind-chapped cheeks. “Well, a boat, really. Anything that floats and can take us upriver.”
They wanted to get on the water…in the middle of Alaska? I’d question them if I had a better idea.
But Dad had hired them, and I’d come to trust their judgment. Still.
My bones ached from the long ride on the snowmobile, and I doubted we’d be any warmer on a boat.
I’d have to grin and bear it the same way they did.
“I’ll go talk to them.” Tarron swung off the snowmobile. “Better if they don’t see all of us.”
Maverick made a low sound that almost reminded me of a growl. “Be careful.”
“Always.” Tarron jogged into the night, his white camo slipping in and out of view.
A light burst on when he reached the edge of the village, and we all ducked away from the sudden brightness.
Reed moved off to the side, his voice a low muttering of curses against the man who’d shot him and myriad other things I couldn’t understand.
Maverick joined him, and soon a man in a thick coat walked out of the building at the end of the village and spoke with Tarron.
Fur-covered heads bent toward each other, Tarron pointing briefly in our direction.
The wind eased enough for the creak and groan of wood and the lap of water over the hulls of boats anchored at a short dock across from the buildings created a soothing lullaby.
Tarron stuck out his hand, the other man grasped it, and the deal was done.
Once Tarron gave Mav a thumbs-up, I swung to my feet and rubbed my backside, trying–and failing–to work the circulation down to my legs with a few forward steps.
Reed held out his hand. “I’ll drive.”
“Man, you have a bullet in your shoulder.” Tarron huffed and pocketed the keys long enough to grab his and Reed’s packs from the snowmobile.
Maverick grabbed a duffel and slung it over his shoulder. “Guess you’ll be taking the bullet out on the move.”
Tarron muttered a string of curses that rivaled Reed’s and slapped the keys into his hand. “You have to sit still. I’m not risking nicking an artery because you’re shit at giving directions for Mav to follow.”
“Maybe I just want to be part of the getaway.” His laughter pinched his cheeks, but even that couldn’t hide the wince when he jumped off the dock and into the small boat.
It bobbed side to side, and Reed held out his good hand for balance.
Maverick climbed in next and held out a hand for me to hold. “We’ll be okay. Once Reed has us on the water, it’ll settle down.”
I stepped tentatively onto the deck and dropped into the closest seat, where I had a view of everything.
Reed waited for Tarron to toss the lines from the dock onto the boat and join them before he put it in reverse and eased away from the dock.
Water sprayed across the hull and the air filled with the scent of snow and fish.
I huddled in my coat and did my best not to complain.
Tarron tugged Reed’s coat away from the wound and handed a flashlight to Maverick. “Hold that so I can see.”
“Aren’t you worried about someone seeing us?” I glanced all around, but the shore was too far away for the dim light to offer assistance, and even the moon had ducked behind a screen of clouds.
Guilt pricked at me once again as Tarron worked a pair of curved tweezers into Reed’s shoulder.
Neither man flinched.
I took in their stoic demeanors, remembering all they’d been through together. “I’m sorry you were shot because of me.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Maverick shifted closer to me, still holding the light for Tarron as he dug the bullet from Reed, dropped it overboard, and created a thick line of sutures across the ugly wound.
I stopped trying to apologize.
It wasn’t doing any of us any favors, and I wanted them to concentrate on our next destination more than comforting me.
Maverick handed Tarron the flashlight when he finished the sutures and came over to sit beside me.
I hugged my arms across my ribs, but Maverick tipped my face up to meet his gaze.
“I mean it. None of this was your fault.” He dragged me into his lap–not that I protested the comfort he offered–and wrapped both arms around my waist. “The Rangers spent a lot of time and money teaching us how to stay alive. We’re not putting that training aside.
” He shot a look at Tarron. “And we have Tarron around. He’s the best medic in or out of the Rangers. ”
“He told me what he did for you. How he brought you back.” I nestled into Mav’s chest and let his words comfort me.
He’d meant them.
It was one thing I understood about these men though I barely knew them.
They meant what they said.
Maverick stiffened slightly, his hands rising to cradle the middle of my back.
His voice rumbled in my ear, the low timbre competing with the engines. “I was dead for almost eight minutes. Anyone else would’ve given up on me.”
“I’m glad he didn’t quit.” My hands wormed beneath his arms and settled near his pockets, where the heat of his body drew me in. “I’m glad I met all of you, even though it was under such awful circumstances.”
It was the kind of night that demanded honesty, an obliteration of secrets and self-control. We’d done incredible things together, and they’d saved my life. There was no way I could let that go.
Maverick feathered a hand through my hair, the brush of his gloved hands drawing my attention to his face.
His eyes turned molten, the gray going silver in the moonlight. I’d never seen anything so dangerous but willing as the three of them when they pleasured me.
“I’m glad we met, too.” Maverick had that look about him as he crooked one finger beneath my chin and pressed his lips to mine.
My ability to think beyond the feel of his lips eluded me.
Nothing else mattered.
We were safe–for now.
Reed was going to recover.
Tarron had our medical needs under control and he was not the kind of man who gave up even if the worst should happen.
And Maverick.
Maverick kissed me with the kind of slow decadence that melted my bones and turned me absolutely feral for the feel of his skin against mine.
I’d heard and read the phrase “he stole my breath”, but I never felt it until this moment.