Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
TALON
While we eat, Zona tells me her life story, easily handing over details of who she is and who the important people in her life are.
She talks about family and her hometown, her job as a receptionist in an insurance office and her attempts to pass the licensing exams so she can step up from what she's doing now and move into a career position.
By the time we've washed the dishes and set them on the rack to dry, I know enough about this woman to blackmail her into doing anything I want, to kidnap her off the street, or to break into her house.
Of course, most people would only think of her openness as standard getting-to-know-each other conversation. Most people would also offer up just as many details about themselves.
That's not something I can do. So I tell her what I can; where I grew up, a family that included both parents and two older sisters, joining the Army at nineteen. After that, I find myself answering most of Zona's questions with vague replies or avoiding them altogether.
"Is this a 'if I tell you, I have to kill you' conversation?"
Arizona has curled up on the sofa across from the one I pulled out and made up for sleeping.
Her feet are tucked up underneath her and the t-shirt she found among the cabin's stash of spare clothes is loose on her, but doesn't do a damn thing to hide her full breasts or the fact that they are obviously braless beneath the soft cloth.
Every movement of her body causes them to shift, to sway, to bounce noticeably and it has me distracted as fuck.
"Something like that," I answer with a grin.
Zona smiles back at me and it hits me somewhere inside my chest. It's different from the way her soft curves pull at my core and have my dick hard as rock behind the fly of my pants.
"Did you like being in the military?"
She shifts, moving her feet out from under her and pulling her knees up to her chest. Wrapping her arms around her legs, Zona lays her cheek to her knee and looks over me where I'm sitting on one of the kitchen table chairs, turning it around and straddling it, using the back of the chair as a barrier between us so I remember to keep my hands to myself.
"Mostly." I answer honestly. "I met good people. Learned things about myself I wouldn't have known if I hadn't joined up."
Like that I'm good at killing. And that I don't hate doing it when it's necessary.
And how to be observant of my surroundings and the people in them. Which is why it hasn't escaped my attention that Zona has managed to turn every light in the cabin back on after I'd gone through and turned most of them off again.
Every time the cabin creaks or a gust of wind moves one of the trees outside, she jumps. Her eyes watch the corners and any place where shadows are cast.
It's barely after nine o'clock when yawns begin to accompany her heavy eyelids and it's clear that she's fighting sleep just to talk to me.
As much as her interest in me only fuels my growing desire for her, I can't act on whatever it is between us that pulls at me.
She's a witness; holding clues to our mission and she's been through a hell of a day.
The job notwithstanding, Zona's close to a decade younger than me.
I'd have to be complete asshole to make a move on her.
"You've had a rough day." I eventually force myself to point out the obvious, standing up and pushing the chair back to its spot at the table. "Why don't you get some sleep? We'll check in with the guys in the morning and see if we can get back up to your camp and at least pick up your things."
"Yeah. Probably a good idea." The yawn she tries to stifle agreeing more earnestly than the hesitant tone of her words.
Even with the door closing off our separate areas, I wait till I hear her finish with the bathroom and see the light go out under her door.
Only once I'm sure she's gone to bed for the night do I move through the cabin, turning off all the lights but one, leaving the low wattage light in the short hallway on in case she needs something out here in the night.
It seems unlikely that a woman who enjoys overnight backpacking trips is scared of the dark, but watching her nervous glances at every shadow has me suspicious that's not the case after today.
The bedroom is dark beneath her door though, and when I hear her room go quiet, I finally allow myself to stand down.
Checking for updates from the team, I see none, so I strip down to my boxer briefs and slide under the blanket I threw over the fold-out couch, surprised at its relative comfort.
I don't know how long I've been asleep before I feel the weight of another person in the bed beside me.
Arizona
As soon as I slip into bed, I know I made a mistake in turning off the light.
For what feels like ever, I lie hidden under the covers like I'm six years old again; the summer weight comforter pulled up high enough to cover my face so the monsters can't find me.
When I peek out, all I see are shades of darkness. Black upon black layered over one another. Shadows within shadows and most of them impossible to identify in the unfamiliar space.
Through the windows, the forest moves in the night breezes and the moonlight moves with it.
All I can think of is watching those men lead my friend into the woods this morning.
That would be traumatic enough, I know.
Maybe it is.
Maybe what I saw before running wasn't real. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe it was just shock and terror and a hallucination conjured from some primitive survival instinct's attempt to get me moving to safety.
But every shadow in here with me triggers the same terror I felt this morning when I saw the darkness close in behind the men who were abducting Astrid.
Men who match the description of the ones found dead at the edge of the old road we hiked in on just two days ago.
Torn apart by some wild animal that hasn't been identified yet, their bodies dragged to that spot as if someone wanted to be sure they'd be found.
Not close enough to our camp to believe they'd managed to crawl there themselves, and in the opposite direction from where they'd been headed when I started running.
Talon's colleague's haven't updated us with anything new yet. They're hiking into the forest, looking for the place those men have been hiding out. Hoping to find their base; hoping to find Astrid. Alive and unharmed.
They're here to find the men behind the men who took her though, that's their priority.
As glad as I am that someone is working to remove the threat entirely-- God knows the local police don't seem interested. They didn't even send officers to the scene. Told the rangers it wasn't in their jurisdiction because it was outside city limits-- I want my friend back.
A noise jolts me out of my ruminations. Something falling on the tin roof of the cabin has adrenaline surging through my veins. As soon as I reach to turn on the bedside lamp on the nightstand, new shadows move through the room in the light it casts.
My pulse is racing hard enough to make it hard to breathe and tears threaten to overspill my eyes.
Austin explained that the cabin was built to give the people staying here a private space where they could feel safe-- even from the men staying here to protect them, but right now, I know the only way I'm going to feel safe isn't by locking myself in this room alone.
I need to be closer to the man stationed here to protect me.
Fighting the crippling fear lodged in my throat that threatens to keep me paralyzed but wide awake beneath the covers till sun up, I make a dash for the bedroom door.
Finding the light on in the hallway on the other side is such a relief that I manage to take a breath before running the three steps it takes to get to the edge of the bed where Talon is sleeping.
In the soft glow spilling out from the hall light, the serious expression he wore all day is relaxed into something almost serene.
The cabin is warm enough that it doesn't surprise me that he's sleeping under only a light blanket, and that's only covering his lower half.
Tossed back as if he'd gotten too warm to stay fully covered, the blanket drapes low, revealing the naked details of the broad chest I'd spent most of my day salivating over; flat planes of pecs, defined blocks of abs, the V of muscle over his hips clearly visible on one side, and the strip of dark hair running below his belly button that disappears beneath the edge of the blanket.
One arm lies stretched out to his side, the other thrown over his eyes, making me think the light in the hallway is for my benefit, not his.
He's beautiful, and I would love it if he was into me, but that's not my motivation for dropping onto the mattress beside him.
"You okay?"
As soon as I lie down, he moves aside, making more room for me.
"I thought you were asleep," I answer meekly.
He makes a noise like a laugh but it's laden with far too much sarcasm to hold humor.
"If I slept through someone getting that close me, I'd be dead several times over by now."
"Shit. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Another short laugh, this one with the humor included, as Talon shifts to his side so that he's facing me in the dim light.
"Didn't. I also learned to assess possible threats long before they get close enough to be a problem. Last thing you want is to stab your buddy when he's trying to pull off a poorly conceived prank."
"You didn't answer me, sweetheart." Talon's fingers move to slip a strand of hair away from my face. "Are you okay?"