Chapter 17 #2
Gritting his teeth, he swiped the area, then made a small cut. Ally cried out as he sliced through her skin, and he almost stopped. The only thing that spurred him on was the knowledge that with the tracker in her, she’d be found and taken back.
There was no way in hell he was letting that happen.
So he took the tweezers Lefty handed him, and when Trigger shone a flashlight on the small cut, he made quick work of looking for the tracking device. Thankfully, it wasn't deep, and less than two minutes later, he pulled it out.
“Got it,” he assured her, and she sighed in relief as he took a bandage from Lucky and cleaned up the blood. Then he placed a Band-Aid on it and tugged the dress down to marginally cover her backside.
“Thank you,” she said as she shifted to sit up.
“They won't find you now,” he reminded her, pulling her into his arms.
“We need to keep moving, Trigger reminded them, glancing around. “We didn't get them all, so they’ll be regrouping and coming. Let’s throw that in the river and get out of here.”
“Probably be easier to walk,” Brain piped up. “We can drive, but we’ll have to weave our way back to the road, making us easier to find. Jungle is thick, but that means more cover for us, and they’re looking for a man and a woman on a bike, not eight men and a woman hiking through the rainforest.”
“You up for that, little mouse?” Mateo asked, releasing his girl so he could find his pack and rifle through it for clothes. She couldn’t stay in that ridiculous white dress.
“I can do whatever we have to do to go home,” she said firmly.
Leaning in, he dropped a quick kiss to her lips, then he and the other guys all turned around to give her some privacy to change.
While she got dressed, he stripped out of his tux and dress shoes, changing into something more practical for the hike ahead of them.
When Ally was done, he and the others loaded up their packs, taking everything with them that they might need, and then he took her hand, and they started walking.
And walking, and walking.
“I always thought the jungle was beautiful. I've changed my mind,” Ally said an hour later.
“I hear ya,” Lefty complained. “Too muggy.”
“Too humid,” Ally agreed.
“Too steamy,” Lefty added.
“Too damp,” Ally continued.
“Too clammy.”
“Too oppressive.”
“Too sticky,” Lefty said with a grin.
“Too stifling,” Ally said with a small laugh.
“Too many adjectives,” Grover threw in with a groan, making both Lefty and Ally laugh.
“Too moist,” Lefty tossed another into the fray, this one making Ally scrunch up her face.
“Ewe, too many romance novels have made me hate that word,” she said.
“What's wrong with moist?” Brain asked. “It’s a great adjective to describe things like cake.”
“Because it’s not used in conjunction with cake,” Ally explained.
“What's it used in conjunction with then?” Brain asked.
“You really have to ask?” Doc swatted him on the head.
“I don’t get it,” Brain insisted.
“Romance books,” Trigger said slowly, like it was obvious, which apparently it was to everyone but Brain.
“Yeah,” Brain said just as slowly, his light green eyes full of confusion.
“It’s used to describe a woman’s …” Ally trailed off, waving a hand around her crotch. “You know, between a woman’s legs.”
“Moist describes a woman’s vagina?” Brain asked, like the possibility was absurd.
“Right, it’s crazy, and icky,” Ally agreed.
“Disgusting,” Lefty added with a grin.
Ally giggled. “Unpleasant.”
“Horrid.”
“Yucky.”
“Nasty.”
“Repulsive.”
“You two are impossible,” Lucky piped up, making the pair giggle.
“Sickening,” Lefty continued.
“Ghastly.”
“Nauseating.”
“Revolting.”
As the two continued to list adjectives, Mateo couldn’t help but watch his girl.
He was damn proud of her, in awe of her, more like it.
She’d been through a hell no woman should ever have to endure, and yet she was holding it together with a strength he was pretty sure she didn't even think she had in her.
He was grateful to Lefty as well for distracting her so smoothly that she didn't even realize it.
“Are you okay?” Ally asked as her slender fingers trailed down his arm.
“I should be asking you that,” he told her, as they guys dispersed around them, giving them a little privacy.
“I'm … trying not to think about it,” Ally admitted. “If I do … I don’t think I’ll be able to function, and you all put your lives on the line for me. I'm not going to let anyone down.”
“You couldn’t let anyone down if you tried.” Lifting a hand to her face, he smoothed his fingertips over a bruise on her cheek before tucking a lock of tangled red hair behind her ear.
“I just want to go home, then … then I can fall apart, when I'm alone,” she whispered, her bottom lip trembling. Mateo could clearly see the strain wearing her down. She was putting on a good front, but he suspected a gentle breeze could be enough to take her out.
“What makes you think you're going to be alone?” There had been no time for them to discuss the future, and what she wanted from it, nor was this the time or the place to have such an emotional conversation, but he wasn't going to let her think that she’d be handling anything alone ever again.
“You’ll go back to work, right? Back to Azure if your cover isn’t broken, or you’ll take on a new job.”
“I’ll go back into Azure if I can, and yes, if I can't, I’ll take on another job, but that doesn’t mean I'm walking away from you. I tried that once already. It didn't work. I don’t want to do it again.” Pausing, he sighed and dragged a hand through his own messy locks.
“Look, little mouse, I'm so sorry for hurting you, for everything you’ve been through because of me. For letting you down, for not protecting you as I should have, for letting my own issues turn me into a coward and telling me to walk away instead of embracing how you made me feel. I’ll walk away if it’s what you want, I’ll never hurt you again, but I'm laying all my cards out on the table and telling you that I don’t want to walk away.
Ever. But the ball is firmly in your court. You decide what happens next.”
“I don’t—”
“Whoa, check this out,” Grover’s voice called out, cutting off whatever Ally had been about to say.
Everyone headed toward the direction of his voice, including them, although Mateo went reluctantly.
When they reached him, they found a gorgeous water hole about ten feet beneath them.
The water was a clear, crystal blue, even in the dark, and it reminded him of Ally’s eyes.
With its lush vegetation and surrounding rocks, it looked almost magical.
“Oh, so beautiful,” Ally murmured. “I wish …”
“What?” he asked when she trailed off.
“I know we don’t have time to waste, but I'd love to swim in there. Feel normal for a bit, wash away the stains I feel on my skin, take one special memory home with me from this whole horrible ordeal.”
“Done,” he said, because he wasn't going to deny her a single second of good after all the bad she’d had to endure.
“But we can't,” she protested, only he heard the hope in her tone.
“Extraction point is only another two miles up ahead, and the others are taking a different flight home than we are,” he told her.
“They can go on, catch their flight, and as long as we don’t stay too long, we’ll still be there in time to catch ours.
” It would be tight, but it wasn't like the plane Prey had organized was going to leave without them.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“You sure?” Trigger asked, echoing Ally’s question.
“Yes. We can make it the last two miles alone, and you guys have already delayed a mission to come out here with me. We’ll be fine.
” They’d been walking for hours without anyone following them.
The Delta Force guys had decimated Koa Rolland’s security team, there might not even be anyone to search for them.
“Okay,” Trigger agreed, although there was a slight reluctance in his tone.
“Thank you for saving me,” Ally said, her gaze roaming the seven men.
“Our pleasure,” Trigger assured her. “We won't get on our flight until you guys show up at the airfield. Comms units will remain on. You need us, you call us. It won't take us long to get back here.”
With that promise, the seven men melded into the jungle until it was just the two of them, standing side by side above the blue watering hole.
It was the first time he’d been alone with Ally since he left her in the room awaiting pick up by her buyer, and Mateo had so many things he wanted to say, apologies he wanted to give, promises he wanted to make, that they all got clogged together in his throat.
“Shall we?” he asked in the end, dipping his head at the pool below them.
“Yes.”
“Hold onto me,” he instructed as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Always,” she said softly as her arms entwined around his neck.
Jumping, he took Ally with him into the air before falling down into the fresh, cool water below them. This time, they swam straight up to the surface, and as soon as they broke through, Ally’s lips crashed into his.