Seal of Honor(39)

Tears welled. As much as they didn’t see eye to eye, she still loved her big brother. He had to make it through this. She’d try harder to see things his way, she would. Just as long as they both made it out of this hellhole of a country alive.

“Audrey,” Gabe said very softly next to her ear, drawing her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t felt his body shift toward her, but there he was crowding her personal space, big as the mountain she’d compared him to earlier. His hand traced lightly down her arm, dipped to follow the curve of her waist, and finally settled on her hip.

His breath tickled her ear. “I have another injury that needs kissing.”

She smiled into the gathering dark. “Do you?”

“Mm.” He rolled her over and propped himself up on one elbow, bending down until his mouth hovered millimeters above hers. “Right…” He bussed his lips over hers, caught her lower lip in a gentle tug that she felt all the way to her womb. “…here.”

Gabe claimed her mouth in the same take-charge way he did everything else, obliterating all but the need to feel more of him. No fear. No worry. Even the pain in her blistered feet faded. For a moment, it was just her and him, a man and a woman enjoying each other.

His tongue met and danced with hers, lighting up nerve endings in places she’d forgotten existed. His hand tightened on her hip, drawing her against all that hard muscle of his chest, and her fingers snaked into his hair, hugging him closer still.

Yes. This. It was exactly what she needed. A distraction. A tender, loving reminder that she was still alive. How had Gabe known she needed this when she herself hadn’t realized it until now?

He kept his lower body off her, but his erection still prodded her side, especially when she sucked on his tongue and his hips surged involuntarily. Reaching down with her free hand, she cupped him through his pants and went utterly wet at the size of him.

Cripes, he was a big man. She figured he’d be fairly well-endowed since he towered well over six feet of solid muscle. But she never expected… She pressed her palm into him and let him thrust against her hand. Whew. She didn’t know if he’d even fit comfortably, but sure couldn’t wait to try.

With a groan, Gabe drew her hand away as she fumbled to free the buttons of his fly.

“Easy, honey. We can’t do this now.” After rearranging himself, he pulled her close. “Get some sleep.”

She snorted out a laugh. “You want me to sleep after that?”

“To be continued,” he said. “When we’re both in better shape and have more privacy. Believe me.” He cupped her breast and gave it a light squeeze. “We’re nowhere near close to finished.”

“Sadist.” Even as the word left her lips, she yawned. She was so very tired all of a sudden, the sexual buzz having tapped out her last energy reserve. He was right; she needed sleep.

Seemed he was always right. That might get annoying.

“Can you…hold me for a while?” She felt silly asking, like a child afraid of the dark. But the dark had never been so frightening before, and she needed the human contact.

Gabe pushed her hair back from her face and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I planned on it.”

“Let me know if I hurt your leg.”

“You won’t.”

Audrey sighed and curled into his side, taking strength from the heat of him, the solidity of his body and character. He was a good, honorable man. Funny to find one now in this place, under these horrific circumstances, after all her years of looking. She just hoped they both lived long enough to explore their budding intimacy.

God, it was all so surreal. She couldn’t help feeling as if she’d wake up any minute in her hammock outside her cabin with a killer margarita headache and the vague notion she’d had a crazy dream. But she wouldn’t. This was no dream, Gabe was no dream man, and they were both in a lot of danger.

As the day started to sink in fully, tears spilled over. “Gabe?”

“Mm?”

“Do you have a plan to get us out of here?”

“Yes.”

The confidence in his succinct answer eased her fears, but only a little. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

“No, Aud, I’m not.” He shifted and pulled her more firmly against his side. “Do you smell that? Almost like burning plastic?”

She sniffed the air, nodded. The scent did have a plastic smell, but also carried the chemical undercurrent unique to all hard drugs. “They’re smoking something.”

“Basuco, the dregs left over from the cocaine-making process. They’re out there celebrating. They think they’ve hit the jackpot with us, but they’re too cocky for their own good. Come morning, they’ll all be drunk and stoned, and I’m going to cause some problems for them with the farmers that live in this village.”