Page 40 of Seal of Honor
“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.”
“How?”
“I’m going to kill one of their cows.”
Audrey sat up, an automatic objection jumping to her lips. But when she saw the hard, determined line of his jaw and the flatness in his golden eyes, she knew protesting would be a useless endeavor. Still, she had to try. “Do you have to kill it?”
“It’s the cow’s life or ours, Audrey,” he said without remorse. Those flat eyes met hers, and she wondered at the sudden stranger lying beside her. How could this be the same man who had been so tender with her only moments ago? “Livestock are like currency around here, and the last thing Cocodrilo wants is to piss off the local farmers. It’ll cause chaos, and that’s what we need to escape.”
He was right. She knew it, but God, she hated the thought of some poor animal dying to save her. “Will you be kind to it, at least?”
His features softened a fraction and he caught a strand of her hair between his fingers. He wound it around his hand, studied it like the color and texture fascinated him.
“Gabe?”
“Yeah.” He abruptly dropped the strand. “The animal won’t feel a thing. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Thank you.” After a moment, she settled beside him again, but her heart stayed lodged in her throat. “I’m really scared.”
Gabe’s arm tightened around her shoulders. “Yeah, I know. But I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me.”
Trust. Funny thing, that. Since her parents’ deaths, she’d never trusted anyone to take care of her but herself. Not even her brother. But, as she tumbled into the oblivion of sleep tucked safely in Gabe’s embrace, she realized she completely trusted him to do as he promised.
CHAPTER 14
It had been a long, long time since Gabe woke up with the warm sweetness of a woman curled beside him. In fact, had he ever? Most of his past lovers, those that he’d stayed with longer than a weekend fling, had always elected not to spend the night, either because of their own busy schedules or his. But this…
This felt good. This felt right. He could learn to love this.
Still half asleep, marveling at the sensation of Audrey’s small breasts flattened against his arm, he slid his free hand over her curves. She wasn’t voluptuous, not like the women Quinn liked and therefore usually found for the both of them. Actually, now that he thought of it, he liked the full-figured ladies okay, but slim women with just a handful of breasts were what really cranked his engine. Almost every woman he’d ever had over the last twelve years was one Quinn hooked him up with. Well past time for him to start thinking with his own dick—and his dick wanted willowy Audrey Van Amee so badly it ached.
But it was wrong.
She was vulnerable, scared, and under his protection. His duty was to take her out of this hell hole, not jeopardize her safety by succumbing to his wants. As much as he ached to claim her, he couldn’t allow himself to get carried away.
The moonlight seeping through the cracks in their shelter bathed her in ethereal light as she nestled deeper into his side, her breathing steady and rhythmic. She was beautiful, but the beauty didn’t just lie on her surface; it ran deep within her. The strength and courage she’d shown since they’d been thrown together impressed him more than he’d like to admit.
She sighed softly, and he instinctively tightened his hold around her slender body. She tugged at his heart in a way no woman had ever done before. Emotions he didn’t understand swirled through him, making him uncomfortable. It was safer, easier even, to compartmentalize his feelings around lust.
