Page 99 of Keeping Laryn
Tate pulled out, eased her onto her back, then scooted off the bed. “Stay. Doze. I’ll get breakfast started. When you feel like it, come on out.” He kissed her gently on the lips, then headed for his closet. While in there, he casually mentioned that he was going to make room for her stuff later that afternoon.
Laryn turned onto her side and smiled at the thought of her clothes mixed with Tate’s.
He came out, still completely naked, and smirked at her.
“Put some clothes on, naked boy,” she teased.
“Why? I like when my woman checks me out.”
“I’m not checking you out,” she lied.
He lifted one of his brows, giving her a “sure you aren’t” look. Then he stood in the doorway of his closet for a long moment,not moving toward the bathroom or doing anything other than simply staring at her.
“What?” she asked, wondering what he was thinking.
“Just enjoying the sight of you in my bed. Even if we’re together for another seventy years, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.” Finally, he headed for the door, leaving Laryn almost breathless behind him.
She closed her eyes and thanked her lucky stars that she was right where she was. That Altan hadn’t gotten his way. That Tate and his friends had been able to find her. That, even though there was some mental stuff she was still dealing with because of what happened, not feeling safe wasn’t one of her triggers. Because with Tate, she had no doubt whatsoever that she was as safe as she could get.
Turning onto her back, she stared at the ceiling. She was sore between her legs—Tate wasn’t a small man, after all—and she was still tired, which was a feeling she knew wouldn’t go anywhere anytime soon, with all the work she had in front of her getting another MH-60 up to snuff for Tate. But she was content.
Many people wouldn’t understand. They’d think because she’d been kidnapped and mentally and physically tortured, that she’d be jumpy. On edge. But she wasn’t. Off-kilter a little, sure, but knowing she was loved went a long way toward healing her heart and her head.
Her belly suddenly growled, reminding Laryn that it was past the time she usually ate. Smiling, eager to see what Tate was making them for breakfast, she made herself get out of bed. She grabbed one of Tate’s ARMY T-shirts and pulled it over her head. Maybe after they ate, they could try out the shower…together. It would be a tight fit, it wasn’t really meant for two. But that was all right with her.
Making a mental note that any house they ended up inneeded a ginormous shower they could share, Laryn headed out of the bedroom toward the bathroom.
Life was good. Even if it didn’t always go the way you wanted, when you wanted it to, it was still what you made of it…how you dealt with the blows you were given and how you treated others. Her dad had taught her that. And while Laryn had questioned his advice many times in her life, she realized her old man had always known exactly what he was talking about.
EPILOGUE
This wasn’t happening.
But of course it was.
Amanda huddled in the hot, wet Amazon jungle and let herself feel a moment of despair. She’d gone to Guyana full of anticipation. With a desire to help. A bone-deep satisfaction that she was making a difference in the world. And now, here she was. Kidnapped. Hungry. Scared out of her mind.
She’d gone to Guyana to work with orphans. To teach them. To maybe bring some joy into their lives. And she’d done that and more. Until a week ago, when armed men had burst into the school and ordered everyone into trucks with heavy canvas hiding them from view.
When one of the local volunteers had protested, he’d been shot point blank.
Amanda was the only adult taken, and she was now tasked with keeping twenty-three scared-out-of-their-minds boys and girls, ranging in ages from four to thirteen, calm. Which was almost impossible when she was feeling anything but calm herself.
She wasn’t sure what the men wanted. The trucks they werein had to stop once the road ended and they’d been traveling for a week since then through the jungle without saying much except for them to shut up and walk faster. They stopped when it got dark every evening, but that was their only respite. Everyone was on edge and the lack of any information about why they’d been kidnapped was almost scarier than trekking through the jungle.
Amanda had been warned about the dangers of living so close to the border of Venezuela, but she’d regrettably dismissed her friends’ concerns. She wasn’t going to be stepping foot into the neighboring country, after all. She would be in Guyana. Safe. Minding her own business.
Except now, here she was.
And the worst thing about the entire situation wasn’t the constant rain. Wasn’t the gnawing in her belly. Wasn’t being responsible for twenty-three little lives. It was the knowledge that there was no one coming to their rescue.
The organization she was volunteering with wasn’t sponsored by the government. It was a small, independently owned group comprised of men and women who were doing the best they could for the orphans in their country.
Amanda had seen a small news piece about them on social media and was instantly intrigued. She’d contacted them, having felt restless and unappreciated in her teaching job back in Virginia for some time, and before she knew it, had signed up for a six-month stint. She’d had to quit her job, but she didn’t think it would be difficult to find another when she got home. She was well qualified and experienced enough to be hired in pretty much any school district with an opening. The question would be, did she want to stay in teaching? She wasn’t sure. She’d been using her time in Guyana to figure that out, confident that she would.
Now, for the first time in her life, her natural optimism had slipped away. Whatever the kidnappers wanted, it couldn’t begood. Of that she had no doubt. And being the only woman in a group of terrifying and ruthless men wasn’t a comfortable place to be. She’d been surrounded by kids since they’d been taken, which was one of the only reasons she figured she’d been left alone up until now. But it was only a matter of time before one of her kidnappers decided he’d take what she didn’t want to give.
And she saw no way out of the situation. Even if the opportunity for escape arose, she wouldn’t leave the kids. They were even more vulnerable than she was. They had no parents. No one to fight for them. She was literally all they had. Besides, she didn’t know the first thing about jungle survival. Oh, she had some basic knowledge, but she got lost back in her own town in Virginia even with her phone on and Siri telling her which way to go. Two minutes on her own in the jungle and she’d be hopelessly turned around.
