Page 54 of Defending Mateo
“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.
