Page 26 of Hot Soldier's Rescue

He leaned over to murmur in English, “We need to talk.”

She made a noncommittal sound.

“Just follow my lead with these guys, okay?”

She countered, “Are we prisoners?”

“Not exactly. They desperately want to do business with me, but they don’t trust anyone, including me. Helping them out in that fight last night went a long way toward proving myself, but you’ve thrown them for a loop.”

“I’m sorry.” But then she smiled a little. “Although, if I’m messing up your arms deal, I’m not actually sorry about that.”

He replied tightly, “There’s more going on here than meets the eye. I need you to trust me and not fight me.”

He winced as she sat back and studied him speculatively. Why did she have to be so darned quick on the uptake? She was bound to read all kinds of things into that cryptic comment. But he couldn’t tell her any more. Hell, he shouldn’t have told her that much. However, she was just cussed enough to interfere in his arms deal if she thought she was doing the right thing.

“I need to get out of here,” she said quietly. “Time’s a-wasting.”

“Be patient. These guys don’t respond well to being pushed. I’ll do my best to cut us loose as soon as possible.”

Us? Why had that word slipped out of his mouth? Now that he’d made contact with the Army of Freedom’s top brass, albeit sooner than he’d planned, he couldn’t very well leave them to go fetch a pair of orphans. But he hated the idea of letting her proceed on her own. Far too many things could go wrong for her. He swore at himself; he had no choice. Duty came first.

“Just get me out of here and we’ll call it good.” Hearing her voice his exact thought aloud ticked him off for some reason he couldn’t put his finger on.

“I’m not abandoning you among these people,” he snapped. “Let alone the danger from these guys, you saw those soldiers who jumped them last night. This area is beyond risky. What on earth possessed you to come down here, anyway?”

“I gave my word.”

And therein lay the rub. He could understand that, even grudgingly respect it. His word was his bond, as well. “Next time, think more carefully before you promise to do something for someone, eh?”

She smiled sadly at him. “I had no illusions about what I was getting myself into. I knew how dangerous this trip would be.”

And she’d still come? “Are you suicidal?” he blurted. Surely, yet another pair of kids without parents weren’t worth dying over. And yet…whether he liked it or not, he felt the same protective tug she did when he thought of innocent children stranded in the middle of the violence all around him.

“I’m not suicidal anymore. I’m doing this because I owed Father Ambrose a favor.”

Not anymore? Now what did that mean? Quick alarm flooded him. The idea of her taking herself out of this world appalled him. She was too vibrant, too alive to end her life prematurely. “What you’re doing goes way beyond a simple favor. It’s…” He didn’t know what. But no debt could be so big that she should throw away her life to repay it.

She laid a light hand on his arm and he about jumped out of his skin. His entire body went hypersensitive from just that simple touch. She said, “It’s my choice. My responsibility. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But really. This is my problem. Not yours.”

He leaned forward and hissed, “I choose to make it my problem, so get over it.” As the words left his mouth, he knew them to be incontrovertibly true. But why? He knew better. Elise and those kids were emphatically not his job. But she needed his help, and he was apparently pathologically incapable of turning away from her need.

Maybe he was losing the handle. It was a known phenomenon in his line of work. Sometimes operators like him hit an emotional wall and just couldn’t go on with their profession anymore. It wasn’t that they wimped out. It was as if they just ran out of gas. Their souls were empty and they had no more left to give. Was that happening to him?

He looked up and caught her scowling at him, but then confusion entered her gaze. Curiosity.

“Don’t ask,” he warned her with a cautionary glance toward the main room. He looked back at her, irritated, and his gaze drifted down to her mouth.

“I won’t ask if you won’t,” she retorted tartly.

Huh. If she thought she was getting out of explaining that smoking-hot kiss to him, she had another think coming. As soon as they were alone, she would tell him exactly who she was. Right before she kissed him like that again.

“I think you should tell these men why you’re here,” he said thoughtfully.

She lurched in her seat. “Not a chance!” she exclaimed under her breath.

“Why not? They’ll respect your desire to save innocent children. Protecting the young is a universal value. With very few exceptions, people look out for them.”

She gritted out so low he barely heard her, “They’re not innocents.”

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