Page 29 of Rescuing Nathaniel

Despite the exhaustion he knew she had to be feeling, the weapon didn't so much as wobble in her grip.

Naked as the day she was born—she must have lost the hospital gown somewhere between where he’d left her and there—with bruises on her stomach, the red raw wound oozing blood, red marks on her wrists and ankles indicating where she had been restrained, she looked like some sort of warrior goddess from a movie.

A grin broke out on his face despite the seriousness of their situation.

He had no idea where she got the gun or how she had managed to find him, but he didn't care.

This woman was amazing.

Truly spectacular.

After what she’d been through, no one would blame her if she was curled up in a ball shaking and sobbing.

But she wasn't.

She’d pulled her weight as much as she was able to, she’d done everything he asked of her, including hold her breath as he swam them away from danger, and there she was ready to kill for him.

Even with his plan to never allow complications in his life, attachments that could lead to getting hurt, there was no way he couldn’t be wildly attracted to Ava Hendrick’s spirit.

“Move away,” she gritted out when nobody did anything.

“I’d listen to her if I were you,” another voice spoke up, startling Ava, who looked over her shoulder to see a man dressed in black approaching. There was a trickle of blood on his temple, and he was walking slightly hunched over as though he was in pain.

“Stay away from us,” Ava yelled, slightly shifting her position so her back was pressed up against a tree trunk and she could see all six men who had found them.

“It’s okay, Aves, you can put the weapon down,” he told her as he stepped closer. Because he knew she was frightened and skittish despite the resolute steel in her spine, he approached her slowly, hands up, showing her that she had nothing to fear.

“They found us,” she whispered, clearly confused about why the other six men weren't moving to stop him.

Why they weren't trying to stop her.

Despite her strength and the fact that he had no doubt she would shoot these men to protect him and herself, they all knew that if the men really wanted to, they could already have her disarmed and restrained. Sure, she might shoot at least one of them first, but she was no match for their size and strength and they all knew that.

“They did, but they’re not who you think they are,” he told her.

Her gaze darted about, jumping from man to man and lingering on the one she had obviously gotten the weapon from. “That one grabbed me,” she murmured, the fear in her tone evident and he hated that once again she was afraid.

Even as rescue had found them.

“He did, but he wasn't going to hurt you,” Nathaniel explained.

“I told you who I was, ma’am,” the man in question told Ava, whose brow crinkled in confusion.

“No, you didn't. You … were talking, but I couldn’t hear over the pounding of my own pulse,” she finished, the weapon she held clutched in her hand so tightly her knuckles had blanched white lowering ever so minutely.

“This is another SEAL team,” he told her. “I know these guys. They came looking for us when I didn't make contact. They found the life raft and tracked us through the jungle. This is Blake “Rocco” Wise,” he said, pointing to a large man with black hair and brown eyes. “Decker “Gumby” Kincade, Beckett “Ace” Morgan, Mark “Bubba” Wright, and Forest “Phantom” Dalton,” he said, pointing out each man as he went. “And that guy is Cole “Rex” Kingston,” he added, indicating the man she must have somehow managed to get away from to come chasing after him.

Knowing that she believed the men after her had found them and she’d saved herself and then come after him, filled him with a warmth he’d never felt before. As a kid, his mom was more worried about avoiding a beating herself to care if her drunk husband pounded on one of her children. Her protective instincts had been beaten out of her and she was just relieved to have a break, even if it was at the expense of a child she had carried inside her.

Having someone care enough about him to put themselves between him and danger was nice. For the first time in Nathaniel’s life, he felt like he was worth something. If a woman like Ava could walk toward danger because of him then he had to be, even if he never felt like he was.

“Can't believe she got away from you, dude,” Rocco snickered, and all the guys chuckled.

Unconcerned with his teammates teasing, Rex merely grinned. “Eagle trained her well. I was trying to be gentle with her because I didn't want to hurt her and it didn't look like she was cognizant of who I was, and she knew just how to take advantage of that. You did real good, ma’am,” he told Ava. “Only made one mistake.”

Lowering the weapon a little more, Ava’s nose scrunched up. “What mistake did I make?”

“You didn't kill me,” Rex replied.

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