Page 18 of Wicked Obsession

His shrug looked uncomfortable, but Langley couldn’t see Ryder’s face clearly enough to read him. “You’re close,” he admitted.

“Wouldn’t you expect this situation to be resolved in a matter of minutes?”

“There might be a standoff,” Ryder suggested, but he lacked conviction.

Langley took a step toward the road. That was as far as she’d planned to go, but he must have assumed she was heading for the house. He grabbed her wrist. The hiss escaped before she could stop it.

Ryder held onto her hand with one of his and with the other, pulled a penlight from his vest. He shone it on her arm. “Holy shit,” he breathed as he looked up to glare at her. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

She stiffened and pulled her hand free of his. “Don’t use that word with me, Ryder Pienkowski. I did what I needed to do. I’m not hurt, only scraped up a little.”

“Damn it, how many fu—” he stopped short, then resumed “—freaking times did I make you practice breaking those flex cuffs?”

“I know. I thought I could wiggle free. You taught me how to do that, too.”

He opened his mouth, shut it, and took a deep, audible breath. Then, with careful precision, Ryder turned off the penlight, placed it in his vest, and in a move she hadn’t expected, hugged her tightly. She felt his lips moving against her hair as he said, “I thought I’d lost you, hellcat. You took about twenty years off my life today.”

Until he’d put his arms around her, Langley hadn’t realized she’d needed him to hold her like this. She wound her arms around his waist and accepted the comfort his touch gave her. “It hasn’t been my favorite day either.”

But Ryder had come to San Diego. He’d come to rescue her. That had to mean he loved her, right?

The five-hour flight, getting his friends together to join him, finding her. None of it would have been quick or easy, but he’d done it for her. Warmth spread from her chest and fanned out through her body.

Before she was ready, Ryder stepped back. She started to protest, but he drew his weapon and moved in front of her, the Explorer between them and where he pointed his gun. She became confused when he lowered it until Nevada Bryce appeared on the other side of the road. He must have talked to Ryder over the earpiece.

Nevada grinned when he spotted her. “Hi, Langley. It’s good to see you alive and kicking.”

“Thank you. Do you know anything about Sarah?”

“Sorry, ma’am,” he said, shaking his head. His attention shifted to Ryder. “I’m going to retrieve our hardware from the Jeep. No point giving the SEALs our electronics.”

Langley was puzzling through that when Nevada walked over to the car parked in front of the Explorer, reached in the wheel well, and pulled out something. She didn’t know what it was and didn’t ask because Finn Rowland appeared.

His lips curved—the biggest smile she’d ever seen from him—and said, “I told Ski you were one tough woman, but even I didn’t expect to arrive as you were escaping. What took you so long to get loose?”

She knew he was teasing her, but she was unable to joke in return. “I had to wait for dark,” she said truthfully.

Finn turned to Ryder. “Shouldn’t Langley be in the SUV?”

“Yes,” he said. “Do you want to help her get in?”

“I’m not getting in the car until I know how Sarah is.” She scowled at both men and shifted her weight until it was distributed more evenly.

“It’s okay,” Finn said. “Stand down. No one is going to wrestle you into the vehicle.”

Langley couldn’t tell whether he was teasing this time, but before she could ask, Jonah Griffin arrived. As if that was what everyone was waiting for, the men started to move. Nevada opened the driver’s door and got behind the wheel. Finn climbed in the back and Ryder looked at her and opened the other rear door. He gestured for her to get in, but she ignored the invitation.

“Jonah,” she said the instant she could speak to him without shouting, “is Sarah okay? Was she shot? Did you have to treat her?”

“Sarah’s fine,” he said. “When I left, she had tingling in her legs from being cut loose from her restraints, but that’s apparently the worst of it.”

“Apparently?” she asked, ignoring Ryder’s second gesture ordering her to get in the car.

“I didn’t see her myself, just talked to one of the SEALs.” Jonah opened the front door. “He’s the one who gave me the status report.”

When he got in the vehicle and closed thedoor, Langley had two choices—stand out here and holler through the window, or climb in the back and quiz him while they drove away. And they were leaving, because Nevada had started the engine. She wanted to see for herself that Sarah was okay, but it dawned on her that the guys were in a hurry because the police would be coming soon and Special Forces wasn’t supposed to take action in the US. They’d meet up with Sarah and the SEALs later. Right?

She eyed the running board of the Explorer and looked down at her skirt. This wasn’t happening. “Ryder, I can’t raise my leg high enough to get in, not in this gown.”

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