Page 48 of Wicked Obsession

“I wasn’t sure it would be a problem. Women usually acclimate better than men.”

They were climbing. Langley felt it in the back of her thighs and it was the last thing she needed. At least the charley horse had eased enough that she wasn’t in agony. She leaned forward, seeking some relief from the incline. “You’re doing better than I am.”

“My training’s been more intense than yours.”

Understatement. They walked a few minutes more, but she could feel Ryder revving up again, although he showed no outward sign. He was picking up on something she couldn’t identify.

“Ready to run?” he asked.

Langley wasn’t surprised by the question. “Of course,” she said, lying without compunction. She had to run, so she would run, end of story.

It took less than two minutes before she was huffing and puffing as if she’d never worked out a day in her life. There was more sporadic gunfire and it was closer than she’d expected. Langley waited for fear, waited for adrenaline, but she couldn’t feel anything except exhaustion.

Her brain did manage to piece a few factstogether. The mercenaries were hunting them, and it was unlikely that they could outdistance a squad of men indefinitely since she was slowing Ryder down. He could walk without creating a trail, but that was a skill set she didn’t have. She was leaving a track right to their location.

Ryder would know this—he probably knew more that he wasn’t sharing—and that meant he had to have a plan for these contingencies. Langley wanted to ask what it was, but it required her entire focus to put one foot in front of the other. Forming questions was beyond her.

Sweat streamed into her eyes, making them burn, but she couldn’t lift her arm high enough to wipe it away.Just run. Just run. Run.

It seemed as if it was becoming brighter. Langley started to raise her head, stumbled, and returned her gaze to her feet. But when the sun hit her fully in the face, she slowed, and after blinking away the sweat, looked around.

While she was busy running, they’d left the forest and now there was only scattered trees. A shiver went through her.

They were completely exposed to anyone with a weapon.

Chapter 20

Ryder glanced over to check on Langley and realized he couldn’t push her much further. The dazed expression on her face told him she was beyond exhausted and she was breathing hard. Sweat had plastered her hair in spots on her forehead and cheeks and she visibly shook. The streaks of dirt and grime across her face added to her pitiful appearance, but he’d never seen her look more beautiful.

She’d done better than he’d expected, but not as well as he’d hoped. Ryder had never believed they’d be able to outrun a team of mercenaries, but he had wanted to get more distance. Didn’t matter. They were in the area he’d been headed for.

“Come on, Langley. We need to find adefensible position.”

“We’re going back into the woods?” She sounded as confused as she looked.

Between the altitude and exhaustion, she wasn’t firing on all cylinders. “No, this section might be sparse on trees, but there are pockets of large boulders. We’re looking for one of them.” Ryder kept his voice gentle. “I need you to hang in with me another five, ten minutes. Can you help me out here?”

He wasn’t surprised to see her nod and square her shoulders. That was his hellcat. Ryder took her hand and tugged her in the direction he wanted to go.

Still think the toughness she showed in Puerto Jardin was a one-off, dumb fuck?

They were climbing, and if he could feel it in his legs, it had to be excruciating for Langley. The going was rough, too, with scrubby bushes and patches of scree making walking challenging. Speed wasn’t an option, not with the shape she was in, and it made Ryder antsy. He wanted her to be safe. Needed her to be safe.

A shot echoed, followed quickly by two more.

Langley skidded on the loose rock and Ryder moved quickly, releasing her hand and sliding his arm around her waist. For an instant, he caught her full weight, then she regained her balance and he relaxed his hold.

Up ahead, he saw a fall of boulders. Getting Langley settled somewhere quickly would be a positive, but as they grew closer, he scratched the spot off the list. The rocks were in a pile and didn’t have enough space in between them for a human body. He wanted protection on as many sides as possible and this would only give them the front.

She didn’t question him, not with so much as a glance, and that wasn’t Langley. She always wanted to know what, where, when, why, and how. Yeah, he definitely needed to get her settled somewhere soon.

The satellite images he’d studied on the flight from Tampa had shown there were more than a dozen options on this side of the property. They needed to find the right one.

Ryder continued past a small outcropping of rocks that put a sharp drop at their backs and a low ridge of stones on two sides. It gave them zero escape opportunities. Not that they’d likely be able to leave once the shooting started, but he liked options.

More gunfire. Stony wasn’t going to be able to keep the mercs occupied indefinitely. Fuck, probably some of them had already broken off to find them. There was no way to move Langley faster than she was going and he couldn’t risk swingingher over his shoulder. As they walked, he repeatedly checked behind them.

The third collection of rocks was the worst and he didn’t pause.

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