Page 24 of Atone in Darkness
Even if she understood Chase’s anger, it really hurt that he’d walk away without a backward look. She wasn’t a bad person; she had always believed that. Focused and determined, yes, but not cold or uncaring. He knew that she’d tried to help him evenif she hadn’t been able to do much. Heck,he’d even admitted that she was in as much danger from her employer as he was. Well, if he’d forgotten that fact, she darn well would remind him when she caught up with him.
She started running, determined to give the man a piece of her mind. She reached the bend in the stream, expecting to see him in the distance. When she didn’t, she coasted to a stop.Had he really left her behind for good? If so, she was alone in the middle of nowhere with no supplies other than the water in the creek.
The realization he’d taken her pack with him made her furious. To make matters worse, the terrain ahead did a steep downward turn, the water in the creek pouring down over a tumble of rocks about thirty feet high. She’d have to leave the water’s edge and tryto find a way down and around the waterfall. The only problem was, she had no idea which way Chase had gone. They’d crossed back and forth over the creek twice already to follow the easiest path.
Despite his admonishments to keep quiet, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Chase, you stole my pack. Come back here right now.”
At first she didn’t hear anything except the roar ofthe water crashing down on the rocks below. But then she picked up another sound, one that sent new fear raging through her. The helicopters were back. Which way should she go? Right now it didn’t really matter.
Just as she took off running, a familiar figure stepped out of the trees on the other side of the creek. “Doc, get your ass over here.”
The familiar aggravation in Chase’s voice easedthe knot of fear in her chest. He hadn’t left her after all. She boltedacross the water and made her way through the trees to where he stood waiting for her. As soon as she reached his side, he took her hand and retreated deeper into the woods under the protective cover of the enormous cedar trees.
“Damn it, woman. What were you thinking standing out there in the open and yelling like a banshee?What if they have men moving through the woods?”
“I was mad. You took my pack.”
Still snapping and snarling at each other in harsh whispers, they both sank to the ground to rest until the enemy once again left the area. The two choppers made several sweeps up and down the valley. They both fell silent as one of the choppers stopped to hover directly above the falls.
Marisol leaned in closerto Chase. “Do you think they actually know we’re here, or are they assuming we would’ve followed the creek?”
He kept his eyes focused on the little bit of sky they could see through the trees. “Could be either. If they found where we slept last night, it was a fifty-fifty chance whether we went upstream or down. They’re probably checking in both directions.”
“I can’t hear them anymore. Shouldwe get going again?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. They might be hoping that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
They remained huddled right where they were for another five minutes. She started to stand up, but Chase jerked her back to the ground. “Stay down.”
She was getting tired of his abrupt orders, but because of his superior hearing she did as he said. Sure enough, a few seconds later she couldhear the familiarwhomp-whompof thehelicopters in the distance. The sound grew louder until they flew directly overhead.
Chase leaned in close, his breath tickling her skin as he whispered, “When we get beyond the falls, we should keep to the trees even if the terrain is rougher. We’re sitting ducks out there in the open.”
“What happens if they spot us?”
They both knew it was a stupid question,but Chase answered it anyway. As he told her back in her quarters, this was hardly her area of expertise. “They’ll either try to take us out from the air or they’ll deploy ground forces down to do the job. Either way, it’s not good.”
His blunt assessment did nothing to lessen her fear, but he wasn’t the type to sugarcoat the situation. It felt like she’d been dropped into the middle of one ofthose action movies where the bad guys had all of the advantages. Suddenly, it was all too much. How was she supposed to be brave when she couldn’t see any way out of their predicament? No longer able to hide her shaking, she let the tears come. “I don’t want to die.”
“Well, shit, I’ve been wondering when the dam would break.”
But instead of berating her for falling apart, Chase lifted Marisolonto his lap and wrapped his big arms around her. “Don’t give up, Doc. They haven’t won yet.”
As a scientist, she was used to dealing with facts and couldn’t help but point them out to him now. “But we don’t have food or a map or a place to hide. They won’t stop coming until we’re dead. You know they can’t afford for the truth to get out. They already blew up—”
There were so many other reasonswhy the two of them were bound to fail in their attempt to escape, but Chase cut her off midtirade in a most unexpected way. He captured her face with his hand and kissed her. When she started to protest, he deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping in and out of her mouth. The sensual assault short-circuited her thought processes, overriding her fear and her anger and leaving nothing but an achingawareness of the powerful male body that surrounded her. She wrapped her arms around Chase’s neck and gave herself over to the moment.
A few seconds later, he pulled back and stared down into her eyes. “Damn, Doc, I didn’t expect that.”
Before she could decide how to respond, he lifted her again, settling her back on his lap, but this time straddling his thighs. That brought her core in directcontact with the rock-hard proof that the kiss was having a profound effect on him, too. The frustrating man stroked his hand up and down the curve of her spine, stopping just short of her backside. In a futile attempt to assuage the heavy ache in her breasts and the heat pooling at the juncture of her thighs, she rocked forward and leaned into his chest, trying to connect to him in every way shecould.
His palm had just settled over her breast with a soft squeeze when an all-too-familiar sound flipped their off switch. This time the helicopter was flying much lower. Chase twisted to the side and covered her body with his. “Don’t move.”
Like she needed to be told that. She could hear his heart pounding out a heavy rhythm as they waited to see what happened next. Her biggest fear wasthat the helicopter was hovering while men rappelled down to the ground. It seemedlike forever before it flew back over the falls and disappeared downstream.
When once again they had the valley to themselves, Chase rolled up to his feet. He signaled her to remain where she was while he crept closer to the edge of the trees to study the sky. “It veered off back in the direction of the camp thistime. Maybe to refuel or something.”
While they waited to make sure the enemy stayed gone, he pulled out a granola bar and gave her half. “We’ll give them another few minutes and then start walking.”
