Page 20 of Rescue Me (Tempting SEALs 6.10)

She shot him a sassy smile, and drew the LockOut over her body like a seasoned stripper.

He dragged his attention away from her rosy breasts and scanned the jungle around them. Thadiwe’s men would be getting close. Sam had gone out forty minutes ago to reconnoiter while Beth slept. Just because he hadn’t encountered any more soldiers didn’t mean they weren’t out there. Thadiwe’s minions had plenty of time to realize that five of their men hadn’t returned. Sam had a persistent itch on the back of his neck. He never ignored his intuition. It was gained by experience.

“Can we frame the tent when we get back home?” Beth asked, coming through the opening feet first. She looked sensational in the tight black LockOut, her bright hair disheveled around her shoulders, her pretty eyes alert as she finished pulling the zipper up to her throat. Sam ran his gaze unobtrusively over the cut on her cheek and the two on her throat. No sign of infection. Then he slid his hand under her hair and pulled her to him for a quick, hungry kiss.

“Nah.” He smiled into her eyes. “We’ll pitch it in the backyard and use it for our annual family vacation.” He waited for a reaction, but didn’t get one. His gut clenched before he reminded himself that Elizabeth was good at masking her thoughts. He wasn’t even sure she’d heard him, as a parrot, blue and yellow wings spread, screeched overhead. She flinched, and he wondered what it would take to get her over her fear of birds. One thing for sure, he didn’t have time for it now.

He’d already pulled out the support pegs on the tent, and it was a simple matter to collapse the fabric and stuff it back in the bag. He held up her favorite silk blouse, the pink liberally spattered with dried brown blood. “I needed to bring your clothing so they’d think you’d worn it out of there.” He held the shirt up in a wad. “Want to try and save this?”

Beth shuddered. “No thank you. I might never wear pink silk again.”

“I’ll bury it, and the rest of your clothes, then.

Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” She scooted on her butt as far as the trunk, then stood to climb down to the ground. It was hotter than hell. Hot and steamy. Her cheeks were a delicate rose, and Sam thought that pink wasn’t so bad.

She smiled. “I’ll be fine not seeing the color green for a while. But I’ll miss the tent.”

EIGHT

“MBOTÉ! MBOTÉ! BOSS-MAN,” DESI called with a shit-eating grin as he paddled a decrepit-looking pirogue up to shore. He looked ridiculously like a young Denzel Washington, and wore ragged cut-off cargo pants, and a royal blue vest with red and yellow house cats printed on it. Around his clean-shaven head he’d jauntily tied a gray and green striped necktie. The entire ensemble would make a damn fine target for anyone on shore. As if he hadn’t a care in the world, Desi jumped out of the boat in thigh-deep water and dragged it closer to shore.

“What happened to the Zodiac?” Sam asked. He suspected he knew. Desi had sold it, and everything in it, to the rebels for a pretty penny. He’d then probably spent the “mbongo” he’d gotten on his new lady friend. “I need …” Desi looked pitiful and mimed eating. “Koliya. Yes?”

The guy was a strapping thirty-year-old in no danger of starving. “Hell, no. The Zodiac wasn’t yours to sell.” Desi gave him a blank look. “Never mind.” There was no point arguing. “Let’s go.”

Sam tossed both packs into the middle of the boat.

“Ever paddled a canoe?” he turned to ask Beth. “Desi and I will be rowing, but it wouldn’t hurt for you to know how. Just in case.”

Just in case? Elizabeth resisted turning her head to scan the jungle surrounding them for snipers. “I’ve done the rowing machine at the gym, so I can probably handle it.”

She demonstrated her technique for Sam, practicing in the air while he adjusted her left-handed grip just a fraction.

“Try that again—Keep the oar as vertical as possible. Good. Okay, let’s do it.” She started to cross to the water, but Sam put his hand on her arm. “No point in us both getting our feet wet. Here, I’ll carry you.” She expected a fireman’s lift, but Sam swung her up in his arms.

It was a silly romantic gesture, one she loved. God help her, Elizabeth thought, shocked by the realization. She loved him. He’d proven that he wanted her. But that was lust. Did the concept of love even cross the mind of a man like Sam? She seriously doubted it. He wasn’t hardwired that way. Yet he’d mentioned a shared backyard. She wondered if that was just a throwaway remark or if he actually meant they had a future together. “You Tarzan,” she joked, looping her arms around his neck.

He lowered her into the small canoe while Desi held it steady. “Hang on to me as you put one foot in … now crouch down, grab the gunwale and transfer your weight before putting the other foot in.”

She did as he instructed, without mishap, thank God. The sun, straight up and broiling hot, beat down on her unprotected head. Without a word, Sam leaned over and withdrew a black ball cap from one of his packs and placed it on her head.

The boat barely seemed big enough to hold three adults and Sam’s heavy packs.

Sam flung a leg into the boat and shot her a smile as he carefully lowered himself behind her. “We’re going to get out of here in one piece. I promise.”

First the hat, now he knew how scared she was. “Are you a mind reader?” she asked over her shoulder as she adjusted the cap to better shield her eyes.

“I’m a student of Dr. Elizabeth Bennett Goodall. Okay, Desi. Let’s get the party started.” The two men started paddling in slow easy strokes that took them out to the middle of the river.

Her heart did a little zig-zag at Sam’s response. “What’s my favorite color?”

“Purple.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Same as yours. Italian.”

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