“I wasn’t scared for me,” she whispered and brushed her lips across the bandage on his chin. “I was afraid for you.”
“We got through. That’s what counts.” He held her cradled in his arms, not wanting to let go.
“You were amazing.” She lay her cheek against his shoulder. “Six armed men against two unarmed ones. I don’t know how you did it.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Raul’s help.”
“I hope Vasquez’s cartel doesn’t go after him for helping us.”
“I think he can protect himself. Besides, the cartel wants you, not him.”
Marta sighed. “I don’t understand how working for something good has led me to this. People are getting hurt or dying because of me.”
“It’s not your fault. Like you said, you’re working for the good. There are bad people who want to exploit your knowledge for their own selfish gain. If not you, then someone else. So, you see, it’s not you, it’s the bad players who are at fault.”
“Still,” she said, her fingers curling into his T-shirt, “I worry about Raul, Liza, Stewart and Slater.”
“They’ll be all right. You have enough to worry about with the release of that pathogen. Focus on it.”
“I’d like to. Until I can get back in a lab, or we can find the scientist working to get past the binding protein issue, my hands are tied.”
“Then do what will help most and sleep,” Crusher said. “You’ll need to be at your best to save the world.” He bent and claimed her lips in a gentle kiss. “Close your eyes. That’s my plan, too. Sleep while we can.”
She did close her eyes and kissed him back. “I should move,” she whispered.
Crusher’s arms tightened around her. “I like you right where you are. But if you’re not comfortable...”
She snuggled closer, her cheek pressing into his neck, her bottom rubbing across his groin.
Crusher’s control slipped a little. He had to concentrate on the fact that they were in an airplane, tens of thousands of feet in the air, with a pilot whose cabin door remained open to them. No, this wasn’t necessarily a private place where he could do anything to slake his desire for this amazing woman.
Marta’s hand rested on his chest, and her breathing slowed. She’d fallen asleep on his lap.
As much as it pained him to restrain his lust, he couldn’t ask her to move. He didn’t want to. This might be his last chance to hold her before he handed her off to Devon Marsh and the State Department.
He sat for the next few hours with Marta in his lap. For the first time since he’d found her in Vasquez’s lab, he could relax with her. He closed his eyes and slept with her in his arms, his last thought one of what it would feel like to fall asleep with her in his arms for the rest of his life.
He woke to a bumpy ride as the plane descended for landing at Mexico City's airport. Night had fallen, and a million stars twinkled in the sky around them.
Marta had moved to her seat and was securely fastening her seatbelt. He’d been vaguely aware of her disengaging herself from his lap but had been too tired to protest.
Crusher straightened, adjusted his seatbelt and stared out the window at the city sprawled below them, lights blinking up at them.
The heat made the landing even rougher as they circled the runway and came in to land.
Then they were on the ground, the plane coming to a stop at a general aviation terminal.
The pilot shut down the aircraft and emerged from the cockpit to lower the stairs.
Crusher thanked him and stepped down to the tarmac. He turned and helped Marta.
“What now?” Marta asked as she came to stand beside him.
The pilot joined them and motioned for them to enter the terminal. “Your flight arrangements to Miami have been made. You can collect your tickets inside.”
Crusher and Marta entered the terminal and approached the desk. The receptionist handed them their tickets and said they could either wait there or get a ride over to the commercial terminal to wait for their flight.
Marta touched Crusher’s arm. “I’ve been thinking…” she said and pulled him to the side. “I have a friend, a colleague, I worked with at the World Health Organization. She lives here in Mexico City. If I could get to her place, she might have the access I need to see how far they’ve come in getting around the binding protein error I introduced.”
