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Shading the beam with his hand, he scanned the small space. A woman lay on a blanket, her knees curled into her stomach. Asleep, and using a folded sweater as a pillow.
His heart began to pound. Laila. Safe and apparently unharmed. Thank God.
He studied her for a moment. She wore a scarf loosely over her head, but the flashlight beam gleamed on her dark red hair. A loose tunic and a loose pair of pants, both dark, hid her body, but he knew exactly what it looked like. What she felt like, pressed close to him. Laila Burke had figured prominently in his fantasies since he’d met her.
Mel said she walked around the village every night, talking to people. Trying to get information they could use. Also, he guessed, trying to maintain the fitness they’d worked on during her training.
Exhaustion crashed over him as the adrenaline of his climb burned away. He wanted to lay down and sleep, but he wasn’t about to let Laila wake up to find a man sharing this dim cave.
Retreating to a corner, he pulled out the SAT phone and texted Mel, Dev and Cody. ‘Found Burke. Sleeping. Too close to Taliban, but nothing we can do about it right now. I’ll call when I can’.”
A flurry of texts came immediately. From Mel -- ‘is she all right? Healthy?’
He texted back ‘far as I can tell. What part of sleeping was unclear?’
From Dev -- ‘What’s going on with the dirtbags?’
He replied, ‘Milling around. Looks like they were waiting for a car that just arrived.’
From Cody -- ‘You okay?’
Jase’s mouth curved into a smile. Cody was the kind of guy who’d ask that question. Which was why he was Jase’s closest friend in the Spec Ops group. ‘Peachy keen, other than tired as shit.’
He turned off the phone and crouched beside Laila, letting his hand hover over her mouth. The last thing they needed was her screaming when she woke to find him looming over her.
* * *
Laila awakened abruptly with a rough hand pressing over her mouth. She tried to claw it away, but she couldn’t budge those hard fingers. When she took a deep breath to scream, the hand tightened on her mouth.
Her eyes fluttered open. She couldn’t see much in the dim light, but the man crouching over her was big. Too shadowed to make out his features.
Struggling frantically to get away, she thrashed at him, shoving and pushing. He didn’t budge. She tried to scream, but no sound escaped the pressure of his fingers over her mouth.
Oh, God. The Taliban had found her.
She flailed at him, trying to push him away. Punched him with her fists. Tried to kick him. Clawed at his hand over her mouth.
“Laila,” her captor whispered. “Stop. It’s okay. It’s me, Laila. Jase.”
Her eyes flew open, and she tried to see him in the dim light, but he was nothing but shadows and darkness.
“You gonna scream if I take my hand away?” he asked.
Finally she was awake enough to realize he spoke unaccented English. She peered at him, and her brain processed his features.
Jase. Her training agent. The man she’d dreamt about for the last three months.
“Laila, it’s me. Jase,” he said again, easing his hand away from her mouth. It hovered just above her, ready to muffle any screams.
Laila drew in a shuddering breath and studied the shadowy face looming over hers. Jase? Here in the cave with her?
He looked the same, except for the stubble on his face. And the sight of him, dusty and grimy, made her heart beat faster. Made her nerves jump like she’d stuck her finger into an electric socket.
She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. Squeezed him tightly as she buried her face in his neck. “Jase,” she murmured into his skin. “My God! You came to extract me.” Her lips brushed his neck and she inhaled his scent. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you!”
* * *
Jase couldn’t stop himself from returning her embrace. Drawing her closer, he bent his face to her head, inhaling the familiar scent of her shampoo. He ran his hands down her back. Her sides. Her arms. Just to reassure himself she was safe. Unharmed.
