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Now, as he listened to the last of the storm rolling far away from them, he told himself to use every last bit of his experience, all of his mother’s teachings, to try and take the next step with Lauren. The real question was: Did she like him? Even a little bit? And, if she did, could she find herself loving him? Alex didn’t have a clue. He couldn’t read Lauren like other women. She wouldn’t interpret his glances, his subtle body signals, or his voice, in the same way a woman experienced in relationships would. He lay awake for some time, pondering this Chinese-puzzle of a dilemma.
CHAPTER 12
Lauren awoke slowlyat dawn. She was warm, Alex’s arms around her.
Alex wasn’t like other men, and the nightmare made Lauren glad she’d gone through those times in order to appreciate him on an entirely new and different level. She shifted her head enough to gaze up into Alex’s sleeping face, resting her cheek on the edge of his shoulder. His breath felt moist as it flowed across her. His black lashes were thick and spiky. His broad brow had furrowed lines etched horizontally across it. She hurt for him as her gaze dropped past his straight black eyebrows, down to his nose that had that bump in it. He’d taken Vlad’s fists, sacrificing himself so that Sky and Cal could escape the Russian mafia team. Alex had let the bastard beat him nearly to death. What kind of courage did it take to do that, Lauren wondered. Because if someone was beating on her, she’d have fought back. She would not have laid on that hut floor and let Vlad kick her repeatedly in the ribs, fracturing two of them, breaking her nose, her jaw, and afterward leaving her to slowly bleed to death from that leg wound. A bolt of anguish tore through her heart.
Alex had a hard face. Even in sleep, there was raw strength in it. His cheeks were high and broad and her gaze moved to her favorite part of his face: his wonderfully-shaped mouth.
Lauren moved slowly as she eased out of his embrace, but it woke him up instantly. Operators were always on guard, and she sat up next to him. “Sorry to wake you,” she managed in a husky tone. It was barely dawn and she heard no movement outside their hut. More than likely, the spec ops team was sleeping hard.
He sat up, taking the space blanket and slowly folding it up. “You had a very bad nightmare last night. How are you this morning?”
“I’m okay. I’m sorry it happened—”
“I am not,” he rasped, easing his large body around so that he could face her and still leave her what little room was available. “I am glad I could be there for you.”
She grimaced. “It’s my past, Alex. I don’t know why it decided to happen out here. I’m so glad you were here for me,” and she managed to give him a grateful look, still sleep-ridden and waking up.
“Those kind of nightmares are the worst kind,” he agreed, looking at his watch. Leaning forward, he pushed the fabric that hung across the doorway open and peered out. “Everyone is still asleep.”
Nodding, Lauren whispered, “It’s cold out there.”
“Peru’s jungle in this region does get cold. It is not like northern Peru, where it is closer to the equator.” He studied her. “Are you warm enough? I can give you the space blanket.”
Touched by his concern, she shook her head. “I’m going to use our collective latrine. I’ll be right back,” and she crawled out of the hut on her hands and knees. Looking around through the dark grayness, she stood up and absorbed the energy of the area. The birds were awakening and she appreciated their songs. Knowing that one of the men was stationed out at the entrance to the encampment, she walked across the oval-shaped clearing to do her business.
She met Alexon her way back to their hut from the latrine. He was making a fire in the pit from wood that had been kept dry within the hut. A slight curl of smoke drifted upward but, otherwise, the surroundings remained still. She helped him get out the grate and place it over the fire. Merrill appeared out of his hut and wandered toward them, rubbing his face and eyes.
“Ready for some coffee?” he asked them.
“Absolutely,” Lauren said in a quiet voice. “Where do you keep it?”
“Come with me. I’ll show you where I stash all that stuff,” and he turned back toward his hut.
In no time, coffee was percolating and the fragrance of it made Lauren salivate. The one thing she missed the most when on an op, was her coffee. In the meantime, Alex had gone to the latrine, followed by Merrill. She figured either Nate or Killmer were on guard duty. The world was awakening. More light, gauzy clouds, hung above the tops of the jungle trees. It hit her that she felt like she was in some other dimension or world, never having done much work in jungle areas before. Putting her sniper persona to one side, she watched the slow, twisting, silent fingers of mist above them. It was magical, if she let herself view it like a child full of awe at the beauty of Nature. It was mesmerizing to her.
She arranged the cups that Merrill had brought out earlier on the logs that surrounded the fire hole. Alex came over and poured coffee into each of them, and took one with him, heading off down the trail.
“Where are you going?” Lauren asked.
“To give Sargent Killmer a cup. He’s on duty at the entrance. I am sure he would appreciate this. I will be right back.”
Why hadn’t she been as thoughtful? Alex disappeared and she sat on the damp log facing Merrill. “I don’t know that I could live like you do,” she said between grateful sips of the coffee.
“It’s a calling,” Merrill agreed.
“You stay out here three months at a time, get some time off, and come back for another three months?”
“Yes. How about you, Lauren? How often are you out on a mission like this?”
“Depending upon where in the world and the op, it could be days or weeks.” She looked at the wall of the jungle surrounding them. “Most of my work has been in the Middle East.”
“Oh, yes, the Sand Box,” and Merrill smiled a little. “So? This op is wet instead of being hot and dry? Right?”
She grinned a little. “You could say that. Have you spent your time only in jungle areas?”
“Pretty much. Spec ops for us is about familiarization of an area. Once we get assigned, it’s pretty much the same area because we have built up an amount of information on the players, their tactics and such.” He gave the jungle an appreciative look. “When I was a kid in elementary school, I was diagnosed with ADD. I could never sit still, I had to be outside, restless, curious and such. I didn’t do well in school, but after I joined the Army and got a chance as Special Forces, I jumped at it.” He smiled a little. “It suits my ADD. I’m constantly on the move, I’m outside in Nature where I want to be, and my curiosity is always alive and well because there’s so many things about the jungle that are new to me. I like learning.”
