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“Nate,” she said as calmly as she could. She held herself steady, one foot keeping the trigger of the land mine pressed down.
He must have recognized the urgency in her voice because he put his gun back in the holster and shuffled in her direction, his feet scooting along the same path she’d already trudged so he didn’t end up in the same predicament.
She had to give him credit, he didn’t even consider leaving her there to fend for herself and saving himself. He came right to her, despite not knowing how dangerous the situation was.
“I guess we know what the dogs don’t like about the area,” he said, looking her in the eye with a calm assurance that had her shoulders relaxing a bit. He wasn’t going to leave her.
“Let me get a look at what we’ve got, and then we’ll figure out what to do about it. Don’t go anywhere.”
She choked out a nervous laugh as he knelt by her feet and dug down into the snow, carefully tunneling around the mine.
“There she is,” he said.
“So there’s gender assigned to land mines?” She stared straight ahead, her gaze locking in on a crag of snow-covered rocks about twenty yards away. Her hands fisted at her sides and she just focused on breathing in and out—for as long as she could.
“I figure anything designed to blow up and hurl shrapnel should be called she. I’ve been married before, so I remember. I’ve got a nice scar behind one ear from a perfume bottle that was thrown at my head.”
“At least she didn’t shoot you.”
She felt him pause, so she glanced down to find humor-filled eyes looking back at her. “Did you just make a joke? I think there’s hope for you yet, Agent Kane.”
“Not if we’re both blown to bits while you’re taking your sweet time down there. Leave it to a man to make things as complicated as possible.”
“It’s not me standing on a land mine now, is it?”
Eden couldn’t argue with that logic so she just grunted and watched him go back to work.
“He’s watching us,” she said. “He laid this out. He wouldn’t want to miss it.”
Nate grunted and stood looking around to see the easiest way for Salt to get a ringside seat to the show. They were surrounded by towering spruce trees, flocked with snow. But sitting on a branch on a tree not more than ten yards away was a small sparrow with red eyes.
“Well, now,” Nate said, pulling his Glock and firing off a shot before it had barely cleared the holster. The sparrow sputtered in apooftof smoke before it hit the ground. “Hi-tech cameras.”
Nate lay down on his stomach so his head touched the snow and looked at it from the side. He moved back to his knees and glanced up at her.
“Looks pretty standard as far as land mines go. I’m going to borrow the knife in your boot. Don’t let it freak you out when I touch you.”
She nodded and his hand slipped inside her boot where she’d put her knife. He bent back to the mine and she heard the tiny scrapes as he worked the tip of the knife at the mechanism.
“I just realized it’s been a while since I knelt at a woman’s feet. And usually she’s naked while I’m doing it and not standing on an explosive device. We should try it that way next time.”
She choked out another laugh and stared down at the top of his head. His voice didn’t betray any of the urgency he must have felt. Mines like the one she was standing on could go off at a moment’s notice. And though his voice was level, she saw the sweat beaded on his skin as he continued to work.
Eden felt the knife slide back into her boot and he came to his feet, his body only inches from hers.
“Pick up your foot.”
She stared at him for a long moment, knowing she had to trust that he’d taken care of things or they would both end up dead. And then she took a deep breath and prayed.
“Wait a minute—”
Eden froze, her heart pounding as he issued the order, terror coursing through her veins as she waited for the explosion to hit. And then her eyes widened as he leaned in and took her mouth in a kiss that rocked her straight to her soul. Her entire universe exploded into a million pieces.
She hadn’t prepared herself for the possibility of his taste—not yet—not when she hadn’t guarded herself against the feelings she’d started to develop for him. His tongue slipped past her lips and she heard a moan in the distance—it must have been hers—but the blood rushing in her ears muted her senses so the only thing she was aware of was the man possessing her like he had every right to. It was terrifying. It was exhilarating. And she realized in that moment that she’d never been kissed like Nate was kissing her.
It was just a kiss. But there was nothing simple about it. He invaded her mind and soul and she was helpless to resist him.
Tremors shook her body and her hands came up and gripped his shoulders, holding on as her equilibrium tilted. The heat of him drew her to him like a moth to flame.
