He went to the stove to refill his bowl with more soup. "Want some more?" he asked her, catching her gaze with those lovely blue eyes of his.
More of him? Yes. She wanted to kiss him again— make sure that surging heat he'd lit within her wasn't just her imagination, too. "No, thanks. I'm going to make a trip outside, then try to get some sleep. I'll be back in a minute."
"That's a good idea. Don't forget your vest," he reminded her.
Noelle strapped herself inside the vest and pulled on her coat. The sky was clear and blue, but the wind was cold.
She made quick use of the drafty facilities and was headed back inside to the relative warmth of the cabin when something made her stop. She wasn't sure if it was a noise she'd heard or the forest going quiet under the sound of wind through the branches, or if it was just her imagination, but Noelle turned around and searched the trees to figure out what had spooked her. Fear dampened her palms and she was sure she could hear the sound of her heart racing even through the heavy padding of her coat.
It was just her imagination again. That was all. Just like those footprints. She sure as hell wasn't going to run to David with claims of phantoms in the woods again.
The low branches of a nearby bush shifted suddenly as if someone had walked by them, making them snap back into place.
Noelle's body tightened with terror. That was not her imagination. Not this time.
She wanted to run, but her legs felt heavy, locked to the earth. "David!"
He burst out of the cabin with a big black gun in hand. He hadn't bothered pulling on his coat or his own Kevlar vest. "You okay?"
"I, uh, heard something. I think. Saw some branches move."
"Where?"
Noelle pointed to the spot, and David placed himself between those branches and her.
"Get inside and stay low" he ordered.
Noelle's legs were heavy, but at least this time they moved when she asked them to. David wasn't wearing his vest and she wasn'tabout to leave him out here without it. She ran back inside and grabbed it off the nail by the door.
When she swung the door open to bring it to him, his voice lashed out at her, cold and hard. "Don't you dare come out here."
"I won't stand a chance of surviving alone if you get yourself killed." Just the thought of him being hurt was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat. "Besides, it was probably just an animal."
"I'm not taking any chances."
"Neither am I," she said, taking the vest out to him. She was not going to cower in the cabin when there was anything she could do to help him stay safe.
His jaw was tight with anger, but he let her slip the vest over his wide shoulders while he kept the gun in his hands.
"Show me exactly where you saw the movement."
Noelle pointed to the bushes just to the right of the Bronco. "Right there."
The bushes swayed again, and David shoved her behind him with one arm while he aimed his gun at the branches.
"Get back inside," he ordered in a voice she was sure made grown men jump to obey.
Before Noelle could turn, a deer shot across the clearing, disappearing in the thick trees on the far side.
Noelle's heart hammered and she had a death grip on David's arm.
"Just a deer." Relief was clear in his tone. "To be on the safe side, I'm going to check it out and I want you back inside. I'll just be a minute."
Noelle hated to leave him alone, but she knew she was of no use to him now. This was his area of expertise, and all she could do to help was stay out of his way. She went back inside the cabin, hating the sturdy little building more by the second.
She found the gun that David had given her and set it carefully beside her, keeping her eyes fixed on the cabin door.
Her hands were shaking too badly for her to trust herself not to shoot David when he came back. And he would come back. It was just a deer. She had to believe that.
Seconds ticked by slowly. Her pulse pounded painfully in her temples, and the ragged sound of her breathing seemed too loud in the empty cabin. Seconds turned into minutes, and although her breathing slowed, adrenaline still rushed painfully through her bloodstream, making her sweat. She stripped out of her coat but left the vest on.
David had his vest, too. At least she'd managed to protect him that much.
The heavy tread of boots sounded just outside, and Noelle placed her hand on the gun, just in case. She didn't dare dwell on how easily her mind had turned to violence as a solution. She was sure it made her a hypocrite, but she didn't care—nothing so trivial mattered when David was still out there alone.
"It's me," said David, right before he came through the door. "There was no one out there. Just that deer."
Noelle just drank in the sight of him, thankful he'd come back in one piece. He looked beautiful.
"You okay?" he asked her, his voice gentle.
Noelle nodded. "You?"
He spread his thick arms wide, putting himself on display. "Not a scratch."
"That's good."
"You look a little shaken," he said, his eyes surveying her with that cautious, worried look that made her think he was questioning her mental stability. He checked the safety on her gun and slid it out of her easy reach. Not a good sign.
"I really thought there was someone out there. Guess that's twice now I've let my imagination run away with me."
She felt like some silly little girl who jumped at her own shadow.
"You did the right thing when you called me."
"But it was just a deer."
"It doesn't matter. It could have been someone who wanted to hurt you. Better safe than sorry."
"I feel like an idiot."
David's hand wrapped around the back of her neck and he pulled her face close to his until their foreheads touched.
She could see the gray flecks in his blue eyes as he pinned her with a steady, truthful stare: "You are not an idiot. You and I are a team. We'll stick together and everything will be okay. Do you trust me?"
"Yes," she whispered and ran her tongue over her dry lips.
His eyes locked on to the movement and she saw his pupils expand, felt his shoulders shift with a sudden intake of breath. He was going to kiss her and she couldn't think of anything that she wanted more. If she was going to die in the next few days, she wanted to go with no regrets, and missing the opportunity to kiss David again would definitely be regret-worthy.
He took her face between his square, callused hands. Her stomach jumped and her heart skittered to life, pounding noisily against her ribs. She could feel the surge of adrenaline sliding through her veins, mixed with those hormones of hers that had her body growing warm and soft. She shivered as his heat sank into her skin and let her eyes fall shut so that she could simply feel.
The first brush of his lips was soft, almost tender— nothing like the desperate pressure of his mouth during their first kiss. He coaxed her lips apart and she welcomed him eagerly into her mouth, tasting her own excitement mirrored in him. His tongue swept over her bottom lip, teasing and playful, before stroking boldly over her teeth.
He lifted her to her feet and she could feel the steady strength of his arms around her. A low, needy sound rumbled in his chest and she could feel it vibrate the tips of her breasts, making her nipples grow hard and tight. His hands slid from her cheeks down her throat and over her shoulders, where they gripped and released her repeatedly as if undecided on what was the best course of action.
Noelle had no such trouble deciding. She let her hands wander over his shoulders, down his chest and around his waist to grip his back and feel the sleek strength of the muscles just below the line of his vest.
He felt so good under her fingers—strong and solid and so very warm. For the first time in days, she was no longer cold to the core or sweating in fear. The simple pleasure of just being warm made her head spin.
His hand slid lower, cupping her bottom in his wide palm. Streamers of pleasure shot through her torso and settled into happy little wriggling knots low in her belly.
She sighed into his mouth, giving away just how good his hand felt, placed so intimately.
That rough sound emanating from David deepened as he pulled her forward against him so she could plainly feel the hard ridge of his erection against her abdomen. In the tiny corner of her mind left for rational thought, she realized that was certainly nothing like her experience with Stanley.
A brief, faint whimper of feminine need filled the air of the cabin and David separated their bodies. His eyes were nearly black with lust and his chest bellowed with labored breathing. "We've got to stop," he panted.
Noelle knew the words he said, but it took several seconds for her to process them into something she could understand. "Why?" was all she could manage.
His gaze drifted down to her mouth and he licked his lips as if tasting her upon them again. "Because this is not supposed to happen."
"It's not?"
She felt his hands tense against her arms and couldn't; suppress a shiver of delight.
His nostrils flared and he clenched his jaw. "I can't focus on my job when we're like this. All I can think about is the way you taste, the way you feel."
"And that's bad, right?" Her voice sounded far away—. weak and breathless.
David cursed and closed his eyes. "It's good. So damn good it could get us both killed. I can't let myself get distracted right now."
The languid warmth of passion was beginning to fade in the face of reality. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed, but she managed to peel his hands from her arms and stand on her own. Her knees were shaking and her body felt like it had had all the blood drained out and replaced with sawdust. She was so weak she could barely stay upright, but she. found the strength to nod. "Neither one of us has any room for distractions. I'm going to get back to work."
Owen found the visitor that night eating dinner outside a tiny tent. It was a kid who couldn't have been twenty yet. His short blond hair was left uncovered to catch the light of the moon, and the fool was actually stupid enough to light a fire.
Amateur.
Owen pressed the barrel of his weapon against the back of the young man's skull. The pouch of stew he'd been eating fell to the ground in a sloppy puddle, and the boy raised his hands slowly.
"Why are you here?" asked Owen.
"Take it easy, man. I'm just camping." His voice cracked like a teenager's on the brink of puberty.
"Lie to me again and you won't live long enough to regret it. What is your name?"
The young man stiffened and his hands started to shake. "Brian Lorenz."
"Why are you here, Brian Lorenz?"
"I was sent here."
Owen's trigger finger tensed. "Sent? By whom?"
"Mr. Lark sent me. Said I might find you here, or rather, you'd find me. He said I'd never see you coming, but if you did find me, I was supposed to tell you to hurry the hell up."
Now they were getting somewhere. Owen's boss was either testing him or testing the boy. Perhaps both. "Why did he send you? Or are you merely a messenger boy?"
Mr. Lark commonly sent fools like this boy on impossible missions. If they failed, there was one less fool in the world, and if they succeeded, they earned a coveted spot within the ranks of the Swarm. In the past year, only seven people had been offered an invitation, and dozens had died in an effort to earn one. Mr. Lark was selective and only allowed the most dedicated and skilled people into his organization. He believed that everyone should earn their place in the world and Owen's was by Mr. Lark's side, helping him steer the Swarm to fulfill its true potential. Owen was not going to let this fool boy mess things up.
