Page 73 of Evening Shadows

Once his limbs regained some semblance of control, the aches and pains that he’d been oblivious to during the lovemaking returned. Worse, he’d obviously tried raising his hips and his thigh throbbed from it. All said, he still wouldn’t have stopped.

Finally together—heart rate, pulse, and breathing back to normal—aches and pains in line, and ability to speak returned, he prepared to say something to Sam but had no idea what. “Thank you” seemed awful selfish. That damn word again. When he healed, he’d give her something to feel selfish about to ease his pain.

As he contemplated his options, knowing the first words after something so personal were critical, he peered down to see the expression on her face to gage a possible reaction.

She slept. With his worrying about what to say, he hadn’t noticed her breathing evened out or her relaxing.

Smiling, at both his reprieve and her lovely form, he listened as Franks did another check. While their comm had been spotty, he knew the cadence and timing of what’d been said. All that mattered was he knew they’d been safe while she’d done mind-blowing things to his body.

Knowing tomorrow would suck, he needed a true night’s rest. Weapons at the ready, HIS having his six, and having Sam next to him, comforted him.

He sighed contentedly. With her head nestled on his shoulder, he kissed her on the forehead before he fell into his post-coital stupor and slept.

29

Shafts of sunlight peeked into the little retreat he and Sam had created. They had to move before one of his men climbed down and surprised them.

If he hadn’t trusted the men wholeheartedly, he’d never have let his guard down and had the erotic night with Sam where she’d opened to him. While he felt entirely selfish already, he’d never press her to move to the next step. Having her love his body like she had filled him with renewed hope they could move forward, and soon.

Being warm, well rested, and hungry, he took inventory of his body. His ribs were survivable.

Shaking some sense back into himself to finish his assessment and keep his mind off last night, he closed his eyes and focused. While sore and throbbing, his leg shouldn’t prevent him from keeping up if they moved at a slower clip.

He glanced over at the beautiful woman curled into his side. Her relaxed features made her appear so peaceful that he hated to wake her with a reminder that her lunatic friend had been chasing them—and not to have afternoon tea.

He’d never cared for Beverly much when they’d all hung out together, especially him being the fifth wheel unless he got bored and found a date. But he’d dealt with the woman since she’d been important to Sam and Adam.

While Sam had been angry with her friend, he’d noticed her suppressed rage whenever she caught his injuries paining him. He wanted her to only worry about her own safety and stay focused. He’d get through the hike. There was no alternative.

When they completed this op, he expected Sam to release her pent-up feelings about Beverly and the situation. He’d be there for her even if he had no idea of what to do besides hold her. Making Beverly pay would be right on his list after Sam’s emotional needs.

He’d worry about that later.

While he’d rested, he slept lightly and hadn’t heard a peep outside. None of his men would’ve gone down without a fight, and if trouble had happened, one would’ve rushed to guard the cave entrance, alerting them.

Maybe they’d get lucky and Beverly had abandoned her mad scheme. Ken couldn’t fathom how Alejandro had bought into Beverly’s plan considering she wanted them dead because of her late husband. No piece of ass was worth someone else’s life.

Ken woke Sam with a kiss and her warm lips moved under his. When she opened her eyes, they widened with surprise, then a smile filled every feature, and she greedily accepted his mouth moving over her.

“Time to move,” he whispered with their lips an inch apart. With great will, he pulled back and sat. The sudden jolt to his body almost had him dropping back to the ground in agony. He sat for a moment and breathed through the throbbing pain.

Beside him, Sam dressed but stopped when she saw him sitting. Like before, she came, crouched and offered her shoulder for support. He wanted to decline because he needed her to not focus on his injuries. Though he quickly realized getting up would be his biggest challenge and he couldn’t fool her otherwise. Already he’d shown too much weakness with her. He was supposed to be the protector… the hero. Yet she’d come to his aid the entire time.

This mission left them injured, betrayed, tortured, and starved, and she’d remained steady on their path to escape and elude. With all that and his relying on her for support and cover, he liked being by her side and not just because he wanted to protect her. He just had to figure out how to explain to her how much he wanted her to stay on the team because hiring her had been the right move from the start.

“It’s just stiff from sleep, but I admit putting on my pants will be tricky. Help me get them on while I lie down. If you pull them up, I won’t have to bend my knees trying to get in them and fall on my face.”

She reached for his BDU pants and laughed. “That’s a sight the team would love. Why don’t I have my camera ready?”

“You’d best be careful there, you little minx.”

The team had commented on how he smiled and laughed with them more often. Obviously, they’d figured out that Sam had been the cause of the positive change.

After he suffered the humiliation of Sam dressing him with his growing erection—undressing would’ve been much more fun—they grabbed a crap-tasting bar Doc had left, drank some fluids, and quickly prepared to leave. As she watched with concerned eyes—what he’d hoped to avoid—he made a couple of rounds inside the cave to loosen his leg muscles.

Feeling good about his ability to travel on his own, he clicked on his earpiece. “We’re on our way out.” He heard nothing but static, but he knew that meant someone was responding. Going with his gut that all was well, he clicked off the mic, they snatched up the weapons she’d readied and shown themselves to the team.

Within minutes, the five of them—Sam, Danny, Cowboy, Doc, and himself—hiked up the uneven trail that hadn’t been the piece of cake he’d hoped. Once he steadied in a regular, albeit slow stride, with Franks in the lead and Cowboy in the rear, they continued to the extraction point.

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