Page 62 of Evening Shadows

He stopped, and she immediately released him and turned, moving back-to-back with him, uncertain why he halted.

“Copy.” He touched the earpiece to turn off the mic.

Although she wished they’d had another comm system for her, at least Ken had one to keep in contact with the team. Along the way, he hadn’t given her any more, other than the men had been engaged.

“Let’s go,” he ordered, walking without her support.

“What did they say?”

“We’re to take shelter in the cave below the falls. The men, when they can, will arrive and take a position to protect. We’ll stay there for the night.”

Unbidden, the idea of spending the night with Ken—not as a prisoner—sent a delicious shiver through her. The thought of him touching her—skin to skin—heated her face. Her breasts ached for his touch. Her body wanted him to be hers. That desire within her shocked her somewhat, but she’d always had a soft spot for Ken that she’d held in check during her marriage.

With Ken injured, it might be some time before their lust could be sated. Unless… her mind whirled with options as they passed bright, beautiful flowers along the trail.

Stepping from the path, her mouth dropped at the splendor of the Las Golondrinas waterfall. Above them, she spied towering mud and rock formations that looked like hidden elephants. A higher pool set under towering trees caught her eye. If only she’d been here to explore on her own. To enjoy the environment without worries of someone tracking her to kill or recapture her.

Scanning the area, a buffet of greens in the sudden vistas of wide valleys… the beauty of it lifted her soul.

Looking down the waterfall area, the cave remained out of sight, but the landscape before her wowed her even more. A wide, bright blue-green pool that fed off the cascade lay below them. It would be an ideal place to swim and bathe, both with and without Ken. And, a bath sounded heavenly.

To reach their destination, they had two options—jump into the pool below or make their way down a twenty-five-foot steep bank of shrubs, plants, and loose dirt. The trail looked sketchy, but jumping would potentially ruin some of their equipment—like their weapons. Or, they could get injured, which Ken didn’t need more of.

Without question, they took the sketchy trail.

“Be careful, it’s a steep descent,” he warned her.

Even though she’d known this, his repeating her thought had concern leaping inside her. “Can you do this?” He could barely walk on his own. She’d been half carrying him.

“We’ll go slow.”

Slow. Great. Slow and no one protecting their backs. No one to pick him up if he fell.

Halfway down to their location, on a misstep, her heart nearly stopped at the thought of an uncontrolled fall. Dirt and small pebbles rolled down around Ken’s feet and to the pool below. While she’d imagined them playing in the water, she didn’t relish the two of them falling into it.

As she had that thought, Ken stumbled and his injured leg slipped out from under him. Horrified, she reached out for him but only caught air as he fell the last few feet making a large splash.

Losing her balance after grabbing for him in her effort to keep Ken upright, weightlessness wrapped itself around her as she plunged into the cool water with the weight of the backpack tugging her down, leaving her fighting to reach the surface.

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In the cool water, Ken gasped for air as he broke free of the surface, treading water with a rifle in one hand. He’d held it up in the fall, but he’d plunged too deep to keep it dry. He could strip it and dry the components as best he could without a kit. It may or may not be serviceable by the time they moved on to catch their ride.

In the meantime, they had Sam’s piece because he’d also lost his SIG.

A noise caught his attention. He looked up and horror gripped his gut, twisting it with no mercy, as he watched Sam’s flight through the air. Her head just missed a rock, before she landed with a loud splash. He had to get to her. She’d hit the surface hard, too hard.

“Sam!” he yelled over the sounds of the falls. Without waiting for an answer, he swam to where she’d entered. Treading water for a moment and calling to her again, panic tried to seize him but he fought it off.

With renewed vigor, he dove under the water. Even with the crystal clearness of the water, it took him a moment to locate her. A moment she may not have. She struggled with something, and when he got closer, he sighed with relief because she would survive this.

When he reached out to her, he didn’t know she could move so swiftly and skillfully. Her KA-BAR appeared at his neck, and if he’d moved before she recognized him, he might be floating down the river.

Before she removed the borrowed knife and sheathed it, she struggled to tread underwater with one hand holding the rifle and the other with her knife. He worked to free the backpack from watery tree roots. They needed the items in it so he understood why she hadn’t abandoned it.

Something twisted inside. If she hadn’t been able to slide from the straps, she would’ve been trapped. His hands shook at the depth of his feelings for her and the loss he would’ve suffered.

Not wanting the bottom of the pack to rip and their equipment to fall into the depths, he handed her his rifle then gave her a thumbs-up for her to return to the surface while he worked with it. Probably needing air in her lungs, she followed his order.

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