Page 33 of The Heat is On

Skye stared down at the bleeding man, then back to Rio, the stricken but fierce expression of half anger, half determination on his face and…yes. Ofcoursehe was. It all made sense—the way he’d warned her to stay away from him and the rest of the prisoners. His courage when he stepped in front of March’s gun. His crazy escape attempt in the woods, and even…even the fact that he hadn’t kissed her—not right away.

And even her own brain had been firing warning shots because what on earth had possessed her to kiss a man she barely knew? A criminal, for that matter—except, yes…see, deep in her gut she knew he was different.

Especially when, as she kissed him, he seemed to step out of the tight fist he held around himself and just let himself go. Kissed her like he needed her, as if she might be a drink of water to a dying man. And the way he’d pinned her against the tree, held her there—talk about hostage. But she’d never felt safer in her life.

More, she’d never been kissed like that before.

Her entire body still simmered from his touch.

Yes, he was a dangerous,verydangerous…good guy?

She backed away from him, her arms around herself.

“What—would you rather I be a prisoner?”

“No! Of course not. I’m…relieved. I’m just…”FBI.“You lied to me.”

Rio reached for her, but she held up her hand.

“I wasundercover.” Then his expression softened. “Okay, yes, I heard what you said about your dad. And wewilltalk about that, and how sorry I am that…well, whatever happened. But I knew that if March knew I was FBI he’ll kill me on the spot. And I couldn’t risk what he then might do to you.”

She drew in a breath.

“I’m sorry, Skye. Really. I didn’t want to lie to you, but…” He looked at her, and the expression of regret tempered her anger. “I thought it was safer. I still think it’s safer if everyone thinks I’m one of the bad guys. But we can argue about it later. Right now, I have to figure out how badly Darryl is hurt. And if it’s safe to go back to the camp—”

“It’s not,” Darryl said. “The marshal is there—with that fire boss, Tucker. I don’t know if they have March or not. He freaked out. I saw him hit that smokejumper pretty hard. He was down—he might be dead. And then—and then March strangled the US marshal.”

Skye couldn’t move.He might be dead.

Her body went liquid, but Rio was right there, grabbing her shoulders, holding her up. “Skye—listen. Wedon’t knowthat Tucker’s dead.”

Right.Right.She clenched her jaw, trying to scrabble up through the scream forming inside.

“Stay with me. We’re going to get out of this, I promise.”

Nothing will happen to you as long as you’re with me.

His words at the cabin surged through her. She met his eyes turning molten in the setting sun. Nodded.

“That’s my girl.” He let her go and crouched next to Darryl. “Yes, youwilltestify.” He moved Darryl’s hand away from his wound. “Let’s take a look.”

That’s my girl. She didn’t know what to do with those words. However, she did know what to do about Darryl.

“I have first aid training,” she said as she knelt next to Rio and examined the wound. “We need to get his shirt off.” She opened Darryl’s shirt and eased it over and off his wounded arm. The blood poured through a tiny hole in the front of his arm. She moved around to the back and found a jagged tear also seeping blood. “There’s an exit wound here. I’m not sure if there are any broken bones, but we need pressure to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down.”

Rio took the arm of Darryl’s shirt and ripped it right off from the shoulder.

“That’ll work,” she said. “Hold his arm out while I wrap it.”

He took hold of Darryl’s arm at the elbow, and the man groaned. She wrapped the wound quickly, tying it tight. Darryl looked like he might pass out. Shock.

“We need to get him someplace where he can rest.”

“We’re not going back to the cabin,” Rio said. His gaze was on the sky, and she followed it. “It could be on fire.”

A plume of black smoke had risen over the trees.

And Tucker could be there, hurting, maybe unconscious. “I have to go back for Tucker.” She got up, but Rio’s hand on her arm stopped her.

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