Page 58 of Deceptive Lies

“Cooper?” Willow’s terrified voice called his name, and he turned to see her staggering through the dark toward him.

He was moving before he even realized it.

Snatched her into his arms and crushed her against his chest as soon as she was within reach.

Burying his face against her neck he inhaled deeply. Beneath the coppery scent of blood, and the heavy scent of gas in the air, he couldsmell Willow’s sweet scent. She was there, she was alive, she was in one piece, and he hadn't lost her, although he’d come damn close time after time.

“You weren't there when I woke up,” Willow whispered as she pressed against him as though she could meld their bodies together if she tried hard enough.

“Wanted to see if I could salvage anything.”

“Could you?”

“No. The flames were too strong. Was just trying to douse them so it’s not a flaming arrow pointing right to us.”

“I’ll help. If we work together, maybe we can put them out, and it’ll buy us a little extra time.”

When she went to pull back, Cooper tightened his hold on her. That right there was exactly why he had so much respect for Willow, why he didn't care that feelings were springing to life so quickly.

Beaten and battered as she was, exhausted and no doubt in agony, she was right there volunteering to help. They were in this together. As rough as this whole mess was, as much danger as they were still in, as badly as he wanted to take her, clean her up, bandage her wounds, make sure she wasn't in pain and got the rest she so badly needed, he was glad that she was by his side.

Right where he wanted to keep her.

This wasn't a woman he wanted to let go of, he liked having her by his side, and he was going to make sure nobody snatched her away from him.

Whatever he had to do he was going to slay all the dragons standing between him and a shot at a future with Willow.

July 13th

3:31 A.M

Exhaustion tugged at every fiber of her being.

It clung to her just as the sand did.

Coating her body in a fine sheen of sweat that seemed to get heavier each time Willow leaned over and scooped up more sand to throw on the dwindling flames.

After what felt like hours of kicking and throwing sand onto the wreckage of the plane, to say her body was aching would be the understatement of the century. Adrenalin had long since worn off, and it had taken with it the mask that had initially covered some of her pain.

Now it screeched at her like an angry bird, making sure she knew she was pushing her body beyond what it could handle every time she moved. She was barely able to move now, but there were a few lingering flames, and she certainly wasn't going to leave this all to Cooper, he had to be hurting just as badly as she was.

They were in this together.

That’s what she’d told him earlier and that’s what she believed.

For better or worse, they would fight side by side against their common enemy.

Right now, Willow couldn’t allow herself to think about what happened next. About what would happen if they managed to get out of Egypt alive and dismantled Allah’s Warriors taking Professor Mahmoud down along with it.

There was every chance that Cooper would just walk away, after all, he owed her nothing. He’d helped her and got a boatload of trouble for his efforts, if she was him, she’d be grateful to get rid of the burden she represented.

Only …

That wasn't how Cooper looked at her.

Each time she caught him staring at her, she could have sworn that burden was the last thing she saw in his gaze. Respect was there, maybe a little bit of awe, deeper things, too, like tenderness and affection. Maybe he didn't want to walk away as soon as he knew she was out of danger.

Maybe he wanted to stick around.

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