Page 46 of Deadly Strain

“Exactly. First we’re kissing, then we’re fighting, then we’re kissing again. We shouldn’t be kissing at all.”

“Just for the record, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”

She snorted. “You are a menace.”

“To what?”

“My peace of mind.”

“If I had a nickel for every time a woman said that to me...”

“You’d have five cents.”

“Probably. What do you say, Doc, want to get some rest?”

She answered with a chuckle that told him she was okay.

Despite the pain from his injuries, the lack of sleep and the precariousness of their situation, he’d never felt better. He settled into the uneven ground beneath him with a twitch of his shoulders and damn near purred, “Anytime you want to make out, I’m your guy.”

* * *

Grace woke to Sharpshaking her with one hand and holding the other over her mouth. Fear spiked through her, leaving her shaking. It took a few seconds for her vision to adjust to the darkness and to realize what was happening.

The sound of feet scuffing against the rocky ground outside their cave had her nodding at Sharp to let her go and reaching for her Beretta.

Sharp put his hand on her wrist and pushed hers down. When she glanced at him, he sat up, pulled a knife and motioned for her to back away from the entrance.

What was he going to do, kill whoever was outside in hand-to-hand combat?

Idiot, of course, that’s what he’s going to do.

By the time she thought of questioning his plan, he was already gone, out into the gathering darkness with no sound at all.

Would the man he was about to kill hear him coming, or die not knowing he was being hunted?

Grace waited, straining to hear any sound that might tell her what was going on outside. A short, faint moan was all she heard, gone almost immediately. No sounds of movement reached her. No sounds at all other than faint insect noises.

A dark wraith slipped into the cave and came to rest in front of her. It surprised the hell out of her and she sucked in a breath.

Two fingers covered her lips, and she relaxed as she recognized Sharp’s touch. He leaned in and put his mouth to her ear. “Only one man,” he said in that soundless whisper she wished she could reproduce. “I put him down and hid the body in another cave. There are others searching for us, though. We need to move.”

“Where?” she asked. “You’re injured. How far are we likely to get?”

“I heard helicopter blades out there. I think those flares you used may have been seen by our guys and they’re now looking for us. We need to find another spot to set off another flare. Someplace defendable.”

“You know of a place?”

“Yeah, about a half mile from here.”

“How’s your leg?”

“It’ll hold. How are you?”

She had so many cuts, bruises and aches she wondered if any part of her was injury free. “I’ll make it. There’s no other choice.”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “We have to go now.”

She nodded, and he led her out of the cave.

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