Page 81 of The SEALs' Single Mom Baby Surprise

His breath sears the side of my neck as those big hands of his draw circles over my back. “Is it true?”

Naturally, I inch back, but he tugs me in again, tightening his hold on me. My nails dig into his shoulder blades. “Yes. It’s true.”

And I explain the reality of it. How I found out right before I was taken. How even though I’ve been taking my birth control, it wasn’t enough. How it could be any of theirs.

Surprising me, he kisses my temple. My hands slide down his waist, and I feel something tucked there. Jack’s soft laugh has my hand sliding away. How had he managed to get that past them? Did they think the cuffs and guns were enough to hold Jack?

His mouth presses against my forehead, and my anxieties reduce to simmering instead of a full-blown roil. “You okay?”

I take in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the scent of him before I nod. “Yes. As okay as I can be.”

“What can you tell me about this place, about the people?”

“They’ve rotated guards twice since I’ve been here, but I don’t know how long that is.”

“About eight hours, give or take.”

I hate it when Jack retreats, stands, helps me back to the bunk I was on when they shoved him in here with me. But I get that he needs to make the same inspections that I did when they dropped me in here. Except he’ll probably find something I missed.

No one ever trained me for this.

While he searches, I tell him about the tunnels, what I saw, what I can remember. I tell him about the plane they stole and the ride in. I tell him about Edmund helping them. That I don’t know if he’s still here, how I haven’t seen anyone but Mikhal and his guards since I arrived.

“That’s probably a good thing.”

Given the threat he made—for what I hope was Jack’s benefit—I’m glad it’s just been me and that monster.

Jack bends in front of me until I focus on his stony blue eyes. His thumb brushes my cheek in sweet, circling sweeps. “Get some rest while I poke around. The guys are coming. We just have to bide our time for now.”

He drops another tiny kiss on my nose before he steps away, returning to his search. I enjoy the view of his backside as he sweeps the room methodically.

Slowly, my eyelids droop, and I’m drifting into a fitful rest. Half of my mind is on alert, waiting for a change that would make being trapped here all the more unpleasant.

My mind fills in the other half of my consciousness with images of my belly growing round, the weight in my center making me feel far too reliant on others for help, the pain of pushing out a babe. It’s so far from now. But it will be here before I know it.

The dark starts to drag me under when shouting rouses me. It’s coming from inside the tunnels of the cave. I push myself up on an elbow as Jack squats in front of me again.

“Ready?”

37

STERLING

Since we pulled up on the island and separated from Shepard, the makeshift airstrip has shown few signs of life. Even the plane they stole has disappeared underground.

Time is running down, and I have to hope that Shepard is in place, that he’s gotten to Sloane, because we’re ready to breach the tunnel by the dirt landing strip. Hastings keeps constant watch through his binoculars, but I’ve got my sniper rifle at the ready, the scope letting me see every twitch of the grass in the wind.

If I didn’t know the caves nearby were occupied, I would struggle to find this spot, but I can see that line where the hatch closes to the underground. The handle is painted the perfect sandy color as camouflage.

These guys are smart enough to not leave people out here to give away their position, but how many are waiting inside? What kinds of boobytraps do they have?

I haven’t detected any, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there.

Hastings taps my shoulder twice. I fold up the stand for my rifle before slinging the weapon over my shoulder and readying my CQBR for the breach. I tap his shoulder twice as our signal to go.

We rush the entrance, keeping our footwork quiet, and breach the tunnel. Inside is empty, light low like the moon, but orange instead of blue. And the four openings explain why there’s no one out here guarding the entrance.

I wipe a hand down my face as we examine them. After a minute, Hastings points to the second tunnel on the left. He leads the way, and I follow tight behind him, focused, ready, leaving my mind blank to react without thinking.

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