Page 97 of Deadly Betrayal
It was all he said. It was enough. Her heartbroke for the poor man. Jake had acted so carefree and happy, yetthe shadows in his eyes had hinted at a dark past. Prisoners of warrarely escaped, certainly never without suffering traumatichorrors. “I am sorry,” she whispered.
“It was a while ago. Before he joined Del—myteam. If Jake knew we were in trouble, he’d get us out, even if hehad to do it on his own.”
“But he does not know. I did not have time totell him.” She lay down beside Kaden on his left side to avoid thetwo broken ribs. It was cold and they needed to fend offhypothermia by conserving their body heat.
Kaden opened his arm and she scooted closer,resting her head on his shoulder as she’d done the day before. Withthe blanket neatly tucked in, they were warm in their cocoon.
Try as she might, she couldn’t settle down.Her head was spinning, trying to find a solution, trying to find away out. “Khalid and your friends are the only ones who know we arehere. Khalid is also trapped, and Jake does not know we are indanger.” She turned her face into his neck, inhaling his uniquescent, letting it fill her, soothe her. Letting her forget, justfor a moment, the hopelessness of their predicament.
“It’s going to be okay, Azita.”
She chuckled ruefully. “No, it is not. Butthank you for trying to make me feel better. Everyone I love ishere, at the mercy of a sociopath.”
“We do have an ace in the hole.”
Rising up on her elbow, she looked around thesmall space they’d called home for the last day, looking for the“ace.” Not seeing anything of note, she met his stare. “A what? Iam not familiar with that term.”
He grinned and pulled her down for a kiss.His lips were dry and cracked, but at the same time they were home.In deference to his injuries, she kept the kiss light and sweet.Were he whole, she’d execute their deal tonight. Life was too shortto wait. For all she knew, Tariq would kill them at sunrise.
When Kaden released her lips, he kissed thetip of her nose. “Azita, honey. You are such a balm for mysoul.”
How could he say things like that to her?Despite knowing she was responsible for the ambush on his team, hestill treated her like she was a good person. Her fingers tracedthe scar under his arm, a small puckered circle where the bullethad entered, to the long one in the middle of his chest where ithad exited, nicking his right lung and narrowly missing hisheart.
As though he knew the direction of herthoughts, he drew her down again. His hand slid up her back andgripped her hair, angling her head to receive his bold embrace.When his tongue traced the seam of her lips, she opened them tohim. He invaded like a conquering king, exploring the far cornersof her mouth. Heat rose in her, burning her from the inside out.The world started to spin. All from just a kiss.
When they broke apart, she panted for air,breathless, dreaming of more.
“Soon, honey. Soon you’ll be mine.”
Mine. The thought of belonging tosomeone had always made her feel worthless. But with him, it madeher feel cherished. Kaden didn’t mean it in the sense of a physicalpossession. It was an emotional one, and it transformed her. Shewantedto be his: his lover, his wife, his everything.
Her heart seemed to expand, to swell insideher chest until it hammered against her sternum. It was time toshare her heart with him, her innermost desires. “I want that, Iwant to be yours, so much.”
He rubbed his nose against her uninjuredcheek. His voice a sexy rasp, he said, “You will be. You alreadyare.”
Emotion welled in her throat, squeezing ittight. She wanted to respond, but what could she say? He’d alreadysaid it all. In every way that mattered, she was his and he washers. Closing her eyes, she prayed his feelings would not changewhen he heard the rest of her confession. But even if Tariq killedthem come morning, at least she would die with Kaden’s words easingher passage.
Kaden stroked her hair, his fingers cardingthrough it, always careful to avoid her injury. After several quietmoments, her desire to rant at the unfairness of life began to ebb.She toyed with the curls on his bare chest. She’d looked at themwhile he’d slept, blond hair that glistened in the sun. They wereas soft and springy as she’d imagined.
His voice, filled with humor, broke thesilence of the descending night. “Want to know what our ace in thehole is?”
Remembering the earlier part of theirconversation, she looked up, frowning. “I looked everywhere, butdid not see anything that could help us escape.”
He chuckled and the movement of his chestmade her head go up and down. She smiled and held onto his othershoulder until he was done. “It’s a tactical advantage. Help iscoming our way. Because Tariq doesn’t and won’t know about it, hecan’t plan against it. Weareescaping.”
Excitement and hope made her belly flip. Shestill did not understand what this advantage was, but she believedin Kaden. If he said they were going to escape, then they would.“Tomorrow?” she asked.
He gave her a wide confident smile.“Tomorrow.”
Chapter 23
Satisfaction hummed through Tariq’s body ashe prepared for bed. He glanced around the room, taking note of theplush mattress, the clean thick afghan carpets, and the numerouscolorful cushions tossed around the floor. His wives had done afine job of readying the chamber for his new bride. A pleasanttightening in his stomach had his cock stirring. He could hardlywait for his wedding night.
With three wives already, he didn’t have towait. Any one of them would be pleased to have him visit her bedtonight. The thought had merit. He palmed his hard length andthrust his hips as he considered his options.
There was a soft knock at the door.
Grunting, he rearranged hisshalwarand went to see who was disturbing him at such a late hour. Heswung the door open and glared at the caller. Patman shook in hisboots, his face growing alarmingly pale. “Agha Khalid requests avisit from you.”
