Page 60 of SEAL of Fate

What if she doesn’t feel the same way?

He constructed a simple fire ring with rocks at the cave’s entrance, then started a fire before heading back out for another load of wood. Forty-five minutes later, he’d stacked enough fuel inside the cave to keep the fire burning all night. The temperature in their shelter had risen a few degrees while he worked. As an added benefit, the fire shrouded the interior in an orange glow while discouraging wild animals from venturing too close.

Travis stayed up another hour, tending the fire and checking on Jordan every few minutes. Coop would have made it back to the shack before dark. Hopefully, Jake had made it that far as well. The ATVs that Agent Roberts had requested should have arrived by then and would have taken Coop and Luke back to Halstead’s house, where Coop had left his borrowed ride. They would have contacted MacGyver and Blake, recalling the chopper to collect Travis and Jordan at first light. Then Coop would wake a veterinarian in Prineville to patch up the dog so Travis would know how to answer Jordan the next time she asked about Jake.

He stoked the fire to burn for a couple of hours, undressed to his briefs, and squeezed into the sleeping bag behind Jordan. It was a snug fit for a man his size, and there was no way to get comfortable without waking her. When he settled in and pulled her back against his front with all her deliciously soft skin available to his touch, he hardened instantly.

“You’re so warm,” she murmured and snuggled into him, arousing him even more.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he whispered. Jordan relaxed in his arms two minutes later, and her even breaths told him she was asleep again. Travis stayed awake, holding her against him, enjoying the closeness, finally satisfied she was safe. Considering the last thing she’d said to him after he kissed her at the church, this might be as close as he would ever come to claiming this woman. The acknowledgment shot a stinging pain through his heart, which still ached hours later when he drifted off to sleep.

*****

THE BIG CAT’S EYESmesmerized Jordan as it stared into hers, crouched, and leaped from the boulder above her. Too late, she tried to dodge. The animal slammed into her chest, knocking her down. Her skull hit the rock slab, and darkness swirled around her. She shook off the daze that crowded her mind and threw up her arms to protect her head and neck. Something grabbed her forearm, and she braced for the pain of ripping flesh—but the cat was gone.

“Dad?” She couldn’t believe her eyes.

Her father, young and robust, decked out in hiking boots with a heavy pack on his back, knelt beside her, the smile she remembered stretching from ear to ear.

“Look out, Dad! There’s a mountain lion! We have to— .”

“You’re safe now, Jordan. I’ve got you. I never left you, sweetheart.” His deep, exuberant voice reverberated through her soul. “We’re going to get you home.” He pulled her up as though she weighed nothing.

Confusion and fear consumed her as she pivoted, her gaze darting from side to side, searching for the source of dread that permeated her. “Where did he go? He was right on top of me. I swear it!”

“He’s gone for good. Now it’s just you and me.” A smug belly laugh snapped Jordan’s attention back to her father, but he was no longer there.

Tossing a wicked-looking knife from hand to hand, Brody stepped from a cave in the rimrock’s face.

Her breath caught, and she tried to run, but his arm snaked around her waist. Terror propelled her into action. She clawed at his hold on her, kicked, slapped, elbowed, shoved, and used her head as a battering ram. Nothing loosened his grip.

“You’re safe now, Jordan,” he whispered. “I’ve got you, and I’ll never let you go.”

He used her father’s exact words. How dare he defile her dad’s memory! “No, no, no! Let me go! You’re not my father!”

He released her so abruptly, she had no time to grab the advantage before he straddled her and locked down her wrists beside her head.

“I should hope not because I’m not having particularlyfatherlythoughts right now. Wake up, Jordan. It’s me, Travis.”

Her eyelids shot open to find a nearly naked, gorgeous black man sitting on her. His face was about six inches from hers, and he was breathing as hard as she was. “Travis?”

“I assume you were dreaming and not really trying to kick my ass.” He grinned, leaned back, and released her hands. “You okay?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice as she fought the tears that prickled behind her eyes. Her nightmare faded, even as she tried to remember the details, but she would never forget the vision of her father, strong, unbroken, and excited about life. That’s how Jordan wanted to remember him always—not as the empty shell she’d said goodbye to at the hospital. Katie and Liz had been right. It was time for healing to begin.

All that remained of the fire was a bed of coals, and the air was chilly, but she no longer felt as though she were freezing to death. With a small intake of breath, she realized Travis wasn’t the only one nearly naked—she wore just her bra and panties. Her gaze roamed from the expanse of her bare skin to his thighs that still straddled her hips and the tented fabric of his boxer shorts. Heat crept into her cheeks, and she quickly transferred her perusal to his chest.A magnificent chest!Jordan bit her bottom lip.

Travis groaned. “If you don’t stop looking at me that way, we’re going to have a problem.”

Finishing her slow inspection, she finally met his gaze and couldn’t stop a snarky grin from forming on her lips. Reaching for the back of his neck, she pulled him closer. “I’ve been told I’m a good problem solver.”

“Is that right?” His eyebrows shot upward as he braced his arms and slowly leaned forward until their lips barely met. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled until Jordan was on top, stretched over him. “Good to know because I plan to have lots of problems.” He curled his fingers around her bra straps and tugged her closer. Travis gently kissed each bruise and cut on her face, lingering longest on her split lip. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Jordan whispered close to his lips.

He continued tenderly stroking her neck, shoulders, and arms before one hand slid behind her back and efficiently released the clasp of her bra. When his fingers flicked her swollen nipple, she felt herself grow wet for him, and she couldn’t contain her moan of pleasure.

Travis grinned. “Did you like that?”

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