“You must not. I need your word on it.”
“I will do no such thing,” he snapped.
She had given these same such orders to each person in her group and it had never disturbed her as it did now. She felt an ache within her that she didn’t understand as she relayed her orders to him.
“It is understood that if I am captured, the group will not attempt to rescue me.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Burke said empathically.
“You don’t understand.”
“Enlighten me.”
She sighed to release her own frustration. Why did it disturb her so to say to him what she had said countless times before?
“If caught, I would be taken to Weighton, an impregnable prison. Anyone attempting to rescue me would surely be caught and killed. I will not have that on my account. There will be no rescue.”
“Your men agreed to this?”
He sounded annoyed and she attempted to explain, “You must understand—”
“Never would I understand your men leaving you to rot or be tortured in a prison, impregnable or not. I would give my life trying to save you.”
Storm jumped off the boulder and turned to face him, her hands firmly planted on her slim waist. “You will do no such thing.”
Burke joined her on the ground, standing near nose to nose. “You’d be in prison, you’d have no say in the matter.”
“Which is why I have given orders now, so my men would know exactly what to do.”
“Abandon you.”
“No. They would save their own lives.”
“You never leave a comrade behind, not when you have fought side by side with each other. It just isn’t done,” Burke insisted.
“It is if your leader orders it so,” she claimed.
He put his nose to hers. “Your men can do as they wish, but if you’re caught while I’m here with the group, then I will rescue you. Count on it.”
She stepped away from him and groaned. “You are the most frustrating man.”
Burke walked over to her. “And you’re not the most frustrating woman?”
Storm was about to argue when she suddenly changed her mind, walked over to him, stood on her toes, threw her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on his lips that shocked both of them.
She leaned against him, needing to feel his strength, needing his warmth, needing his closeness. He wrapped his arms around her waist and obliged her desire, yanking her up against him.
She pressed her chest hard against his while she commanded the kiss, drinking as deeply as she could of him. She couldn’t get enough of him, and even when she surfaced to take a breath, she nibbled at his lips before delving in for more. She relished the play of their tongues, teasing, sparring and tasting. It was a kiss of hunger long denied, and she felt as if she would never get her fill.
A rustle of branches tore them apart and had both reaching for the weapons strapped to their sides. It took a moment to realize that no one was about, the sound probably caused by a nocturnal animal making its way through the woods.
“I’ve neglected my watch,” Storm said and scrambled on top of the boulder in an effort to put a distance between them, or else she feared she would kiss him again.
“I’ll join you,” he said, ready to hoist himself up.
“No,” she said curtly.
He remained where he was staring up at her. “Why?”
