Maybe because they were out of practice. But more likely because they had so much more than themselves to lose.
“Holy shit. They almost had us.” Wolf scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “If Alex hadn’t opened fire when she did…” He didn’t finish the sentence.
Mason grunted. It was all he could manage because the image of Alex throwing open that pilothouse door was clear in his mind’s eye and he was concentrating very hard on keeping his stomach from emptying its contents.
She’s lucky she didn’t get herself killed!he thought sickly.
In fact, looking at the state of the pilothouse, he wasn’t sure how either of the women had managed to come out unscathed and—
A cry from somewhere in the water stopped his thoughts. Squinting against the glare of the sun and leaning from side to side because the smoke leaking form the back of the catamaran obscured his view, he finally located the source of the wailing.
Hotel Guy. Apparently, Mason’s last shot had ranged wide, because the asshat was still alive and bobbing like a cork about fifty yards back.
The fury he’d felt earlier returned in full force. “This fucking guy,” he growled.
“Let him drown.” Wolf lifted his M4 so he could get a better look through his scope.
“That’s some blue-sky thinking. We needa find out who he is and why the fuck he tried to kill us.”
Wolf grunted his displeasure. “Catamaran’s a dead stick. Dinghy’s our only hope of reachin’ him.”
Mason wearily pushed to his feet, trudging toward the back of the boat. After a slapdash repair job on two bullet holes, they had the little rubber dingy in the water. Mason was about to step on board when pale fingers landed on his forearm.
“Mason?” Alex’s voice made his skin tingle. Or maybe that was her baby-soft touch. “Where are you going?”
He turned to explain about the survivor, but the blood trickling down the side of her face had him yelling, “Damn it, Alex! You said you were okay!”
“Bumped my head against the console when Chrissy swerved to miss the speedboat,” she told him. “It’s nothing. No need to get all spun up, tater tot.”
Ignoring her attempt at levity, he framed her pale cheeks with his hands, brushed unruly curls back from her brow, and leaned close to inspect the wound.
He hated the thought of anything marring her perfect skin. But, thankfully, the cut was only about an inch long. And it wasn’t very deep.
“You’ll live,” he told her, inviting oxygen back into his lungs.
“What a relief.” Her mouth twisted around a wry grin. But it quickly morphed into a frown. Then her eyes grew big and shiny.
Before he could think better of it, he pulled her against him, allowing himself the hug he’d wanted earlier. “It’s okay.” He smoothed a hand over her hair, amazed at how it could look completely wild and yet still feel silky soft. “You’re okay. We’re all okay.”
When her arms curled around him, so did her feminine heat. Every cell in his body began to vibrate. “The smoke is making my eyes water,” she insisted.
A bald-faced lie, but he didn’t call her on it.
So brave. Too brave, he thought, hugging her tighter just to assure himself that, yes, she really was okay. Still living. Still breathing.
Still likely to make his life a misery.
“I swear to God, woman,” he told her gruffly, “you gotta be my penance for…something.”
“Penance? More like a prize.” Despite everything, despite what she’d just seen and done, despite the feel of her pulse pounding beneath her skin everywhere he touched her, there was mischief in her voice.
As much as he didn’t want to, as much as he’d have loved to stand there all day with her safe and secure in the circle of his arms, he had to step back.Number one, springing a boner while trying to comfort someone after a hair-raising firefight was something only assholes did, and he’d tried his whole life not to be an asshole. Number two, if she felt it, she’d never let him hear the end of it. And number three, there was still the hotel prick to deal with.
Pointing a finger at her nose, he told her in his sternest of voices, “Next time you involve yourself in a gun battle, I swear to Christ I’ll tan your ass.”
“You promise?” She batted her lashes.
He was saved from sputtering like a fool when Wolf told him, “If you want some answers from that bag of dicks, we better get a move on. The current is takin’ him fast.”
