Hew had never hit a woman. Had never wanted to hit a woman. But he was more than tempted to hit her. Right on that pointy, imperious chin.
As always, the Black Knights loaded into the waiting chopper in short order. Weapons were stowed. Gear was secured. Every movement was muscle memory.
But Hew only had eyes for Sabrina.
She had a cut on her cheek above a bright purple bruise. Her lush lips were cracked and split. Her hair was soaked through with sweat and matted with grime.
She’d never looked more beautiful.
Especially when her chocolate eyes met his and seemed to melt.
“You’re okay, sweetheart! We gotcha now!” He tried to yell above the turbine’s roar, but his words barely came out in a rasp.
She must’ve read his lips, though, because she nodded, her eyes welling and her chin trembling.
Hunter slapped the back of Hew’s flight helmet. “Go, go, go!” he yelled.
Hew hated to drop Sabrina’s gaze, but there was nothing for it. He whipped around and hopped the big bird back into the sky.
BKI’s Blackhawk was old. But she’d been meticulously refitted with radar-absorbent coating and sound-dampening rotor blades, giving her a low infrared signature. And she handled like a dream.
Soon they were zipping through the humid night air as the swirling black waters of Lake Michigan yawned below. Once he reached altitude, he kept one hand steady on the controls. With the other, he reached between his knees and pulled out the ridiculous, well-loved, stuffed lobstah.
Stretching his arm behind his chair, he held out the toy.
Didn’t matter to him if she saw him do it or if someone passed it to her. He just needed her to have it.
A second later, he felt a tug and released his hold. He went to pull his hand back, but something stopped him.
Sabrina…
Her fingers slipped between his, cool, trembling, and unmistakable. She didn’t let go even after half a dozen heartbeats. Neither did he.
Her touch was a tether, binding him back to the moment. Back to certainty. Back to her.
He couldn’t turn and take her in his arms like every cell inside him begged him to do. So, instead, he flew her toward safety. Flew her toward home.
And for the first time since he woke up to find her gone, he drew in a full breath.
Then, he exhaled.
18
Black Knights Inc.
Consciousness returned slowly, like sunlight creeping over the horizon.
Sabrina liked sunrises. But she didn’t like this.
She wanted to stay in the cool and dark. In the dreamless void where there was no thought, no pain, no cruel reality.
She tried to hang on to the oblivion. Tried to will her mind back to nothingness and her body back to numbness. But the more she struggled to stay asleep, the more wakefulness tugged at her.
Sound was the first thing to return…the low, slow rhythm of someone’s breaths. Sensation came next…the smooth, cool sheets beneath her fingers, the faint stitch at the bend of her elbow. Her nose twitched at the scent of her favorite laundry detergent, clean linen and crushed lavender. And then she smelled something richer, something that reminded her of earth and woods and safety and man.
Hew.
Her lids were heavy, but she forced them open.
