That brought a moan of delight to her lips. “I see you’ve already figured out how to motivate me to get out of bed.”
Declan pulled her into his arms. “Don’t get me wrong. I much prefer to be in bed with you, but I want you in my bed at home. The only reason I’ll be taking you out to dinner is so you can keep your strength up for all the things I want to do to you when we’re in my bed.”
She felt a shiver run down her back as much from his words as the blatant look of hunger on his face. God, she needed him again already.
“What kinds of things?” she asked softly.
He brushed her ear with his lips, his warm breath making her quiver. “For starters, a slow, sensual massage.” As if to demonstrate, he glided his hand up her midriff to cup her breast through her T-shirt. “And after that, I’m going to kiss and nibble everywhere.”
She caught her breath as his thumb grazed her nipple. “Everywhere?”
He lifted his head to look at her, his eyes glowing a soft rose color. “Everywhere.”
Kendra bit her lip to stifle a moan. She was about ten seconds from ripping off his clothes and throwing him on the floor of the cave. “Let’s get out of here. The sooner we get home, the sooner you can give me that massage.”
Declan chuckled, then kissed her hard on the mouth before picking up their weapons. He handed one to her, then led the way to the cave’s opening. She waited patiently as he parted the vines carefully, then listened and sniffed. She frowned at the water rushing by outside the cave, remembering how cold it had been.
“We should have waited to put our clothes on after we crossed the river,” she grumbled. “They’re going to be soaked again.”
He grinned over his shoulder. “As tempting as skinny-dipping with you sounds, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Don’t worry. I’m planning on carrying you until we get out of the water.”
Even though she knew Declan could carry her without any problem, it still didn’t seem right. “But you’ll get all wet.”
“It doesn’t bother me as much, you know that.”
She opened her mouth to argue more, but he must have decided the coast was clear because he parted the thick wall of vines and hopped out of the cave with a splash of cold water. He looked around for a moment, then turned back to her.
“Come on.” He slung his M4 across his back and motioned her forward. “I’m going to carry you, so get used to it. Now quit stalling.”
Deciding that continued complaining on her part would be more embarrassing than simply letting him carry her, she gave in and scooted to the edge of the cave opening, letting him scoop her up in his arms like she was a kitten.
Sometimes she forgot just how strong Declan was, but he carried her high above the water like he barely noticed her weight. She didn’t talk to him as he moved downstream. He had that slightly distant look in his eyes that told her that he was focusing his senses—well, his ears mostly—outward, making sure there weren’t any hybrids around.
She scanned the banks of the stream as much as she could, not that she expected to catch anything he’d miss. She was so caught up in the task, she barely noticed how far they’d gone until Declan stepped up onto the rock-covered bank. He scanned the area as he lowered her to the ground.
“Anything?” she asked softly.
He shook his head. “I don’t hear a thing. I don’t smell anything besides those damn orchids, either. They must grow pretty thick here around the water.”
“Let’s get back over that last ridge we crossed and on a northwest track,” she said, moving ahead of him. “If we pick up the pace, we could be at base camp in a few days.”
“Slow down.” He chuckled as he caught up to her, trying to drag his carbine off his back and over his head at the same time. “I know you’re eager, but let me get in front.”
Kendra was so happy to finally have a clear path ahead of them that she wasn’t as focused as she should have been on the jungle around them. If she had, maybe she would have realized everything was too perfect in those few seconds before the jungle floor erupted around them in a shower of dead leaves and sticks.
She brought her M4 up the moment she saw the hybrids coming out of the ground. The damn creatures had dug pits and laid in wait for them, somehow knowing she and Declan were hiding somewhere along the stream and that they’d come back this way.
Kendra didn’t have time to understand why Declan hadn’t known they were there—she barely had time to shoot. The hybrids were still springing out of the ground around them, so it was hard to tell how many there were, but there had to be at least half a dozen.
She got off a lucky shot, hitting the first charging hybrid in the head and putting him down as he rushed her. But before she could even get off another round, two more hybrids launched themselves at her. She heard a tree-shaking roar behind her and knew that Declan was fighting to reach her, but there was no way he would be able to get to her before the hybrids did. And she sure as hell didn’t have enough ammo in her magazine to take down two of the raging creatures at the same time—not without being killed.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try.
She threw herself backward, firing a three-round burst before she hit the ground. She didn’t target the hybrids—they were moving too fast for that—but instead aimed for the space directly above her, knowing that’s where both the monsters would ultimately end up.
The move caught the first one by surprise, and he ended up sailing over her, but the other came down right on top of her. The impact drove the sliding stock of her M4 into her ribs, crushing the air out of her lungs. But that didn’t scare her nearly as much as the claws gripping her shoulders. She fought a tide of panic. The hybrid could literally rip her head off without much trouble.
Declan roared behind her, but the sound was drowned out by the snarls of hybrids. It sounded like he was being torn apart. Some part of her mind screamed that she had to get to him, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure she was going to last long enough to help herself.
