“Tell me the rest.”
With a subtle snort, I drop her hand. “It ain’t pretty.” Yet, she doesn’t pull away, so I take another sip of coffee and try to swallow the massive lump in my throat. “They took five of us. Hab. Ripper. Gose. Ryker. And me. Hab died the first week. He never saw Hell. But the rest of us… They kept us in a wood and cement block building off and on for a couple of months, moved us around from time to time. Beat the shit out of us, tried to get us to talk. Then, some Taliban asshole—Kahlid—decided we had it too easy.”
Her breath hitches, and I think she curls her body inward a bit, but I can’t comfort her. Not right now. “Hell Mountain was a system of caves deep under one of the peaks in the Hindu Kush. They’d dug out a dozen cells. Three deep pits—they’d throw us down there and leave us until we were dangerously close to dying from dehydration. And every few days, Kahlid would send for one of us.”
By the time I tell her about Ripper’s disappearance, the coffee’s gone, and I’m sitting on the floor. “Fifteen months. They had me and Ry for fifteen months. Broke us in every way possible—but we never talked. Never gave up a single secret. Whenever we could, we tapped out short messages to one another on the walls. Came up with an escape plan. And then, they broke my leg. A few days after that, Kahlid took a hot dagger and burned the shit out of my thigh. The infection was killing me. So Ry…he went alone. Killed two of the guards. As payback,” I gesture to my eyes, “drain cleaner, I think. Never saw the bottle.”
Evianna slides down to the floor next to me, her knees drawn up to her chest. “How’d you get out?”
“Ry came back for me. Along with six SEALs and a Ranger regiment. And when they got me out, they buried Hell under two tons of rubble.”
For what feels like an hour, but is probably only a few minutes, we sit in silence. Then Evianna takes my hand and brings my arm over her shoulders. When I don’t pull away, she shifts closer, easing herself onto my lap and wrapping her legs around my waist.
“What are you—?”
“Hush.” Her breath ghosts over my cheek, the scent of coffee lingering and mixing with freesia. And then her lips are on mine. Hesitant, she keeps the pressure light, but the feel of her, the way she molds herself to me, and her taste awaken something in me I thought died a long time ago.
Tangling my fingers in her hair, I pull her closer, drinking her in as I capture her bottom lip, then trace my tongue along the seam until she parts for me. My hand molds to her ass, then I slide my palm all the way up to the nape of her neck. I don’t ever want to let her go, and from her soft, desperate moan, she isn’t interested in stopping either.
“Call from: Wren. Call from: Wren.”
Evianna breaks off the kiss, then buries her face against my neck. Her breathing isn’t steady, and her arousal fills the air around us. “You’re not broken, Dax. You’re anything but broken.”
I wrap my arms around her, my eyes burning as she offers me the only thing I’ve wanted for six long years.
Understanding.
13
Evianna
Dax’s phone announces a second call from Wren, and he eases me off his lap. “I have to get this.” His rough voice—and the bulge tenting his pajama pants—tell me I wasn’t the only one to feel that kiss down to my toes.
Following, I ask, “Who’s Wren?”
“Second Sight’s computer genius. You’ll like her, I think. You speak the same language.” Phone in hand, he tucks an earbud in his ear and taps it. “Wren? Is something wrong?”
I can’t hear her response, but Dax curses under his breath. “Hold up a second. Evianna’s here with me. I’m going to put you on speaker. VoiceAssist, switch audio playback to speaker. Okay. Go ahead.”
“Um. Hi. Evianna?” The voice on the other end of the line is soft, a little hesitant.
“Yes. I can hear you. Hi.”
“Well, I’ve been searching the traffic cameras around—wait. Are you two somewhere with a computer?”
“I have mine, yes. I was just about to hook it up to Dax’s wifi.” Well, an hour ago.
“Dax’s…oh.” The shock in her voice makes my cheeks flush, and Dax shakes his head, almost to himself.
Shit. Think before you speak, Evianna.
“What do you need, Wren?” Dax runs a hand through his black hair with a sigh.
“Can we…uh…video chat? Since Evianna’s there, I can share my screen and show her what I found. She might be able to help me figure out where to go from here.”
Dax’s shoulders slump, and he presses his lips together for a second before answering. “Fine. Can you give us thirty minutes?”
“Sure, boss. You connect—or have Evianna connect—when you’re ready.”
