Every word she spoke was aghast.
Reaper shrugged, “You’ve got a little bruising, doesn’t look like much more than that.”
It was a hell of a lot more than that, but someone with the steely determination like her didn’t need sympathy. “Your arm’s definitely broken, and it’s gonna hurt like a son-of-a-bitch; we’ve got to get the hell out of here before they send more troops.”
“Reaper, no. She can’t move like this,” Caroline said.
“She doesn’t have a choice, baby. I can’t carry her out of here, and neither can you. As much as I want to help her, I’m not willing to jeopardize your life for hers.”
Although he felt like a complete asshole for saying it out loud, it was the truth. Caroline meant more to him than any other human being on this planet, including himself.
“I’m not leaving her here. We have to figure out another way.
Melissa pulled Caroline down closer to her face. “Soldier’s. Field kit. Morphine.”
Caroline’s blonde brows dropped in confusion but Reaper understood Melissa’s code. Each and every man, or what was left of them anyway, would have a field survival kit on their person.
Reaper hopped over to the closest complete body, rifled through the man’s pockets, and extracted a standard issue military field kit. By the time he’d returned to Melissa and knelt beside her, he’d pulled out the syringe of morphine. “One, two.”
Before he said the number three, Reaper jabbed the short needle into her body and injected the morphine. Melissa shot him a scathing glance and hissed but held silent. Worse than that, Caroline was looking at him all accusatory. “What?”
Anticipation of pain was always worse than the actual event itself. Everyone knew that.
Reaper waited until Melissa’s body relaxed and he crawled around to her good side, the burning in his foot making itself known more and more with each passing minute. “Caroline, I want you to get behind Melissa and make sure she doesn’t fall backwards when I help her to her feet. She’s going to be unsteady.”
Caroline glanced down at Reaper’s injured foot. “And you are supposed to be her rock?”
“I’m made of granite, Princess.”
Caroline snorted but did as he instructed, coming to stand behind both of them as he pried Melissa from the ground.
“I think you’re just a big teddy bear.”
Reaper’s eyes were incredulous. “Did you just compare me to a stuffed animal?”
He got Melissa to her feet, the brunette swaying drunkenly.
“A really big, scary looking teddy bear,” Caroline clarified.
Melissa dipped to the left, and with his injured foot, he nearly went crashing down on top of her. Caroline grabbed the back of both their shirts and kept them standing upright. “I can help her walk. We’re basically the same size. Besides, don’t you need to get a gun just in case?”
Reaper frowned at her over his shoulder. “Look, that’s not the way this is going to work. If you and I are going to be together, you need to realize right here and now that I give the orders.”
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, the right side of her mouth curling up into a half-smile that clearly bespoke her doubt, but he could just as easily see the twinkle returning to her eyes.
“You might order your men around, but I don’t take orders from anyone. You better remember that.”
Reaper grabbed her shoulder and helped keep Melissa standing as Caroline slipped into the position he’d just vacated.
“And the only reason I’m doing what you said just now is because it’s exactly what I was fixing to say.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
In the process of going in search for a weapon, Reaper paused and turned back to Caroline. Without saying a word, he grabbed her chin and took her mouth with all the fierce heat building inside him. “As long as you love me, you can order me around all you want.”
Caroline beamed at him, her smile so brilliant it seared into his memory forever. “I do love you. Forever.”
They managed to limp through the jungle to his helicopter. Caroline, then Reaper, harnessed Melissa into the passenger seat and Caroline squeezed herself in between. Reaper lifted himself into the pilot side, fired up the bird, and had them in the air within minutes. Their escape had been too easy, way too easy, but he had no spare time to waste examining the situation further. His men had hours left to live. And Caroline needed to get to safety.
