Page 39 of Her Tempting Protector

He squeezed her hand, then she felt his thumb caressing her palm. “Hell, I could have taken them out even more easily than how we handled it,” he grinned. “But all that gunfire would have scared the hell out of Shada, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“There you go. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You can take that to the bank.”

Carys felt herself relax. But she couldn’t stop the tears as she thought about her friends who had died or were missing.

* * *

He was not happy. Not happy at all. He had done exactly what Kane had told him and so far they’d passed next to nothing and now he was using one of the precious cans of fuel. It was time for Kane to pull a fucking rabbit out of his ass.

“Do you have me located?” he growled at his friend before he had a chance to greet him on the phone.

“No, I was busy evacuating personnel instead of taking a pleasure drive through the country with a beautiful woman,” Kane gritted out.

What the hell?

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cullen demanded.

“A bomb went off at the embassy. Two marines were killed. We still have over two hundred Americans who haven’t made it out of here, and six are high-value targets.”

“Ah, shit.” Cullen pictured the fresh-faced new Marine recruits excited at their first big assignment. He shut his eyes, then turned it off. “Kane, what went wrong? Does this have anything to do with the medical personnel that were targeted? And why in the hell are high-value targets still there? I thought you and Max would have had that shit shut down and them evac’d out hours after Raiden and I hit the road.”

“Ah, hell, Cullen. The sad part is, I kind of get it.” Kane sounded tired. “They’re all in the state department, including the ambassador who’s been trying to help Prime Minister Hamdok. He just got his country off the terrorist watch list, our people were attempting to show solidarity with his new regime.”

“Dammit, Kane, you’re suckering into the do-gooders. That’s unlike you. Stop it! Knock them over the head and get them the hell out of there.”

In his mind’s eye, he could see Kane raking his hand through his short hair. Sometimes his friend needed to be saved from himself. So did Max for that matter. This was Cullen’s job; if somebody was going right, he’d pull them left. He always played devil’s advocate to keep his friends safe, even if he disagreed with his own thoughts on the situation, because when it came down to it, the only thing that really mattered was keeping his brothers alive. He didn’t give a shit if people thought he was argumentative half the time, he just kept his people safe.

“Cullen, give us some credit, will you? We’re not just following their lead. I was just saying I could understand their position. The real problem is—”

“The airport’s closed.” They said simultaneously.

“Don’t tell me there isn’t a back-up plan. What is it?” Cullen demanded.

“Two Ospreys are being flown in from the carrier that’s parked out in the Red Sea.”

“That will take care of some of the people, what about the rest?”

“Some will go out with the high-value targets, but the rest will go out on a flight from the Khartoum airport to Egypt. The Ospreys will be dropping off thirty pissed-off Marines. They’ll protect the airport.” Cullen heard Kane’s blood-thirsty grin through his satellite phone.

“Okay, now I get why you’re in a shit-ass mood, but now back to what matters, which is my problems.”

Kane laughed, which is the reaction Cullen had been aiming for.

“Yeah, well while you’ve been on the phone, I grabbed the comp, and got your phone signal and zeroed in on your coordinates. I figured you’re low on fuel and I see you’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Gee thanks, Dad. Like I haven’t figured that out.”

“Well, Dad’s here to help.”

God, I hope so.

Carys had all four doors of the truck open so that Shada could get some fresh air. She’d also climbed in to do more of a thorough check on her abdomen. He’d offered to hold Adam, but now that Shada was alert she was reticent about having the strange man holding her child.

“How sturdy is the truck you’re in? And I mean how sturdy? Can you go four-wheeling?” Kane asked.

“Oh, hell yeah, it’s one of them there Unimogs.”