ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Werewolf Rider (MC Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Paranormal Romance Short Stories) (101 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

The words kept running through his mind like an Indian chant.  He tried to shut them out, tried to think of anything else.  Still, the words played on in his head.  This is a mistake… this is a mistake… this is a mistake…

Harper had been ready to tell Crystal Banks that he had changed his mind, that he wasn’t going to escort her into the desert and certain danger, but when he saw her smiling and waving as she approached the gate, he found that he couldn’t say no.  Her eyes were bright and excited and expectant.  He found himself suddenly determined not to let her down.

“Good morning, Commander,” she said with a cheery smile.  She had a camera bag slung over one shoulder and carried a jug of water in her free hand.  He took her gear and stowed it in the back of the Jeep he’d requisitioned.  He’d packed a large cooler for water and snacks.  He opened it up and forced her water jug down into the already-melting ice.

“Just call me Harper,” he said, nodding toward the passenger side of the Jeep.

“And you can just call me Banks,” she replied, climbing into the seat next to him.  He waited for her to strap herself in, then pulled onto the dusty road and headed in the opposite direction from the city.

As they drove in the relative cool of the early morning, he glanced over at the young woman seated beside him.

What was someone like her doing in a miserable place like this? When he’d first laid eyes on her, Harper found it hard to breathe. Not even forty pull ups could wind him, but Crystal Banks did so without the slightest effort.

Harper had been with relatively few women in his life. He’d been too busy battling his own demons to help fight someone else’s. His longest relationships were one night stands that stretched into a week or two before things finally fizzled. Then again, he’d never spent the night with a woman who had the immediate effect on him that Crystal Banks seemed to have.

She was unusually beautiful, with skin the color of creamed coffee and eyes so dark they mirrored his own.  She wore no makeup.  She didn’t need it.

Harper had seen his share of fit women in his day; some of the female Marines could kick his ass, but it was evident that Crystal’s strength was borne of something beyond daily trips to the gym.

There was just something about her that told him she could hold her own. Though her deep brown eyes, high cheekbones and full lips screamed softness and sensuality, she was very much a rough and tumble woman. He noticed a scar on her neck and another across the back of her left hand. Her fingernails, while neat, looked like they’d never seen polish, and the notion only intrigued him more.

Her beauty was effortless, from the confident way she carried herself to the crowning glory of the many tiny braids she wore in her hair.

Today, the dark masses were pulled back from her face into a ponytail that draped halfway down her back. The numerous beads and adornments she wore in her hair glinted in the early morning light and he swallowed thickly.

The sooner he took her out into the desert, the sooner they could return. They had a good two hour drive ahead of them, and after that, another two hours of hiking over difficult terrain to the nearest refugee settlements. At this time of the year, Harper fully expected them to be deserted, so this was a major pain in his ass for what was very probably nothing.

So why had he even agreed to take her?

Because he was thinking with something other than his brain.

CHAPTER SIX

The first hour of the journey was made in relative silence as they drove toward the sun coming up over the dunes. It was an easy, peaceful drive and Harper was grateful for the silence.  He knew better than to get too comfortable, especially driving alone in this area with a woman to protect. 

He had his .45 Beretta in a holster clipped to his belt and an AR-15 in the back seat; with enough ammo for both to do considerable damage if confronted.  He also had a six-inch knife in a belt scabbard and his most dangerous weapon of all; his bare hands.  He expected that he could fight his way out of just about anything, but he also knew that would be damned hard to do not that he had another life in his hands.

He was starting to regret giving in to her when she spoke over the noise of the engine and the wind whipping past them.  “You’ve got Native American blood in you, don’t you? Apache, I’d say.”

“That’s a great guess given that Apache is my codename.”

“I would have guess anyway,” she said with a wave.

He arched an eyebrow in surprise. While it was fairly obvious to anyone with eyes that he was American Indian, he’d never had anyone bring it up. “So, how’d you know?”

“You’ve got Indian features,” she said, gesturing a finger toward her own face to demonstrate the point. “Sharp nose, angled eyes, wide mouth…” She trailed off thoughtfully before continuing. “My grandfather was Cherokee. My parents didn’t like me hanging around him all that much, so naturally, I hung out with him as much as I could.”

He smirked. “Not very good at following the rules, are you?”

She laughed softly. “Not really. Not like you.” She turned in her seat to look up at him, her expression solemn. “A commander in the US Navy SEALs… You must eat, breathe, and sleep the rules.”

Harper’s forehead furrowed.  “The rules exist for a reason,” he said sharply, knowing that the Navy had given structure to a life that had been without structure for so long.  “I can’t count how many times the rules have saved the lives of both me and my men. So yeah, I do try to stick to them.”  What he didn’t say was that he was wishing that he had stuck to his rule about not doing things off-book, like this little trip into the desert.

“And that has nothing to do with the fact that you’d be court marshaled if you broke the rules?” Such a suggestion from anyone else would have put him on the defensive immediately. From Crystal, it only made him chuckle.

“Well, there is that.”

She grinned. “You know, everyone on base warned me about you. Commander Harper, the Apache, the big guy who never smiles, can freeze you in place with one glare. He doesn’t do favors and he eats little children for breakfast. Stay away.”  She smiled at him and ran her slender fingers through her braids. “I think they might have been exaggerating.”

“Maybe just a bit,” he said.  “Little children give me heartburn.”

“I was also told that you didn’t like it when your team broke the rules.”

“Like I said, the rules keep people alive.”  He glanced her way.  “Be warned, the last person to give me shit about the rules cleaned the latrines for three months and ran seven minute miles before breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Crystal’s eyes widened. “You didn’t.”

“He never questioned the rules again.”

“I bet.”

“You’re not serving under me, so you get a little slack. Otherwise, there’s no telling what I’d make you do.”  He winced at the sound of his own words, filled with unintended innuendo.  “I mean…”

“I know what you mean, Harper,” she said with a grin.  She might not be beneath him on the chain of command, she thought, but she would certainly like to be in other ways.

“I also heard that you fought off twelve ISIS rebels with just that .45 and knife on your belt.  Killed some and captured the rest.  Is that true?”

Harper tensed for a minute. He wasn’t sure how comfortable he was discussing the situations he’d gotten himself into with her.   Sure, he was still in one piece and most of them weren’t, but that didn’t make it easier to talk about.  Though he had developed expert skills at killing, he had never developed the stomach for it.

His grandfather used to tell him that every spirit was sacred, no matter what they had done while in their physical body. It was for the creator to judge, not mortal men.

Yet, he had passed judgment on his fellow man, dozens and dozens of times -- and deservedly so, in his mind.  All of them had endangered the lives of those he swore to protect – his men, innocent civilians, even their own brethren. It always left a sour taste in his mouth, but he never shied away from his duties.  That was part of being a SEAL.

“It’s true,” he answered quietly, taking a turnoff onto a smaller road where it forked.  “And let’s leave it at that.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

A short time later, they came to a stop at the bottom of an immense hill of sand. It was the dune that marked the barrier between the road and the massive desert behind. They would have to walk along a sheer cliff face for two miles to reach the closest refugee settlement – and he was already beginning to sweat.

Harper stepped out of the Jeep and slipped on the backpack that had been riding in the back.  He opened the cooler to find all of the ice melted.  He removed four bottles of water and stowed them in the pack.  He left her jug of water in the cooler.  Only someone who had never trekked the desert would bring a gallon jug of water.  It was too heavy to lug, though he wouldn’t mention it to her.

Crystal stepped out of the Jeep and stood rubbing the small of her back.  She retrieved her camera bag from the back and slung it over her shoulder.  She put a hand over her eyes and looked toward the hill. 

“How far from here?” she asked.

“Two, maybe three miles over that hill,” he said.  He took her jug from the cooler and twisted off the top and handed it to her.  “Here, drink your fill now.  I have smaller bottles in my pack for later.

“Thanks,” she said, lifting the jug with both hands to drink.  Harper watched her lean her head back and put her lips to the jug.  He wanted her neck move as she swallowed the water.  He watched her close her eyes and sigh.  He watched her…

“Harper?”  She was holding out the jug to him.  “Do you want some or not?”

His cheeks flushed, he took a long swig, then put the jug back in the cooler, which was now just a plastic bin full of water.

“Two or three miles doesn’t sound like much,” Crystal said.  She could do ten miles on a treadmill in no time.  Of course that was in an air conditioned gym and not a blistering desert.

“May not sound like much, but it’ll take it out of you,” Harper said, coming around the front of the Jeep to stand next to her.  “And it’s better if we try to make it before the hottest part of the day.” He turned to her, his expression serious. “Last chance. We can still go back.”

“No way,” she said firmly. “Let’s go.”

Taking the lead, Harper began the steep trek up and over the dune with Crystal on his heels.

For a long while, neither of them talked. They were too busy trying to preserve their energy. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the temperature climbed, and soon they were both bathed in sweat.

Crystal did her best to keep up.  The camera bag seemed to get heavier by the minute.  She had already asked for water twice in less than an hour.   When she asked a third time Harper turned to her with intense concern on his face.  He handed her the water and told her to drink slowly.

“That’s good,” she said with a sigh.  Her dark face was drenched in sweat.  Her shirt was sticking to her skin, accentuating the fullness of her breasts.

Harper cupped her chin with his hand and bent to look into her eyes.  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Fine!” she said, slapping his hand away.  “Just hot, is all.”  She shielded her eyes to squint into the distance.  “How much further?”

Harper squinted into the distance along with her. “Probably another mile or so.  Are you sure you’re up for it?  I’d hate to have to carry you in this heat.”

“I’m fine,” she said defiantly, taking another swig of water.

“Don’t chug it like that,” he said.  “You’ll make yourself sick.”  He watched her drink.  She was doing admirably given the heat, but he doubted she’d ever been out in conditions like this. The first time he’d ventured into the desert, he came back with a second degree sunburn and a migraine powerful enough to turn make him puke for hours. He’d felt like hell for days afterward.

She handed him the empty water bottle and smoothed back her damn hair.  “I’ll be fine when we get to the settlement.”

Crystal turned to the path before them, raising her hand to shield her eyes before a low sound of frustration escaped her. “Harper?”

He was stowing her water bottle in the pack.  “Yeah?”

“Where’d it go?”

“Where’d what go?”

“The horizon,” she said, fear creeping into her voice.  “Where’d it go?”

Harper raised his gaze, following her line of sight.  His eyes widened. The horizon was gone, replaced by a thick dust cloud that was drawing closer to their position.  Harper had seen dust storms before, but nothing like the one headed their way.  It had to be five miles wide.

“We need to find shelter right now.”  He grabbed her arm and started moving in the other direction away from the storm.

“Why?”  She glanced back at him. “We’re so close!”

There was a small cliff face twenty yards to the north of where they stood.  Harper grabbed her wrist and started running toward the low cliff, scanning the face for a cave or dugout they could use as shelter until the storm passed. As they ran Crystal could hear the first strains of a low howling wind that was pelting them with dust.

Crystal inhaled sharply, her eyes fixed on Harper’s back as he dragged her forward.  Harper seemed to be searching for something in the rocks, shelter she realized.  She had read about people who had gotten caught in the open during of these storms. They could be seriously injured or worse.  She suddenly regretted not listening to Harper’s warnings the night before.

A whirling mass of roaring sand and wind suddenly bore down on them.  Squinting through the dust that was hammering his skin like sand paper, Harper spotted a space in the rock face just ahead of them.

Crystal was panicking, trying to pull away from him and drop on the sand.  It was like being in a swarm of hornets, surrounded by the stinging, swirling cloud of sand. Harper heard Crystal gave a cry of pain.  He knew that she’d be dead within minutes as the sand filled her lungs.  He scooped her up and sprinted for cave entrance.

They finally ducked through the break in the rocks and found themselves in a small cave just large enough to offer them shelter from the fierce wind. Crystal coughed violently as she clung to him. She must have swallowed sand when she opened her mouth – something he might have warned her about if he had more time.

“Cough it up!  Spit it out!” Harper yelled at her. He thumped her several times on the back.  He pulled a water bottle from the pack and handed it to her.  “Wash your eyes out, quickly.”

“I’m OK,” she finally said, gasping, wiping sand and tears from her eyes.  She looked alright, Harper decided, if a little stunned.

“Come on,” Harper said, pulling a flashlight from the pack.  “Let’s see if we can get in a little deeper away from the entrance.”

Harper took her hand to guide her deeper into the cave. Though the opening was very narrow, it soon widened into a large space about twenty feet square. There were remnants of an old fire, and various baskets of fruit long dried by the nefarious heat.

Harper slipped off his pack, setting the fifty pound burden on the stone floor before gently pushing Crystal into a sitting position. Within thirty seconds, he extracted a first aid kit from his bag and found a bottle of saline solution.

“Let me see,” he commanded lowly, taking hold of her chin as he raised her face for his inspection.

Her eyes were red and watering, but they didn’t look to have sustained any scratches. Carefully, he dribbled a few drops of saline into each eye and the irritation slowly cleared. Crystal blinked rapidly, a sigh of relief escaping her as she relaxed somewhat.

“Don’t rub them,” he said quietly.  He flushed his own eyes and returned the saline to the kit.

“Thank you,” she said with a tired sigh.  They could still hear the storm raging outside. “So…how long do these things usually last?”

He set the flashlight on its handle so it illuminated the entire cave.  He said, “No telling. Could be hours.  Could be days.”

Crystal’s mouth dropped open. “Days? We could be stuck here for days?”

Harper smiled at her and she smiled back.  The air between them seemed to spark with electricity.  He said, “Maybe not days.”

“You’re such an asshole,” she said with a smile.

He nodded and opened the backpack, reaching into it to take stock.  “Don’t worry. I have a satellite phone, so I can let them know where we are.  And we have two more full bottles of water and some protein bars.”  He gestured to the hand woven baskets sitting around the cave.  “And it looks like there’s plenty of dried fruit previous guests have left for us.  We should be fine.”

She was staring at him admirably.  He was so calm and collected, and sexy... “You’ve been through something like this before?”

“A few times. All we can do is relax and wait it out.” He tossed her a granola bar and a bottle of water.  “Don’t chug that.  Little sips.  It has to last.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” she said, twisting the cap off the water bottle and taking a small sip.

“You should eat that bar to keep your strength up and get some rest. Best case scenario, the storm passes in a few hours and we can still head for the settlement.  You’ll need some energy to walk there.  I’m too damn old to carry you.”

She smiled and tore open the granola bar.  She watched him do the same.  He was perfectly calm, like he didn’t have a care in the world.  She could tell that he was used to being the man in charge, the one barking orders.  She wondered if that was also the case in bed…