He covered her lips again. “Not now, baby.”
She nodded quickly then shook his hand off and suddenly hugged her arms around his neck tightly. He tugged her in closer for a moment, but quickly released her and guided her to hunker down against the wall. They weren’t in the clear yet. He had to remain focused on that and only that.
“Crouch down, cover your ears and don’t move until I tell you to.”
Behind him he heard a muffled sound and turned to see the Arab on the floor, now unconscious. Tazz was already down the hall, calling in the air strike from the com link. Two men came out of a room across from Dare, surprising him. They raised semi-automatic assault rifles and started shooting before they even had them high enough.
Bullets sprayed the wall to his left, farthest from Kylie, thank God, but too close for comfort. He aimed and took both out, one after the other. Four more men seemed to explode out of another door, but Tazz raced by him and hit them hard, leaving men down in his wake while he secured the other end of the hallway. As soon as he turned back and gave the go ahead, Dare turned back to Ky.
“Up, up, now, Ky,” Dare murmured as he bent to pull her to her feet. She clung to his wrist like a lifeline. Her fingers trembled through that fragile connection and he quickly reached out to steady her.
“You found me,” she whispered.
A tear slid down her cheek. He brushed it aside and hugged her tightly once more. Goddamn, the look she gave him made his throat feel raw.
“You came for me.”
“Of course I did,” he told her, feeling as if she’d dug a stake in his heart.
Had she thought she was on her own? That I’d just let her go that easily?
Why wouldn’t she?
What had he shown her except that he’d wanted information about her father, then used her this morning to get off.
I should have held her, simply kissed her and explained how important she was to me instead of being a coward and keeping it all hidden.
He swallowed hard past the boatload of regrets.
“I told you to trust me. I told you I’d take care of you. I screwed up.”
She made a muffled sound of denial against his chest. He held her slim body tighter in his arms, unwilling to let her go just yet, even though he knew they didn’t have time. She clung to him, reassuring him on a level he couldn’t explain.
“We have to go, Kylie. We have to move. If I’m going to fix this, we need to move.”
“Okay,” she said quietly and rubbed her face against the front of his jacket.
He gently stepped back and examined her expression. There was complete trust in her eyes. Whatever happened here, it had changed her opinion on that at least.
Now to get her out of here and prove to her she can trust me
.
He pulled his sidearm out of his holster and handed it over, cupping her cold fingers around the butt firmly. “You’re to use this on anyone that gets too close. Now, move. Just move,” he added when she opened her mouth.
They headed straight down to where he’d seen Tazz last. He tugged her over the fallen men, and forced her to run alongside him until they found Tazz waiting for them just inside the stairway they’d taken up. Tazz looked like he’d done nothing more than walk the hall rather than clear the area single handedly.
Dare could have done the same.
The drug, whatever it was, it made him stronger, more able to handle shit thrown at them. He also experienced a rush of possible outcomes when he concentrated on escaping. It was almost like a layout of variables.
His ribs weren’t hurting either. The sharp pain every time he drew a breath was missing. His head was clear, and when he did a quick inventory, he knew he could have carried on for another twelve hours without stopping. If this was the result of one tablet, what would a daily dose do to a man?
What kind of drug is this?
Whatever it was, everything all made sense now. People would kill for this.
Shit, he felt like he could conquer the world.
Until he looked at Kylie in the middle of this mess.
“How many more men are there?” he asked her, positioning them just outside of the stairwell.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I only saw the two men, drill man and Mohammad, until two more took off the tape.”
“Tape?”
“They taped my hands down,” she said, shuddering visibly at the memory.
“Do you know these men?” Tazz demanded.
“What?” She looked like she was in shock, much worse than she’d looked half drowned after their dip in the ocean.
He wanted to know what she meant by tape, or worse, drill man, but she went on.
“No, no I don’t know them.”
She looked back the way they’d come, then down the hallway in each direction. Men were down everywhere, none of them moving. Tazz had taken out all of them except for the ones back at the first spot.
“You did this?” she asked Tazz.
Tazz nodded absently, accessing the area as they stood there. Dare watched her eyes widen, then she turned to pin him with a look. She knew. She knew he’d also taken the drug.
“And you’re drugged as well? Why? How much did you take? For how long?” she asked, but went right on to ask, “Did you know me? From Iraq? Is that why you wanted to aid me now?”
The way she’d asked made it sound as if she hoped he hadn’t simply showed up to help her because she’d helped him. He wanted to reassure her, but right here, right now, he didn’t think was the time or the place.
“He swallowed enough to get you out of here. I think saving your ass twice more than makes up for you bandaging his wounds once. Especially since you’re the reason he’d been near death to begin with, don’t you? Now, let’s get moving.”
Dare fisted his hand on his rifle and barely stopped himself from bashing Tazz’s head in. The thought was followed by an eerie, second-by-second screen shot of exactly how to hurt Tazz the most. Adrenaline mixed with shock punched enough pissed-off power through his system to back up the craziness, too. A chill crept up his spine like a goose had done a tap dance on his grave. Was this the drug? Had to be. There was no other explanation and if he’d not felt it, seen first-hand what the shit could do, he’d not have understood what Tazz struggled with now. He kept his hands on his gun to keep them off his oldest friend, but got right in Tazz’s face.
“Look, man, I get it now. I get how freaky out of control you must be, just from the one dose, I can see that. But I warned you already, man. Don’t ever talk to her like that again,” he gritted out, so pissed-off he had to clench down on his jaw or yell at the man.
Tazz’s frown stayed front and center. He didn’t back down quickly enough, so Dare shoved him against the wall with the rifle stock pressed tight to his throat. “Never let me hear it, bro, you get me?”
Tazz blinked and the crazy light left his gray eyes. He glanced at Kylie then met his eyes again. “Sorry, man. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It’s the drug. I get it now, Tazz. I get it.”
“Shit fucks up your thinking, but I’m here, I’m steady, man.”
Relief, more than he wanted to admit, rushed his system. Tazz was solid—a friend he’d depended on too much over the past to lose now. Knowing Tazz, he fought the drug with all he had, and still some of the shit messed with him.
“I know you are. You got my back, buddy, I know it. So do you.” Dare released him and turned to Kylie and took her hand. She looked like she struggled with tears.
“You were never to blame for me getting shot up. It’s what I do. Right now, what I do is save your ass so you can look at me like I’m some kind of hero again, okay? We play it that way and, Kylie”—he pulled her closer, danger or not, Tazz shifting impatiently or not, and made her meet his eyes—“I saved you because I’m not going to let you go so easily, okay? Hell, I don’t think I’m ever letting you go,” he murmured against the silk of her hair. “Even if I have to handcuff you all over again, I’m not going to be easy to leave behind. It worked out pretty well for me the last time. I was kinda thinking you thought so too.”
Relief, more at his admissions, than his lame humor he guessed, filled her beautiful face. The tears receded from her eyes, but the worry remained. “You’re right, Daren. It’s the drug. I never saw this before, I never—” She swallowed and closed her eyes, ducking her head then mumbled, “I closed my eyes to so much. I’m sorry. Sorry I never stopped it when I realized that it was harmful.”
“Now’s not the time, Kylie,” Tazz broke in, sounding so gentle, Dare turned a glance on him. The man was tense, but in his eyes, Daren recognized the man who’d move mountains to save a friend. “My government is to blame for this, kid. Don’t forget that.”
Dare nodded, connecting dots he didn’t like. “Government backing comes with a price, Kylie. If a scientist could make someone more fit, more able to survive almost anything”—he tilted her head up—“then our government would want it. Not only to use— Yeah, they would,” he said when she opened her mouth to say something, “but to stop anyone else from getting it first. Didn’t you take history in school, baby? Who dropped the bombs first? It’s a race that us dumbass soldiers never get a say in.”
“Until now,” Tazz muttered. “We gotta go, buddy. You all set, kid?” Tazz asked Kylie.
She nodded.
She still looked shell shocked. From the current discussion or from being kidnapped herself, Dare wasn’t certain. He sighed with relief, too happy to have her back in his arms to question his luck. Unable to resist, he brushed his lips against her petal soft ones and breathed her sweet scent in.
“Dare, we need to go, man.”
Dare didn’t need Tazz’s reminder. Already he knew they didn’t have time for this. He still cupped his hand under Kylie’s chin and tipped her head slightly. “You heard the man. We need to move. You good to go?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Good, now, let’s get going, hit it, baby.” He released her chin and brushed a kiss to her lips.
“Okay, I can do that. But you still have my father to save if you want the hero look.”
Her strength amazed and thrilled the hell out of him. She even managed a faint smile with the teasing. “Deal. Now, we hafta run. Down the stairs, okay?”
She leaned her head on his chest and exhaled. “Oh great, run.”
“Now, Dare. The strike is in thirty minutes and if that radio blaring in Arab doesn’t get you moving, I will. There’s going to be around fifty of them up here any minute now.”
Fifty?
Shit. He dropped his hand from her hair and she stepped back without him having to say a word.
“That’s a party I’d rather miss,” he told her.
Tazz nodded sharply. “Agreed. We go down, then, and out the same door we came in.”
“Stay in the middle of us, Kylie,” Dare warned.
“She will. You put the goggles back on. Kylie, get that extra jacket on.” Tazz handed her a rolled up camo jacket. Dare helped her into it, buttoning it to her throat and handed her the side arm again.
“If we are separated, you get out of here and run. We’re not far from a base. Get a taxi, whatever you have to, but go there. I’ll find you so—”
“I’m not losing you—”
“The only thing you two are losing is my patience. Move out!” Tazz growled.
She smiled impishly at him, but took off right after, mocking Tazz’s bent-over run with enough exaggeration that Dare choked on a laugh. He liked that she was a mixture of shy and smart-ass because she landed in enough trouble. If it weren’t for the danger they were in, he’d have her back to the wall, those lush legs around his waist again, and this time, there wouldn’t be any stopping him from sinking into her until they were both satisfied.
Down boy
, he told himself, wincing when the goggles tore at his stitches. Seconds later, he was after Kylie down the stairs, pausing only once to find a less painful position for the hard-on punching up against his pants.
It wasn’t unusual to experience a hard-on in response to danger, at least not for him, but this was a hell of a lot different. His body had surged to full erection the moment she’d wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her small body to his. Just looking at Kylie’s soft lips and he’d had to wipe his brain clean of the image of her giving him the blow job of his life. Even now, racing after her, his body pulsed in time with his heart, growing harder instead of easing off.
Her sweet scent lingered in the air, either a body wash or lotion, or just her, and she left him aching to get her to safety so he could find out everything about her. What shampoo she liked. How she smelled so good even hours after a shower. If she liked pizza and beer or if she preferred wine with an elegant meal. He wanted her safe, so they could have time to learn more about each other without the pressure of the mission hanging over them.
She tripped down a step and he caught her arm automatically.
Get your ass in gear, Dare. Ass. In. Gear.
They took the next two flights of stairs much easier, and he managed to not think about how damned cute she looked in the camouflage jacket for about ten seconds out of the sixty.
“This way,” Tazz murmured as soon as they reached him at the ground floor.
Dare took one more look back the way they’d come to confirm no one followed, then turned his attention back on Tazz. Dare settled his nerves with more effort than he liked and tried to concentrate. The easy part was over. Now they needed to rush. The stunner would hit in less than twenty minutes. That was still enough time for things to go bad. If there were fifty men down here, there was a lot of room for mistakes—and he had Kylie’s safety to secure.
“We keep it quiet, Ky. There was no one on this level when we arrived, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t take another way down to cut us off,” he warned. “You stay close to me, keep your eyes open and do exactly what I say, no matter what I say, got it?”
“Okay,” she said, sounding steady. But she also reached for his free hand. He gently caressed the pulse in her wrist, reminded again of how fragile life could be as he navigated them through the parked cars. He wished like hell this was already over. Her eyes were still too wide and her color was off, as if someone had bleached the natural warmth of her skin until it looked ghostly white. The bravado from moments before was missing, but she didn’t look as if she were too scared to continue. She scanned the area, continuously checking in on him, too.