Top Gun Tiger (Protection, Inc 7)

“You move fast,” he teased, then gritted his teeth as he started to pull it off. It clearly hurt like hell for him to try to lift his arms above his head.

She helped ease off the shirt. His muscular chest and arms were covered with a striking pattern of abstract tattoos. But much as she’d wanted for years to get a look at him shirtless, she couldn’t take the time to appreciate the view now. His side was covered with a huge bruise nearly as black as the tattoos, making her wince in sympathetic pain. No wonder he’d been clutching his side!

She taped his ribs, and was glad to hear him sigh in relief when she was done.

“Thanks,” he said. “That’s better.”

All the same, he winced as he tried to get his shirt back on. She helped him tug it over his arms and chest. And there went her chance to look at them. Oh well. It would only frustrate her to look but not touch.

Ethan’s voice interrupted her reverie on his body. “Hey—I hate to ask, but would you mind if I carried your gun? You can turn into a tiger, so…”

“Yeah, you’re right. That evens up the firepower.” She handed it over, wondering at herself as she did so. Tiger or not, she’d normally hate to go unarmed when there might be armed enemies after them. But giving up her weapon to Ethan didn’t make her feel any less safe. In fact, she felt more safe knowing that he was watching her back.

“How far are we from civilization?” Ethan asked. “Apex doesn’t count.”

“No, I’d hardly call them civilized. By foot, at least a couple days. Hiking over this terrain, with hills and valleys and all, might be more like a week.” Anxiety made her belly clench. A week without her pills!

He also looked worried. “I think we should go back. God knows what Apex might do to my men in a week. But I think we’re only a day or two away from their base.”

She calculated the time they’d spent in the plane, and nodded. “Yeah, I think so too.”

“Between you and me and your gun, we could ambush some guards and break into the base. Even if we can’t break anyone else out, if we get to a radio, we could call for help.”

“Sounds good,” she said with relief. One or two days without her pills—she should be able to handle that. And then he’d never need to know. “Let’s make a wide circle, so we don’t run into anyone who finds the crash site, and start making our way back to the base. We can camp out in the jungle tonight, and hopefully we’ll be there the day after.”

They used her compass and recollected flight path to figure out which way the base was, and set off. Despite the urgency of their situation, she couldn’t help enjoying walking through the jungle with him. She could almost imagine that they were dating, maybe hiking on the adventure vacation she was supposedly on.

Yeah, she sighed to herself. Wouldn’t that be nice.

They camped at dusk. Not daring to make a fire lest the smoke or light should draw pursuers, they shared out the granola bars and some water, leaving enough for the next day.

Destiny could have eaten their entire supply of granola bars and had room for more—she could’ve eaten a countr

y captain chicken MRE, and been grateful to have it—but Ethan only nibbled at his, then set it aside.

“Don’t save it for me,” she said. “You need your strength.”

“I ate earlier, remember? I’ll finish it for breakfast.” He stuffed it in his pocket, then leaned against a tree. “I’ll take first watch.”

She lay down beneath the survival blanket, but sleep didn’t come easily. Every time she started to drift off, something would awaken her, some screeching monkey or yelping creature or worrying thought.

Tomorrow would be her first full day without her pill since she’d been eleven. She’d never had a problem taking them in the Army—she’d gotten a note from a helpful doctor claiming they were for female problems. Plenty of women took actual birth control pills for those exact reasons, and she wasn’t the only one who was careful to keep extra stashes in case of emergencies. She thought nothing much would happen in one day, but the truth was that she didn’t know how long she could go, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way. Maybe she should tell him…

…only Ethan had enough problems, didn’t he, without also having to worry about her? He should have been starving after hiking all day, no matter how much he’d eaten earlier. He was probably in so much pain that it had spoiled his appetite. She should have pushed him to take more aspirin. But they didn’t have much left. Maybe he was right to save it for later. At least he had some pills, even if they weren’t much…

Fear stabbed unexpectedly through her heart. What if she hurt him?

I won’t, Destiny told herself fiercely. I’ll feel it coming. If I feel like I can’t control myself, I’ll just run off into the jungle. Anyway, it’s just one day. Maybe two. That’s all…

“Destiny?” Ethan had his hand on her shoulder. The night was dark, but she could see his pale face in the moonlight. “Your watch.”

“Thanks. See anything?”

“A snake or two. Looked like they were headed out to cuddle up with you.”

“Ugh!”

He chuckled. “I shooed them away.”