Just as he’d failed to lift her spirits, he’d also failed to get them back to civilization before dark. He couldn’t ignore it any longer. He was going to have to spend the night in the jungle with Amelia…
And the baby.
***
Feeling helpless as hell, Aiden stood outside the tent shower and listened to his wife cry. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to fix this for Lisabeth. He could only stand outside this crummy refugee-like bathhouse and make sure his wife was safe while others filed in and out of the shower stalls and latrines.
His hand rested on his 9 mm, now in a leather shoulder harness he’d been given by a local cop who’d insisted, after Aiden stitched up a gash in the guy’s arm. The policeman said he hadn’t wanted Aiden shooting his foot off with that weapon tucked in his waistband. The weight of leather and metal seared through his scrubs.
He eyed the shift and shuffle of shell-shocked humanity under the umbrella of halogen lights. Generators droned along with night beasts.
His wife cried softly on the other side of the tarp curtain.
They’d arrived at the temporary hospital at the school only to learn that both Amelia and Joshua had gone missing. No one seemed to know what had happened to them. They’d even sent out a search dog, only to have the dog lose the scent in the parking lot.
Their best bet? They’d gotten into a vehicle to leave. But with whom? To go where?
Even though he’d heard that the search and rescue dog handler had given up, he and Lisabeth still spent hours more questioning people at the hospital. They’d passed around the one photo of Joshua that had survived the earthquake, a picture Lisabeth had carried in her purse for the weeks prior to the adoption. Since she’d had her bag with her, it hadn’t been lost in the hotel.
No one remembered seeing the boy after the middle of the night. But he’d been there with a blonde-haired woman who must have been Amelia.
They’d been so close. Just a couple of miles away this whole time, only to learn too damn late. He just had to hang onto that hope that they were out there, safe and searching as well.
Meanwhile, he didn’t know how much more stress Lisabeth could take. There was a tension in her worse than anything he’d ever seen in his normally unflappable wife. He’d taken comfort from her serenity from the start of their relationship. She thought him such a calm man, but he just kept a steely band around his emotions because with the least fissure, all would overflow like acid on everything.
So how did he go about making this right for her when he had no experience to draw on in helping her? And wasn’t that a piss-poor testament to what kind of husband he’d been?
Shit.
Nothing to do but dive in headfirst and try his best.
He parted the shower curtain and slid sideways inside, careful to block the opening with his body until he could seal the cubicle closed again.
Lisabeth gasped, lurching back and covering her nakedness with an arm around her br**sts and a hand between her legs. Then she sagged with relief. “Aiden, God, you could have given me a little warning.”
“I heard you crying.” He thumbed away a tear leaking from the corner of her eye as the pooling water soaked his shoes.
She swallowed hard, touching his chest. “All right, then. Thank you for letting me know so I won’t bother everyone else, but you could have just whispered a warning through the curtain. Have you gone crazy or what?”
“Just worried about you.” He unholstered his gun and set it on a shelf along with his glasses before moving closer, the spray soaking his head.
Sniffling, she shifted uneasily, the shadows in the corner playing peekaboo with the sleek body he knew intimately well.
“You should go,” she said. “You’re getting your scrubs wet.”
“At least they’ll be cleaner.” He braced his hands on the steel poles on either side of the curtain. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“This isn’t like you.” Frowning, she traced one finger down the leather of his shoulder harness on the shelf. “You’re not exactly an impulsive man.”
“Is that a problem? Like now?” He captured her hand in his and squeezed gently, trying to offer comfort. Trying to keep his eyes on her face and not on her nakedness. “I know you’re upset and there’s nothing I can do to fix this.”
She smoothed his damp hair. “I love you as you are, always. You know that, right?”
“I do.” He stepped closer, unable to resist the draw of her. His hands fell on her shoulders, warm and slick under his fingers. “Although I’m not always sure why.”
Her chin quivered as she swayed forward. Her naked body pressed against him, a perfect fit as always. “I just need to hear that you love me too, no matter what.”
Water beaded over her shoulders, trekking a sensuous path around and between her breasts.