Air Bound (Sea Haven/Sisters of the Heart 3)

Cahill swung around, going for the gun, hoping to shove it away from his neck, shouting as he did so. Maxim shot him through the temple, muffling the silencer he used so that no sound escaped. His body fell hard, and Maxim didn't block that sound.

Open your eyes and get into that dark alcove right behind you, he instructed Airiana. She looked a little shell-shocked.

She obeyed quickly, her face very pale. From his position he could see she was distressed, but her hands were rock steady on the MP-5.

It's going to be all right, honey. Hang in there with me. He couldn't resist reassuring her.

Lance moved around the long row and stopped abruptly when he saw Cahill's fallen body. Blood seeped out around his head, creating a halo of red.

"What the hell?"

Lance ran to the fallen man, crouching down, or he started to. Recognizing the wound for what it was, he pulled out a gun and looked wildly around.

"Drop it, Lance. Right now. I tried to give Cahill his chance, but he didn't listen. Make your choice."

Lance dropped his gun.

"Put your hands behind your head and lock your fingers together."

Lance complied, and Maxim stepped behind and used a zip tie to secure his hands.

I'm taking him to the cargo hold. Stay right where you are. No one should come down here, but that doesn't mean they won't.

Maxim could feel her reluctance to be left alone, but she didn't object. He shoved Lance ahead of him, already regretting not killing him. He didn't like leaving Airiana alone either, but it would only take a couple of minutes to get Lance secured in the container the children had been locked in. He shoved Lance toward the stairs. The man was solid, although not particularly large, but clearly he was all muscle. A small alarm went off in Maxim's head.

Lance had indicated that the Swede was useless in the engine room--implying he was most likely a hired gun--but the Swede had been easy to dispose of. Too easy. He was no highly skilled mercenary, but Lance . . .

Maxim indicated the stairs and Lance went down them without question. The moment he hit the bottom, he crouched and swung around, using his head to butt Maxim in the chest with a hard blow. Prepared for the attack, Maxim moved his body back just inches enough to escape the assault.

Lance kept spinning around, hooking his ankle in Maxim's, his momentum pulling Maxim's foot out from under him. Maxim leapt over the man, kicking him hard in the head as he went down, somersaulting and coming back up on his feet. Lance's head hit the metal railing hard and he slumped down, shaken.

Maxim reached for his shoulder to yank him up and Lance came up fast, a knife in his bound hands, ripping up Maxim's belly to his chest. The burn was fierce, but it was a shallow wound. He leapt back away from the grinning man. Lance spat on the floor and flicked the blade of the knife through the zip tie.

"Amateur hour," he snapped.

Maxim smiled. "Nice move."

Lance circled to the left, forcing Maxim to circle with him. He kept the knife in close, indicating he knew what he was doing. Maxim lifted his gun and shot him right through the middle of his forehead. Lance actually looked a little startled, as if he'd forgotten Maxim had a gun, not a knife. He toppled slowly to the floor.

Maxim sighed. The body count was climbing higher than he expected. He glanced at his watch again. He needed to disable the engine, forcing the crew to drop anchor. He still had to figure out what to do with the rest of the crew.

He made his way back to the engine room. As soon as he entered, he held his hand out to Airiana. She came to him instantly and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in close to him. It astonished him just how much she had taken over his thoughts. She'd found a way inside of him, creeping in when he wasn't expecting it.

"You're dangerous," he said, his tone harsher than he intended. She was just so insidious, slipping into his soul when he was so certain his every defense was in place and no one could ever find that last piece of himself that belonged only to him. There was no running from her.

He'd known her less than twenty-four hours. What would it be like in her company for a lifetime? She'd be so tightly wound inside of him that there'd never be an escape. Would he even want to?

Abruptly he caught up his war bag and stalked through the engine room with Airiana following. She didn't say anything at all and he kept his back to her, not wanting to see her face. He was giving too much of himself away. He wasn't a man to be out in the open, naked and vulnerable to a woman. He lived in the shadows and slipped easily from one skin to another. No one could know him. Not even Airiana.

He went to work, losing himself in the familiar process of building his devices and setting his timers. He took his time, not wanting to make a mistake. Everything depended on the ship stopping on time.

Airiana waited quietly until he straightened up and looked at her. "What next?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"Everything depends on stopping the ship. We've got a few hours before the engines start to go. The ship will slow and then they'll drop anchor. We'll suit up and get out of here. I'll call for help to rescue the kids. These couple of hours, waiting until dark, is our most dangerous time."

She made a face. "You know they landed that helicopter on the deck. It's still there. Why don't we just use the helicopter to get out of here? You can do everything else, I can't imagine that you don't pilot a helicopter as well."

He couldn't help but smile. "As a matter of fact, I can fly a copter, but that's not the plan. You're doing your best not to set foot in the ocean, aren't you?"

"It makes sense to fly."

He shook his head. "We're disabling the helicopter. I don't want it used for anyone's escape. Come on, we have a lot to do to keep those children safe."

8

AIRIANA made a face at Maxim's back. He was determined that she was going in the sea, with scuba gear no less. She didn't know how to breathe with a tank, and she didn't swim. Taking a chance with the helicopter seemed a much better idea.

"You're stubborn and bossy, did you know that?" she asked, exasperated with him. "I've done everything you've said, and given you the courtesy of listening to you. I can't swim. I'll drown in the ocean."

He moved up the stairs, past the deck with the empty luxury cabins and continuing toward the upper deck. "I always listen to you, Airiana," he said, over his shoulder. "The problem is, you keep repeating yourself. We have no choice, we have to use the water. I've gotten you this far; why don't you believe I'll get you the rest of the way?"

He sounded so reasonable she had an unexpected urge to kick him. His back was to her and she could probably get away with it, although she wouldn't be surprised if he had eyes in the back of his head.

"Maxim." She bit out his name between her clenched teeth. "I'm terrified of the water. I can't swim. What part of that don't you understand? I suppose you've never been afraid a day in your life, of anything, but I actually am a human being and the thought of water closing over my head and swimming in the dark is sheer madness. I don't think I can do it."

Maxim stopped abruptly and she found herself blinking up at him, a little ashamed that she couldn't conquer her fear when he was so omnipotent. He caught her chin in his hand and leaned down, his eyes drifting over her face with a kind of hard possession. No one had ever looked at her like that before. She found herself holding her breath, wishing he'd bend his head closer.

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Airiana. Not as long as I'm alive. We've gotten this far together, and I'll get you through the rest of it."

She understood why the children had clung to him so fast and so

fiercely. Maxim seemed invincible. She knew he wasn't. There was a thin line of blood staining his shirt from his belly to this chest, but he hadn't said a word to her of how it had gotten there.

"You really don't like me very much, do you?" Airiana asked.

He was the most reluctant of heroes. He didn't want to tow the kids around, and she doubted if he was happy with being in her company. In spite of being physically attracted to her, there were times when he seemed annoyed with her presence. Still, he had something reliable and steady in him, an absolute conviction that he could get through anything--and take her with him.

"You're very unexpected, Airiana," he said softly. "I've never met a woman like you. It doesn't seem to matter how frightened you are, you're still ready for business. I find myself intrigued--and distracted by you. Neither is a good thing for either of us."

She rubbed her palm down her thigh. "You marked me. I've seen Rikki and Judith rubbing their palms just the way I am right now, so I know you've somehow connected us. But the reality is, you don't really want to have anything to do with me."

To his credit, he didn't back away from the conversation--or deny it. "I have a difficult time trusting something I don't understand. The way you make me feel--I don't understand. I've never wanted a woman the way I want you. I've never kissed a woman and then couldn't get the taste and feel of her out of my mouth. You're like a drug in my system, and the craving just gets worse the longer we spend time together. I made you a promise to keep you safe. Now I have to wonder if your greatest threat is me."

Airiana frowned. She could hear the ring of honesty in his voice. "Maxim, I'm not afraid of you." She touched his mouth with the pads of her fingers. "I'm just as drawn to you, just as vulnerable. It could be because we're both air elements, or that you're incredible and you're saving my life, but I can't help it either."

"We're not alike, Airiana. Never make the mistake of thinking we are. I'm utterly ruthless when I have to be. If you belonged to me . . ." He broke off, shaking his head. "I'm not doing that to you . . . I hope."

"I'm just saying that you don't have to be afraid of me either. Or for me when it comes to you. I make my own decisions regarding my life. I have since I was about fourteen. I make my own choices and my own mistakes. Don't think I'm so easily pushed around that you can walk on me. We're in life-or-death circumstances and this isn't the way life is on a daily basis . . ."