Free Fall (Elite Force 4)

“There were lots of things to do at the zoo that came along with that pass—movies and learning centers. Plenty of places to duck inside if it got hot.” He flicked stone after stone over the edge, never still even when he was sitting. “After a while, the staff knew us, so we got lots of perks.”

“Such as?” She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to know everything about him.

“Like free train rides around the zoo. I always rode up front and rang the bell. After a while, the tour guide would let me narrate parts of the ride.”

“And you liked the monkeys best. Because?”

“Look at their families.” He pointed. “Look at the mom. Cool, huh?”

The picture came together of a little boy spending all day at the zoo with his sister, all the time wishing his mom was there too. And what about his father? She felt small for thinking no one cared for her as a kid. Her dad had tried, and while her brothers had been obnoxious as hell, they loved her.

Who looked out for Jose? Who’d taken care of him and his sister? Her heart squeezed tight for the boy he’d been and the strong man she was just beginning to know.

Before she could think, she cupped his face in her hand and leaned in to kiss him, just a light brush of her lips to his, but wow, the total rightness of the moment melted over her like warm caramel, pure sugar and indulgence. Then he thrust his hands in her hair and brought her closer to him, his mouth sealing to hers.

She wanted to memorize the moment, but he scrambled her thoughts until she just immersed herself in the moment. The warm sweep of his tongue against hers. The peppermint taste of his toothpaste. The rasp of his afternoon stubble along her fingertips. It was a first kiss beyond anything she’d experienced, special and intense.

And she wanted more firsts with him.

His hand slid from her hair, grazing along her neck in a way that stirred a soft purr of pleasure in the back of her throat. Yes, this was physical attraction at its most elemental, but stoked by so much more.

God, no half measures here. She was all out falling for a man she’d known for only a week…

***

Chattering monkeys called to Jose in the night as he watched over Stella sleeping under the lean-to. It was almost morning, almost time to make their move. He and Bubbles had swapped off watches a couple of times through the night. Now his buddy catnapped against a tree and the student was taking a leak a few feet away. A baboon shouted down from a few branches up.

Jose pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing back memories of another time in the wilds with Stella on their first date. He’d wanted her to understand where he stood, where he came from. While he hadn’t rolled it all out there from the start, he’d laid the groundwork for telling her. He had baggage that dogged him every day. He could never afford to be complacent. Alcoholics lived one day at a time, never taking sobriety for granted.

Honest to God, he’d thought he and Stella could have something.

Sutton zipped up his pants and pivoted back to the camp. He limped over. “Hey, dude, I’m sorry for griping earlier about the rescue operation. I realize we were only there a short time.”

“Over seventy-two hours,” Jose answered, understanding full well those three days would have seemed endless to a hostage.

“Right. But I get that hostages sometimes sit in captivity for months or even years. It was hell thinking of my mama seeing my picture broadcast week after week, wondering if I was still alive…” He shook his head. “I’m damn grateful to know I’ll be Skyping with her by… When? Tomorrow?”

“That’s the plan.” If the chopper made it here. Soon, he hoped. He pulled his eyes from Stella and back to Sutton.

“Nice to hear.” The student held an elephant tusk, his thumb tracing carvings along the length.

Jose glanced at the backpack, then at the tusk again. “What did you expect to do with that?”

“I didn’t take this. Stella did.” He set it aside and scratched through his dirty curls. “I think she was planning to use it as a knife. She was a lot smarter in her choices than I was, wasn’t she? Fossil teeth and tusks. If I’d thought like her, I might have been out of there sooner.”

Jose just listened, trying to get a bead on this kid. “She’s a sharp girl. Her big brothers taught her to take care of herself.”

A benign enough answer.

Sutton pulled a small shield out of his backpack and tapped his head lightly. “I was thinking protection, like a bulletproof vest or whacking someone on the head. Not as clever or effective as a tusk or something sharp. Hell, I don’t know what I was thinking. When you’re a kid, you wanna be a cop or firefighter, the hero in a crisis. Real life is a lot more complicated.”

“It always is.” He scooped up a handful of pebbles.

Sutton looked sideways. “I was such a f**king basket case I was pretty much useless. Not Stella though.”

Of course she’d held it together. She was a highly trained Interpol operative who’d managed to send out a coded message that got everyone saved. She’d kept her head in a nightmare situation. And she’d done it all without once revealing her real identity to her captors or to the students she accompanied.

She was so damn amazing she took his breath away.