Read Online Dateline: Kydd and Rios by Tara Janzen - Free Book Online

he reacted instinctively, grabbing the thin arm and wrenching it backward. Only the man’s stricken face kept him from perpetrating his own accident and breaking the bone.
    With a muttered curse, he released the man into the receding crowd. His nerves were raw from waiting and worrying. He reached inside his satchel and pulled a cheroot out of a thin metal case, a habit he’d picked up the last time he’d been looking for her. He struck a match on the stone wall at his back.
    Inhaling deeply, he returned his gaze to the hotel entrance, then searched the street. The cloud of smoke caused him to squint, impairing his vision for a moment, but when it cleared he saw her. His cupped hands still in front of him; his breath caught in his throat.
    Nikki
. . . Her name whispered across his mind. Feelings he thought he had controlled welled up inside him, sharper and more painful than his memories. Not taking his eyes off her, he drew in a slow, deep breath. He should have come back for her a long time ago, a long, long time ago.
    The match burned down to his fingers, and with a soft curse, he dropped it on the ground. When he looked up, she had disappeared.
    “Dammit,” he muttered, throwing down the cheroot and plunging into the mob.
    Nikki stumbled along with the crowd, getting jostled and jolted. If she didn’t come up with a quick move soon, she’d end up in front of the palace or, more likely, in front of a barricade of riot-control troops—and those were the up-side possibilities. On the down side, she could end up trampled to death.
    In the way of unruly masses, the mob heaved to the right, bringing her closer to the Paloma. Nikki made her break, shoving through the cordon of men surrounding her, and was shoved right back. A blow to her shoulder made her grimace with pain. She tightened her mouth and kept pushing. Suddenly a hand circled her wrist and jerked her sideways. She stumbled, but the hand kept her from falling, and the relentless grip kept her moving toward the Paloma, pulling her ever closer to the tall man making an opening through the crowd. In seconds she was under the protection of his arm.
    She held her duffel close to her chest and wrapped her other hand around the man’s belt, clinging to her free ride. His long, powerful legs strode forcefully forward. She matched her steps to his, stretching her own stride, feeling his thigh moving against hers and his heavy boots coming down next to her tennis shoes.
    Half a minute later, he’d accomplished the impossible. He’d gotten her free of the worst of the crowd. She glanced up with words of gratitude on her lips, but they died instantly, replaced by a gasp of disbelief.
    Josh looked down at her, a small grin twisting his mouth despite his grim expression. His arm tightened around her shoulders as he fought their way back toward the Paloma, pushing through the yelling, shoving men. At the side entrance to the hotel’s garden courtyard, he ducked under an iron-grilled archway and swept her around in his arms, so her back was against the high adobe wall.
    The sounds of the riot faded to a rumbling backdrop, softened by the intensity of his gaze. He stared at her for a long moment, towering over her, his chest heaving as hard as her own. Then he cupped her face in his hands and slowly lowered his forehead to rest on hers. He held her, his thumbs tracing the contours of her cheeks.
    A thousand emotions collided in her heart as her eyes drifted closed. Only the wall and his touch kept her knees from buckling with shock. Their breath mingled in soft gasps for air. He’d come back to her. Against the odds, he’d evaded Brazia’s deadly grasp and returned to her. The last of her nervous energy drained out of her with the weakness of relief.
    Josh felt her shuddering sigh in the pressure of her breasts rising against his chest. Her skin was soft, and damp from the humid air, her hair a mass of tangled silk around his fingers. He’d missed her. Lord, how he’d