Read Online No Stranger to Danger by No Stranger to Danger (Evernight) - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: No Stranger to Danger (Evernight)
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of the men looked back at them suspiciously, as they had every time she and Logan spoke to one another. Mara straightened atop the shaggy brown beast, the bells on its roughly fashioned saddle tinkling more with her movement. She reached up to unwrap the head scarf thingy they had lent her to keep her from burning, and started to pull it from her head.
She really hated to think of the pests that might be living in the scarf, but when she shivered, it was not from the thought. The coolness of night had snuck up on her unexpectedly. And though Logan's body was warm at her back, the glacial aura around him chilled her even more than the desert night.
Mara tugged at the short evening dress hardly covering her legs. The elastic lace of her thigh-high hose threatened to show every time she moved. If not for the hard, muscled legs of her ex-husband pressing against hers, the warmth of his chest seeping into her back, she wouldn’t be able to bear the chill. Mara brought the scarf down to cover across her chest, crossing her arms to hold it in place at the tops of her shoulders.
She turned to face Logan over her shoulder with a softened curiosity. After hours of brewing in her displeasure with him, her feelings had tamped down to mere resentment—for the moment.
"Why didn’t you show up at our divorce hearing?" she asked faintly.
He glanced down at her. "You're not letting that go, are you?" He sighed hard. "I was in Afghanistan. Did you really expect me to show up?"
She cocked her head at him, at the sharp edge in his voice. It was almost as though he blamed her. "I expected something after three years of marriage. I didn’t expect for you to leave me with a bunch of other wives waiting for their husbands to come home to them, and instead of mine returning to me, all I got was papers in the mail to sign."
He leaned down closer. "Let's not dredge this up. We have more serious tasks ahead, and I need you focused on the now."
Her spine stiffened. "Oh, no? You don’t want to dredge it up? No, Logan, we will dredge this up. I am sitting on the back of a camel in the middle of the Sahara desert. I was kidnapped from my home, and my life has been threatened. All thanks to you. I haven’t seen you since you left for Afghanistan five years ago. I expected you to at least apologize, to give me a reason. We were married for three years and never so much as had one serious fight.
"We had normal spiffs, but not one thing ever happened to throw up any red flags. You don’t get to abandon me and then appear out of the blue and pull me from my life without explaining yourself. And before you think you can somehow keep me in the dark over what is happening here," she made a circle with her finger in the air, "you will be telling me exactly what in the hell is going on."
Logan shifted behind her. "I already told you."
"You call that little three sentence brief you gave me an explanation?"
His stare narrowed. "It's complicated. You're just going to have to trust me on some of this."
Mara scoffed and shook her head. "God, Logan. You really don’t get it do you? I don’t trust you."
"I gave you every reason to trust me."
"You never gave me shit besides a heartache."
A wave of regret hit Mara as she felt the hardness of his chest against her back stiffen even more. There was a heavy, long silence between them.
For a little more than two and a half years, he had given her love like no other. It had been tender, sweet, and full of life. And then he had left on his mission—and he took part of her with him. That missing part had never returned. Not even when she had at last accepted he was gone from her life for good.
Or so she had thought.
A burning hurt and anger swelled, and Mara looked out over the barren dunes and to the lights of the village in the distance.
"I couldn’t give you the things you deserved," he said. His voice dipped into a deep, smooth pitch. "I tried. I told you before, and I will tell you again, I'm sorry
She really hated to think of the pests that might be living in the scarf, but when she shivered, it was not from the thought. The coolness of night had snuck up on her unexpectedly. And though Logan's body was warm at her back, the glacial aura around him chilled her even more than the desert night.
Mara tugged at the short evening dress hardly covering her legs. The elastic lace of her thigh-high hose threatened to show every time she moved. If not for the hard, muscled legs of her ex-husband pressing against hers, the warmth of his chest seeping into her back, she wouldn’t be able to bear the chill. Mara brought the scarf down to cover across her chest, crossing her arms to hold it in place at the tops of her shoulders.
She turned to face Logan over her shoulder with a softened curiosity. After hours of brewing in her displeasure with him, her feelings had tamped down to mere resentment—for the moment.
"Why didn’t you show up at our divorce hearing?" she asked faintly.
He glanced down at her. "You're not letting that go, are you?" He sighed hard. "I was in Afghanistan. Did you really expect me to show up?"
She cocked her head at him, at the sharp edge in his voice. It was almost as though he blamed her. "I expected something after three years of marriage. I didn’t expect for you to leave me with a bunch of other wives waiting for their husbands to come home to them, and instead of mine returning to me, all I got was papers in the mail to sign."
He leaned down closer. "Let's not dredge this up. We have more serious tasks ahead, and I need you focused on the now."
Her spine stiffened. "Oh, no? You don’t want to dredge it up? No, Logan, we will dredge this up. I am sitting on the back of a camel in the middle of the Sahara desert. I was kidnapped from my home, and my life has been threatened. All thanks to you. I haven’t seen you since you left for Afghanistan five years ago. I expected you to at least apologize, to give me a reason. We were married for three years and never so much as had one serious fight.
"We had normal spiffs, but not one thing ever happened to throw up any red flags. You don’t get to abandon me and then appear out of the blue and pull me from my life without explaining yourself. And before you think you can somehow keep me in the dark over what is happening here," she made a circle with her finger in the air, "you will be telling me exactly what in the hell is going on."
Logan shifted behind her. "I already told you."
"You call that little three sentence brief you gave me an explanation?"
His stare narrowed. "It's complicated. You're just going to have to trust me on some of this."
Mara scoffed and shook her head. "God, Logan. You really don’t get it do you? I don’t trust you."
"I gave you every reason to trust me."
"You never gave me shit besides a heartache."
A wave of regret hit Mara as she felt the hardness of his chest against her back stiffen even more. There was a heavy, long silence between them.
For a little more than two and a half years, he had given her love like no other. It had been tender, sweet, and full of life. And then he had left on his mission—and he took part of her with him. That missing part had never returned. Not even when she had at last accepted he was gone from her life for good.
Or so she had thought.
A burning hurt and anger swelled, and Mara looked out over the barren dunes and to the lights of the village in the distance.
"I couldn’t give you the things you deserved," he said. His voice dipped into a deep, smooth pitch. "I tried. I told you before, and I will tell you again, I'm sorry
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