Read Online Power: Special Tactical Units Division (In Wilde Country Book 3) by Sandra Marton - Free Book Online
Authors: Sandra Marton
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minutes remaining until they discovered she was gone.
She felt as if they were running at marathon speed, but she suspected the man with her would have been able to move twice as fast without her.
What would happen if her abductors caught up to them? Her rescuer had said he was here to take her home, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think he was willing to sacrifice his life to accomplish that.
She knew nothing about him except that he was tall and hard-muscled and gruff. What she needed to know was who had sent him. How he’d found her. What was his plan? How would he get them out of this alive?
“Stop.”
The word was quietly spoken, but it was a command. Alessandra lurched to a halt. Superman let go of her hand and she bent double, her hands on her knees, gasping for air like a carp on dry land.
When she could breathe again, she straightened up and looked around.
She recognized this place.
A huge downed tree blocked the path just ahead.
She remembered it from hours before, when she’d come through here with her kidnappers. She’d had difficulty climbing over the tree, especially without the use of her hands, and the two men had found her efforts hilarious. Eventually, she’d managed, but the rough tree bark had left welts and cuts on the tender flesh of her thighs.
“Can you get over that tree?” her rescuer asked.
She nodded, because surely it would be simpler this time with both hands free.
Wrong.
She tried, but she was too exhausted.
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down on the already swollen flesh. A sob of complete despair rose in her throat.
Her rescuer scooped her up and carried her over the tree as if she were weightless.
Her head fell against his shoulder. Being held felt so good. And she was so tired…
He dumped her on her feet. She swayed a little and he reached out and clasped her shoulders. His hands felt hard on her; his touch was impersonal.
“We’re not safe yet. Understand?”
She nodded. Saying yes would have taken too much effort.
“We have farther to go. A couple of hours at least. You go soft on me now, we’re both dead. Understand that too?”
Another nod. Her hair was in her face. She scraped it back with a trembling hand.
“See that those bushes and trees to my right?”
What she saw was what you saw everywhere in the jungle. A jumble of leaves. A riot of flowers. Tree branches. Shrubs. Vines. An indecipherable mess, no different than anything she’d seen before.
“It’s a game trail.”
This time, she managed a sentence, even if she panted the words.
“I…don’t…see…a…trail.”
He let go of her, stepped a few feet away and shoved aside some of the vegetation. “Look again.”
Alessandra looked. She blinked. She squinted. Okay. She saw…something. A dark space within the dense growth.
“It’s an old game trail,” her rescuer said. “Probably hasn’t been used by anything but pigs for years.”
“New…World…pigs.”
“Right. White-lipped—”
“White-lipped peccaries,” she said. Breathing was a little easier although she was still panting. “But they’re rare.”
He looked surprises for a second, as if he hadn’t expected her to know the name of those animals. Then he let the vines and leaves fall back into place.
“Tell that to the pigs,” he said briskly. “Coming in, I saw plenty of signs of them. The point is, the trail we’re on gets all the human traffic. That’s why we’re going to take the other one. With luck, your bozos will go right past it.”
Her bozos? Alessandra narrowed her eyes. “They’re not my anything .”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Right now, I want to leave some sign to mislead them.”
His tone was downright unpleasant. What in hell did he mean by calling Stubby and Skinny hers? And what was with this sign business? Who did he think he was? Daniel Day-Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans ?
“And what if they don’t?”
“Don’t what?”
She damn near rolled
She felt as if they were running at marathon speed, but she suspected the man with her would have been able to move twice as fast without her.
What would happen if her abductors caught up to them? Her rescuer had said he was here to take her home, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think he was willing to sacrifice his life to accomplish that.
She knew nothing about him except that he was tall and hard-muscled and gruff. What she needed to know was who had sent him. How he’d found her. What was his plan? How would he get them out of this alive?
“Stop.”
The word was quietly spoken, but it was a command. Alessandra lurched to a halt. Superman let go of her hand and she bent double, her hands on her knees, gasping for air like a carp on dry land.
When she could breathe again, she straightened up and looked around.
She recognized this place.
A huge downed tree blocked the path just ahead.
She remembered it from hours before, when she’d come through here with her kidnappers. She’d had difficulty climbing over the tree, especially without the use of her hands, and the two men had found her efforts hilarious. Eventually, she’d managed, but the rough tree bark had left welts and cuts on the tender flesh of her thighs.
“Can you get over that tree?” her rescuer asked.
She nodded, because surely it would be simpler this time with both hands free.
Wrong.
She tried, but she was too exhausted.
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down on the already swollen flesh. A sob of complete despair rose in her throat.
Her rescuer scooped her up and carried her over the tree as if she were weightless.
Her head fell against his shoulder. Being held felt so good. And she was so tired…
He dumped her on her feet. She swayed a little and he reached out and clasped her shoulders. His hands felt hard on her; his touch was impersonal.
“We’re not safe yet. Understand?”
She nodded. Saying yes would have taken too much effort.
“We have farther to go. A couple of hours at least. You go soft on me now, we’re both dead. Understand that too?”
Another nod. Her hair was in her face. She scraped it back with a trembling hand.
“See that those bushes and trees to my right?”
What she saw was what you saw everywhere in the jungle. A jumble of leaves. A riot of flowers. Tree branches. Shrubs. Vines. An indecipherable mess, no different than anything she’d seen before.
“It’s a game trail.”
This time, she managed a sentence, even if she panted the words.
“I…don’t…see…a…trail.”
He let go of her, stepped a few feet away and shoved aside some of the vegetation. “Look again.”
Alessandra looked. She blinked. She squinted. Okay. She saw…something. A dark space within the dense growth.
“It’s an old game trail,” her rescuer said. “Probably hasn’t been used by anything but pigs for years.”
“New…World…pigs.”
“Right. White-lipped—”
“White-lipped peccaries,” she said. Breathing was a little easier although she was still panting. “But they’re rare.”
He looked surprises for a second, as if he hadn’t expected her to know the name of those animals. Then he let the vines and leaves fall back into place.
“Tell that to the pigs,” he said briskly. “Coming in, I saw plenty of signs of them. The point is, the trail we’re on gets all the human traffic. That’s why we’re going to take the other one. With luck, your bozos will go right past it.”
Her bozos? Alessandra narrowed her eyes. “They’re not my anything .”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Right now, I want to leave some sign to mislead them.”
His tone was downright unpleasant. What in hell did he mean by calling Stubby and Skinny hers? And what was with this sign business? Who did he think he was? Daniel Day-Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans ?
“And what if they don’t?”
“Don’t what?”
She damn near rolled
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