Marton, Dana (5 page)

“Cam…”

By the time he lifted his head to look at her, she forgot what she was going
to say. There just wasn’t enough room for him under her shirt. She lifted her
arms to help him get the thing off.

He bent his head to the lace of her bra, and her back arched on its own. Then
she was free all of a sudden, nothing to separate nipple from mouth.

He was madness. She’d felt it from the moment he’d stepped into her office.
And yet she hadn’t been able to keep away from him.

He came up and claimed her lips again. She gave as good as she got.

The whole time she had it in the back of her mind that she would stop him.
Just one more taste, just one more touch, then she would be done.

But in the end, his incredible gentleness was the thing that did her in.

She let go of everything: propriety, expectations, sanity. When at last he
pushed inside her, her body welcomed him as if she’d been waiting for him
forever.

She was embarrassed.

Cameron watched her, noticed the way she wouldn’t quite look at him. He was
embarrassed, too. He didn’t normally display such complete lack of control.

Truth was, Mia Russel had gotten under his skin.

“I don’t normally —” She cleared her throat. “I don’t do things like this. I
don’t know what happened.”

“We happened to each other. Sometimes it’s as simple as that,” he said, then
added, “I don’t do things like this, either.”

“No lover in every port?” She relaxed enough to joke.

“I think that’s the Navy.”

“So what do Special Forces guys do?”

“Spend too much time deployed to have lovers.”

“You didn’t seem —” She snapped her mouth shut.

“What? Rusty?” He grinned, pleased that she’d been pleased.

“I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Whatever it is, I have it, too,” he said, keeping his eyes on Fowler and
Jenny’s tracks.

They had gotten up early to make up for time lost. Now, at noon, they were
pretty close behind. Which meant they had to go slower, had to be careful how
loud they talked, what sudden noise they made.

He stopped, put his finger to his lip. What was that?

Leaves rustled a few hundred feet or so ahead. Something big. He listened for
each step, judging the stride. It wasn’t deer. They’d finally caught up.

Mia pulled her gun.

“Not yet,” he whispered. “We wait until we get to a spot where we can get
them in the open, get in front of them. We make a trap, have them come to us.”

“Good plan,” she said, and moved forward silently, the same way she’d seen
him do.

She was a quick study. She was also extraordinarily sexy as she stalked her
prey through the woods. As long as he couldn’t be in the army, something like
this would be a fine job. And someone like her would make a fine partner. He
grinned and set that thought away for later.

They were coming to a creek. Time to move in for the capture.

Of course, it had to be another cliff-scaling exercise. Mia bit back a groan
as she pulled herself up, the muscles burning in her arms. She could do it, she
told herself. She would do whatever it took to get ahead of Fowler and Jenny.

“Want to stop for a second?” Cameron asked from behind her.

She pushed on. “No,” she said, just as a bird flew up from a bush next to
her.

The sudden noise startled her, making her lose her balance. A sharp pain tore
through her leg, and Cameron caught her, held her tight.

“I got you,” he said.

Yeah, he sure did.

“Your leg.” He set her down and steadied her, kneeling to have a look at the
long rip in the skin. “You’re going to need stitches.” He was already ripping
the bottom of his shirt for bandage.

“Nothing I haven’t had before,” she said, and tried not to wince as he tied
the material tight. “Jack says if I don’t watch out, I’m going to look like a
quilt by the time I’m an old woman.”

He grinned at her. “I don’t think a few scars could make you look any less
beautiful.”

“Less flirting, more tracking,” she said and reached for the next
outcropping, because the thought that he might be still around when she was an
old woman flustered her.

“I’m not going to suggest that you wait on the next safe ledge.” He came
after her and helped her higher.

“Well, what do you know? You’re growing.”

“I —” He hesitated for a second. “If it was me, I would want to be there at
the takedown even if I was half dead.”

“Same here.”

“I just…worry about you.”

She stopped long enough to look back. “Would you worry about your old
teammates over injuries as minor as mine? Would you consider sitting them out?”

He gave a strangled laugh. “I’ve seen Campbell crawl through five miles of an
alligator infested swamp with a broken leg.” He shook his head. “I care about
you differently. I feel about you differently than I feel about the guys.”

“Oh,” she said, and smiled, her heart doing a slow roll in her chest. “As
long as you don’t think I’m a wimp who needs constant protection.” She reached
the top at last and pulled up. “I can see the creek.”

Cameron was moving ahead already. “Better get into position. In a minute or
two, they’ll be here.”

Cameron watched Fowler through the leaves. The man bent to the creek and
washed his knife, staining the water with blood.

He couldn’t see Jenny Peltier anywhere. Something told him she wasn’t going
to give them any trouble.

Had Fowler thought Jenny had betrayed him? That she had put the bounty
hunters on his trail?

Cameron tossed a pebble, watched as first surprise registered on the man’s
face, then anger. He didn’t betray himself with any sudden movements, though,
just kept rinsing the knife. Cameron threw another stone.

Fowler drew the semiautomatic from his belt and shot blindly toward the
direction of the noise while rolling to his left. He ducked behind a boulder and
unloaded his weapon.

Cameron watched from behind as the man pushed in the new cartridge. Fowler
was still watching the other direction where the pebbles had fallen. Enough
games. It was time to end the hunt.

“Drop the weapon!” Cameron said without breaking cover.

Fowler froze. He was probably just realizing that he had been fooled. He
would be planning his next move. He was welcome to try.

“Drop the weapon or I’ll put a bullet through your brain.” To make sure they
were on the same page, he fired off a warning round at the pinecone next to the
man.

Fowler tossed his semiautomatic.

Disappointing.
Cameron stepped out of the woods. He wouldn’t have
minded a little fight. If he couldn’t kill the bastard, at least he could have
had some fun with him.

“Who are you?” the man asked. “What do you want?”

“I want justice, you son of a bitch.” He thought of Vicky, the countless
other victims, his rage boiling too close to the surface. He fought to control
it. For Mia’s sake, he would take Fowler alive.

Then Fowler went for his feet. A second weapon.

Cameron threw himself to the side and shot at the same time. He felt a bullet
hit his shoulder as he watched Fowler’s gun fly out of his hand. The man
scampered after it.

“Go ahead,” Cameron said, ignoring the pain, keeping his gun steady.

“I wouldn’t tempt him,” Mia said from the other side of the creek, her weapon
drawn and aimed. “Game over.” She stood with her feet set apart, a fierce
expression on her face.

God, he loved it when she talked tough.

Fowler swore like the son-of-a-bitch he was, but slowly lifted his arms into
the air.

Can you see me, Vicky?
Cameron glanced upward once Mia had snapped the
cuffs on. Justice was served today. Yes, Vicky would like that; justice instead
of revenge. And Vicky would have liked Mia, too, he was sure of it.

“It’s over,” Mia said, her gaze searching his face.

“Yeah. It is.” He gave her a bitter-sweet smile that slowly turned into a
full one. Some things were over, others were just beginning.

“We make a pitiful pair.” Mia tugged apart the green curtain that separated
her from Cameron in the emergency room. The doctors were done with them — all
they had to do was wait for their discharge papers.

Both bullets had gone clear through, without hitting bone. They had been
lucky. Her leg had required all of five stitches.

“Are you all right?” Concern and some other emotion softened Cameron’s face.
“You know, a while ago, when Vicky had a serious boyfriend, they got matching
earrings.” He shook his head. “Punk kid.”

“And we got matching bullet holes,” she finished the thought for him and
smiled.

“Guess that makes it official. Serious relationship and all.”

Her heart pounded a bit harder. “Is that what you want?”

“I’m not the playing kind, Mia.”

“Good,” she said. “Because I’m not the sharing kind.”

He grinned at that. “Partners then? In everything?”

“Partners.” She nodded. God, that sounded good. “So what’s next?”

“There are plenty of others from the MMFA. They don’t have as much bounty on
their heads as Fowler had, but they’d keep us in peanut butter and jelly for a
while.”

“Hey, watch it. Nobody mocks PB and J.”

His grin widened. “No offense meant. Tomorrow we’ll start tracking down the
troops.”

Tomorrow? She drew up an eyebrow. It wasn’t like him to postpone a chase.

“Tonight,” he said, “we are going to make love good and proper. In a bed. At
least to start with.”

She felt no pain. Seriously. Those words coming from Cameron’s mouth had
amazing healing qualities.

He slipped off his bed and came over, pulled her to his chest, enfolded her
in his strong arms. “Partners in everything,” he said, and then he kissed her.

The End