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EMILY SLATHERED SOME peanut butter on a slice of bread that afternoon, glancing over at Ryker. They’d made love twice this morning before cleaning up and showering together, finally getting something to eat.
“Hey, I got it working!” he said, a grin flashing across his face.
“Thank God,” she teased, watching as the coffee finally began to brew. The scent of her dark roast filled the small kitchen, and she swore that her mouth began to water. After that awful hospital coffee, she was ready for the real deal.
Ryker smirked and crossed the room toward her, ducking down to steal a kiss. “I’ve got loads of amazing talents.”
“In or out of the bedroom?”
“Both,” he quipped. “Although this counter looks quite sturdy....”
She laughed and moved out of the way as he playfully grabbed at her. “You’re the one who said I needed to eat more—and I’m starving. Someone kept me busy for a few hours after I woke up this morning.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said, putting his hands down at his sides.
She smiled and walked around him. Goodness. She didn’t know what had come over her earlier, but when she’d come out of the bathroom and seen him standing there, she’d needed him as badly as she’d needed her next breath.
Sleeping in his arms last night had felt amazing. It was odd to sleep beside a man she’d never so much as kissed before, but he’d been there when she needed him. He’d comforted and held her. And she was more attracted to him than she wanted to admit.
Lots of men didn’t seem to like that she was committed to her career. Some guys were old fashioned and thought the woman should stay at home playing house while they went off and worked. Ryker seemed to get what she wanted—to understand her need to continue her career.
Plenty of guys didn’t want kids, but they also didn’t want their woman to have as fast-paced job like she did. With Ryker, she sensed that wouldn’t ever be an issue.
The fact that sex with him was off the charts was just the icing on the cake.
“Did you talk to Caroline or your parents earlier?” Ryker asked, bringing her mind back to the present.
“Both. Caroline’s working with some officials at State. It seems insane that those guys got into the country so quickly, but I guess one was a U.S. citizen. The other had a visa, and there hadn’t been any previous alerts on them. They flew in unnoticed.”
Ryker nodded. “They won’t find you here, Em. And even if they somehow did, they’d never get past me. Not that you can’t protect yourself,” he said, catching the expression on her face. “But the point is, you don’t need to when I’m around.”
“And how long are you going to be around?” she asked.
Ryker lifted a shoulder. “As long as you want me. I wasn’t planning to come up here—wasn’t planning for any of this,” he said, gesturing between them. “I mean, how could I? It just sort of happened, but damn.”
“Damn,” she agreed. “And me either. A relationship was just about the last thing I expected.”
“But?”
“But I want it to work. I want to see what happens with us. I haven’t felt this way in—well, I’ve never felt this way,” she confessed.
“Me either,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I know we both travel a lot, but Jesus. What happened in there? When you and I came together like that? That was amazing.”
She blushed, and his lips quirked. “Hell, sweetheart. I didn’t take you for the shy type, but I love when you blush around me.”
“I’m not shy,” she protested.
“I know—only sometimes, I guess. You weren’t exactly shy when you sucked my cock earlier.”
She turned an even deeper shade of red, and he crossed over, pulling her into his muscular arms. His lips brushed over her forehead. “I won’t tease you,” he said roughly. “That was amazing. But next time I want my mouth on you. I got a sample after I made you come, and it was fucking spectacular. But next time I want the real thing—my mouth on your pussy and you crying out my name.”
“Ryker,” she chastised.
“Hell, what can I say? I’m a man who knows what he wants.”
She met his gaze and saw the spark of amusement in his eyes. She never really let a man get to her like this, but somehow with him, everything was different. He made her feel things she never expected, and the chemistry was certainly there. She’d never come so hard as when Ryker had made love to her.
They finished eating lunch, and Ryker said he wanted to check the emails on his phone. “Okay, I’m going outside for a few minutes to look around and get a little fresh air.”
“I can come,” he said, rising from his seat.
“Don’t be silly, I’ll be right outside the front door. I want to drink my coffee out there since I didn’t have any this morning. If anyone was here, we’d have heard a car drive up. We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
He nodded, sitting back down. “Just give me a couple of minutes,” he said. “I’ll come out and join you.”
“Sounds good.”
She walked to the front door, stepping outside with a mug of steaming black coffee in her hand. The sounds of the forest greeted her—birds chirping, insects humming. It was a gorgeous September day, the perfect temperature. She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the driveway, walking into the small cleared area that constituted the front yard.
She took a sip of her coffee, closing her eyes. There was a time when she thought she’d never experience things like this again—the fresh air, the trees and forests of Virginia. The dry desert was someplace she had no interest in visiting ever again. She got to pick some of her jobs with State, and she didn’t think she’d want to go back to the Middle East again after what had happened. Nor did she think they’d expect her to.
What that meant for the future, she had no idea. She could work stateside or travel to Europe. Maybe South America or Asia. It was a big world even with putting a few countries on her list of places never to travel to again.
Crossing the front yard, she looked back at the house. She’d closed the door when she’d come out, knowing that Ryker would soon follow. The cabin was silent, and she figured he was still going through his emails and texts getting updates.
The sound of a branch snapping had her turning around, and she looked in the forest for the deer or other animal that had made the sound. Her heart began to beat faster, and she sensed that something was wrong.
In an instant, someone was behind her. She dropped her coffee, readying to fight and scream, but a fabric with a sickening scent covered her mouth and nostrils. She struggled against whoever held the cloth to her face, but the chemicals were too powerful.
Gasping for breath and instead inhaling the toxins, she collapsed.
***
RYKER DRUMMED HIS FINGERS on the table, scanning the rest of the email. Hunter and their CO had been keeping him updated with what they could, given the unsecure connection. He thumbed a text back to them and rose, wanting to see Emily.
She’d only been outside for a few minutes, but he suddenly had the sense that something was wrong.
Opening the front door, he looked left and right, surprised she wasn’t out here right where she said she’d be. He took a step outside, wondering if she’d wandered off to sit somewhere, when something on the ground caught his attention. His gaze narrowed as he realized it looked like the mug she’d been holding.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He sprinted across the front yard, realizing he’d left his gun inside. No matter. If someone had harmed her, he’d rip them apart with his bare hands.
The mug lay on the ground, its contents spilled in the grass. “Emily!” he shouted into the forest.
There was no noise. No movement. No sound.
He turned around and ran back into the house, grabbing his gun from where he’d left it on the nightstand. He’d find her. No matter what happened or how, he’d find Emily, but he was losing precious time running back and forth.
He hustled back outside and to the dropped mug, looking around for footprints or traces of whoever had been here. No vehicles had driven up, so whoever had taken her had to be on foot. The upside was that they couldn’t have gone far. She’d been out here ten minutes, tops. And he was going to save her.
Ryker scanned the area, and he saw the grass was matted down heading off in one direction. That probably meant they’d dragged her away, which he didn’t want to think too much about, but it also gave him the best clue as to which way to go.
Bingo.
He holstered his gun and began moving toward the forest. He didn’t know who these assholes were who’d taken Emily, but he was used to tracking people down. He had survival skills they couldn’t even imagine. And they’d crossed the wrong man when they’d messed with his woman.
Ryker entered the forest and then paused, quickly texting Hunter before he lost all cell reception. His buddy had rigged up something to allow for calls and Internet access at the cabin, but there was no telling who he could contact deep in the woods.
He made sure the text was sent, and then he moved forward.
Ryker’s gaze narrowed as he saw a strand of long hair caught on a thorny bush.
A glance a few feet away showed a broken twig on a branch.
He was heading the right way. They’d been in a hurry, which was good for him, because they hadn’t been careful in their tracks. They’d left signs for him all over the place. The weeds in the ground looked trampled this way as well, and he moved quickly in the direction they’d headed.
Had whoever took Emily looped back to the road?
Someone could’ve been waiting farther down. They could’ve left their vehicle there and then traveled to the cabin on foot. He picked up his pace. If they did in fact have a car close by, he didn’t want them taking her to a second location.
His chest clenched.
How had they gotten her to come? Had they knocked her out? Threatened her with a gun?
Jesus.
His heart pounded as he moved faster, and then he was startled to hear voices up ahead. Ducking down in the foliage, he couldn’t believe his luck. Had he literally just stumbled upon them?
“No, no,” a female voice mumbled, and rage pooled within him.
Aiming his weapon in front of him, he hustled forward. What he wouldn’t give to have his SEAL team here now. This was the most important mission of his life, and he was in on it alone.
“You’re coming with me!” a male voice barked. “Don’t mess with me, woman.”
“I feel sick,” came the garbled reply. “What was that stuff?”
“Get up and move!” the man yelled. “Your boyfriend will realize you’re gone any minute.”
Rage roared through him, and Ryker ducked down behind another tree. They were less than thirty feet away now, and he could see the missing teeth in the man’s mouth as he talked. What the hell had happened to him?
The man aimed a gun at Emily, and Ryker’s gaze focused solely on his target. He didn’t have his sniper rifle, but he didn’t need it. He was within close range of this asshole. His entire world narrowed to this one target. Aiming his gun at the man’s head, he watched as he stepped closer to Emily.
He steadied his breathing, aiming right between the man’s eyes. This asshole wouldn’t even know what hit him.
The shot sounded out, and the man was already slumped over. It was over so fast, Emily looked like she didn’t even understand what had just happened. Ryker rushed over, scanning the area to make sure no one else was around, and then he was collecting Emily in his arms.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and Ryker knew his buddies had called in the police and EMTs.
He hadn’t expected Emily to leave him in an ambulance for the second time in mere days, but she was okay and that was all that mattered.
“Ryker,” she said in a slurred voice. “He drugged me or something.”
“I know, baby, and I’m here. I’ll always come for you.”
She swayed slightly on her feet and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve got you sweetheart,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’ve got you.”
