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BLAKE LEFT THE FLASHLIGHT on as they continued moving deeper into the jungle. Clarissa felt practically dead on her feet—the adrenaline rush from being rescued had worn off. She and Blake weren’t running away, so she felt somewhat safe at the moment. She finally had food in her stomach. Although she was still hungry, she didn’t want to push her luck. Eating too much too soon might end badly.
Taking a sip of water from Blake’s canteen, she clung tightly to it as they moved forward. She didn’t want to hang onto him again. He was a macho, tough Navy SEAL. Even though she was an outdoorsy type of woman, at the moment, she was exhausted. She wanted to sleep for twelve hours and then take the longest shower of her life.
That wasn’t exactly an option though.
They moved quietly along, the only noise the sounds from the forest. Her wrist was beginning to throb some more, but the bandage he’d wrapped around it helped somewhat. At least she wouldn’t accidentally twist it in the wrong direction again. Still, her legs felt like lead, she kept blinking to keep her eyes open, and she was starting to feel a little dizzy.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked after a few minutes.
“I’m fine, just a little tired,” she admitted. “Do you think anyone else is out here?”
Blake shook his head. “Not the guys from the camp. They’re more concerned about the weapons and the rest of my SEAL team than us. We should be cautious moving through here though. Drug runners still cross through this area, although I expect most are asleep in the middle of the night.”
She yawned at just the mention of the time. It was indeed the middle of the night. She should’ve been asleep in her sleeping bag back in her tent. Shoot. What had even happened to her things? Had someone stolen her sleeping bag, clothes, and other belongings when she didn’t return? And then there was the matter of her missing backpack. “I don’t have my passport,” she said suddenly.
Blake’s head swung her way.
“They took my things,” she explained. “My backpack had my passport, supplies, all my work....” Her voice trailed off. The samples she’d collected and notes she’d taken were the least of her concerns. At this point, she’d practically need to start all over with her research anyway, and she sure wasn’t doing it on this trip. When they got back to Blake’s camp—or base, whatever he’d called it—she was getting the heck out of here.
Maybe another time she’d venture back, plan on writing another research paper, but for the moment? She’d seen more than enough of the rainforest.
“My plane ticket was in there, too. My cell phone....”
“We’ll get it straightened out,” he assured her. “You don’t need a ticket to hop a ride back with us.”
His lips quirked slightly as she looked at him. “Maybe not, but I need it to get back in the States, right? My car keys, house keys, identification—it’s all gone.”
“We’ll land at a military airport. No customs agents or TSA to deal with. I promise, that’s the least of your concerns at the moment. As for the rest of your stuff? Well, I can’t say if you’ll see that again.”
“I doubt it,” she muttered.
“You said you were doing research?”
She nodded. “My samples are ruined of course. My notebooks would be okay if we found them. The guys that grabbed me took my backpack though. And I don’t even know where exactly we are now to get back to my camp—not that I’d want to,” she hastily added. “I’m ready to get the heck out of here.”
“Your gear is all there?”
“Most of it—tent, sleeping bag, clothes. That’s all replaceable of course. I would’ve loved to get my backpack though.”
“Let me check for a signal again,” Blake said as they stopped. He pulled out the satellite phone, frowning. She took another sip of her water. “Nothing,” he said. “And according to my map, we’re also not that close to the river. It’s slow going through this terrain. I don’t think I’ll get a signal until we’re there.”
His eyes fell on where she was absentmindedly rubbing her arm. “Do you want to rest for a while?” he asked.
She nodded, almost wanting to cry in relief. “Yes. But I can keep going if we have to. I don’t want to stop if it’s not safe here or if we need to move on to get rescued.”
His eyes softened. “You’re safe with me, Clarissa. Why don’t I get you situated, and we’ll rest up for a few hours. You’re weak from dehydration and possibly even in shock. I’ve been dragging you off through the rainforest like it’s no big deal when I’m in good shape. You’re still recovering from your ordeal.”
“I could rest,” she said softly.
Blake dug through his stuff again, pulling out a tarp. “It’s not quite a tent, but I wasn’t expecting to be out here overnight. I’ll hang it up for some shelter. I’ve got a thermal blanket in here as well.”
She nodded, tears smarting her eyes. Goodness. Blake was being perfectly nice, sharing his supplies with her, and she was ready to burst into tears. The past few days had been overwhelming, and she wanted nothing more than to surrender to sleep for a few hours.
“Hey, don’t cry,” he said gruffly, pausing in his work.
She met his gaze, feeling silly. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “It’s just—a lot to take in,” she conceded.
“You’ve been through a lot. I wish like hell I could get a signal and get us out of here. We could move back toward the camp after you rest for a few hours, but I just don’t think it’s the safest option, and we’re closer to the river at this point.”
“And they’ll send in a helicopter?”
“Yep. There might not be a landing spot, so they’ll drop a line down, but the opening in the trees should work where it widens. They’ll extract us, we’ll fly back to the airstrip, and then hop on the cargo plane back home to San Diego.”
She swiped a stray tear running down her cheek. “I live in Texas though.”
Blake chuckled. “We’ll figure it out. We can possibly divert there or get a flight for you when we return home. You need to get checked out by a doctor though—I’m worried your wrist might be broken with all that swelling.”
She nodded, shivering slightly. It must be because she was exhausted. It wasn’t exactly chilly here.
“Are you cold?”
“I’ll be okay.”
Blake stepped over some vines and walked over to a tree, rigging the tarp up. It’s wasn’t ideal, but it would work for the moment. “Are you going to sleep at all?” she asked.
“No. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble. I’ve got a sweatshirt in here you can use for a pillow if you want.”
“Okay.”
He looked around the dark forest, his flashlight still the only source of light. “I’ll probably just shut this off. We could start a campfire, but I’m worried we’re not far enough away that we won’t draw attention to ourselves.”
“I’m fine with the dark. Do you think your friends are coming in here after us?”
He shook his head. “That’s not protocol. They know I was getting you to safety, not injured myself. We always have a backup rendezvous point, but we should be able to call in for retrieval before then.”
“A backup, meaning if your mission goes wrong?”
He nodded. “We prepare for multiple scenarios—part of the job description.”
“I’m sure I wasn’t part of your job description,” she said lightly, moving toward the tarp. Blake had put his blanket and sweatshirt on the ground, and he reached out a hand, helping her to step over some branches and vines. He was still wearing his gloves, but she swore his touch sent shivers racing down her spine.
Blake was masculine and attractive. Different than the types of men that she was usually around. She appreciated the confident way he carried himself. Maybe his job was as different from hers as night and day, but he was clearly knowledgeable about what he did. He was comfortable outdoors.
She loved to camp back home, avoiding the hot Texas summers of course.
Blake seemed like the type of man who appreciated some of the same things she did, unlikely as though it may seem. She’d been in academia her entire career. He was in the military. There was some overlap in their interests she wouldn’t have expected.
And the fact that he was both gruff and gorgeous didn’t hurt matters.
“Let me know if you need something else—food, water, bug repellant. Try to get some rest, and in a few hours, we’ll move out.”
“Okay. Thanks. Should I call you Blake or Raptor?”
He laughed, the sound low, sexy, and entirely too appealing. “Blake is fine,” he assured her.
“Okay. Well...goodnight.”
“Goodnight. I’ll be right out here,” he said, meeting her gaze.
She nodded, then ducked under the tarp. It was thoughtful of him to put it up—here they were on the run, and he wanted her to feel safe. He was a nice guy, she thought, her eyelids growing heavy as soon as she laid down.
Her wrist throbbed, her stomach rumbled, and her entire body was sore. But she was safe for the moment—safer than she had felt in days, even in her own tent back at her camp.
She heard a quiet rustling outside that she knew was him, and then the flashlight went off. It was dark in the forest, quiet. But Blake was watching over her, and for the first time in the past few days, she felt like she could let her guard down. She was safe with him. And she knew she could trust him with her life.
