Matt slipped the phone into his pocket, thrust a gun into Nate’s hand, and hauled him up. “Get ready. We need to go now.”
After receiving a nod from his pale brother, Matt turned and slid open the door. Time to go find Laney.
Laney shoved wet hair off her face and tried to run under the heavier trees to block the storm. Rain smashed down, and the wind had picked up to the extent pine needles hampered her way. She shivered in her wet clothing, her mind going numb. What now?
She kept jogging through the forest, heading toward town. If nothing else, she needed transportation.
What about Matt?
She steeled her shoulders, determined to save him. But if the commander had gotten to her, he’d probably gotten to Matt. Though, with Matt’s training, maybe he’d escaped.
God, she hoped he’d been able to escape.
Her entire life, she’d followed her instincts. Sometimes they’d helped her, like when surviving her lonely childhood. Often, they’d sucked, like when going to work for the commander.
So this time she followed her heart. Matt was one of the good guys, and if she had a chance to save him, she’d do it. She headed toward town and the sheriff’s station, which had to be about fifteen or so miles away.
She managed to jog the first mile through the dark forest as the storm pummeled down. The second mile, she sprinted.
The third, she walked.
By the time she stretched into the fifth mile, weakened legs, upturned roots, and flying branches tripped her.
She landed hard, debris cutting into her already-wounded hands. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the trunk of a pine tree being assaulted by the crazy wind.
Cold encased her wet feet until they cramped. Chills cut down her back, and her lungs heaved. She wiped her soaked hair off her face and tried to dig deep. The injuries to her wrists and hands screamed in agony, and she used that pain to center herself.
Furious clouds hid the sun, and the world continued to darken. Night would soon fall, and she needed to be out of the forest while she could still see.
A low-pitched whistle had her stilling and jerking her head to the side. She peered into the rain-drenched forest. Maybe it was some sort of weird birdcall.
Her heartbeat picked up in a way she respected. So she listened some more.
Another whistle.
The crack of a stick pierced through the storm. She leaped to her feet, her heart nearly stopping.
A man stood in shadow between two massive pines.
She blinked several times and took a hesitant step forward. “Matt?”
The rain had slicked back his hair to curl around his ears and run down the hard angles of his face. His black T-shirt clung to his broad chest, while mud and leaves coated his boots.
He looked like a pissed-off fallen angel in the middle of Armageddon.
Tears shot into her eyes. Bone-deep relief made her sway. He was all right. Thank God.
Long strides propelled him out of the darkness toward her, where he cupped her face. “Are you all right?”
She struggled to remain in control. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart, no matter how badly her knees were shaking. “Fine. You?”
“What happened?” He whistled, and Nate instantly appeared to Laney’s right.
“The commander is here,” Laney said on a rush. “He has troops moving in from all sides to take us.”
“I know.” Matt glanced around. “Nate, how close are we to Backlebee Lake?”
“About five miles,” Nate said, wiping rain off his forehead with his arm.
Matt nodded. “Thank God for tracking devices. That’s how we found you, Laney.” He fingered the bracelet still wrapped around her wrist that held the tracking device. Then he slipped his cell phone from his back pocket and pushed a number on speed dial. “Shane? Can you get a satellite view of the forest?”
Matt listened for a moment and then shook his head at Nate. “The cloud cover is too thick. We have to assume they’re moving in, and quickly. The good news is if we can’t see them or their heat signatures, they can’t see ours.”
He turned his concentration back to the phone. “How soon can you get an extraction team here?” Matt listened and cut a look at Nate. “Okay. Stay in touch.” He disconnected the call.
Laney swallowed, and her teeth began to chatter.
Matt slid a wet arm around her shoulders. “The storm is too bad to land a team here. We need to ride out the next hour or so, and Shane will airlift us out as soon as possible.”
“Let’s go.” Nate pivoted and disappeared behind a fir big enough to decorate Rockefeller Center at Christmas.
Matt turned and tugged Laney close for a hug. “Can you make it five more miles?”
She forced a smile and hoped he ignored the trembling of her lips. “Yes.”
“Good.” He slipped his hand into hers and led her onto a barely discernible path.
She could do this. Yes, the commander was scary and the men after her deadly. But the one in front of her knew how to kill, and he’d do so for her.
The least she could do was jog through a storm.
So she sucked in rain-filled air and ran like her life depended on it. Matt stayed close to her side, while Nate scouted ahead and often doubled back to check in.
Night began to fall, and the storm somehow increased in strength. She struggled to continue even as Matt blocked her from most of the wind.
An hour later, Nate reappeared. “There’s a cabin about forty yards to the east.”
Matt retook her hand and tugged her to the left. How he knew which way was east was a mystery, but Laney didn’t have the time or energy to figure it out. She plodded doggedly along, her tennis shoes squishing in mud, her body more numb than cold.
The sound of waves battering the shore competed with the wind a second before a rough cabin came into view.
Shelter. She almost cried at the welcoming sight.
Matt herded her along the beach toward the front door as Nate ran around back.
The door was locked. Matt put his shoulder to it, and the wood crashed in with barely a whisper. He tugged her inside and used his cell phone as a flashlight to illuminate the small space.
A bed took up the left corner, a small kitchenette the right, and a sofa lounged in front of a stone fireplace with wood stacked to the side. An arched doorway had been cut into the far wall, and Laney immediately headed that way.
“The water pump is probably off,” Matt said, heading toward the fireplace. “You can use whatever toilet they have, but don’t flush until we fetch water from the lake.”
She nodded and tripped inside a surprisingly modern bathroom. God, she was cold. After making use of the facilities and trying to wipe off mud and leaves from her tingling cheeks, she headed out to face Matt.
The roar of a fire caught her attention first, but his broad back enticed her more than the flames. He’d tossed his shirt over the back of a chair, and muscles shifted nicely as he tugged open drawers near the bedside.
He reached in and drew out a large flannel shirt. After shaking it out, he turned and tossed the worn material at her. “It’s clean. You have to get dry.”
So this was the soldier. Laney had seen glimpses of him during their time together, but seeing Matt in full concentration, all fighter, was something new. Intimidating and intriguing all at once.
She caught the shirt. “Won’t they see the smoke from the fire?”
“Not in this storm.” His gaze raked her head to toe. “Getting warm is too important, so the risk is worth it.”
Her hands hurt, they were so cold, so she headed back into the bathroom.
“All clothes, Laney,” Matt called after her.
“I know. I am the doctor here,” she tossed back.
His barely audible “Smart-ass” made her smile as she removed her wet clothing to cover up with the soft flannel, which reached past her knees. She padded out barefoot and hung her clothes over chairs to dry as Matt f
inished going through all the drawers.
He turned around. “No weapons. Damn it.”
The cabin’s owners had probably closed the place down for the winter. Laney handed him the gun she’d taken off Tasha. “For bluffing. There aren’t any bullets.”
Matt took the gun and frowned.
Laney headed over to the small kitchen to open the remaining two drawers. “A couple of steak knives. Nothing impressive.”
The door burst open, and wind rushed inside to scatter her clothing across the floor.
“Sorry.” Nate elbowed the door shut and shook out his hair.
“No problem.” Laney fetched the clothing and rehung it. The small room suddenly had way too much testosterone in it, with two Gray brothers.
“Okay.” Nate wiped moisture off his face. “There are several cabins along the lakefront. I’ll go search each one for weapons, and then I want to scout to the west to find how close the commander’s troops are, and how many he brought.”
Matt headed toward the door. “I’ll walk you out.” He turned around toward Laney. “Get warm by the fire. We’ll plan when I get back.” His gray eyes revealed nothing.
Laney took a deep breath and nodded. Plan?
Chapter 28
Matt kept to the shelter of the rough porch, his gaze focused across the lake. “A row of cabins front the north shore. I doubt we’ll find anything but a shotgun or two, but you never know.”
“I’m more interested in how many troops the commander sent after us.” Nate stretched his back with a loud pop. “Getting out of here with the surgeon is going to be tough.”
“She’s not a surgeon any longer,” Matt said, the wind smashing rain up against his bare chest.
“Sure she is.” Nate shrugged. “Maybe she’s not cutting into people right now, but she learned the skills—and she has used them.”
“Not on us.” Matt didn’t understand why he was defending Laney, but he couldn’t stop. “The commander manipulated her like he did us.”
Resignation shot through Nate’s eyes before determination hardened his jaw. “Okay, then. I guess she stays with us?”
An unknown force filtered through Matt. What the hell was that? Panic? Shit. Had he just felt panic? If so, he didn’t like it. At all. “Yes. I just almost had a panic attack at the thought of losing her, and I won’t do it. Not because I need her to help us, but because…”
“You need her.” Nate sighed. “I guess she’s one of us, then.”
Heated air rose up Matt’s esophagus. “She is, and I need you to be nice to her.”
Nate chuckled. “I’m always nice.”
“Are not.”
“Am, too.” Nate sighed and leaned back against the weathered wood. “You love her.”
Two of the deadliest soldiers trained by the commander shouldn’t sound like arguing two-year-olds. “I haven’t known her very long.” Matt shook his head.
Nate rolled his eyes. “What does time have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know.” This couldn’t be happening. Not right now.
Nate closed his eyes for a moment and pushed off the cabin. “Listen, Matt. I don’t want you to be in love any more than you want it. Any distraction right now is bad. But if it has happened, we deal with it like we always have.”
“Deal with it?” Matt shook his head. “You really don’t understand.”
“Sure I do.” Nate swallowed. “From day one, you’ve lived for us. You were our brother, father, mother, commanding officer, and medic. We all know it. There’s nothing wrong with having something for yourself. Having somebody.”
But his focus had to be his brothers. He was the oldest, and they were his responsibility. Shit, he needed them. Without his brothers, he was just another killing machine. The thoughts raced through his mind as his brother waited him out. “Hell.”
Nate smacked him on the shoulder. “Listen. If you decide she’s family, she’s family. We’ll protect her until our last breath, which, unfortunately, may be soon. Very soon.”
Matt shook his head. He’d never faltered in his path, never. Now he couldn’t find his footing. “What if she, I mean, if…”
“If she doesn’t feel the same?” Nathan shrugged. “Well, you say she’s nice. Maybe she’ll take pity on you. After all, you are the ugly one.”
Matt coughed out a laugh. “You’re such an ass.”
“Yeah, and I’m good at it.” Nate glanced toward the north. “Our chances of getting out of this forest are not good. You know it as well as I do.”
“I know.” Even if they caught a miracle and got to Montana, the Gray brothers probably only had six weeks to live. How could he ensure Laney’s safety from beyond the grave, especially since his brothers would be dead, too? “We’re going to take care of these chips. But first, we have to survive the night.” Matt glanced back at the darkened cabin. “I’d like to go with you to scout, but—”
Nate shook his head. “Stay here, protect your woman. You’d be worried about her, and I don’t need you distracted. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He exhaled. “Take the time, Mattie. It may be all you have.”
The truth in the words cut like a blade. “Thank you for being my brother, Nate.”
Nate’s smile held too much sadness. “Never alone.” He turned and ran into the devastating storm.
“Never alone,” Matt repeated quietly. His chest hurt. They’d survived their childhoods and found freedom together. In order to survive the next weeks and beat the commander, he had to become the worst part of himself. The part they’d created in a test tube to feel nothing and kill easily. In order to save his brothers, to protect Laney, he had to become all hunter.
A being Laney couldn’t possibly love.
He appreciated Nate’s push for Matt to find happiness. But happiness and the things he had to do didn’t go together. He knew it, and deep down, he suspected Nate knew it, too.
Matt would make his stance in the forest. He probably only had a few more hours to live, and he was taking them. So he pushed open the cabin door and headed inside to see what might have been. In a different time, in a different world, if he’d been a different man.
Laney stood near the crackling fire, her legs bare, the light shining through the thin cotton to illuminate her curves. She was so beautiful his gut hurt. Green eyes that hinted at Ireland, feminine features that whispered at fragility, and long legs meant to wrap around his hips all drew him forward. “Nate went to scout for more weapons and will be back shortly.”
Laney’s eyes widened. “Then what?”
“Then we run to wherever Shane is picking us up.” They’d probably have to fight their way there. “No matter what happens, you head for the coordinates and get on the helicopter.”
“Not without you.” She lifted her chin, intelligence sizzling in her eyes.
Yeah, she’d read him correctly. He’d sacrifice himself to save her. “I need you on the helicopter.”
“Then I suggest you be with me so I get on it.” While delicate, her chin held a dangerous amount of stubbornness.
An image of a little girl with his eyes and her chin flashed through Matt’s head, and he almost staggered with the need to have that life. To have that family. “I may not be able to have kids,” he said. Jesus. Why the hell had he said that? They didn’t have forever and sure as shit wouldn’t be planning to procreate.
Laney’s eyebrows lifted into her hairline. “Are you asking me to marry you or something?”
“No.” Hell, no. God.
Feminine knowledge glowed in her eyes and scared the shit out of him. She glided forward and slid her palms along his wet skin. A roaring filled his ears and urged him to take her down and bury himself in all that softness. To beg her to never leave him.
She tilted her head to meet his gaze. “Why not?”
His mind fizzed. “Why not what?”
“Why aren’t you asking me to marry you?” Those nimble fingers unlatched his belt.
He blink
ed. “Huh?”
“You love me, right?” She tugged his belt free.
His cock suddenly tried to punch through his zipper, and he bit back a wince. “What does marriage have to do with anything?”
She unsnapped his jeans. “Answer the question.”
Oh, he’d left her way too long in the cabin to think. She’d been thinking, obviously. “Yes, I love you. But love doesn’t change anything.”
She slowly, way too slowly, released his zipper. “You’re wrong. Love changes everything.”
“Why?” He held her upper arms, wrapping his fingers all the way around and being careful not to bruise.
“Because I love you, too.” She held absolutely still as she said the words.
His gut clenched, and his heart thrummed. Love. The real kind, and from Laney. His head spun. He didn’t deserve her, but the idea of losing her sliced through him like a sword.
“I know it’s quick, and it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but with who we are? Who we’ve lost? I love you, Matt. I’m keeping you.” She smiled, and the world narrowed in focus. “I always figured somebody was meant for me, and when I found him, I’d know it. The second I saw you in the alley, something in me recognized you.”
The woman had a frightening way with words that made sense to him. Probably just to him. Adrenaline roared, forcing a primal need to claim her in the most fundamental way. He wanted to imprint himself so deep inside her, he’d always be there. They didn’t have forever. They might not even have past the hour. But he wanted her to remember him until her last breath, and if he had his way, she’d live for decades after this. She ran her fingers along his cock, and his attention snapped back to her. “You’re killing me.”
“Keeping you alive is one of my biggest goals right now,” she murmured, her voice husky.
“What are your other goals?”
“Getting you nude. Orgasming until we can’t see straight.” She stepped back and shoved his jeans down his legs. “Ohhh. Black boxers this time. You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”
Her speech was way too clear, while he could barely form a grunt. Enough of that. “You have no idea.” He reached for the hem of the flannel and tugged the material over her head. “Why don’t I show you?”