Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (21 page)

No one tried to stop her, which was good because she would have attacked them with everything she had. She cleared the barricade and raced for the truck, catching sight of Gage’s face in the driver’s window. He was watching her, tracking her progress. Hard footfalls behind her told her Hunter was there. She ran for that open door and dove into it. Her palms and knees met leather. Strong hands grabbed her hips and shoved her forward across the seat. The door slammed shut, the tires squealed as Gage hit the gas. The weight of Hunter’s arm across her back was both protective and reassuring.

Out. They were out. Safe.

And Aisha’s father was still dead.

Her system finally hit overload. Cheek pressed tight against the leather seat, Khalia curled into a ball and dissolved into sobs.

Chapter Fourteen

Motherfucking
hell
.

Hunter kept a hand braced on Khalia’s back as Gage took a sharp right and floored it. He anchored her to stop her from sliding across the seat, felt her shuddering with the force of her sobs. Those heartbroken sounds cut straight through him, all the more unbearable because she was trying so hard to hold them back.

Ah,
shit
.
Just…shit.
With Gage in the vehicle they had no privacy but he couldn’t take watching her hurt like this. Hunter rubbed a soothing hand over her back in a gentle circle, not knowing what to say. There was nothing he
could
say to make this any easier on her.

At his touch she curled further into herself and turned her face away, burying it in her arms to hide from him, as though ashamed of him seeing her crying. Something sharp twisted in his chest and a burning pressure took hold of his lungs.

Wedging his hip close to hers, he slid his hands beneath her shoulders and pulled her upward. She resisted, flinging one arm out and attempting to scuttle away from him.

“No, c’mere,” he said softly, ignoring her wordless struggle. Those little hitching gasps were killing him.

He drew her up and dragged her straight into his lap, her legs resting along the seat. Khalia immediately brought her knees up and curled into him, sliding her arms around his back to grip fistfuls of his shirt, her face jammed into his shoulder. Biting back a curse, he wrapped one arm around her ribs and buried his other hand in her hair to hold her close. He might not be able to make it go away, but he could at least hold her and let her know she wasn’t alone. Pressing his cheek against her hair he sighed deeply, having no clue what else he could do for her except get her on the first flight out in the morning.

Up front he heard Gage talking to someone on the phone, probably Tom. “We’re on our way back.” A pause. “Hunt, any injuries?”

“Negative.” At least, not physical ones. The kind they could actually do something about.

“They’re good,” Gage said. Then, with a bite to his tone, “No, Hunt’s busy right now. He’ll have to call you back.”

Hunter appreciated Gage’s discernment. Tom was likely climbing the walls right now, wanting Intel and answers, but Hunter didn’t give a fuck. Khalia had reached her limit and his only priority at the moment was taking care of her. Let the police and ISI work on this case for a while. They were the ones who’d fucked everything up anyway.

Khalia took a shuddering breath and held on, still cuddled into him like a terrified kitten. It hurt him to see her so scared and broken. A few days ago he would have put some space between them. He’d have put her in her own seat and buckled her in it, then left her to cry it out alone.

There was no way he could do any of that now. He held her tighter instead.

Maybe it made him a selfish bastard, but he didn’t want to let her go. Couldn’t. Not while she so clearly needed him. He was still jacked up from the adrenaline rush and holding a soft, trusting woman while coming down from that high was a hell of a lot better than anything else he’d ever tried. Because it was Khalia in his arms only made it a thousand times better. Though he was the one holding her, the truth was she eased him as much as he eased her.

The interior of the vehicle was silent except for the hum of the engine and the little gasping sighs Khalia made as her tears faded. He didn’t let go of her or ease the pressure of his hold, savoring this chance to have her wrapped up in his arms. She felt so soft and fragile and she smelled good despite the sweat drying on her skin. She wasn’t for him, Hunter understood that because they lived in different worlds, but being able to hold her like this when she was down and defenseless made him ache for something more. For him, actions spoke way louder than words. He’d seen firsthand how caring and dedicated she was. Tonight she’d showed him the steely core inside her in the willingness to come to Peshawar, then the ability to come through under pressure. She’d earned his undying admiration in the process.

Hunter pressed his face into her hair, breathed in the scent of her shampoo.
I’m right here, baby. I’ve got you.

This trip was going to change her forever no matter how much therapy she had, and he hated knowing that. Most of all he hated the thought of losing her forever once she boarded that plane a few hours from now.

Khalia seemed to droop against him. Eventually her choppy breaths evened out, growing slow and deep, and her body turned lax against him as exhaustion took its toll. Hunter eased her into a more comfortable position and leaned his head back against the head rest, expelling a long breath.

“She out?” Gage asked quietly a moment later.

“Yeah.” And for that he was grateful. She needed the rest and he needed the reprieve to figure out what the hell to do about her.

He’d never been good with emotional stuff, and that was doubly true for when it involved a woman. He just didn’t speak the language. It was easier for him to just lock it all in a box and walk away rather than wade through all that shit. Being in touch with his softer side was Gage’s gift, not his, and right now Hunter was envious of that ability. Somehow Gage knew how to put people at ease and understood how to comfort a woman. Ironic how those same qualities hadn’t done him much good in his personal life, wasn’t it?

Hunter closed his eyes and focused on the feel of Khalia draped against him. Gage should been the one back here with her. He’d know what to do, what to say when she woke. But then Hunter would have to rip the fucker’s throat out for getting to hold her like this.

“For a homemade bomb, that was one hell of an explosion,” Gage commented, his voice just loud enough to carry back to Hunter.

He grunted and glanced down to make sure Khalia was actually sleeping before he answered. Her lashes were wet and clumped together, silvery trails streaking her cheeks. He wanted to wipe them away but was afraid to wake her. “They called her cell phone.”

He caught Gage’s frown in the rearview mirror. “They trace it via cell tower?”

“Maybe. Or they could’ve hacked into Titanium’s database. Guy behind this is pretty damn bright, and he sent the initial e-mail through the site.”

“Or they might have help in the ISI or someone else in the government,” Gage murmured.

Yeah, or that. And of all the possible scenarios, that scared him the most. If the ISI was involved on some level, who the hell knew how far the corruption went up the government chain of command? “The caller blamed the explosion on her for reporting the address to the police, then offed the hostage with a knife while she was listening.” He’d never forget that look on her face—utter devastation. She’d blamed herself for that death and there was nothing Hunter or anyone else could say to convince her otherwise.

Gage’s frown morphed into an incensed scowl. “You destroy the phone?”

Hunter nodded. “Victim was Aisha’s father, the girl she was protecting at the school.” Gage swore under his breath. Hunter stroked a hand over the tangle of Khalia’s hair, feeling useless. She felt so much, cared too much. He had no idea how to help her through this. “Since I’ve got my hands full, will you call Tom for me?”

“You lucky bastard. Sure.” He connected to Tom using the hands-free device and gave him the update, keeping the call off speaker phone for Khalia’s sake. “He’s still busy,” Gage said a few moments later. “He’ll have to call you back when we get to Islamabad.”

Hunter half smiled at that because it was pretty damn funny to imagine the look on his boss’s face. Tom wasn’t used to being told no, about anything, let alone by one of his own guys. “Hey, ask him to arrange an earlier flight for Khalia when he gets a minute.” He’d feel better with a last minute change, in case anyone from the cell tried to track her and had somehow found out about her original flight.

Gage repeated it to Tom and responded a moment later with, “He says he’d be happy to.”

Like hell he had. Hunter grinned anyway. “So where’re we gonna stay now?” he asked when Gage ended the call. His second-in-command knew the city better than any of them.

“Well they definitely got our plate numbers, so depending on who’s involved with all this, we could have a big problem. How do you wanna handle it?”

“Let’s switch vehicles with the boys before we hit the city limits, then split up and stop at a few different hotels before we settle on one. You guys can ditch the trucks once you drop Khalia and me off. Have to get new wheels by morning.”

“Roger that.”

Khalia sighed in her sleep and shifted in his lap, setting off an inevitable reaction with his dick. He was keyed up, his body all too aware that she was the perfect release. He stayed still, tormented by the feel and scent of her, and she settled under again. “So how come you keep passing up being team leader?” he asked Gage a few minutes later. He knew Tom had approached him with the offer multiple times and he’d always turned it down.

Hunter watched in the rearview as Gage’s mouth curved in a sardonic smile. “Don’t want the responsibility that comes with that job, thanks. Guess I can’t kick my master sergeant days because I still like being the team dad too much to let it go. Though I gotta say, from where I’m sitting, the perks of being team leader look pretty fuckin’ good right about now.”

He smiled into Khalia’s hair, but it quickly faded. Time was running out to lock down this cell. There was a reckoning coming, and he wanted Khalia to be far away from here when it happened. And if he only had a few hours left with her, once they had some privacy he was going to make every last minute of them count.

* * *

Khalia stood beneath the spray of hot water from the showerhead, hands braced on the slick fiberglass wall, her forehead resting against the backs of her fingers. A little over two hours ago she’d survived yet another bombing then listened to the sound of an innocent man’s throat being slit. The same thing that had been done to her father, and maybe even by the same hands. Ever since his death she’d imagined a thousand times what he must have gone through, but hearing the real thing tonight across the phone line was too horrific to bear.

Blowing out a breath, she stretched the taut muscles in her neck. It was the middle of the night. She’d woken when the team had reached Islamabad to change vehicles, and after that it had been a blur of traffic and hotels as they searched for a safe place to stay. Hunter had checked them in and whisked her straight up to the room without saying anything to her.

There were no more tears to be shed. She’d cried them out in painful bursts on the drive back before crashing in Hunter’s lap. Now she just felt hollow and alone.

She let the water beat down on her shoulders and neck, grateful for the warmth, grateful for being alive yet feeling guilty because of it. Hunter was out there in the room right now, conferencing with Tom and the rest of the team. She was done. There was nothing more to say now and the last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone, even Hunter. No matter what anyone said, Aisha’s father had died because of her tonight.

She swallowed hard. It didn’t matter that Khalia had risked her life by going to Peshawar with Hunter or that they’d tried their best to meet the deadline. It didn’t even matter that the police were the ones who had screwed up and triggered the bombing. The end result was the same. And now Aisha was left to suffer the same grief Khalia had gone through just weeks before. Only worse, because while Khalia’s father had left part of his estate to her, Aisha and her family faced a long winter in that harsh valley with their primary—and maybe only—source of income gone. Giving them money might stave off starvation for a time, but it wouldn’t fill this new hole in their lives. She didn’t know how else to help them.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced herself to take a steadying breath. The shower door clicked open behind her.

She straightened with a gasp, immediately covering herself with her arms. Hunter stood in the opening, stark naked. He was staring right into her eyes, and his taut expression made her breath catch.

Before she could move he stepped inside and shut the door behind him without breaking eye contact, taking up all the remaining space in the enclosure. His heated gaze broke from hers to trail down her naked body, past her arms crossed over her breasts and down to her ass. When he dragged his eyes back to her face and she saw the molten hunger burning there, a sudden yearning roared to life inside her, so strong she turned and wound her arms around him. He caught her to him in a fierce hug, burying his face in her wet hair.

Khalia held on and concentrated on breathing through the sudden bombardment of sensation. He was hot, hard. It was as if her body was starved for his touch, every nerve ending in her skin suddenly hypersensitive. He was so strong. With every inhalation she breathed in more of that soapy, lemony scent that clung to him. The feel of those steely arms around her, holding her close to his powerful chest, made her feel safe and cherished. But the way he held her made it clear he needed her just as badly.

This wasn’t just physical, not for either of them. She felt his emotional response to her as clearly as if it were her own. Every touch, every nuzzle was loaded with a need and tenderness that made her throat tighten.

Tangling her fingers in his wet hair, she tilted her face up and sought his mouth with hers. His hands clenched in her curls as he kissed her, sliding his tongue inside the moment she opened for him. The kiss was hungry and desperate yet she could feel the gentleness in him, the most primal part of him held back. His big body thrummed with tension, his muscles locked tight. She rubbed against him, gasped at the sensation of her nipples rubbing against his naked chest. She wanted him to let go and give her everything, melt the freezing core of ice inside her.