Chapter Five
Peri sat in one of the chairs on the deck, her legs tucked up beneath her, munching on her sandwich.
Night had fallen, and she was enjoying listening to the night-time quiet and looking at the amazing sweep of stars that filled the sky. They were so breathtaking.
She wondered if Amber was looking up at the stars. Peri felt a spear of pain in her chest. The small thumb drive was a heavy weight in Peri’s pocket and she desperately wanted to know what was on it.
Beside her, Ronin sat quietly in his chair. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable. She liked that he didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with talk. He had this quiet core of steel she liked a lot.
“Thank you for helping me,” she said.
“No need to thank me. It’s my job.”
His job. Right. “I feel silly now that I spied on you and your friends.”
“When it comes to Silk Road, it makes sense not to trust.” In the faint light from the window, his eyes looked even darker than usual. “And like I told you, you shouldn’t trust me.”
He just felt the need to keep warning her off him. “Do you warn all women away?”
His mouth morphed into a scowl.
Hmm, Peri didn’t think many women called him on his dark moodiness. They were probably already scared off by the dangerous look on his face. But Peri was made of sterner stuff. She took another bite of her sandwich, chewed, and swallowed. “So you’re too big, bad, and dangerous?”
He sent her a sharp look and the scowl deepened.
Peri fought back a smile. “I grew up seeing some of the shadiest, most dangerous backstreets around the world.” Traveling to so many countries meant she’d had a few close shaves. “Sorry, but you aren’t big, bad, and dark, Ronin. You’re barely gray.”
He blinked.
“You fought for your country, and dedicated your life to protecting it. I don’t know what you did for the CIA, and I can see it scarred you, but you were fighting for the good guys.”
“Sometimes the good guys have to do bad things.”
The buried pain in his voice hurt her heart. “That doesn’t make you bad, though.”
They sat there in the darkness for a while, the quiet broken by some small animal rustling in the bushes nearby.
“Are you from Denver?” she asked.
“No.”
She stifled a sigh. Clearly, this was another topic that was closed to discussion.
“New York,” he said abruptly.
“Really? Do you have family there?”
“I have no idea. I was abandoned as a newborn in an alley. I was wrapped in a blanket and drug addicted.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. His tone was monotone, emotionless. “I’m sorry—”
“Nothing for you to be sorry about.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked a little surprised he was even talking at all. “It’s an ugly story and in the past.”
Except it wasn’t. Peri could tell it wasn’t.
He stood abruptly. “I want to do a lap of the cabin before we go to sleep.”
She sat up. “You think Silk Road could have followed us?”
“I doubt it. But I never take chances.”
Of course, he didn’t. He was the man doing security checks in the dark so others could sleep safely. She grabbed her pocket and felt the slight weight of the thumb drive in there.
Ronin reached out and touched her cheek. A featherlight touch. “Stay strong. Your sister left you a clue so we could find her.”
Throat tight, Peri nodded. He pulled back and for a second, she missed his touch. She felt such a pull toward this man. He was like a black hole—mysterious, dangerous, and inexorable.
“Goodnight, Peri.” He turned and disappeared into the darkness.
***
Peri woke with a start.
She almost rolled right off the narrow, single bed before she caught herself. The dark was thick and impenetrable, and it took her a second to remember where she was.
Gram’s cabin. Amber’s thumb drive. Ronin.
She heard another noise. A deep masculine growl. She sat up and reached under her pillow, pulling out the thumb drive. She stuck it in the waistband of her yoga leggings, since she was braless under her loose tank top and had no pockets. She climbed out of bed and heard a harsh sound from the neighboring bedroom.
She frowned. It sounded like Ronin was having a nightmare.
She tiptoed toward the other room, glad she knew the cabin layout in her head. When she reached the room, moonlight cast a glow over the double bed. Ronin was shirtless, thrashing under his light sleeping bag.
“No!” he called out. “Bastards.”
Peri moved closer to the bed, and wasn’t sure if she should touch him. She saw his muscles were bunched.
“Ronin—”
He leaped off the bed and took her down. It happened so fast and as her back hit the floorboards, the air rushed out of her. His heavy weight landed on top of her, pinning her to the floor.
She looked up and could just make out his glittering, wild eyes.
She sucked in a breath. “Ronin.” She tried to keep her voice calm. “It’s Peri.”
He froze. “Peri?”
“Yes. You were…dreaming.” Or having a hellacious nightmare.
Some of the tension drained out of him. “Peri.”
“That’s me.” She reached up and ran a hand over his dark hair. He kept it short, but what was there was thick and silky. “You’re okay now.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have come in here. I could have hurt you.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not scared of you.”
She felt his gaze move over her face. “You should be.”
Then he leaned down and shocked her by fusing his mouth to hers.
Oh. God. Heat flooded Peri and as her mouth parted, he plundered. The hot shock of his tongue thrust into her mouth—taking and tasting. A spear of heat shot through her and she stroked his tongue with hers.
Moaning, she slid her hands into his hair. His body felt so big and hard against hers. Oh, boy, the man could kiss. He did it with the same focused intensity he did everything else.
She pushed and they rolled across the floor until they hit the edge of the bed. Ronin groaned and they rolled again. Peri ended up on top and she dug her legs against his hips. She pressed her palms against his bare chest, feeling the heat of his taut skin and the hard muscles beneath.
He jerked and rolled her again. This time Peri found herself pinned by his body, his lean hips falling into the cradle of hers. A very hard cock covered only by soft gym shorts pressed between her legs. Peri moaned again, her nails digging into his scalp as she deepened the kiss. She wanted more, anything, everything.
A beeping sound broke through the fiery haze of need.
Ronin tore his mouth off hers with a curse. Then he jackknifed off her and snatched up his phone from the bedside table.
Peri sat up, pushing her hair back off her face, and trying to calm her out-of-control hormones. “What is it?”
He uttered another curse, staring at his phone. “When I did my walkaround earlier, I set up some small infrared cameras outside.”
Of course, he did. She guessed the soldier and agent could leave the service, but it never left him. “And?”
He yanked a shirt over his head and started pulling his shoes on. “Get some shoes on and make sure you have the drive.” He tilted his phone at her.
Peri instantly saw the converging colored blobs and her heart kicked against her ribs.
“There’s a team of seven moving in to surround the cabin. We have to go. Now.”
***
As soon as Ronin’s boots hit the ground, he reached up and helped Peri out of the window.
He pressed his mouth to her ear. “Stay quiet and head straight into the trees.” He gripped her hand and together they jogged from the cabin.
He had his Glock tucked in his waistband, but he was hoping they could use the cover of darkness to avoid their visitors. How the hell had Silk Road found them? There must have been a tracking device on his vehicle. He ground his teeth together. He should have checked.
But right now, he needed to focus on keeping Peri safe.
“What’s the plan?” she whispered.
“Get away from here. Then find a way back to Denver. Even if we can get back to my truck, they’ve likely already disabled it.”
“Can’t you get a message to Dec?”
“No signal. Silk Road is jamming it.”
Peri muttered some interesting curses under her breath and despite their situation, Ronin found himself fighting back a smile.
“There’s a climbable cliff face a little farther to the west,” she said. “It’s doable with no gear, if you know it.”
“And you know it.”
“Hell, yeah.” Her tone turned dry. “Although I’ve never tried it in my pajamas, with no bra on, in the dark.”
Ronin jerked to a halt. “You aren’t wearing a bra.” Images started running through his head.
“That’s the bit you heard?” There was humor in her voice. “Such a man.”
“I am a man.”
But the sounds of voices not too far away had him refocusing. He tugged her onward and picked up speed. Branches slapped at his face.
“Here,” she whispered.
The trees cleared and they reached a rocky ridge. In the moonlight, he saw the cliff face below them.
“There’s a huge diagonal crack that runs down it.” Peri crouched, the moonlight making her bare shoulders gleam. “There are lots of decent hand and footholds around it.”
Her tone had turned brisk and no-nonsense. Ronin knew he was seeing a glimpse of the climbing instructor and expedition guide.
“Take your time,” she added. “Test each grip. We don’t have gear, so there is no margin for error.”
“Got it.” He watched her lower one foot over the edge. “Peri?” When she looked up, he pressed a quick, firm kiss to her lips. “Be careful.”
She nodded and started climbing down. Ronin set his boot into a crack and followed.
They moved down carefully and steadily. He saw that Peri had relaxed a little. She was in her element and she’d probably forgotten about the people above searching for them. She moved with ease, and a sure athletic grace. Even in the dark, he could tell she was a hell of a climber.
Suddenly, voices sounded directly overhead.
“Fuck. Colston will have our asses.”
“They can’t have gone far.”
Ronin paused and looked up. He saw flashlights bobbing. Just a little below him, Peri froze. Damn, if the bastards looked straight down, they’d spot him and Peri.
He moved, climbing down to Peri’s level. He covered her body with his, offering what protection he could, and pressed her against the rock.
One flashlight arced downward, just a few feet from them. He heard Peri’s fast breathing.
“We’re fine,” he murmured against her ear. So many times he’d been hidden, waiting to see if he’d be discovered by the enemy. “Think of a situation that makes you feel good.”
“Kissing you.”
He stilled. Hell. “Something that won’t give me a hard on in a dangerous situation.”
A near-soundless giggle. Then she wiggled her butt.
Ronin nuzzled her neck. “Stop it. Time to get moving again, because they’re gone.”
“Gone?” She looked up. “Right. Bad guys are gone.”
He smiled. “Come on. Let’s get off this rock face.” He forced himself away from her body, telling himself that he didn’t miss the contact.
It took them a few more minutes to navigate down the rest of the cliff.
At the bottom, Peri dusted off her hands. “So, what now?”
“Can we get to a main road from here?” he asked.
She nodded. “We can get back to where we came in. It’s a short hike but you know it’s rough. We’ll have to go slowly.”
“Well, these bastards hiked in to surprise us…”
She perked up. “So they left vehicles somewhere.”
He nodded.
“Sneaky.” Her teeth were bright in the darkness. “I like it. I hope you can hotwire a car.”
They started off through the trees. “Standard secret agent skill.”
A startled laugh. “Did you just make a joke?”
“Maybe.” God, no other woman had ever made him want to smile so much before.
“I like you, Ronin Cooper.”
With that admission, she forged ahead. Ronin followed. He liked her too. And he had no idea what the hell he was going to do about it.