“Every step,” he said to her as they boarded the little plane, “goes from being us versus them to just you and me.” He seemed to be thrilled at the prospect of less danger. Going from a hard-edged warrior to a man who wanted to do nothing more than curl up around her. He doted on her and held her hand in a way that was less meant for comfort and more so meant to appear as a man in love.

It eased her fears as they made their way to their seats. She buckled herself in as he stowed their little belongings into the overhead storage. Somehow, they managed to get on board without being searched. She wasn’t sure how he managed that, but it was something he had to have done. “After Brazil, what is the plan?”

“I think finding a nice private beach.” He sat down next to her, leaning in close to whisper to her. He had a sexy grin pulling at his lips. “And finding all sorts of interesting places that sand can get in and whether sex on the beach should be just a drink.”

That drew a laugh from her. This banter amused her. He didn’t seem to have to make much effort to draw laughter from her. “You are back to sex again.”

“You enjoyed it before.” He shrugged and leaned back into his seat, buckling up and preparing for take-off. He had a slight pout now, as if she were being serious and could somehow resist his sexual appeal.

“Oh, I did enjoy it.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I am sure I will enjoy it when we are able to celebrate that we are getting away with our lives. But after all of that . . .” She looked up at him because she had her doubts. “After that, will we be safe? Are we safe now in the air?”

He frowned lightly, resting his cheek against her hair and taking up her hand. She thought he seemed to enjoy holding it quite a bit. “Not totally,” he admitted as he seemed to distract himself with the lines of her palm.

“To some degree, we’ll be hunted for a long time. Unless we can manage to find asylum somewhere. Russia would be the place to go for that because they like putting pressure on our government, but it would come at a cost.” He sighed and relaxed against her. “I don’t think I would want you to pay it, much less risk the chance of them deciding to turn you in as a bargaining chip instead. I know I don’t like the idea.” He brought her hand to his mouth and placed a light kiss against her palm.

“I would rather us not take that chance to begin with,” she said lightly without even bothering to consider it as an option. “I had no desire to give them information the first time I was seduced into it. I am sure that I have no information I want to give them this time around. I cannot imagine what they think I have that would be useful.”

“How did that happen?” He sounded curious as he continued to entertain himself with mapping out her hand. His fingers seemed to take measurement of each her fingers. She was so distracted she wasn’t even aware of what he was doing.

“A date gone wrong. I assumed that it was a date but it was not,” she said lightly as she thought back to it. There was no reason to make a joke of what had led her to being in this situation. But when the attractive man first approached her, she couldn’t turn him down when he invited her out.

“I was drugged with something that caused me to answer questions without wanting to.” She frowned as she considered it. “There are drugs like GHB or Rohypnol that can influence the exposed person’s inhibitions.” She didn’t look at him, not prepared for his judgement. “I have no recollection of what I was asked. I experienced days of nausea and extreme holes in my memory. I feared that I had been raped, so I went to the hospital to find that he had not raped my body, just my mind.”

“It’s possible that’s what was used,” he murmured, and she felt his lips brush her temple, trying to offer her comfort.

“My going to the hospital had alerted my superiors, and it became apparent that my lifestyle choices had made me a liability.” She stared ahead at the seat in front of her. Her stomach lurched as the plane began to roll along the runway.

“I suppose if it had not happened, there would be little chance of me meeting you again.” She frowned as she considered it. “I suppose there is something to the situation that has made this bearable.”

He laughed, trying to ease the mood, it seemed, and cupped her cheek. “That’s a silver lining I can get behind.” He turned her so he could catch her mouth. They kissed to the point where she was ready to climb into his lap and seek comfort and pleasure in his embrace.

“What do you want to happen from here?” he asked, and she saw uncertainty in his gaze now. Surely, this strong, handsome man could tell where this would go. Why did he look afraid now?

She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. “To be safe.” She reached forward to curl her fingers through his short hair. “To find peace where the two of us can focus on each other without danger.”

“I want that.” He sighed and pressed his brow to hers. “I want that more than anything right now.”

“Perhaps we can find that,” she murmured. “Perhaps Brazil will be where we can safely hide and focus on learning more about one another.”

“Whatever happens,” he assured her, “I will be right beside you to keep you safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Just having you beside me is enough for me to feel safe,” she breathed, wishing that they were anywhere but on a plane for the next four hours. They were safe up in the air. They had left all of their enemies at the United States border. Or so she hoped.