Merline Lovelace - Course of Action - The Rescue - Jaguar Night / Amazon Gold

“Yeah. He’s the one that called and asked me to try to find and rescue you. Are you ready?”

Her heart melted over his low, husky words. Her father had come to her rescue! Tears jammed into her eyes. She couldn’t cry now. “I’m ready,” she said firmly.

“Grab my belt.”

Aly wasn’t prepared in any way for this cross-country trotting. Yes, she had NVGs and she could see where the Marine was heading, where the roots were sticking out of the ground, but very quickly, she was gasping for air. She felt horrible. Felt frightened. The Marine slowed to a stop.

She leaned over, hands on her knees, gasping. She felt his hand against her back and he leaned down near her.

“What’s going on with your breathing, Ms. Landon?”

She straightened, unconsciously touching her swollen throat. “Are you familiar with medicine, Sergeant?”

“Yes, ma’am, just a little.”

She heard slight amusement in his voice. “Yesterday afternoon Duarte suddenly grabbed me by the throat.” She closed her eyes, feeling helpless. “I—I couldn’t stop him. When I tried to get his hand off my throat, Rusak, his security chief, grabbed my wrists and pulled them above my head and held me there. I lost consciousness...” She trembled in memory of it.

“Okay,” he breathed softly, “let’s take a moment to rest. I’m going to examine your throat. I’m not going to hurt you....”

Aly was breathing poorly and she knew it. The moment his large fingers moved gently across her throat, she relaxed. He was a man, but he wasn’t hurting her. Aly could feel him assessing the swelling. Finally his hand dropped away.

“I’d like to kill that son of a bitch,” he growled. He dug into one of the pockets on his harness. “I need you to take these two ibuprofen. They’ll help to reduce the swelling, which will start opening up your windpipe so you can breathe easier.”

Aly took the two white capsules. “Thanks,” she whispered. God, why did she have to sound as though she was on the verge of tears? Because she was. The Marine had been so gentle with his examination of her throat. She wanted more of his touch because he made her feel safe in a world that wasn’t.

“Take my water tube,” he told her, turning, his arm against her shoulder, holding the tube out to her.

Aly took the capsules one at a time. It hurt so damn much to swallow. But she did it, drank a lot of water and didn’t complain. She could feel Patterson watching her. Monitoring her. “What time is it?”

“Zero five hundred. Sorry, 5:00 a.m. to you civilian types,” he teased.

She smiled a little. “Sergeant, I’m a military brat. I know Zulu time. I’m pretty familiar with military lingo, okay?” She looked up and saw his white teeth against his painted skin. Warmth flowed through her, calming her. Taking away some of the adrenaline burning through her bloodstream, making all her senses even more alive than normal.

“Yes, ma’am,” he drawled.

“Call me Aly. I hate military formality.”

He chuckled as he tucked the tube back underneath his epaulet. “Fair enough...Aly.”

“Can I call you...? What?”

“Josh will do. You ready, Aly?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

This time Aly was determined not to slow down as much. Within twenty minutes her airway had improved. She wasn’t in the world’s best shape, but she kept up with his slow trot, the leaves sometime swatting at her. Josh seemed to know where he was going. Every time she thought about Duarte and Rusak, terror sizzled through her, made her want to keep up with the pace Josh had set for them. She had no idea how long they’d run but she suddenly realized there was grayness to the misty-looking sky. Her breath was coming in harsh gasps; her lungs burned with exertion and her leg muscles ached, as well.

“Let’s take a break,” Josh told her, slowing as he pushed the NVGs up on the rail system of his helmet. His eyes adjusted rapidly; they could push on without the goggles. He turned. “Remove your NVGs. You don’t need them anymore.”

He watched her hands tremble as she slowly eased them off her eyes. Josh got his first good look at Aly Landon. The left side of her face was bruised and swollen. And then, there were deep purple bruise marks around her throat. Rage moved through him. She looked lost. Like someone who had been abandoned by the world, her eyes huge and dark blue as she lifted her head and met his gaze.

Josh felt his heart do more than twinge when Aly looked soulfully up into his eyes. He saw terror, pain and hurt in them. As his gaze dropped from her long nose to the shape of her opened lips, he felt his lower body tighten. Groaning inwardly, Josh wanted to roll his eyes and swear. God, her lips were...well...world-class. The lower lip was naturally a pout, her upper lip softly bow-shaped, a little less full. The corners of her mouth were deep and curved upward. He bet she had dimples when she smiled or laughed. But she was doing neither right now. The sheen of perspiration made her face glisten in the early morning light. Tendrils of ginger-colored hair curled at her temples from the high humidity. Her brows were thin and arched; a frame to emphasize those long lashes that held those amazing marine-blue eyes of hers. Yeah, she was soft-looking, all right. But Josh reminded himself of his image of her when she was twelve, terribly injured, critical, but fighting her way back.

“How’s the breathing now?” he asked, pulling out a protein bar and handing it to her.

“Thanks.... Better.”

“You weren’t rasping as much,” he observed, quickly eating his bar, looking around, his ears keyed to any sounds out of the ordinary.

“How far have we come?”

“Five miles. Not enough.” If he’d been alone, he’d be twelve miles away, but he said nothing. She felt bad enough, beaten up, her life threatened continually.

Aly chewed little bits of the bar, unable to swallow hardly anything, but she knew she had to get energy back into her body. There was no way she was ever going back to Duarte’s villa. She’d die first.

“How far should we be?” She looked up at him, thinking the camouflage paint hid his face to a degree. Aly wondered what Josh Patterson looked like without it. Despite his size, his large hands, he had a gentle touch with her. And he tried to not sound gruff to her, she realized. It spoke of his sensitivity and she desperately needed someone who wouldn’t batter her any more in any way.

“A ways more,” Josh replied, finishing his bar. He noticed she winced every time she swallowed a little bit of hers. His hand moved into a fist and he relaxed it. Those bastards. Anger threaded through him. A part of him wanted to hide her, to go back and find those who had hurt her and put them out of their misery. Permanently. It was wishful thinking.

As he watched her eat, the way her lips moved, he could feel himself growing hard. Not what he’d expected. But there it was. Aly wasn’t model-beautiful but she had a natural beauty that appealed strongly to him. And more than anything, she wasn’t a whiner. In fact, Josh knew she’d be the last person to tell him she was hurting. Life had toughened her up early because she’d lost her mother at twelve. Josh couldn’t imagine losing his mother at that age. Mothers were damned important because not only were they nurturers, they were protectors; they made their children feel safe.

Had Aly Landon ever felt safe since she lost her mother?

“How are you doing?” he prompted, holding her shadowed gaze. She was taking mincing bites. She needed to eat the whole thing, but they didn’t have that kind of time. Josh weighed leaving now or waiting for her to finish. That would be another ten minutes. A mile further in his mind; half a mile with her in tow.