He gestured for Katie to lead the way back. Or more accurately, he took the rear guard position that put his body between her and the most likely direction gunfire would come from. The hike back to their hidey-hole seemed to take forever. Maybe it was because his shoulder blades kept anticipating a bullet between them. Or maybe it was because hed gotten no sleep last night. Or maybe it was because he was more than half convinced the two of them werent going to make it out of this damned valley alive.
* * *
GLANCING FURTIVELY AROUND the mobile command post to make sure no one was close enough to overhear him, Mike McCloud pinged Alex Peterss satellite phone and scribbled down the current GPS coordinates on a scrap of paper. As soon as he had it memorized, he would destroy it.
Hey, Mikey, someone said behind him. He forced himself not to whirl around guiltily and greeted the uniformed soldier casually. He checked his watch. Too late to set out tonight. But tomorrow hed track down Peters and his little sister and set up surveillance on the mysterious doctor.
Why in the hell a man with a past like Alex Peters would wander out here to deliver babiesas if it was actually some sort of humanitarian calling for the brilliant bastardwas anybodys guess. Maybe Katie, whod been sent in to live with the bastard, would catch wind of what Peters was really up to at the end of the world.
But in the meantime, hed be damned if he was letting his baby sister get hurt on his watch.
CHAPTER TWO
AFTER THE FIGHT to save the girl, something changed between her and Alex. But she had no idea what, exactly, it was. He watched her more than before. Studied her, even. He still didnt talk much, but his interest was tangible. Had he finally figured out she was a reasonably attractive person of the female persuasion, or was he merely observing her like bacteria growing in a petri dish?
The next few days settled into a pattern for Katie. Haul water up from the river. Haul supplies up from the Land Rover. Sleep. Eat. Attempt to wash herself, her hair, her clothes. And at night, help deliver babies. Women came from all over the valley to have them. Most times, they brought someone with thema mother or sister or cousin.
Alex taught the companions all he could about the basics of childbirth and safe aftercare while Katie translated for him. She got good enough at the speech that she could do it without prompting from him.
She slept mornings and evenings, and he slept most of each day, which left her at loose ends to entertain herself much of the time. She had a fully charged tablet reader shed loaded up with books before shed come up there. The battery was supposed to last several weeks, but at the rate she was using it, the charge would run out in a week. She dreaded not knowing what she would do to keep herself from going stir-crazy then. Never in her life had she been anywhere this completely disconnected from...everything. No television, no internet, no phones, no electricity, no people. It was just her and Alex. The last two people on earth until some laboring woman crept to their door. No wonder Adam and Eve had been tempted. Sheer boredom would have driven them to having sex if the serpent hadnt tricked them. Goodness knew, her own mind was wandering in that direction more frequently than shed like. It was hard not to think about sex with a man as hot as Alex living in such close proximity.
That flash of fire shed seen in him when hed fought off death and saved that girl and her baby riveted her. She was a little ashamed to admit to herself that shed taken to teasing him. She went out of her way to brush close to him, to incidentally touch him now and then. But he remained frustratingly unresponsive in the face of her broad hints. The man was a machine of self-control. Frankly, it made her a little crazy. Just once, shed love to see him let go and show her that passion again.
Sometimes, she watched Alex sleep. His face looked completely different then. Relaxed and open, his features were handsome. More striking than ever. His hair was coffee-colored, hovering between brown and black, and his skin retained a hint of a tan.
Must be nice. She had two skin colors: porcelain white and lobster red, the latter achievable by either unfortunate sun exposure or the ever-popular see who can make Katie blush the worst game. If she was really careful, summertime yielded enough freckles close enough together that, from a distance, she could pass for a little tan. But that was as good as it got.
Parked on the camp stool, she planted her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands to study Alex Peters, M.D. She guessed he was around thirty. Although his eyes sometimes looked like hed lived hard for that age. What was his story? Mike hadnt told her much. And shed been so desperate to get out of the wreck of her love life and move on to a fresh new start that shed let her brother talk her into coming halfway around the worldliterallywith a total stranger.
Alex Peters remained a mystery to her. Why would a guy like him shift from math to medicine? Where was he from? What was his family like? Did he have any hobbies? What kind of women did he prefer? What kind of sex?
She started as his eyes opened without warning; his gaze drilled into her like a silver laser. Is there a problem? he rasped. His voice was husky with sleep and so sexy her toes curled in her clunky hiking boots.
Nope, she answered cheerfully to hide her embarrassment at being caught staring at him. She hastily opened her tablet reader and turned it on.
You were looking at me.
She looked up innocently. Not a chance she could lie her way out of it. Hed caught her red-handed. So instead, she took the direct route. I wasnt aware thats a crime.
He took his arms out of his sleeping bag and linked his fingers behind his head. His naked arms. The upper reaches of his bare chest peeked out of the nylon shell. A sprinkling of dark hair was visible on it. And muscles. Lots and lots of mature-man muscles that, truth be told, she found intimidating. The guys shed dated had been college types or recent grads who still acted and looked like students. She revised her opinion of Alex from lean to deceptively muscular. The guy must wear a tuxedo like a god.
Youre staring again, he announced.
Its rude of you to point it out, she retorted. Ladies are allowed to look.
Are gentlemen allowed also?
If she didnt know better, shed say the doctor geek was flirting. Would wonders never cease? She fanned the tiny flame carefully by flirting back slightly. Hello? Its expected that guys will check us out. Why else would we girls go to so much trouble to look so good?
I havent gotten the impression that youre a big primper.
Thats because theres no power outlet for my blow-dryer, and the wind makes my eyes water too much to keep on eye makeup long enough to make it worthwhile.
You brought a blow-dryer out here? he blurted. He had the bad grace to burst into laughter.
She scowled at his amusement. Hey, I brought power converters. In my world, primitive camping is a motel instead of a Marriott. Nobody told me there would be no electricity at all in this godforsaken place. I was under the impression there would be, oh, I dont know, walls and a roof for us.
You dont need to primp. Youre fine the way you are, he replied.
Hark, a compliment out of the good doctor! Apology accepted, she replied magnanimously.
Hark, a compliment out of the good doctor! Apology accepted, she replied magnanimously.
He blinked, startled, like he hadnt meant it that way. The man might be as hot as a god, and he might be smart as a whip, but he had a lot to learn about women. He reached for his sleeping bags zipper, and she turned away hastily. Who knew how far down his nakedness extended? Shed already figured out that, as a doctor, he wasnt tremendously inhibited about the human body.
She asked over her shoulder, So, does your Spidey sense say were going to get a lot of business tonight?
No. Well get the night off.
She turned in surprise Whoops. He was just pulling jeans over spandex biker-short things. Okay, then. The deceptively muscular thing extended to his legs and ass, too. She silently dubbed him Gluteus Aleximus.
He glanced up, caught her staring and broke into a grin so hot her eyelashes singed. Like what you see?
Uhhh...shrmph...wuh...hwa...sure, she managed to get out.
His grin widened.
Jerk. Hed embarrassed her on purpose. Oh, two could play that game. She hadnt grown up with a houseful of brothers for nothing. She could give as well as she got when it came to practical jokes.
While she pondered revenge, she busied herself heating up the little propane hot plate and scrambling the eggs someone had brought last night. She and Alex were frequently paid in bread, jugs of yak milk and these oversize eggs she hadnt had the courage to ask the source of. Geese, maybe? Or something weirder?
Chickens. In her world, every egg came from a chicken, and she was sticking with that mental image. Shed tried to explain to the local women that Doctors Unlimited was paying the two of them, but that didnt stop their patients from showing their gratitude.
So, Doc. Why do you think there wont be any babies tonight?
He glanced up from the bucket, where he was washing his hands. I listened to the radio while you were sleeping. A rebel force is moving into the area.
Again? she complained. I swear, its like theyre following us!
Noticed that, did you? he asked drily.
She did a double take. Seriously? They were being tracked somehow? The thought chilled her to her bones. Why would somebody track us? she blurted.
Thats a damned good question, he bit out.
She recoiled from the tight fury in his voice. Did he think the rebels were chasing him? Why? What was the big mystery around him, anyway? The six-hundred-pound gorilla in the corner of the tent was why her intelSpecial Forces brother had asked her to come out here with Alex in the first place. Surely she was not the only person in the entire United States who spoke Zaghastani. And why did Mike drop that cryptic comment as he dropped her off at the airport to keep an eye on Peters and see if she noticed anything odd about him or why he was heading out to Zaghastan to deliver babies? Only odd thing so far was that the guy seemed totally immune to her general hotness and willingness to let him jump her bones.
Alex circled back to the original conversation. If fighting breaks out between the rebels and the locals, any women in labor tonight will stay home.
I dunno, she responded. These women are already braving pretty dangerous obstacles to get to you. I doubt a little gunfire will slow them down.
The rebels are well armed and violent. When they come, theyll crush everything in their path.
Yeah. Like the two of us. She shook her head, unconvinced, and declared, Ill bet you five bucks we deliver a baby tonight.
The effect of her challenge on Alex was shocking. He went utterly still, and she thought she saw a shudder pass through him. From this angle, it looked as if he actually paled. The tension abruptly emanating from him was terrible in its intensity.
She was on the verge of asking him if he was okay when he turned abruptly. His gaze was hooded. Dark. And his entire being was suddenly sharply, dangerously alive. It was as if shed woken a sleeping tiger. And now the beast was not only awake, but he was hungry...and on the hunt.
Shall we make the wager a little more interesting? he purred. The sexual energy in his voice raked across her skin like claws.
Whoa. She asked cautiously, What did you have in mind?
What do you like best in all the world? he asked.
Ice cream, she answered promptly. It was the first thing that came to mind.
Better than sex? He sounded skeptical.
She shrugged. I stand by my answer.
He replied huskily, Then you havent had good sex.
The promise of just that was thick in his throat. She didnt dare let her gaze stray south to see if he was as turned on as she was, all of a sudden.
I think we have the terms of our bet then. Her gaze snapped to him as he prowled across the tiny space to less than arms length from her. If you win, we have a date to eat ice cream together. If I win... His mouth curved up in a smile that was pure sin.
Her jaw dropped. No way!
His heavy lids might hide the fire blazing in his eyes, but they in no way diminished it. A woman daring enough to travel halfway across the world, to brave a war zone and death threats, living alone in the wilds with a stranger... He shrugged. I thought you were...more.
More what? her brain shouted. More than average? More than a nice little schoolteacher? More than a desperate wannabe in a family of adventurers and warriors? More than a fraud?
Stung, her gaze narrowed and she glared at him. She thrust her hand out truculently. He stared down at it uncomprehendingly.
Are we shaking on the bet or not? she demanded.
His gaze lifted to hers, and if it had been hot before, it was an inferno now. Never breaking eye contact with her, he reached out slowly with his right hand and grasped hers. Heat built between their palms that scalded her all the way up her arm and down to her core. His fingers were strong. Capable. Shed watched that hand perform miracles. And right now, it claimed her fingers possessively, promising heretofore unimagined sensual delights.
His grip finally fell away and he broke the stare, turning away from her sharply. His rib cage lifted once short and hard. At least he wasnt entirely unaffected. As for her, she was panting like a dog in a sauna.
Holy crap, I just agreed to have sex with him. What on earth had she been thinking? Shed known since she was about seven years old not to let boys goad her into accepting dares. Hed just manipulated her like a master, damn him.
Of course, if she was lucky, shed win the bet and get an ice-cream sundae out of the deal. That was the lucky outcome...right?
* * *
ALEX STRETCHED OUT on the cot in the corner. Hed turned down the lantern hanging over the bed, intentionally wreathing himself in dark shadows. It was easier to watch Katie that way. She was pretending to readshe hadnt advanced the screen on her e-reader for ten minutes.
Shed been as nervous as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs and squirt guns ever since theyd made their bet. It was highly entertaining watching her alternate between wishing to win the bet and wishing to lose. Her face was a constantly changing mosaic of emotions ranging from chagrin to suspicion that hed set her upwhich he had, blatantlyto reluctant lust and back to chagrin.
If he were going to lie to himself, hed say hed made the bet with her to relieve the boredom and distract her from the building danger. To add a little spice to an otherwise tedious and miserable assignment. But the truth was he found her fascinating. She was such a girlie girl. But more compelling was how she reminded him of a shiny new penny that had never been nicked or tarnished. What must it be like to never have had anything bad happen in ones life? To be good. The concept was completely beyond his comprehension.