Line of Fire by Cindy Dees Page B

hope.”
    Kimberly flung herself around his neck. “Oh, thank you, Tex.” She planted a big, enthusiastic kiss on his mouth.
    Hell, for a thanks like that, he ought to spare bad guys’ lives more often. He tied and gagged the soldier quickly, securing the guy’s hands around a rough barked tree. If the fellow rubbed the ropes on the tree for long enough, the cord would fray and he’d get loose. If not…Tex shrugged.
    “Come on,” he growled. “Let’s get back under cover.”
    Fortunately, Kimberly didn’t give him any more flack. He trussed up the unconscious soldier in resigned silence and then led her back to their shelter. He paused outside the entrance. “Tell me the God’s honest truth, Kimberly. Are you saying you believe me about being kidnapped because you wanted to save that guy’s neck or because you do accept that, in fact, you were kidnapped?”
    She stared up at him for a long time. She whispered, “You were really going to kill that soldier, weren’t you?”
    He nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely. I can’t believe I let you talk me out of it.”
    “If I had any doubts about it being real before, I don’t anymore.” She collapsed onto the nearest log and buried her face in her hands.
    He sat down beside her, at a loss as to how to comfort her. He rarely hung around women. Especially crying ones. “Nothing’s changed. I’m still going to get you out of this safely. It’ll all turn out fine and you’ll have a story to tell your grandkids.”
    She glanced up at him, her eyes suspiciously watery. “If only you could wave a magic wand and make it all stop!”
    “I will make it stop, darlin’. You just have to bear with me for a few days. We’ll be okay. I swear.”
    “Cross your heart and hope to die?” she asked in a small voice.
    “There’ll be no dying here,” he replied firmly. “How about if I swear on a stack of bibles instead?”
    She took a deep breath and nodded, a hesitant grant of trust.
    Relief made his knees go weak for a moment. Now maybe they actually had a snowball’s chance of surviving. Worry for her safety slammed into him like a runaway train. A visceral need to protect her flowed through his veins. Damn. His reaction was a whole lot stronger than mere professional concern.
    He stared down at her in the dark. Violent desire to make love with her shuddered through him. So much fire blazed in her. She’d burn the night down around them if she ever turned it loose.
    I’m going to make you admit that kissing me completely blew you away. Her challenge swirled around him, more of a threat than she knew.
    Except he’d met her type before. They’d wrap a guy around their little finger, wring the very guts out of him, then toss him away like an old rag. He’d been down that road before and learned his lesson. He had no interest whatsoever in being the next conquest in Kimberly Stanton’s string of toy-boys.
    Yeah, he’d liked that kiss. Hell, it tied him in knots just to think about it. But that didn’t mean he was going back for more. He could do without the strings attached, thank you very much.
    His gaze dropped to the expanse of creamy skin she’d revealed by stripping off her sweater. Her flesh glowed in the filtered darkness that enveloped them. His hands ached to stroke that satiny smoothness. Beneath his scrutiny, abrupt awareness of his attention visibly thrummed through her and goose bumps raised on her skin.
    The night air suddenly felt overwarm. He spoke as much to distract himself as her from the heavy tension hanging between them. “I said I’d get you out of this alive and well, and I will.”
    The tension gradually drained from her and she sagged against him for a moment. She lifted her head and spit grass out of her mouth. “What in the world have you done to yourself? You’re covered in mud and grass!”
    He grinned. “Like my camouflage?”
    “No! It’s hideous.”
    He laughed. “But it’s the latest in haute jungle