Healing Love: Saints Protection & Investigation (17 page)

He had filled his canteen with some water from the river and offered it to her to drink and wash off. She took a drink but hesitated when pouring the liquid over her hands. He looked at her quizzically.

Shaking her head, she giggled. “I know this sounds stupid, but after spending over twenty-four hours being soaked, I almost hate even getting my hands wet again.”

He chuckled his agreement, happy to hear her laughing. Standing, he held out his sticky hand to her and she allowed him to pull her up. Walking her to the river’s edge, she noticed that he did not let go of her hand the entire way. Squatting at the edge, he tugged her down beside him and they washed the juice from their hands and faces.

Once back by the fire, he used his boot to sweep some debris away and her clean scrubs as a pillow. Patting the ground between his large body and the fire, he said, “Come on, babe. We need to get some sleep and the fire will knock off the chill.”

“Won’t you be cold on the far side?” she asked, realizing that he was offering her the choice spot between the fire and his warmth.

“Not with you beside me,” he tried to joke, but the truth shone out from his expression.

She smiled and nodded, crawling over to lay on the hard ground. He reached over and pulled her body in tightly to his. “Shared body warmth?” she asked, knowing it was a method for staying warm, but felt heat of her blush rise from her chest to her face.

“Absolutely,” he agreed.

Once again, neither thought it would happen but, soon they were both sound asleep.

*

Miriam woke, the
pale early morning light surrounding her. As her eyes blinked, she could see that the fire had burned down to embers but warmth still enveloped her body. Cam. He was pressed close to her back, one leg thrown over hers and his arm wrapped around her stomach, tight and protectively. She stretched slightly, wondering what awakened her.

She smiled, feeling something move across her leg thinking that Cam must be awake…or even moving his leg over hers in his sleep.
Sleep. He’s still sleeping.
Leaning carefully, she glanced down to see what he was doing, when she saw the red and black stripes of a snake slithering by her leg.

Throwing her body into action while emitting an ear-piercing scream, she rolled over Cam’s body. Her elbow jabbed his ribs sharply as she scrambled to her knees on top of him. Grunting, he was immediately alert, trying to move her thrashing body off his.

Unable to reach his knife with her body still mauling his, he grabbed her waist, hoisting her up as he stood. “What?” he growled, before looking down and seeing the snake.

As she turned to grab the oar, he pulled out his knife and flung it expertly toward the snake, spearing it. The snake was dead, his knife plunged behind its head by the time Miriam whirled around, holding the oar over her head to strike.

Staring at her, the bedraggled warrior-woman, Cam smiled. Then chuckled. Then burst out laughing.

Glaring at him, she continued to hold the oar, her eyes darting between his and the ground around.

“I think you can put the weapon down now,
cariña
,”

Huffing, she replied, “Don’t think you can
cariña
me. You’re laughing. If I hadn’t jumped up, that snake could have killed both of us.”

Walking over, he pulled the oar out of her hands and tossed it to the ground. “Babe, you deafened it with your scream…and me as well. Instead of alerting me to trouble and then getting out of the way, you climb all over me, keeping me from doing what I’m supposed to do, which is protect you.” Wrapping her in his arms, he pulled her in closely, still able to feel the pounding of her heart. And his.

“Well…” she huffed, unable to think of an appropriate retort, her eyes still riveted onto the dead snake at their feet.

“But,” he said turning back toward the fire, “we’ve now got some meat for breakfast.”

“M…meat?”

“This is a Sinaloan milksnake. Not poisonous. Not necessarily all that tasty, but it’s meat and we need the protein.”

She continued to stay statue-like, watching as he brought the fire back to life from its embers and then turned his attention to the snake. Eyes wide, she saw him pull the knife from the body and make a slit—

Jerking around quickly so that her back was to him, she began to walk a little way into the woods. “I…um…have to…go,” she stammered and hurried off to take care of her business hoping that the snake would be gone when she returned.

Several minutes later, she approached cautiously. He looked up, smiling. “The coast is clear, babe.”

She could see that he had a slim stick with something sizzling on it, much like the chicken kabobs her mom made. The smell of the meat cooking was enticing, as much as she hated to admit it.

“Have a seat,” he ordered gently, nodding toward the upturned canoe. “It’ll be ready soon. Why don’t you cut up some of the mango left over from last night.”

Nodding, she was grateful for the task. While not ashamed that she was scared of the snake, she was embarrassed that she had reacted so outlandishly.

“Cam?”

“Right here, babe.”

“Um, I’m sorry,” she began.

He stopped what he was doing and glanced over to her. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t run away, leaving me still sleeping. You reacted immediately and grabbed a weapon. You’re a
mujer fuerte
and while we’re in a shit situation, I’m fuckin’ lucky that I’ve got you.”

Her mind went blank as his last words washed over her.
Lucky to have me?
Before she could react, he handed her a stick with the sizzling meat on the end. She reached out tentatively, her expression unsure.

“Babe? Is a chicken pretty?”

She jerked back in surprise. “What? A chicken pretty? What are you talking about?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Um…no. I wouldn’t call a chicken pretty.”

“But you eat its meat.”

Her eyes moved back to the stick he was offering, the smell enticing her senses.

“Just think of it as your mama’s kababs,” he joked.

Smiling, she nodded in understanding. Taking the skewer, she touched her lips to the meat and pulled it off with her teeth.
I don’t care if a chicken isn’t pretty, it doesn’t slither on the ground
. But after one taste, she devoured the breakfast hungrily, in the face of a grinning Cam.

After they ate, he extinguished the fire while she gathered the rest of the mangoes and put them in her sack.

“I think I’ll put on my extra scrubs,” she said. “I’m dying to have something clean to wear.”

He immediately gave her his back, and while he could not see her body as she changed, he could hear every movement…and imagined every scene. Her top was pulled over her head and landed on the ground. He imagined her standing there with only a bra and, having been around her body for the past couple of days, he had no problem imagining her breasts spilling out of the bra.

He could tell when she slipped the new top on and heard her small moan of delight. His dick jumped and he willed it to behave. Next, he could hear as she pulled her pants down and imagined her kicking them off with her toned legs. As she slid her clean bottoms on, he imagined her gorgeous ass as she bent over. Now his dick was refusing to obey and was painfully pressing against his cargo zipper.

“Oh, my God,” she moaned again. “These clothes feel amazing.”

Without turning around, he growled, “Gonna go take care of some business. Be right back,” and he moved out into the woods.

He returned a few minutes later having willed his cock back down, but grumpily said, “We need to get going.”

She cautiously walked over to him, laying her hand on his arm, asking “Are you all right?” She looked up at him, uncertainty filling her expression.

Jesus, I’m a dick.
Smiling back at her, he slid his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her forward. “Yeah,
cariña
. I’m fine.” He kissed the top of her head, but before he could let her go she lifted to her toes and raised her lips to his. Her kiss was light but as he moved his arms around her waist, he took the kiss deeper.

His mouth devoured hers and her tongue dueled with his. He lifted her into his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Slanting her head for better access, he delved in as his tongue explored and memorized the taste and feel of her warmth.

Finally coming up for air, he noted her glazed expression, and he wanted nothing more than to see that very expression on her face as he came deep inside of her. Gently forcing her back to the ground, they both stood staring at each other, breath ragged.

This kiss was different. They both felt it. They both knew it. It was not the kiss of two people flirting, or even attempting to forget their desperate situation. This kiss held the promise of a beginning.

An adorable blush began on her chest and crept up her face. “Um, I guess we should be going.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, slowing moving to the canoe and dragging it behind him. His mind was swirling as much as the water they were approaching. Trying to tell himself that she was still a mission was a lost cause.
She’s gonna be mine
, he vowed. Glancing behind him, he saw her staring at his back admiringly and then watched as her eyes darted away quickly.
I just hope she feels the same way!

As they were moving the canoe closer toward the water’s edge now that the falls were behind them, she asked, “Cam?”

“Still right here, babe.”

“What did you call me earlier?
Mujer fuerte
. Isn’t that the name of the river?”

Chuckling, he nodded. “No, I didn’t call you a river, babe. It means ‘strong’. Yeah, the river is named The Strong River, which we sure as fuck understand. But I called you a strong woman.”

Strong woman.
Smiling, Miriam did not reply as they placed the end of the canoe into the water and she crawled over into it, taking her seat.

He gave it a push and they paddled their way back into the current. On the water for the first time without the hindrance of pouring rain, she could see the surrounding area. The swirling waters in the daytime did not seem as terrifying as its roar in the dark of the night. She could see the forest along the river’s edge with the occasional cleared land where crops were growing.

“Keep your eyes open,
cariña
,” Cam called out. Seeing her gaze land on his, he continued, “Now that we are getting closer to the gulf, there will be more villages around. I talked to my contact this morning to see where we should go and he’s getting the intel for me.”

“Are we still in danger? Even if we pass a village?”

“Babe, until I get you back home, we’re still in danger.”

Pulling her lips in, she just nodded, tired of the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, wishing for this nightmare to be over.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you there,” came the warm voice from the back of the canoe. Lifting her eyes once more to his, she took in his face that radiated concern…and protectiveness. And for the first time in weeks, began to feel as though she just might see home again.

T
he Saints met
in the wee hours of the morning, having given up their night’s sleep to help with whatever Cam would need from them.

Luke, talking to Marc, said, “They should hit the beach soon at the rate they’re traveling. With the speed of the current after the storm, they will land near the Gulf within the day.”

“I can get my hands on a sea-plane—at least that’s what my contact says. I have yet to see it, but he swears he can get one by tomorrow.”

Chad, following the river’s path, added, “They’ll beach north of Topolobampo, which is good. Too much drug violence there so we know the cartel could be looking for the two of them.”

Bart rubbed his hand over his face, “Jesus, you’d think the cartel would assume they’d be dead somewhere and not traveling down a river in the middle of a storm with a big-ass waterfall to traverse. Hell, after the earthquake and then this huge storm, the cartel should have their fuckin’ hands full without trying to chase down these two.”

Blaise, former DEA, explained, “Doesn’t matter, Bart. Cartel’s got money, contacts, and they’ll stop at nothing to try to keep Cam and Miriam from escaping with the information they’ve got.”

Monty looked at Jack, knowing how close their boss was to Miriam’s brother. “You talk to Jobe recently.”

Jack sighed heavily before responding, “Yeah. He’s been calling every day and I feel like shit when I can’t give him the answers he’s looking for. But I told him a few hours ago that they’re heading to the coast.”

“How’s the family?” Monty asked.

“His family’s close—taking it hard. I gotta keep him placated so he doesn’t go off the charts.”

“Shit, boss, we don’t need him going rogue.”

“I know. I’ve called his boss, Tony, and made sure his boys are keeping a tight rein on Jobe. They reminded him that he needs to be there for his parents and other sisters and let us and Cam get Miriam out safe.”

Luke, still on conference call with Marc, confirmed the sea plane landing area and added, “As soon as we have a lock on their location when they’re at the coast, we’ll let you know and you can get in and get ’em picked up.”