Star-Spangled Bride

wasn't being noble or soft or quixotic. It just seemed to be the thing to do at the time. Well, maybe a little soft. I'd just gotten out of a Kuwait hospital and I was probably under the weather.'

'You don't have to make excuses,' Gabe said quietly. 'There are times when we all have to make decisions about our priorities.'

'But it would have been such a great story.' She couldn't help sounding wistful.

'It's still a great story. We just may never see it on television.' He leaned back against the headboard. 'If you were so lucky, how did you end up in a hospital?'

'Malnutrition. They didn't feed us much during the war.' She bit her lower lip. 'And I got a little nervous.'

'Nervous?'

'I hate being shut up. I get claustrophobic. It's always driven me crazy. I don't know how you stood being a prisoner for a year.'

'It's all in the mind-set. After a while it became a game.'

She looked at him in wonder. 'How could it be? The walls close in on you and the darkness is terrible. There were times when I'd lie there in all that blackness and be afraid I'd smother before morning came.'

'You knew you'd react like that and you still took the chance?'

'I thought I'd get away. I did plenty of times before. I almost did that time too.' She held up her thumb and index finger. 'I was that close.'

'And even closer to getting chopped,' he said grimly. 'For God's sake, stop pacing and come to bed. It's almost three and you're going to need your strength tomorrow.'

'I'm not tired. I told you I-' She drew a deep breatlh. 'You're right. I'm not being sensible and I'm keeping you awake. You need your rest.'

'Right.' He patted the bed. 'And so do you.'

She lay down on the far side of the bed and curled up into a tight ball. 'You can turn off the light now.'

'We'll leave it on. The light doesn't bother me.'

Relief poured through her. No smothering darkness tonight. Her nerves were stretched so taut she had not known whether she could bear it. 'You're not just saying that? I'm almost over it, you know. The doctor said it would take a little while, but that was years ago and now I'm-'

'A chatterbox,' he growled. 'Don't you ever stop talking?'

'Sorry.' She remained quiet a moment. 'You're sure it doesn't bother you?'

'The only thing that bothers me is your talking.' He rolled over and threw an arm over her body. 'Now go to sleep.'

She hadn't thought she could be more tense, but she had been wrong. 'Why… are you doing that?'

'I'll sleep better. There's nothing worse than being alone with your fear.'

'You're afraid?'

'I'd be an ass if I wasn't.'

She felt the stiffness ease out of her. It was all right to give in, to reach out for comfort if shehad something to give in return. She nestled back against him and closed her eyes. 'It's going to be okay. You don't have to be afraid. I've planned everything. I've set up a helicopter pickup with your people from the station. They're waiting across the border in Sedikhan for me to radio them that I've got you.'

'Oh, you've got me all right.'

'I've stashed a radio in a cave in the hills above the Sedikhan border. We'll call for help from there. You should be in safe territory by tomorrow night. Maybe sooner.'

'That's comforting.' His hand stroked her hair. 'This stuff feels like stubby duck feathers.'

Nothing could have been less casual than the comment, but his hand stroking her hair was magically soothing. For the first time tonight she felt safe. 'I have to keep it short.' She yawned. 'Long hair isn't practical when you're on a job.'

'No, I can see how it might get in the way when you're crawling through those damn pint-sized drainage pipes.'

She chuckled. 'But you fit, didn't you? And we made it here.' Her words sounded slurred even to herself. 'Don't be scared. Everything is going to be fine.'

'If you ever shut up and let me sleep.'

'Sorry. Jed says I'm a motormouth. Did I tell you… I don't remember what I was going to say. But sometimes it helps to talk…'

'Shh…' His deep voice reverberated in her ear. 'I know. But not now, Ronnie.'

'No, not now…'

THREE

Lord, he hated this damn light.

For six weeks during the first period of his captivity, brilliant lights were kept constantly shining in his face, making sleep impossible. Darkness had become a comfort and a blessing.

But it was no blessing to Ronnie Dalton.

His arms tightened around her slim body. Even though she seemed in the depths of sleep, he could still detect faint signs of tension. She was as wired as a coiled spring ready to explode, but with no preconceived direction. Lord, what a bizarre mixture of brash, funny child and world-weary woman. One moment she was full of toughness and bravado and the next she revealed glimpses of uncertainty and softness. Just when he had thought she was completely honest and open, she drew back within herself and he sensed an odd secret loneliness.

He muttered a curse beneath his breath as his arms tightened protectively around her even more. He hadn't counted on this tenderness barging into his life. In the space of only a few hours she had edged closer to him than he had ever allowed anyone before. She had aroused his body and he could accept that physical reaction, but he hadn't expected to feel this overwhelming sense of possession. She had fallen asleep as trustingly as an orphan child clinging to safety in a dangerous world.

Lord, and now he was supposed to be Daddy Warbucks to her Orphan Annie.

She felt soft and small and completely woman in his arms. His body was hardening against her and he drew a deep steadying breath. He had been through more torturous moments than this during the past year, but at the moment he couldn't remember them.

He closed his eyes and shut out that blasted light.

It wouldn't hurt him to be Daddy Warbucks for one night.

But why the hell had no one ever considered how Daddy Warbucks would feel when Annie grew up? There was no natural tie between themind the two had always been more friends than father and daughter. Even if she turned out ugly as sin, there was still all that bravery and character and vulnerability that stirred deeper feelings man beauty ever would.

He was beginning to feel damn sorry for the bastard.

She awoke to find Gabe Falkner sitting quietly in a chair across the room watching her sleep. 'What time is it?' She sat up and swung her feet to the floor, casting a hasty glance at the window. Only a pearly light was glowing in the sky, she realized with relief.

'It's a little after six,' Gabe said.

She jumped out of bed. 'I slept like a log.'

'No, you didn't.' He stood up and stretched. 'You were restless all night. It's surprising you slept at all.'

He obviously hadn't done the same. She could sense the charged alertness, the taut awareness that lay beneath that lazy facade.

'I'm used to sleeping in war zones.' She moved toward the bathroom. 'But then so are you.'

'I want out of this particular war zone.' Hisvoice was suddenly layered with repressed violence. 'Now.'

She grinned at him over her shoulder. 'Can you wait until I brush my teeth?'

'Maybe.' She could see him relax a little and a faint smile curved his lips. 'If you don't floss.'

She stopped at the bathroom door. 'We'll be out of here in fifteen minutes. You'll have to put the contacts and