She nodded, studying the gun he held with practiced ease. A tube protruded from the barrel.
“Why the hell did you put away the triskele? It couldn’t have hurt you if you wore it around your neck,” he scolded.
Kelly flushed and put on the necklace. His gaze softened.
“You’re bleeding.” He holstered his weapon and fished out first-aid supplies from his pack. Sam steered her over to a swath of sunlight. He wiped her face, removing the creature’s slime, and then packed away the stained gauze. Sam gave her an apologetic look as he soaked fresh gauze with antiseptic.
“This’ll sting. Sorry. But you can’t risk infection.”
Kelly winced as he swabbed her wound. “Good point. Always when wounded by something that smells like a sewer, apply disinfectant. A gallon should suffice.”
He smiled as he dabbed the lacerations. “The cuts aren’t that deep. How long do you need sunlight to heal?”
“Not long. Good thing you’ve got a steady hand. I must admit it was a little nerve-racking, having you point a loaded gun at my face. Of course it’s not as scary as the stench that thing emits when it gets really going. If I had to keep breathing that, I’d have wished for you to shoot me instead.”
Pinching her nose with a thumb and forefinger, she made a face.
A quiet, deep laugh from Sam. “Kelly Denning, you’re something else.”
She touched her head, feeling the wounds starting to knit together beneath the sun’s healing rays. “Your gun doesn’t make much noise.”
“Ah, the suppressor. Sweet little tool. Keeps everything nice and quiet, so no evil overlords can hear.”
“And their little smelly minion nasties.” She gave a brittle laugh. “No evil overlord would be complete without one or two. I guess we know for sure they’ve got my trail.”
Kelly hesitated. “Maybe you’d be better off heading out without me. They’re after me, not you. Break this spell, Sam. Untie us. It could be your only chance of rescuing the children.”
He tapped her nose. “Nice try, Denning. I’m not breaking the bond. You and I are stuck together.”
“Sure you want to be stuck with me, Sam?” she whispered. “You don’t know what lies ahead.”
“We never do. All we can do is adapt and survive. We’ll get through this. I’ll see to it.”
Confidence burned through him. For so long, she’d been on her own, shouldering heavy responsibilities. It was incredibly tempting to let him carry the load.
With a sigh, she leaned back and let her weary body absorb strength from the sun. Posture military erect, Sam stood guard, scanning the woods. So strong and assured, a hardened warrior. He hadn’t even blinked at the ilthus, just took the shot.
Fear threatened to claw up her spine again. Too much danger in these woods, too many threats lurking behind the dense brush. She began humming a favorite song.
He glanced over one shoulder. “You still like to sing?”
“Chases away the boredom of waiting to heal. I’m not very patient. Can’t sit still for very long.”
Sam turned and grinned. “You should try recon. Stinking hot and thirsty, waiting for hours for that scumbag target to move so you can take the building.”
“Staying still for hours? You? Mr. ‘Let’s go, let’s do something, move it now’?”
“I can be very patient, especially if the reward is worth it,” he said, green dancing in his suddenly hot and hungry gaze, his intent clearly shifting from scumbag targets to something deeper and more sexual.
Flushing, she refused the bait. Legs feeling like jelly, she stood and brushed off her jeans. “We need to get going. I can’t guarantee another mutant bird thing won’t attack. Or a zombie. Never know when the zombies will surface. Though I think I can fend off a zombie attack. All they care about are brains, and according to Elementals, Arcanes have none.”
Sam gave her shoulders a gentle shake. “Chill it, Kel. No more talk of Elementals or Arcanes. It’s just us, and we’ll get through this.”
“I can’t bear for anyone else to get hurt because of me,” she whispered.
He laid a finger across her lips, his touch gentle. “They won’t. I’m a trained navy SEAL, and if this doesn’t work—” Sam gestured to the weapon holstered at his side “—then I always have this.” He pointed a finger like a gun and aimed at a tree. “Bam. Magick bullet. All zombies are all dispatched, milady.”
Warmth filled her as he kissed her hand in a gallant gesture. Kelly managed a small smile. “I’ve missed you, Sam. I’ve missed us.”
Sam’s expression shuttered. “I need to bury this.” With the toe of a boot, he poked at the dead ilthus. “I can’t risk drawing more attention by frying it with magick.”
Hiding her small hurt, she helped him dig.
When he really wanted to bury old feelings.
After they finished, he gave her a critical look. “That thing found you because it picked up your scent. We need to disguise your smell.”
She touched her sticky hair. “I smell more like dead ilthus. Any chance we can find that river again? I heard water up ahead.”
They pushed on through the forest until reaching a tributary that fed into the river. Kelly walked along the edge until reaching a deeper pool. Then she dropped her pack on the bank and ducked her head into the water, scrubbing away the slime. But if these things had her scent...
After shedding her jeans, socks and sneakers, she waded in and submerged her entire body. Kelly sighed with relief as the cool water touched her hot skin. As she waded out, Sam stared at her.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked in a thick voice.
“Disguising my scent.”
A pulse ticked in his throat. “She should have given you a darker T-shirt. And panties, as well.”
Glancing down, she saw the wet fabric plastered to her skin. The soaked silk bra turned transparent, along with her lace panties, showing...everything.
Body taut, he clenched his fists, the green in his eyes flaring. Sam looked as if he struggled to contain himself.
“Cover yourself,” he ordered harshly.
Not moving, she gave him a defiant smile. “You look hot, Sam. The creek is nice and cool. Go for a swim.”
With a strangled sound, he removed his outer shirt and then tugged his T-shirt over his head. Whoa.
“Stop that,” she told him.
“Can’t go swimming with my clothes on.”
Sweat streamed down his back, and coated his face, the angles and planes glistening in the sunlight. The curve of his smooth biceps flexed as he tossed the shirt aside. Beneath Sam’s mocking, cheerful charm lurked an edge of controlled wildness.
Reaching for the zipper of his cargo pants, he met her gaze. She gave a small squeak.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Sam unzipped his pants and, in a swift move, pushed his pants and boxers down. Baring his body to all.
Her startled gaze met his heated one. Kelly glanced at the dark, curly hairs covering his sculpted chest, marching in a tempting line down his muscled abdomen to...
Not going there. She finally found her voice. “You don’t play fair.”
“Never did, sweetheart.”
“Sam, put your clothes on!”
“Do you really want me to?” he asked softly.
Need spiraled through her. Sam had been a tender, considerate lover.
He would not be so now. If they came together again, he would be primitive and possessive. Images shot through her mind: naked, tangled together, their bodies sweat-slicked as they surrendered to the overpowering desire and made love. Her gaze shot downward, past the ridge of muscle at his lean hips, down to his long, sleek limbs and then up to...
Whoa.
Straining upward from the dark hair at his groin, his thick penis was erect. Moisture gathered between her
