Strong hands pressed her wrists into the ground above her head. His grip was firm, but oddly, it wasn’t painful. In fact, the guy had actually lifted his torso away from hers, easing the pressure that had been making it so hard to breathe. It was almost as if he was being careful not to hurt her, which made absolutely no sense.
Refusing to fall for the nice guy routine, Olivia pushed against his hands and lifted her hips, trying to buck him off. Then she heard—
“Goddamn it, Liv. Knock it off! It’s me, Jake!”
Olivia’s whole world stopped. Just...stopped. She quit fighting and simply lay there, sweaty and panting, trying to wrap her mind around what she just heard.
Was it possible? Could this guy really be Jake? No, you fool. It’s not possible. Jake thinks you’re dead. Everyone thinks you’re dead.
Yet, that voice was so familiar. Had she imagined it? After weeks of captivity and nearly being starved to death, had she finally lost her mind?
The man didn’t move, allowing Olivia to look more closely. His build was similar to Jake’s. Lord knows she’d spent enough time sneaking peeks at his body whenever possible.
A black backpack hung off a pair of wide shoulders, and the camouflaged mask covering his face was made of some type of thin, mesh material. His black t-shirt was covered by what she assumed to be bullet-proof vest, and on his left bicep, barely peeking out from beneath his sleeve, was the bottom of a very familiar-looking tattoo. A Delta Force tattoo.
Just like Jake’s.
The man let go of her wrists cautiously, as if he were expecting her to strike out at him again. He made no attempt to try to hurt her, which only added to the unwanted feeling billowing up inside her.
God, how she hated it. Fought it with everything she had, but it was no use. For the first time in weeks, and beyond all logical reason, Olivia felt hope. Freaking hope.
Unable to help herself, she raised her trembling hand up to remove the cap. Her assailant made no attempts to stop her, and when the material cleared his face, she forgot how to breathe.
The cap slipped from her fingers, landing on the ground next to her. Olivia’s mind whirled as she stared into a set of steel blue eyes. Eyes she’d dreamt about endlessly. The same eyes she thought she’d never see again.
His nose was slightly crooked from an old break, and there was a small crease in the middle of his chin. And, God...that mouth.
The man’s lips were perfectly shaped, as though they’d been made for the sole purpose of kissing. His short, dark hair was messed up from the cap, and he hadn’t shaved in a while, but was still as sexy as sin.
Olivia looked back up into those eyes, their image blurring behind her unshed tears. When she was finally able to speak, her voice came out as a cracked whisper.
“J-Jake? Is it...is it really y-you?”
Chapter 5
Olivia was looking up at him, her beautiful, round eyes filled with fear and pain. Jake wanted to kill the bastards who’d made her feel those things. More than that, he wanted to kiss her quivering lips and never, ever let go.
He almost did, too, but then he remembered he had no clue what she’d endured these past few weeks. The last thing Liv needed was a man—any man—forcing himself on her.
“Yeah, Liv,” he reassured her. “It’s really me.”
Olivia’s eyes grew wide, as though she’d needed to hear his words before trusting herself to believe what she was seeing. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
“Jake! Oh, my God.” Her hot breath hit his ear as she spoke. “I can’t believe it’s really you!”
Jake hugged her back just as forcefully. Her entire body shook beneath his as she struggled to keep it together. Burying his face into her hair, he wondered if she could tell she wasn’t alone in that fight.
He held on for dear life and squeezed his burning eyes shut, absorbing every ounce of warmth from her touch. Then, he sent up prayer after silent prayer, thanking God for bringing her back to him.
Olivia’s hot tears fell against the skin on his neck as she spoke between sobs. “It’s s-so...good to...s-see...y-you!”
“Ah, sweetheart,” he choked out. “You have no idea.”
Overcome with his own emotions, Jake held her even tighter, afraid she’d disappear if he let her go. She flinched beneath his strong grasp. Back off, dickhead. You’re hurting her.
Jake loosened his hold before kissing the top of her head. He stood, instantly missing her warm embrace. Taking her hand, he helped her to her feet.
A flash of powerful anger struck when he stepped back just far enough to get a good look at her face. He’d been so busy struggling with her, waiting for her to trust that he was who he said he was, he hadn’t looked anywhere other than into her eyes.
Assessing her now, Jake noticed a fresh bruise forming across the left side of her face. There was another one in center of her forehead, and blood was starting to dry where it had trickled from her nose.
Some bastard had hit her, hard from the looks of things. Seeing bruises like that on any woman pissed Jake off beyond reason. Seeing them on Olivia’s delicate skin made him want to fucking kill. Then, when he glanced down at the front of her dress, his heart damn near stopped.
“Jesus, Liv. You’re bleeding? Where’s the wound? How bad is it?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before reaching for the buttons on her dress.
Olivia grabbed his wrists and shook her head. “It’s not mine.”
Unable to hear past his fear, Jake fought against her grasp, determined to assess her injuries. She squeezed his wrists tighter
