Watch Over Me: A Military Romance (Uncharted SEALs Book 1) (11 page)

Jackson glanced at her feet, and his jaw tightened.

The skimpy sandals were the only shoes in the closet without a heel.

But he didn’t comment. He simply gave the other man a nod and swept a hand to indicate she should follow his buddy.

They made their way down the hallway to the staircase then out the front door into the waiting darkness.

“Hold the back of his shirt in case you lose your footing.”

She reached out and gripped the back of the uniform jacket, then took two steps for every one of the man’s as she followed him through the courtyard and out a side gate.

The route they chose was rocky, and she had to concentrate hard on the way his body moved to know how to measure her steps. After what seemed an hour but was likely only minutes, they came to a halt on a mesa. She let go of the man’s jacket, flexed her hand, and dropped her pillow case. Enough moonlight broke through the cloud cover to illuminate the area. A dozen men were in the clearing, aiming weapons outward, scanning the nearby peaks. Only Jackson watched her.

In the distance, she heard the rhythmic
whomp-whomp
of a helicopter drawing near. But it didn’t settle on the ground. Long rope ladders rolled out, and the team moved quickly to climb up into the belly of the helicopter.

Suri stared then took a step backward. No way was she climbing, swinging over the rocky ground. She didn’t like heights, hadn’t climbed a ladder higher than one she needed to reach into her upper kitchen cabinet. Her mouth dried, and she took another backward step and bumped into a tall, hard body.

He didn’t move away. Warm breath brushed her cheek. “You don’t have to climb. They’re dropping a basket for you. Now, move.”

She shivered at the low growling texture of his voice. The man was a grade-A bastard. But she knew he wasn’t bluffing. She’d seen the movies. Dangling in a basket over a deep canyon was only slightly less terrifying than the thought of climbing the ladder.

“My pillowcase?” she whispered, hating the fact her voice crackled with nervousness.

“I’ve got it.” He pressed a hand against her lower back and gently pushed her forward.

So the growl had been to motivate her. He did care whether she made it safely aboard.

After all the team was in the helicopter, a basket was dropped on a long steel cable. She stepped toward it, settled into the rescue basket, and allowed Jackson to secure the safety straps. He tucked the pillowcase between her legs then climbed onto the basket, hands holding the ropes, feet balanced on the sides of the apparatus.

Up they went, the wild wind created by the helicopter’s blades making it impossible for her to look upward and know how much farther she had to go. She stared at Jackson, whose face betrayed no fear as they hovered high over the rocky peaks. But soon, they reached the helicopter’s strut. Jackson stepped onto the strut, accepted a hand from one of the men crowding the door to help, and climbed inside. Then the men pulled the basket over the strut—feet first. For a terrifying moment, her head tilted toward the ground and all she could see were jagged peaks. She let out a scream, glad no one could hear over the sound of the loud engine or the chopping blades. Then she was sliding inside the belly of the aircraft.

Several men worked to unbuckle her from the cage. She was helped to her feet. With the door to the helo still open and men seated now with legs dangling over the sides or strapped into the benches that lined the cabin front and back, she didn’t feel much more secure. When the helicopter dropped unexpectedly, she let out another scream and grabbed for the man who’d helped her up.

“Just a little turbulence,” came a muffled shout beside her ear. And she knew who held her. She unfisted her hands from his jacket and leaned away. Jackson’s hands remained on her hips to steady her as she glanced up.

She could see little of his expression inside the dark cabin. Just the firm set of his mouth, the glistening of his eyes. “I’m okay,” she shouted back.

Gripping her arm, he urged her into an empty seat between two large men and buckled her in. Only then did he move away to sit on the opposite bench.

Surrounded by men in black, staring out the open door of the helicopter, she began to shake, wrapping her arms around her stomach. The entire experience was too much. She’d been afraid too long. Tears streaked down her cheeks and dried almost immediately from the wind and dry heat.

She didn’t know where they were bound, whether they would take her home, and she worried about what might await her back in Austin. She was no longer safe. The fiancée of a drug lord’s son was a target…or possibly bait. And she still wasn’t certain if Jackson and his team meant well. For all she knew, they considered her guilty by association. Would she be taken somewhere to be interrogated? She didn’t know anything other than the fact Alejandro was as much a prisoner as he’d made her into being.

A hand tapped her thigh. A bottle of water was passed. She shook her head because another worry entered her mind. How long until they landed and she found a restroom? The thought nearly made her laugh. She’d already suffered the humiliation of being found nude by a stranger.

Her gaze went to Jackson who stared across the expanse at her. That she’d irritated him was clear. That he hadn’t been pleased she was all his team found at the compound had to be disappointing. But what had he been thinking when he’d slowly examined her naked form? Had he just been looking for weapons or bombs, or had he lingered because he’d liked what he’d seen?

Why the answer to those questions mattered, she didn’t know, and she shouldn’t have cared, but she was intensely curious about him.

What did he look like under all that camouflage paint and military gear? Was he handsome? Was he married?

She glanced away and let out a breath, troubled that her mind wandered down that path. The last thing she needed was to obsess over her new captor. She needed to get home and contact the school to see whether she still had a job. As a brand new teacher, she could be easily fired for an unexplained absence, and positions were hard to find.

She sighed, suddenly calm, maybe too overwhelmed with a thousand worries to think any longer. Instead, she rested her gaze on Jackson and leaned to the side, not caring she was using a stranger’s hard shoulder as a pillow.

Right now, she didn’t have to be strong or smart. Right now, she should rest her mind and body. Looking across at Jackson’s narrowed gaze, she had the feeling she’d need it.