“Oh! I didn’t know anyone was out here!” Jayde exclaimed as moved towards her boots. She hoped she came off as surprised, yet nonchalant, although she was anything but. They’d heard the bed squeaking; her face flamed with embarrassment. But it was what she’d heard while drying off in the bathroom that knocked the wind out of her sails… the little she had left.
“Just came in to see if you were ready to go, ma’am,” Scott said politely, standing.
“Ready to go home? Definitely.” She smiled and nodded at them both as she picked up her bag of “souvenirs”, though admittedly there wasn’t much since Tyson had made her hightail it out her hotel. Jayde was determined not to show Tyson or Scott how much was she hurt and mortified.
Tyson put his hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the house to an awaiting Jeep. With a nod to Scott and the rest of the men, he and Jayde got in the back and drove off into the darkness.
“Jayde, I have to talk to you,” he said as they bounced along on a dirt road.
“What?” Why does my voice sound so broken?
“We have contacted your parents and told them you would come home late.”
“You what?” she screeched.
“Don’t worry. My boss told them you were imperative to our operation here in Belize, and that he loved working with you and has offered you a job,” Tyson continued calmly.
Jayde was astonished. “Why?”
“So you can decide where you want to move. An apartment will be reserved for you and you can paint. Go wherever you want in the States. He said he would tell your parents you are working in an office there,” Tyson said as he looked across the dark Jeep at her profile.
“I don’t need you to do that,” she protested as she remembered the love he had in his voice for the woman named Carrie. She’d heard it when he and Scott had been talking earlier; she’d unwittingly caught the tail end of that conversation as she’d finished her shower. Besides, being indebted to him was not what she wanted.
You want him, her mind screamed.
“Trust me; they are grateful for the help you gave us. As am I. Those men I encountered are part of a cell that we have been after. This is the least my employers could do.”
She had a chance to go wherever she wanted. “Where do you live Tyson?” What is this “cell” you are after, this whole terrorist thing?
“I have an apartment in Washington, D. C. Why?” Tyson asked.
“Just wondering. I want to go to Washington…state.” She nodded and reaffirmed her decision. “The Seattle area.”
“Okay, do you want to go home and see your parents first?”
Jayde tried to not to cry; he didn’t sound the least bit sad she’d chosen a place clear across the country from him. “No. I should go get my things from New York, though.”
“Don’t worry about it. They will be moved for you. A two bedroom good enough for you?”
“Perfect.” Jayde smiled. She had some money set aside and she’d just have to dig into that. “Just make sure it doesn’t cost an outrageous amount to rent.”
“Right.” He leaned over and whispered something to the man in the front passenger’s seat, who imme-diately got on a phone. “We will send you to Seattle, then.”
“Okay.” Part of her didn’t want to accept, but the part that had suffered the fear in the jungle did.
“I just want to tell you that I am very proud of you, for the way you handled yourself from the second we met.”
Jayde avoided his eyes, her smile turning tremulous. “Well, it certainly has been an adventure. Thanks for taking care of me.” Tyson pulled a card out of his wallet. There were some numbers on it. Jayde looked at it closely in the dark and back at him. “What is this for?”
“If you need to get in contact with me and I am not close by.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. Besides, you will be too busy saving the country to have time for me.” Jayde said, proud her voice didn’t waver.
“We are going to D. C. first,” he said as the Jeep stopped. They walked to the waiting plane.
“Okay.” She buckled herself in as the plane taxied off down the packed dirt strip. It didn’t even look like an airport, but Jayde didn’t feel like asking questions. All she knew was she was going home.
Tyson watched as his wife settled into a seat and closed her eyes. He still didn’t know how he was go-ing to let her go. The place in Seattle would be taken care of by him. He tried to listen to what Harrier was saying to him, but all he could focus on was the woman sleeping across the plane from him. Carrie was nothing but a distant memory, and if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, had been for a while before he kicked her out.
He ran his hand over his face and swore. Jayde had become his heart and he didn’t want to lose her: the way her face sparkled as she climbed over rocks and jumped streams. How she loved the outdoors. Her strength. Her beauty. Her love. Maybe she would consent to move to Washington D. C. and stay at his place.
As he sat here he realized how little he actually knew about her. Tyson knew she loved to paint, but he didn’t know what she painted, or with what. And he still wanted to know what she’d been thinking the day he’d met her when she’d licked her lips with that heated look in her eyes. That amount of passion in a woman deserved to be released by a man who would appreciate it to the fullest extent…like him.
Tyson laced his fingers and studied her sleeping form. Her dark skin was smooth and blemish free. Her full lips felt perfect against his. The roundness of her body hid the muscles that made her such a joy to watch outside. And she possessed a perfect ass.
But her eyes…dear Lord…her eyes were a weapon. Those dark-brown orbs dragged a man into them and didn’t let him go.
He wanted to be the one who helped her find whatever she was looking for. He wanted to protect her from her overbearing family. Who would keep the men away from her when he was not around? Tyson growled low as he thought of her, his wife, going out with other men.
All of a sudden there was a loud explosion, jolting the plane with a terrific force. Jayde bolted awake with panic all over her face. She immediately looked for Tyson. He was heading for the cockpit. The entire plane was shaking; it felt like it was going to fall apart at the seams.
Jayde saw black smoke billowing across the window. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from. All she knew was that she was petrified.
“Jayde!” Tyson’s strong voice caught her attention.
“What is going on, Tyson? What’s happening?” Her dark eyes were wide with fear as she looked into the remarkably calm ones of Tyson Kincade.
“We’ve been hit. The plane is going down; we have to bail.” He was strapping on a pack while telling her this.
Jayde shook her head in fervent denial. Bail? Hell no. She wasn’t jumping out of a plane! “What about the pilot, can’t he just make an emergency landing or something?” Hysterical tears had begun forming in her eyes.
“The pilot’s dead.” Tyson staggered back out of her line of sight for a moment until he heard her scream. He knelt down in front of her, holding onto the arms of her chair. “Listen to me. I need you to stand up and put this on.” He gestured to a pack that was beside him.
“I can’t jump from a plane! I can’t do it!” She shook her head to emphasize her words.
He stroked her cheek as the plane dropped again, sending her stomach up into her throat, “Yes, you can. I will be holding onto you the whole way. We don’t have much time. Let’s get you ready.” Tyson unbuck-led her seatbelt and made her stand.
Even though Jayde began putting on the pack on, she stopped as Tyson kicked out the door. She was going to die and he was so damn calm. He struggled against the turbulence back over to her and helped her secure the pack. “I want you to keep as still as you can. Wrap your arms and legs around me and don’t let go,” he yelled over the noise.
You are going to have to pry me off with a crowbar! She nodded her understanding. There were flames from the cockpit making their way back to the main cabin. Thick smoke choked her, especially with her breaths coming so short anyway. Tyson anchored her body to his so they were chest to chest and snapped a few belts around them. It was awkward for her to walk with him like that; but soon, too soon for Jayde, they were at the door.
The cold air sucked at her clothes, making her shiver even more. “Hold onto me. Don’t let go,” Tyson repeated as he backed up to the open door.
Jayde gripped his neck and his waist like a leech. Tyson made doubly sure she wouldn’t be in the way of the chute when it opened and looked in her dark eyes one more time. “Ready?”
Jayde looked away and nodded into his neck even as she croaked out the word, “No.”
Tyson fell out of the plane. Jayde’s arms tightened around his neck as they hurtled to the earth. “Hold on! We are going to jerk!” he yelled so she could hear. Then he pulled the chute.
Jayde barely moved, her grip was so tight. Both heard the whistle of a missile before it hit the plane. They could feel the heat from the blast as the night sky was momentarily lit up as bright as day. Jayde was beyond shocked. She trembled even more, but her grip never wavered.
The rest of the trip down was silent except for Jayde’s quiet sobs. “We are about to land, get ready.” Tyson told her. They landed in a tree, the branches smacking them both; Jayde hid her face in his chest to keep it safe until they lurched to a stop.
For a moment they hung from the tree. They were both breathing hard. The branch cracked and then broke. They plummeted down into the dark jungle terrain.