Jayde was in good shape and so they made decent time even with the rugged terrain they crossed. It was when they approached an area with canopy-to-ground spider webs that Jayde froze.
Tyson easily picked upon Jayde’s sharp intake of breath. He stopped and looked back at her. Her dark skin seemed unnaturally pale and sweat ran down her face. Her eyes ensnared them; there was stark and abundant terror in them. Her head moved from side to side as she began to back away from the direction they were going, heading instead back the way they had come.
“Come on, Jayde,” he tried.
“No.” She barely managed to get that one word out, she was shaking so badly.
“We have to keep moving,” he demanded.
“I can’t.” Her chin began to tremble.
“We have to go.” Tyson’s tone turned more forceful.
“No, Tyson. I can’t go in there,” Jayde insisted.
Tyson reached out to touch her, the gun sliding down to rest on his side. Her skin was clammy and he realized just how deep her fear went. This wasn’t a ploy. It was real. But the fact remained he had to get them through there.
He looked at the intricate webbing and back to Jayde. “We have to go. I don’t know how long it stretches, so we can’t take the time to try and find a way around. We have to go through
“I can’t!” Her voice was barely discernable.
Tyson faced her and gripped her chin with gentle force. “Look at me, Jayde. Do you trust me?”
Her eyes poured tears of fear down her pale cheeks. “Yes,” she managed to mutter.
“Then trust me to get you through this,” his words coaxed.
“I can’t go in there! Don’t you understand? They are out to get me! Spiders attack me; they chase me! They want to hurt me!” Her breathing became shorter and shorter, more labored. “I just can’t!”
“Trust me,” he said. “I won’t let them hurt you. I promise. But you have to trust me.”
Jayde’s legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground, gagging and wheezing. She waved off his hand. “Leave me here; I can’t go in there!”
Tyson lifted her bodily back onto her unsteady feet. He gripped her chin between his fingers again and held her immobile as he spoke. “I’m so sorry you are scared. I will not let them hurt you, but you are going in there. There is no discussion about this, not anymore. We are going.” His voice was oddly tender consid-ering how uncompromising it was.
Before his words had time to sink in, Tyson grabbed her hand and dragged her into the spider-infested section of jungle. He moved them forward slowly but at a continuous pace.
He brushed away cobwebs and made sure none of the large, hairy spiders got close to her. Tyson looked over his shoulder and saw she was genuinely and totally panicked. Tears streamed down her face; she bit her lip to keep from screaming out loud; and her eyes were shut so tightly he believed it would take the jaws-of-life to get them open again. Some webbing had fallen into her hair and clothes and he knew she could feel it on her.
As he maneuvered them though the patch, he did notice how the spiders seemed to run at her instead of him. They were large, tarantula sized, and hairy. The hand he held began to shake more and more and Tyson increased his speed, knowing full well she was close to breaking down. It was harder and harder to hold onto the wet palm, it felt like her hand was made entirely of water.
Soon, although for Jayde he was sure it was an eternity, they exited the other side of the spiders’ area. Tyson kept moving until they were well away from the web-filled trees before he stopped.
Jayde stood there and shook as Tyson made sure there were no spiders on her body and removed all the silk from her hair and clothes. “You’re fine. There are none on you,” he said, just as he saw a scurrying motion on the ground headed straight for her.
At the precise moment Tyson killed the two spiders heading directly for her, she lost it. As the second one died with a sickening crunch beneath his boot, Jayde fell to the ground and lost the contents of her stomach.
She continued to puke well after it turned to dry heaves. Her nauseated body jerked away from his as he tried to offer her comfort. “Don’t!” she screeched. Crawling on her hands and knees further from him she began heaving again.
Tyson ran his hands over his face; he felt like such a bastard for doing that to her. He had to get her far-ther away from the spiders. “Let’s go,” he commanded, sure he was being an ass but she seemed to respond to the ordering.
Standing slowly, Jayde wiped her mouth and followed without a word. When Tyson brushed against her to take point, her body recoiled as if struck, a reaction that sent him to a darker corner of his own private hell for putting her through hers.
He kept them moving for another two hours. It was early evening when they stopped. Tyson looked around and nodded. “We’ll camp here. Get something to eat and some sleep.”
Jayde remained silent. As Tyson looked at her, he noticed the dried blood on her face; it was from her lip when she bit it. He walked up to her and took her chin in his hand, tightening his grip when she tried to pull away. His other hand was extremely gentle as it cleaned off the dried blood. Her dark eyes were full of betrayal and pain, but she still didn’t say a word.
Tyson met and held her gaze. The second he relaxed his grip on her, she moved away from him. Her body was still pale and shaky; he didn’t like that. He opened the bag and took out an MRE, handing it to her.
She took the silver pack in silence and ate slowly. Her back slumped with exhaustion. He realized how much it took out of her to get through that and couldn’t be more proud of her. At that moment, he would have sold his soul just to hear her say anything to him—even hurtful words.
She didn’t, however, finishing her food in silence. She stood to put the wrapper back in the bag before reclaiming her seat far away from him. She accepted the blanket he handed her with quiet dignity, but her eyes were just empty now, not even supporting her earlier anger anymore.
Tyson knew he’d have to ask her a direct question to get her talking. Swallowing his pride, he walked over and settled himself next to her rigid body braced against a tree.
“I’m so sorry I made you go through that,” he tried. She only became more rigid. “Jayde, please talk to me.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” she mumbled. She actually turned away from him.
The knife twisted in deep. Tyson swallowed. “I have something to say to you.” He lifted her up and placed her against his chest before wrapping his blanket around her as well, cocooning them together. “Just listen.”
He sighed. “I know you’re pissed I made you go through that, but it was the fastest way to get more distance between us and the men following. I did it because it was the best decision I could make at the time. I am so sorry you are scared of spiders.” He felt her shiver at that one word. “I wish I’d never brought you into this. But for what it’s worth, I am so damn proud of you. So proud.” Tyson kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms tighter around him.
Jayde shook her head. “I’m not mad at you; I was, but I’m not now. I’m mad at myself more than any-thing, embarrassed you saw me like that, but I understand you were just doing what you do best. Weakness is not something allowed in my family, and that has been drilled into me from the very beginning,” she admitted in a shamed voice.
“My whole family knows just how scared I am of spiders. They thought it was amusing, so they always tried to ‘help me’ overcome my fear by putting them in my path—real or fake, it didn’t matter.” She shuddered and took a deep breath. “The theme in my room at my parents’ house was spiders; they wouldn’t let me have anything else. If I wanted a pet, all they were willing to give into was an arachnid.” Her body shook with unsavory memories.
“The fact that you had to see my weakness is beyond reproach. I apologize and hope you can forgive my less than adult attitude. I don’t know how you could be proud of me; because of my childish behavior, we could have been in even more danger,” Jayde said scornfully.
Tyson couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Knowing her family put her fear in her face every chance they could pissed him off to no end. She was special; she deserved to be pampered and loved.
“Oh, my little rose,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t ever apologize for being afraid. You were scared, but you still went; that is so admirable. And I am proud of you.”
“But you saw me throwing up. I’m so embarrassed!”
“Little rose,” he said as his hands began to rub across her stomach. “Don’t be embarrassed. You humble me.” He felt her body begin to relax, and the next words out of his mouth were so natural for him to say. “I love you, Jayde.”
“I love you, too, Tyson,” Jayde said with her last bit of strength as she leaned into him and nodded off. Clearly, the emotional toil was too much for her to ignore any longer.
Those five words made Tyson feel like he was an Olympian god. “I can never let you go, you know that, don’t you, my little rose? Never.” He loved her more than he had ever believed possible for a man to love a woman. He didn’t expect or receive an answer because she was already asleep, finally safe in her dreams.