Tyson allowed them to doze for a few hours before he woke up Jayde.
“We need to get moving,” he said quietly against her forehead.
“Okay.” She immediately rose from his lap and began folding the blankets. She didn’t make one men-tion about what they’d said to one another before she fell asleep. That worried Tyson. What if she hadn’t meant to say that and it had just been a reaction for her since he’d said it first? Why was he even worrying about this now? He had to find a way to get her back to safety, and then he could concentrate on proving his love.
She went into the bushes to take care of her personal needs. When she reappeared, he handed her a piece of fruit. “Ready?”
“I guess so. Am I allowed to ask why we are traveling at night?” She bit into the tender flesh of the guava.
“Little rose, you are allowed to ask me anything; don’t ever think you can’t ask me a question,” he told her.
“Okay, now will you answer it for me?” Jayde finished the rest of her fruit.
“Of course. We need to get through this meadow that is coming up. Night is the best time to do that, especially since the moon hasn’t risen yet, so we will still be under some cloak of darkness.” Tyson couldn’t help but grin at the woman he married; she never failed to make him smile.
“I see.”
“Any more questions?” He shouldered the pack.
“No. Ready to follow and stick to your six,” she snapped sharply.
He smiled in the dark. “Good. Let’s go.”
“What is your rank?” she asked as they started.
“I’m a lieutenant. Why do you ask?”
“Just wanted to know a bit more about you, I guess. I mean, you know about my family, my ex, and my huge fear. I don’t really know anything about you,” Jayde admitted.
She told the truth; he hadn’t spoken much about his life since their dinner. “Okay, my little rose. Ask your questions,” Tyson encouraged.
“All right. Why do you call me, ‘little rose’?”
“‘Cause I want to.” He hesitated and chose another direction. “Next question.” They would zigzag through the meadow; it should delay those following them a bit more.
“How long have you been a SEAL?” Jayde asked.
“Going on ten years now. I transferred from Texas to go to OCS at Annapolis. When I graduated from there I began BUD/S. The rest, you can say, is history,” Tyson said as he continued to scope out the terrain keeping them moving in a zigzag pattern.
“Oh.” Jayde fell silent as they finished maneuvering across the open field and disappeared back into the jungle.
“What else my, little rose? I know you have many more things roaming around in that pretty little head of yours,” he teased.
“Tell me what your life is like in Washington,” she said.
“Anything in particular you want to know?” Tyson asked.
“Whatever you want to share with me,” Jayde said easily.
“Well, I don’t spend too much time at my place; I like being out in nature more than in town. I have a studio apartment in Georgetown—” He stopped abruptly.
Jayde remained silent as well; he was glad she was learning to read his body language, and right now, he needed to concentrate on something that was coming up. The moon had risen, bathing them in a muted glow as it found its way into the thick jungle.
He hit the ground and she followed suit immediately. “Someone’s coming,” he hissed.
On the path two men strolled into view. They weren’t dressed in anything that would make Tyson think they were military-trained men, but he wasn’t about to risk Jayde’s life over it.
They were talking to themselves in hushed English and Spanish as they walked along, no weapons visi-ble on their person. “Did you hear about the plane that went down on the other side of the mountain? I don’t know if everyone survived or not.”
The other said something in Spanish and Tyson started to intercept them, but stopped when he Jayde touched his arm. He looked at her and frowned as he saw her shaking her head no. Tyson moved to pull away, but she shook her head harder and tightened her grip on his arm. Her meaning was clear; she didn’t want him approaching them in any way, shape, or form. She brought the knife out of its sheath and slith-ered up beside Tyson.
Her grip stayed tight on his arm until the men went out of sight. Even so, Tyson and Jayde remained silent for a while afterwards.
“What did you do that for?” Tyson hissed. “I was going to see if they would help us; they were locals. Damn it, woman, we could have had a way out of here sooner.”
“You don’t speak Spanish do you?” she questioned him.
“No. Why?”
“Because when they were talking in Spanish, they mentioned how much money they would get from Señor Alvarez if they were the ones to bring in the gringos. I am guessing he is the same man we know as Captain Alvarez.” She removed her hand from his strong arm and began to stand, but Tyson jerked her body down atop his muscled one.
“I’m sorry,” he ground out, his mouth millimeters away from her full one. “You didn’t tell me you spoke Spanish.”
“You never asked,” she breathed into his mouth.
Tyson moved his hands up to capture her face. “Thank you for saving us.”
“Well, I figured I should keep my husband around for at least another week.”
“What other secrets are you keeping me in the dark about, Mrs. Kincade?” he asked as his lips brushed lightly against hers.
“I didn’t know I was keeping secrets from you, Mr. Kincade,” she murmured against his mouth. He was fighting the temptation to slip his tongue inside her mouth to mate with hers.
He loved how it sounded, she calling him Mr. Kincade, for it was the first time she’d done so. It was almost as if she’d admitted they were married. “Oh, but you are. I will have loads of fun getting them out of you, too, but later. Right now, we need to find the town or base where those two came from and maybe we can get our hands on a radio.”
Reluctantly, she slid off his body and regained her feet. He followed suit. “Are we going the way they were coming from or where they were going?” she asked.
“Where they came from. But not a sound, just in case they come back,” Tyson responded in a hushed voice. He touched her arm and when she met his gaze in the subdued light, he gestured with his hands. Jayde nodded her understanding: he was going first; she was to stay behind him and alert.
Once again they began the trek forward through the jungle. Eventually he stopped and fell on his stom-ach, Jayde following suit. He silently reached into the bag and pulled out his binoculars.
“Shit,” he swore and put them down, moving back so he could whisper into her ear without trouble.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a goddamn rebel camp. About ten clicks away.”
“What the hell’s a click?” Jayde asked.
“It’s about a kilometer.” Tyson fell silent as he decided what he was going to do.
“So ten kilometers…that would be about…well a little more than six miles away. About six and a quar-ter.”
Tyson was impressed; most Americans didn’t see the importance of converting metric and US custom-ary measurements. “Right you are. Listen to me, I am going to leave you here and go ahead on my own—”
“No,” she said quickly. “I don’t want to be left alone.”
“Look, Jayde, it’s easier and faster if I move alone. I will get what I need and come back for you, but I need to know you are safe; otherwise I will not be able to concentrate properly.” Tyson turned to the woman stretched out next to him on the ground. He searched for her face in the hushed light.
“You are just going to leave me here!” she accused.