6. Chase

That was fucking stupid.I shouldn't have allowed her to get to me. It was bad enough that I let her touch me, but then I fucked her.

A client.

Cash would hand me my ass. After what happened with Asher, I should have known better than to get involved with someone I was protecting. Asher fell for his wife and look how that turned out. Getting the job done was impossible once he fell for her, once he knew about her past. And then it became his mission to take down her father to the point that he missed all the signs of her depression, along with the rest of us.

I couldn't blame him for caring about her. We all knew she was a good person. Well…I was more skeptical than everyone else, but it didn't take long to figure out that she was a victim in the whole nasty ordeal. And that was the downfall for all of us. We saw what we wanted to because we were too close to her. We wanted to believe she was fine.

I stepped out from under the water and pulled on my boxers and then my pants. I didn't bother to wash my clothes like she had. I hadn't been wearing mine for two weeks straight, and I didn't want to deal with chafing from wet clothes. Tugging on my shoes, I grabbed my shirt and headed back up the hill to meet Mercy. I was going to have to tell her that couldn't happen again. Sex was dangerous with a woman I wasn't protecting, but it was even worse with a woman whose life depended on me having a clear head.

"Chase!"

Her scream wrenched me from my thoughts and I took off up the hill at breakneck speed. I drew my gun immediately, not even stopping to consider what might have happened. The moment I reached the top, I heard the growl and saw the spotted beast pinning her to the ground with only my bag between her and his teeth. I didn't waste a second firing off two shots, hitting the jaguar first in the head and then in the throat. He collapsed on top of her, smothering her with his heavy weight.

I rushed over, grabbing the animal by the scruff and dragging him off her. She let out a loud gasp, shoving the bag away from her body. I instantly hauled her off the ground, wrapping her up in my arms as my heart hammered loudly in my chest.

"Christ, are you okay?"

I felt her nod against me, but she said nothing. I closed my eyes as I held her against me, unable to even think about what might have happened if I hadn't been closer. I was never leaving her again.

"Chase, I'm okay," she said, pushing at my arms.

"Just shut up," I snapped, holding her tighter.

"You're suffocating me," she laughed.

"Don't care," I muttered, refusing to let go just yet. Her arms went limp as she allowed me to hold her for a few minutes longer. The terror slowly receded the longer I held her. Images of what I might have seen floated through my mind, but I shoved them away until all I saw was that scar, reminding me of all she'd survived.

"Hey, I really am okay," she said, poking me in the stomach.

I finally relented and pulled away from her, staring at her face. There were still traces of terror there, but not like I expected. I took my time, looking her over for any indication that the beast had taken a swipe. I held out both arms and looked at every inch of skin. Other than streaks of dirt on her arms, she was unscathed. The same couldn't be said about her back. She had large cuts on her back from the branch she'd fallen on, but luckily they were minor compared to what could have happened.

"Let me clean up your back."

She sighed and sat down for me to work, though I noticed she sat perpendicular to the animal on the ground.

"He's dead," I told her, in case she was still worried.

"I know, but if I can see it, I can run if he decides to suddenly wake up and attack me."

"He has two bullets in him. He's not going anywhere," I said as I pulled my med kit out and got to work cleaning her up.

She was silent for a moment, then laughed under her breath. "Haven't you ever had that reccurring nightmare where something happens, but you think it's over? And then just when you let your guard down, the thing you thought was over is suddenly not?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

Her shoulders tensed for just a moment. "After my heart surgery, I used to wake up in a cold sweat screaming for my parents. I was so sure that the surgery had failed and I was going into cardiac arrest. It lasted about two weeks straight before I put a stop to it."

"How did you do that?"

"I was hypnotized."

I was just about to swipe her back for the final time with the antibiotic wipes, but I stopped. "You what?"

"I don't know if it worked or not. I just know the dreams stopped. Maybe all I needed was to think they were real."

"And just like that, it was all over?"

"Not a single dream since. What was your reccurring nightmare?"

She glanced over her shoulder, expecting an answer from me, but I wasn't sure I was ready to share that yet. "Hold still. I just need to put the bandage on."

If she was put out that I didn't share, she didn't let on. I snatched her shirt off the ground and handed it to her, then got up and walked over to where a few things fell out of my pack.

"We should probably try to make it to better cover for the night now that this spot is tainted."

"Do you know where we're going?"

I turned around just as she was pulling her pants up. Luckily, they were cargo pants so they were loose enough to put on despite still being wet. "Uh…yeah. It's still quite a hike. Are you up for a little more travel tonight?"

"A little tired, but that's only because you wore me out," she said, winking at me.

It was like she was always trying to throw me off my game. I hadn't met anyone quite like her, someone who I connected with so easily. But that didn't mean I could allow these feelings to take over again. They distracted me and made me do things that should never happen.

"We should get going." I slung my pack over my shoulder and turned away. I would not fall for her. I would not allow my feelings for her to get in the way of the job. No matter what.