Chapter 26

Case returned to the hut to find Nyx already had her brave face on. Damn, he loved this woman. He could count on her to stay calm, and when he needed her to suck it up, she did without complaining. Her strength would help a lot when he told her about Ramirez's plan.

One side of his mouth quirked up. Of course, she also might skewer him when he shared what would happen tomorrow.

Nyx remained unmoving until his escort closed the door to the hut behind him. "Are you all right?" she asked, standing and crossing to meet him. Her eyes ran over him, looking for any injury and something inside him warmed at her concern.

"I'm fine. Colonel Ramirez and I had a meeting, nothing more." He tried not to hug her, but when she stood right in front of him, Case couldn't help it. He wrapped his arms around her and brought Nyx against his body, holding on tightly. Fuck, he didn't want to leave her here, and there was no way for him to get her out.

Not alone.

He needed his team and the only way to reach them was to pretend to cooperate with Ramirez. He didn't want to think about his Fireball's reaction. He wouldn't be able to tell her what the ultimate plan was, and he'd have to count on her trusting him without all the facts.

Maybe she would.

They'd developed a connection over the past few days. She relied on him, did what he said without arguing, and he'd learned he could depend on her word. When she said something, he didn't have to look for ulterior motives.

"Talk to me, Lurch," she said, voice muffled against his shoulder. "What's going on?"

The way she said Lurch sounded like an endearment and not his handle. And he had an immediate, negative reaction. He didn't like her using it. Everyone called him Lurch. Nyx wasn't everyone.

Case froze and listened to himself. He didn't like her calling him Lurch? They had a connection? He didn't have to look for hidden motives with her? And what had he thought when he first walked into the hut? That he loved her?

Every muscle in his body went taut. They hardly knew each other.

Except that he did know her.

They'd been in a crucible together. He'd seen Nyx in some of the worst circumstances imaginable. She was brave and strong, able to think on her feet, willing to take risks and not stand around waiting. At the same time, she understood he was in charge and she followed orders. She pulled her weight and never expected him to do everything. Despite the situation, she'd even been able to laugh with him. And give him shit. His lips curved. That might be his favorite thing of all. Her sassiness. She didn't let him get away with anything.

What a time and place to realize he might be holding his future in his arms.

"Honey bear?"

"Hang on, Fireball. I need a minute."

He might need longer than that. Hannah had been the last in a long string of women who'd lied to him. Case had given up on a forever, settling for hookups for the past three years, but now there was Nyx. She was as straightforward as anyone he'd met.

Easing her back, he studied her face. She was a mess from their trek through the rainforest and their boat ride to the encampment. Her braid had hair escaping every which way and there were the cuts she'd gotten when she'd taken a face full of foliage. His fault. He'd been too slow. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to each scrape and then ran a thumb over the smudge of dirt on her chin.

"You're beautiful," he told her.

Her full lips quirked up. "Thanks," Nyx said dryly. "There's no mirror here, but as grimy as I feel, I think you're being overly complimentary."

"Keep in mind, I'm in the same state you are."

"True. Now are you going to fill me in or what?"

Case sighed, and reluctantly released her. "Yeah. Let's go sit down." Hand on the small of her back, he guided her to the chairs. "It's the weapons," he said when they were both seated.

"Occam's Razor," Nyx said, nodding. "The simplest explanation is usually right."

"There were other options, but yeah. This was always the most likely reason they were interested in me."

"And they want the same thing everyone else is clamoring for, right?"

"I thought you wanted me to fill you in?"

"I had time to think while I was waiting for you. There are a number of ways to get assault rifles and ammunition that don't involve you. Since they're laser focused on you and only you—" Nyx stopped speaking and shrugged. "It just made sense."

Case added a couple more items to his list. Nyx was smart and she could see the big picture. While her first inclination wasn't to assess things tactically when she did, she saw a lot of the same things he noticed. He liked that, too. Maybe it was time to stop detailing what he liked about her and just accept the truth. He'd fallen fast and hard for a brunette Fireball.

A brunette Fireball who had a couple more years left before she earned her PhD and wasn't looking for a relationship, or a hookup, until she was finished.

Her hand rested on his knee briefly, capturing his attention. "You keep checking out on me. What's up, honey bear?"

He realized he didn't like honey bear. Honey bear wasn't real, it was part of their act, but she couldn't use his name. His reaction wasn't rational. "I'm not a fan of honey bear," Case said.

"I'll just keep trying out endearments then," Nyx said easily. "Now fess up, what's going on? There's something you're avoiding."

Taking her hands, Case leaned forward. "Colonel Ramirez wants the weapon, and he knows that I can't do anything to get it for him sitting in a hut in the middle of the rainforest without a satellite phone at my disposal."

"Is he getting you a phone?"

Case shook his head. "No. At first light tomorrow, I'll be taken to Trujillo."

Her face paled, but Nyx squared her shoulders. "You mean we'll be taken to Trujillo. Right?"

He stayed quiet.

"Right?"

"No, Fireball. You're Ramirez's leverage to make sure I don't disappear on him. He's holding you here to keep me in line."

Her mask slipped for a moment and Case saw her terror. She had a reason for it. Then she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, it was gone. The veil back in place. He waited for her to ask if he would return. After all, she believed he was a mercenary, but she didn't. Nyx had that much faith in him. The realization warmed him.

"Those weapons must be locked down tight," she said, voice thick. "What's going to happen to me when you can't get them?"

"You're going to be fine." He tried to put as much assurance in his words as possible. It wasn't as if he could announce he'd be back with his team to rescue her. Not with all the guards they had within earshot.

"I trust you," she said quietly, but with her brave face firmly in place, he couldn't read her.

The hammock forced her and Case into each other's arms, but Nyx wasn't complaining. She was scared and feeling his warmth, his strength reassured her. It wouldn't last. In the morning, he'd be gone, and she'd have to survive in this camp alone.

It seemed darker than dark inside the hut. She could barely make out Case's features although she was tucked against his side. She didn't need to see him when she could picture him easily. The tousled blond hair, those sapphire blue eyes, his beard that didn't grow in well over his cheeks. And of course, the slightly lopsided grin that made her heart trip every time he flashed it at her.

Case didn't smile often enough.

It was too hot, too humid to sleep like this. Their skin stuck together whenever one of them tried to shift. It wasn't as if she could even doze anyway, not as wound up as she was. Nyx took a deep breath and tried not to hyperventilate at the thought of being left behind.

Her dad hadn't trained her to be a scaredy cat.

She could take care of herself. If the fight was fair. It wouldn't be fair if push came to shove while Case was gone. She'd be on her own against any number of men, all bigger and stronger and war hardened.

"Relax, Fireball," Case said. His mouth was against her ear, his voice barely audible. "Ramirez promised your complete safety for three days."

"That doesn't seem like very long." Nyx kept her voice as quiet as his.

"It'll be enough." He paused. "All I need to do is show proof the weapons are on their way and then you'll be fine. I'll be with you."

Nyx started to nod, banged her head into Case's chin, and settled for a murmur of agreement instead. She didn't believe the part about the weapons. There was no way in hell the US Army was letting the latest, greatest high-tech rifle out into the wild, not even as part of an operation. So what did that mean for her?

A few seconds of clear-headed thought gave her the answer. Case was coming back with his team to get her out. It might take them the full three days to plan the mission. The only easy way in and out was via the river, and that was heavily guarded by the raiders.

Raiders. It made them sound less frightening than what they were. War criminals. Murderers. Rapists. Arsonists. Soulless predators.

"Three days," she said as softly as possible. "Do you trust him to keep his word?"

"He'll keep it. I told him if any harm came to you that I would sell those rifles to the fucking Russian mob before I'd let him get his hands on them. Torres doesn't seem to scare him, but invoking Yaromir Ivanov made him think twice."

She didn't know who Ivanov was, but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that the name was enough to strike fear into Ramirez. She had questions for Case, so many questions, but she didn't ask any of them, too aware of the enemy mere feet away. If the wrong word carried to their ears, it could be catastrophic.

Bottom line? She trusted Case. She didn't need her questions answered.

"You know what I want to do when you've exchanged me for the weapons?"

"Go back home?" His voice might be quiet, but there was no mistaking the hopeful note in it.

"No. Well, eventually of course, but first I want to lock myself into a hotel room with you and cash it in."

Case's muscles tensed, she felt it and she also felt it when he forced himself to relax. "I thought you had two years left of school."

"I do, but I don't want to wait that long. I don't want to miss my chance with you."

He didn't say anything.

Had she read him wrong? Nyx didn't think so, but the silence left her anxious. "If you're interested, of course."

"Fireball, I am more than interested." His lips found hers in the dark. "Are you sure I'm worth being the one?"

Nyx slid her hand over, found his, and laced their fingers. "No one else ever even tempted me. Only you."

He squeezed her hand. "There's a second luxury hotel in Trujillo. I'll take you there. You deserve the best suite in the place, but that's a little out of my price range."

"As if I'll even notice the room."

His lips were curved as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll make sure of that. Anything in particular you're interested in trying?"

"Everything!" She barely managed to whisper that.

Case chuckled.

Nyx should be embarrassed, but she wasn't. Not with him. She could share things with him that she would never dream of telling anyone else. It should be like that. After all, she was giving him her virginity. "What do you want to do to me? Have you thought about it?"

"From the first moment you sat with me."

"And?"

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Blinking at the non sequitur, she frowned. "What?"

Moving the hand he held, Case placed it over his cock, just long enough for Nyx to feel he had an erection, and then he moved it back to his chest. "Just talking about this with you does this to me."

"Since you're already hard, answer my question. What were you fantasizing about, the first time we met?"

His voice was still quiet, but it was choked. "You used a straw to drink your limonada. All I could think about was that gorgeous mouth of yours wrapped around my cock."

Her entire body flashed molten hot, and she found it difficult to draw a full breath. When she realized Case was tense, waiting for her response, she whispered, "Yeah, I'd like that, too. You'll have to tell me what to do."

"I'll walk you through everything step by step if that's what you want. Of course, if you feel compelled to experiment, I'm good with that, too."

Nyx couldn't find words.

"Anything you want, any way you want it. Think about that while I'm gone. Come up with a list, and when we're back in Trujillo, we'll do it all. Everything."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He kissed her to seal the vow.