Line of Fire Read Online Free

I got tossed in the helicopter, your captors hit us with knockout spray. They probably transferred us to an airplane and flew us down here.”
    She frowned. His words made sense, but the scenario he described was ludicrous.
    His voice cut across her confusion. “How do you feel? Any pain? Swelling? Numbness?”
    Why, yes. Her whole brain was numb. “What time is it?” If anything, her disorientation was deepening, not fading.
    “It was about noon when they grabbed us. The watch I lifted says it’s ten o’clock. From the light and temperature conditions, I’d assume it’s morning.”
    She frowned. “Tossed in a helicopter?”
    He nodded and, as if willing her to remember, looked deeply into her eyes. Eyes. Turquoise blue. Staring at her in surprise. Widened in concern. Then narrowed with lethal intent.
    An abrupt image of a sleek black chopper came to her. Men in black clothes and masks bursting out of it. Being shoved inside. Combat boots. Guns. Tex landing beside her. And then a silver aerosol can. Good grief! That couldn’t be real. This was all a figment of her imagination run amuck.
    Wasn’t it?
    She asked slowly, “Am I awake?”
    He grinned and her heart tripped at the masculine flash of white against tanned skin. He leaned close to her, his gaze fixed on her mouth like he was contemplating kissing her. A sense of déjà vu flashed in her brain.
    Riding the wave of the pseudo memory, she lifted her chin like she had before to kiss him back. Their breaths mingled, the humid heat caressing her lips. She knew him. Knew the taste of him. But how? One thing she was certain of—If she’d ever kissed this man before, she’d definitely remember it.
    He pulled back abruptly, far enough for her to see his turbulent gaze. “Oh, yeah. This is for real, darlin’.”
    She shivered appreciatively at the honey-sweet drawl in his words. Then the import of what he’d said slammed into her.
    This was real. All of it! Horror started low in her belly and bubbled upward, expanding and growing until it nearly choked her.
    She scrabbled backward, away from the man seated beside her. “No! It can’t be!” she exclaimed in dismay.
    He looked around sharply and snapped, “Keep your voice down. Whoever tried to kidnap you is still out there somewhere. We don’t need to scare up a bunch of wildlife with your screeching and give away our position.”
    “By all means,” she snapped back. “Let’s not upset the baboons!”
    “Especially not the ones with AK-47s who kidnapped you,” he bit out.
    “Kidnapped…” Her? Ridiculous. “How did we end up in a jungle in Gavarone if someone actually tried to kidnap me?” she demanded skeptically.
    “Because Maui was booked?” he suggested casually.
    She scowled. “I’m serious. Someone really tried to kidnap me?”
    His voice went grim. “They more than tried, darlin’. They succeeded. But I managed to break us out.”
    She stared at him, dumbfounded. “How?”
    He merely shrugged in response.
    “How did we end up out here?” She swept a hand around at the lush greenery crowding in on them.
    “I carried you. Look, eventually the bad guys will realize we jumped out of their truck, and they’ll be back. We need to get going.”
    She simply stared. Ample evidence that he was telling the truth crowded in on her from all sides, but her brain refused to accept it.
    “Now that you’re awake, Princess, we need to get moving again. We should put as much distance behind us as we can while we’re still in fairly good shape.”
    She felt in anything but good shape at the moment. Complete, paralyzing shock was a more accurate description of her state. Furthermore, the idea of traipsing around a jungle held no appeal whatsoever. “Which way’s the road?” she asked reasonably.
    “If, in fact, we’re in Gavarone, most of the countryside is controlled by the rebels. The guard in the truck with us was wearing a red beret,” he answered obliquely.
    She could ferret information