Page 22 of My Tiny Giant
I didn’t even bother to look at it. Due to the map’s current size, I wouldn’t be able to make out anything on it without a large magnifying glass.
“Are we heading back to the base then?” I asked.
It seemed like a wise thing to do to continue our way back to safety. Yet I needed Agan to confirm he was okay with us leaving the lab and, possibly, the only link to the solution of his predicament.
“Yes,” he replied grimly. “I need to deliver you to safety.”
Technically, I’d be the one doing the “delivery” since he was strapped to my chest, not the other way around. I’d be the one carrying his ass to the base, after all.
Seeing his crestfallen expression, however, I held my snark back this time.
“We’ll let our superiors know about this lab,” I said, searching for a way to cheer him up. “Someone should be able to identify the Voranian scientist and force him to reverse what he’s done.”
“Right.” Agan nodded, not looking very convinced but determined and collected. “Let’s go.”
“I can’t see much on the map, so you’ll have to be the navigator. Just tell me what heading to follow.”
He consulted the map again, telling me our exact coordinates then the direction in which we had to travel.
“Now set me down, Eleven,” he commanded, putting the map away. “I’ll walk.”
“No way, man.” I shook my head. “The last thing I need right now is a snake to swallow you or a bird to snatch you.”
“I insist you set me down, Lieutenant Nowak.” His voice turned clipped.
I started on our way, concentrating on navigating through the thick jungle while keeping the heading he’d given me. “You’ll slow us down if you walk.”
That made him quiet, but only for a minute or two.
“Couldn’t you at least carry me in your hand?” he asked, in a slightly less authoritative tone. “Or I could sit on your shoulder?” he suggested, his voice hopeful.
Remembering his earlier bravado and sexual innuendos, I would’ve expected him to take full advantage of his position in my bra and tease me relentlessly. That he did nothing of the sort told me how unsettled he must feel.
Agan had obviously taken a lot of pride in his previous size and strength. Having been reduced to the size of the lizard-like creature he’d had for dinner last night couldn’t be easy on him. He seemed anxious, worried, and...subdued.
I found this more appealing than his earlier brazen attitude.
“Let me out of here.” Propping himself with his hands placed on the top of my breasts, he pushed himself up, with a clear intention to climb out of my cleavage.
“Nope.” I lifted my bra up by the straps and jumped twice on the same spot, shaking him back in. “You’re staying where you are, Lieutenant. I need the use of both hands to hike through this bush. Any branch here would easily knock you off my shoulder—so, that option is out too.”
Holding a gun in one hand and using the other one to move vines and branches out of my way, I kept moving ahead.
“This would easily count as harassment, Eleven.” Agan sulked and wiggled unhappily, trapped between my breasts. “I will report it as such if you don’t let me out. Set me down. It’s an order!”
Too bad his voice hadn’t turned thin and squeaky after he’d been shrunk. I bet he wouldn’t have dared order me around in a squeaky little voice. Sadly, it retained the same low pitch and timbre, only significantly quieter now.
“You can’t give me orders,” I reminded. “We’re not in the same army. We’re also of equal rank.”
“Right,” he growled. “Except that it took me over two decades to earn my rank on the battlefield, and you got yours as a graduation present.”
“Hey!” I nearly tripped over a branch. “What’s that supposed to mean? Like my years at the academy meant nothing?” That was an argument I knew neither of us would win, but I was too irritated by this man all over again to let this slide. “Do you have any idea how much I had to learn to efficiently operate the complex piece of machinery that is the armor suit?”
“Sitting in the classroom is not the same as lying in the trenches,” he retorted, resting his chin on his hand, his elbow propped on the side of my breast. “And operating a machine, no matter how complex, is not the same as leading forty men into battle, day after day.”
I was not minimizing his accomplishments. I just wished he wouldn’t bring mine down, either.
Anger sparked, bringing the worst out of me.