Page 72 of Her Mercenary

An explosion of fireworks danced in my body.

I threw my arms around his neck. He pulled me in and our kisses turned heated, more frantic, wildly sexy. I released my weight and lifted off my feet, allowing the water to support me, like floating through a dream.

When I wrapped my legs around his waist, I felt his erection against the bottom of my ass. Moaning, he pulled back, then hugged me so tightly, his body trembled against mine.

Despite the intensity in his grasp, there was a feeling of letting go. Finally, both him and me, together.

Tears filled my eyes as I was overcome with a sudden rush of emotions.

I pulled back, dragging my fingers through his wet hair as we stared at each other, knowing everything had just changed.

His green eyes twinkled in the moonlight, a fearful desperation written on his face.

“I’m not good at this, Sam. I’m not good,” he whispered, his voice trembling with emotion. “I don’t do relationships. I’m going to fail at this. I—”

“Shhh,” I whispered back, trailing my thumb over his bottom lip. “Then I’ll help you.”

Something flashed in his eyes. He blinked, seemingly stunned at the words. I’d triggered something in him, and it was obvious he didn’t quite know how to handle it. I could practically see his brain short-circuiting.

I smiled, unwrapped my legs from his waist, placed my hands on his chest, and took a step back.

“Enough for today,” I whispered. “Let’s get some sleep.”

31

SAM

Holding my hand, Roman led me off the shoreline and into the jungle, retracing our steps back to the our campsite.

Suddenly, he stopped, his entire body freezing in place.

Fear sparked through my veins. “Roman—”

Pop!

A thousand pieces of bark exploded inches above my head.

Before my brain could even register that we were being shot at, Roman spun on his heel and lunged toward me, throwing his body over mine, guiding our fall into a thick bush of ferns. Instead of taking cover there, he gripped my shoulders and dragged me like a rag doll across the ground, shuffling backward on his knees.

More muted pops, more debris exploding everywhere. Leaves rained down on us.

“Stay down,” he hissed. “Pull your knees to your chest in the fetal position.”

Though his tone was razor sharp, his voice was calm and controlled. This calmed me. I felt protected, despite knowing we were currently under attack.

I did as I was told, finding myself cocooned in the thick, gnarled roots of a massive tree.

More shots pinged off the branches around us.

Roman laid his body over mine as a shield. “Shhh ...”

My chest heaving, I clamped my mouth shut and breathed through my nose in a feeble attempt to control the adrenaline surging through my body.

Suddenly, thump, thump, thump. The sound of approaching footsteps beat in time with my pounding heart. My eyes widened as panic engulfed me.

Roman glanced at me, again mouthing shhh.

The boots stopped on the opposite side of the tree. I could hear the heaving breaths and rustle of fabric as whoever was trying to kill us shifted his weight.