time, he wasn’t going to leave her and run off alone.
“Who’s chasing us. And why? Thorne, we have to find the authorities and—” She gasped, trying to keep her voice to a whisper, but her breath was so labored it was hard to even speak. Things were pretty lawless in Egypt, but she and Thorne weren’t locals, and they could be put in jail on a whim. The thought wasn’t comforting.
His chest rose and fell against her breast. He wasn’t out of breath, but she wondered how he’d run so effortlessly with his leg, which had been painful before he’d run a marathon. “This is insane. Why do you have a gun? Why do they? Who are these people?!”
“I’d rather err on the side of caution,” he told her cryptically, his voice soft and very close. Insanely, the smell of his clean sweat made her insides contract, which under the circumstances made Isis aware of how loudly his pheromones were shouting to her pheromones.
They appeared to be on the same frequency, which had never happened to her before in her life. It was fascinating. And as soon as she could suck in a breath that didn’t burn like fire, as soon as her manic heartbeat settled down, she’d sit down and examine the feelings. But right now, all she wanted to do was survive the evening.
“How on earth can you find your way around a strange place, and in the dark, no less?” She hated the wheeze in her voice. Yoga? She needed Pilates.
“Memorized the map.” His breath ruffled her hair, and Isis resisted the urge to lean against him for a minute or two or twenty. “I think we’re clear, but keep an eye out for strangers.”
Despite the obvious severity of the situation, she smiled in the darkness. “Seriously? We’re in a foreign country. Everyone is a stranger. What—”
“We’ll find a taxi five blocks over. Move fast, and stay close. Ready?”
Like I have a choice. “Sure.”
They slowed to a brisk walk, but that didn’t feel like much of a break to her rubbery legs. Her breaths were finally controlled as she spied the minarets of al-Azhar Mosque above the rooftops of the souk.
By the time they emerged from the narrow street and approached the pedestrian underpass, Isis saw that he was carrying a weapon. “Hey,” she said, bringing her eyes up from the gun to Thorne’s grim face. His expression scared her a hell of a lot more than the big black gun in his hand. “W—“
“Bloody hell.” He pulled her up short in the deep shadow of an old gnarled sycamore tree on the grassy verge. The warm breeze brought with it the pungent smell of urine, causing Isis to wrinkle her nose.
“The lights in the underpass should be on. Stay here for a minute. I’ll go—”
This time it was she who did the wrist grabbing. “No thanks. I’ll go with you. I feel too exposed out here, and if anything happens to you, I’ll be stuck here alone.”
After several heartbeats, he agreed quietly, not sounding particularly happy. “All right. Hold on to my belt so we stay together, but my hands are free. If we encounter anyone, fall to the ground and keep your head covered until I give the all-clear. Got it?” His eyes glinted. “And if we should run into any action, don’t bloody well help me.”
“God, no. I’ll run like hell and leave you in the dust.” Chauvinistic ass. He managed to make her blood boil in so many ways, and not all of them were good. “Let’s get this over with.”
She didn’t need to hold on to him going down the steep stairs, but once at the bottom, she slid her hand into the back of his jeans to grip his belt. The heat of his skin through the damp fabric of his shirt gave Isis a crystal-clear image of them rubbing their naked bodies together. The picture was so clear, so visceral that her nipples peaked, and she pressed closer to his back, as turned on as if he’d touched her.
She enjoyed the sensation, if not her lousy timing. The nerve-racking darkness and the eye-watering stench got rid of the image pretty fast. Eyes moving from side to side as she strained to see any threats in the gloom, Isis kept pace and acknowledged the duality of her responses to the man. As annoying as he tried to be, she was still turned on by everything about him. Go figure.