SEAL's Desire (Alpha SEALs Coronado #1) - Makenna Jameison Page 0,19

called himself Hurricane. “Are you the leader or something?”

“Affirmative. And unfortunately, things have headed south. That asshole Abboud is still out there. My men are looking for him, but we’ll wait here before we circle back to meet up with them. I don’t want you getting caught in the crossfire.”

She shuddered. “Me either. I can wait out here if you need to work though.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I just got you out of a damn terrorist camp. You think I’m going to leave you alone here unprotected in the middle of the jungle?”

She shrugged, feeling somewhat foolish. “I don’t want to get in the way of your mission. It’s true, they captured me out here, somewhere.” She looked around, surrounded only by dark trees. She had no idea how far she was from her own camp. “We heard voices near the river and didn’t hide quickly enough. Believe me when I say I’ve learned my lesson.”

Blake nodded, watching the way she was holding her wrist. “Let’s see if I can bind that wrist for you—at least get you a little more comfortable while we’re out here.”

“Thanks.”

He knelt down, leaning his gun against a tree, and looked through his rucksack. “How long were you held there?”

“Just a day or so. It felt like forever.”

He nodded. “You seem in relatively good condition. When I first saw you on the ground bound to that pole, I thought I was going to have to carry you out. How’d you break your wrist?”

She shuddered, watching as he pulled out a rolled-up bandage. “Someone snuck into my tent and tried—” She shook her head, suddenly getting choked up. “Well, anyway. He didn’t get far. He pushed me to the ground, but the leader burst in when I screamed and fought him. I guess he didn’t want me injured before he took the video,” she said bitterly.

“Jesus.”

“He didn’t—they didn’t rape me. Maybe they would’ve eventually, but they were mostly concerned with filming me making a statement and trying to get a hefty ransom for their trouble.”

“Assholes. Thank God we found you. I’ll ask my CO if any footage has turned up online. We don’t want your family and friends worried if they see the video.”

She nodded, taking a deep breath. No sense in telling him she didn’t have any family or close friends. He’d just feel sorry for her. As it was, she was grateful he’d come to her rescue. More than grateful. She didn’t need him to pity her.

“All right,” he said, his voice gruff. “Let’s see about your wrist. Sit down here,” he instructed, nodding toward the ground beside him.

She sank to the ground next to Blake, blowing out a shaky breath.

He knelt beside her, looking big and powerful. Hopefully binding her wrist would help, because at the moment it hurt like hell. “All right,” he instructed. “Just rest your arm on my thigh.”

She did as he asked, glancing up at him. Even in the middle of the night, in the damn rainforest, he seemed calm and in control. She basically felt out of her element with no supplies, nothing but the clothes she was wearing.

Blake was clearly prepared for anything. He rolled up her long-sleeved shirt so that he could wrap her wrist, his gloved hands working efficiently.

“I’m going to take these off,” he said, setting the black gloves aside for a moment. He lightly brushed against her forearm with his hand as he unrolled the bandage, and she jumped. The feel of his hand against her skin was electric.

“I won’t hurt you,” he assured her.

“I know.”

Working quietly, he began wrapping her wrist, carefully binding it and part of her hand. Blake was efficient yet gentle with her. He held her more carefully than she expected, no doubt because of the bruising on her skin. “Is that too tight?”

“No, it feels good,” she said, slightly rotating her arm. “It doesn’t hurt as much.”

He nodded. “I’ve got some painkillers. That should help.”

He grabbed a small bottle out of his rucksack, along with his canteen, handing both over to her. Gratefully, she swallowed two aspirin. “Were you camping somewhere around here?” he asked.

“I’m not sure actually. My guide and I hiked two hours up to the river so I could collect water samples. It felt like we were walking for hours and hours though after I was kidnapped.”

“Water samples. Are you a scientist?”

She nodded. “Biologist. We were just finishing up for the afternoon, and I’d put everything in my backpack, when my guide thought he heard