Wild Men of Alaska Collection - By Helmer, Tiffinie Page 0,133
me,” he stated, taking a long sip of his coffee before setting the cup down on the night table.
Could that be her downfall? She felt as if she was barefoot trying to navigate an icy slope.
His eyes dark and brooding, stared into hers. “Do you have any more transmitters on you?”
“No.” That question—demand—she hadn’t expected.
He picked up the backpack and handed it to her, not taking his eyes off her. “Check bottom seam.”
She ran her fingers along the seam finding a quarter-size transmitter. Could this be one of Ivan’s backups in case the one in her bra had been found? But why wouldn’t Ivan tell her?
“Vhat vas your plan for getting off The Edge once you had killed me?”
“I was supposed to call on the sat phone.” There was a sharp stab to her heart. What if she had actually succeeded in killing him?
Sergei flipped open his handy switchblade and surrendered it to her, handle first.
She paused in taking his weapon. How could he trust her like this after all she’d tried to do and what he was accusing her of now?
Or was he accusing her?
He held her gaze for a long time. She slowly accepted the blade, and a satisfied smile curved his lips.
She cut into the bottom of the backpack, freeing the tracking device. It was small but effective, though the tracker wouldn’t find her unless they were within a twenty mile radius. Who was monitoring her besides Ivan? Had he planted this on her without telling her as a backup? But why wouldn’t her tell her?
“Why didn’t you destroy this when you found it?” She had no clue where this had come from, but didn’t try to defend herself. There was no way to prove her innocence.
“I vant whoever is tracking your movements not to suspect things have changed between us.” He paused as though waiting for her to object. His nostrils flared when she didn’t.
She handed the knife and the device to Sergei. He took them, stashing away the knife and the disk in his pocket. He then seized her face between his large hands and kissed her.
Something monumental passed between them without a word being said. Trust had been formed, reinforced and then sealed with a hard exchanging of lips and coffee-scented breath.
“Ya lublu tebya, Katja.” He released her, his eyes boring into hers.
She wished she was more up on her Russian, because whatever he’d just uttered sounded important.
Wait a damn minute. Had he just told her he loved her?
Before she could ask for the translation, he’d fished the satellite phone out of her pack and held it out to her. “Call and say job is finished.”
“No.” She slapped the phone out of her way.
“Katja,” he warned.
“In English. Translate what you just said.” Her lungs refused to inflate as she waited him out.
“You know vhat I said.”
Oh God. Her heart launched into hyper drive. “You love me?”
“Dah. Now make call. Ve’ll discuss feelings for each other once job is finished.”
“Oh, no we won’t. We’ll discuss it now.”
“Are you ready to tell me your feelings?”
She froze. What did she really feel for him? She’d hated him for so long, or was there more to it? Was the hate covering up how much he’d hurt her by leaving her to flounder like he had because she cared for him too? She didn’t know if she could use the word love, yet, or ever.
Sergei’s face hardened into an unreadable mask. “First vork and then ve’ll talk.” He gave her a hard kiss. “Make call.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Sergei loaded his 12-gauge sawn-off Remington 870 pump-action shotgun, liking the feel of the weapon in his hands.
“Think that’s big enough?” Kate asked, securing the kerambit to her belt.
“Is back-up.”
“If that is your secondary weapon, what’s your first?”
“You.” He’d returned Kate her 9mm.
She reclaimed her weapon with one hand, and then traced her other hand down his chest as though she couldn’t help herself.
Damn this woman. He knew she cared for him. Telling her he loved her had been a slip. He hadn’t meant to reveal so much when they needed to focus on the job ahead. So he shouldn’t feel hurt that she hadn’t gushed out her feelings to him. She’d come a long way from wanting him dead to loving him like she had last night. He needed to be patient just a little longer.
Her fingers hooked into the waistband of his jeans and drew him in. Her lips took his and desire clouded his focus.