Chapter 22

Dare tensed his arm as unobtrusively as possible and fought back a wince. The unearthly lime-colored glow on his watch proclaimed an hour had gone by.

Abby’s head lay smack on the middle of his biceps. The pins and needles let him know the blood was flowing easier once again.

She stirred, and he froze. Casting a glance at her in the subdued lighting, he saw the softness of her cheek under the dried dirt. Her hair was full of bits of twigs and vegetation, but through it all, she still smelled like Abby. Soft. Feminine.

He shifted his arm ever so slightly, but left her head where it was. Anything to keep her comfortable. Hell, anything to keep her happy, just a few minutes longer.

Because the truth was, their situation was incredibly perilous.

The list of dangers read like a page out of an official manual on atmospheric disturbances, because, in fact, that’s where he’d read it before the shoot. He’d looked up the info as an extra, though he’d had full emergency operations, medical and rescue training, as a firefighter. He’d made himself completely aware of any and all additional risks. Part of his resume for site work…advanced risk management.

And the number of possible issues with their present position was screaming in his brain.

Flooding. Check.

That was highly possible, with the rains lashing the area and the depressed grade of the cave. Even when rain speed lessened, the threat wasn’t over. Anything under ten miles per hour typically dumped more rain, not less.

Storm surge—which would mean flooding, again—check. It was a serious threat, in that they weren’t far from the beach.

He combed through everything he knew, just as he had the past hour, everything he’d learned about survival. But nothing new came up. Shit.

He ran through the list of guys he knew that were particularly adept to see if there was something he could ferret out that could help. Especially the Delta North Team soldiers. Who would he want by his side in this current nightmare?

One picture slammed into his brain.

Eli Austin. That’s who.

Weird combination, that guy. He had a high level, geeky brain, yet the raw determination to survive anywhere, no matter how compromised a situation physically. Even back when they’d just been in their local unit together and training, he’d been floored with his natural proclivity to come up with inventive avenues, especially when there was a shit storm. Not what he’d expected from a guy with massive IT brains.

What would Eli do?

Not for the first time, his hand itched to move toward his cell, to message someone for solutions.

But there was no way he could text anyone now, with the shitty reception. And even if he’d been able to, he still wouldn’t have been able to get Eli. The guy had disappeared. He’d left the unit, gone off grid, without a word. Dare had gotten one last text, undecipherable in its meaning, and that was it.

The guy had left his woman, Tish, behind. Everything. It hadn’t made sense, but it had happened. She’d moved on, married some rich guy in Europe, and no one ever saw her again, either.

Hell. Maybe Eli’d run out of solutions one last time.

The thought made him sick. He forced himself from his ruminations about his brother and back to the current reality. Something in him pulsed from shock, once again at where they were, and in what situation, then hardened. A few minutes of box breathing, and it was all gone. One thing, though, was crystal.

He wouldn’t let Abby get hurt. Not have his mom or Tabby have to deal with the ‘never heard from again’ scenario. Not happening.

He steeled himself to come up with what they needed. An escape route from flooding—number one on the list, this second in time.

This damn second in time.

He ran his eyes upwards in the dark, trying to decipher the markings of the cavern walls in the utter blackness. But he’d done that earlier, and hadn’t seen what he needed.

Handholds. Anything to get them higher than they were. Off the dirt floor in case…

And the first bit of wetness clawed at his back.

Locking his jaw, he reached around behind him to where the cuff of the shirt they were laying on poked out. His fingertips came into contact with fabric that was soaking wet. He reached out further and the liquid smoothness of cold water enveloped his fingers, and with it his world altered.

Skimming his arm out from under Abby carefully, he let her head slide down, as gently as possible, onto the shirt collar. Then, turning from her, he groped in the area of the wetness.

His fingers were submerged in water.

Grabbing the safety light from its position above their heads where he’d stowed it for the night, he flicked it onto its dimmest setting. Aiming the beam towards the opening, he followed the thin trail of wetness that had snaked to them and pooled in the small dip beside them. Checking the path of the water with his fingers, he noticed it was not actively flowing anymore.

So water had made its way in, but the source must have shifted, or something was blocking it. It was no longer filling the little pool beside them. He flicked the light off.

He wasn’t one to overreact, but even his breathing came easier. For the moment.

What he wouldn’t give now, right now, to be back in his regular life, all this a memory to tell over a beer. With his Delta North Team buddies.

A rush of warmth engulfed his side as a soft body in question turned to him and bumped up against him and something primal stirred in him.

With Abby at his side. Abby.

Always Abby.

Her hushed voice murmured out of the dark. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He forced his voice steady as he whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

“Nuh-huh.” She wiggled against him and clasped her hands around his belly, dangerously low. In spite of the weird circumstance, his cock jerked with the onslaught of blood.

“I’ve got an interesting topic for discussion,” she breathed. “Something we can discuss. Strategize about.” The words were sleepy. “Come to a decision on.”

“Yeah?” Again he forced his voice steady, but for a different reason. Though it came out hoarse due to the effort involved in marshaling his errant cock. “And…?”

The muffled whisper as she raised herself up just enough for her lips to hover over his ear, jerked his cock again. Didn’t take much. “I have to pee.”

He barely stifled a laugh. Perfect timing. “Of course you do.”

She thudded onto her back beside him. “I can’t help it.”

He smiled in the dark. “It’s okay. I’ll put the light on. You can go in the corner.”

“Ew!”

He grinned. Abby did bring him back to earth with her momentary demands, something he’d mostly enjoyed. “Well, what did you expect? I hadn’t gotten around to panning for gold and building you a throne out of it. We’re a bit limited right now.”

She shifted towards him and the cushion of air between them warmed and slid all over him comfortably. “Well, get on that. In the meantime, maybe I’ll hold it until morning when the storm is over.”

As she said that, the shriek of the wind pitched higher, and he felt her shiver, despite the windbreaker he’d draped around her enticing curves earlier.

“Dare?”

The tone of her voice mingled between adult and innocent and he got it. She wasn’t stupid. She recognized they were still in danger.

But as always, it pierced him where he had no defenses against her. In his heart. “Yeah?”

“We’re going to be okay, right?”

And unfortunately, he knew the silence he couldn’t seem to fill wasn’t going to console her.

Too bad. When she used that tone, he couldn’t lie, or bolster her. She was looking to him for one hundred percent truth, no coverings. No fluff to pretty it up.

Abby pulled herself up. Suddenly the cavern was bathed in a yellowed glow as she grabbed the safety light and switched it on. “Okay. I’m a big girl. What’s up?”

His lips flattened in momentary dismay. He sensed the clumsy glower on her face had nothing to do with him, but everything to do with the unfairness of the predicament they found themselves in. And he had no choice but to tell her.

His gaze met hers. “There are a few things I’m concerned about.”

“Such as?”

“How long the storm will last. Food, and especially water. I’m sure you’ve thought of that.”

One side of her mouth lifted in a wry expression, and she nodded. “The chocolate was good, but it’s gone.”

“Exactly. Water’s come in already. It’s stopped now, but...” He couldn’t hold any of it back. She’d feel it if she moved to the other side of him anyway.

He saw the terror flash in her eyes, and her whole posture went stiff. “Water?”

Aiming the light behind him, he played a yellow circle around the small pool, then flicked it up the line of water that had fed it. “Right there.”

He saw her force herself to relax, but he wasn’t fooled, and admiration for her flared in him again as she spoke. “We’re lower here than it is outside. A lot more could find its way in.”

“That’s right. The storm goes on, the more chance there is.” He tried, but somehow he couldn’t get the words storm surge out of his mouth. She knew there was a danger of flooding. That was enough.

“What else?”

Too astute for her own good, damn it. “We’re in a dirt cavern. Rain is pounding against the hill, battering it, and there’s a huge air pocket under it. As in, this cave.” He met her eyes steadily. “Abby, there’s the danger of collapse, or a mud slide. Enough of one to wreck our getting out, if it blocks the entrance.”

“Is that it?”

“Pretty much.”

She pursed her lips. “What do we do?”

“There’s nothing we can do. Sit tight. Hope for the best.” He hated dumping platitudes on her, but it was the truth.

Nothing to do but wait.

This here, could be their last time together, or if things swung to the good side of possibility, just another incident in a long life. There was no way to tell.

He reached his hand over and patted her knee. “We could be okay too.”

Abby shrugged her shoulders. “Well, that just caps off the idea of sleep tonight. I don’t think I’m going to be able to get back to that particular dream.” She looked so distressed at losing out on the dream she’d apparently been enjoying that he grinned.

“That good, huh?” He teased, but deep inside, his heart swelled with admiration again for the fact that she wasn’t panicking and he couldn’t hold it back. This woman was made of rock, where it counted.

Unbreakable.

“I wish you were completely safe, and far away from here. But if I had to choose the one person I’d be facing crap with, Abby, it’d be you.”

The smile that crept into her eyes was once-in-a-lifetime. “Me too.”

The simple words touched him, and a warm feeling suffused him, knowing she’d been his girl once. She’d wanted to be with him. Hell, she’d chosen him. From a life of the utmost privilege, this woman had gladly dropped out to plant herself at his side.

“Maybe I can help you get back to that dream.” He leaned towards her, his arm sliding around her waist.