Chapter 511 Chapter 511
She hit the top of the hill in what she was sure had to be record time. Stopping, she turned and watched in the trees in the direction Tripp would be driving, she could make out the disruption of the exhaust in the air. Her cat swung her head in the other direction. Don’t blame me, we’re in this mess because of you. The only time in our lives it mattered that you put the brakes on, and you didn’t. Now we’re mated and stuck in this clusterfuck, dear kitty.
Her cat let her know she was unimpressed before she allowed Amari to take control and get them to the top where they could see the meet location. It was open with trees surrounding it, but a good spot, hard to set up an ambush. That was a plus. Before she hightailed it back to the jeep, she checked along the road coming in from the other direction, there was no sign of a vehicle as far as she could see.
Happy enough with that, she turned and headed down the hill to meet up with Tripp again. It wasn’t like she’d ever thought of what her mate might be like or pined for one like some females did. Her heart was shut off from mushy emotions like that as if a piece of her was missing from birth. Amari couldn’t miss what she’d never known, and it helped her do what she had to do to help others and survive this unsafe world they lived in.
She slid down the hill toward the road, her only goal was to get to the spot before Tripp did. Mate or not, she couldn’t just hand it to him. She jumped and cleared a snow-covered boulder jutting out from the earth and landed without issue to continue to zig-zag down it.
Her father lecturing her flashed through her mind, one of his endless ones about feminine behavior and being worthy of a mate. Like that had anything to do with the body fate selected for you. Aggravation of thinking about him renewed her speed as the ground started to level off. She wondered what his thoughts would be knowing her mate was one of the members of the special ops—that no proud Alpha liked to acknowledge even existed because they were so off the charts and unmanageable. Yet they were wholly necessary to do the things others couldn’t or wouldn’t.
If she could decide what the hell she was doing about this mating fiasco, and the decision was in Tripp’s favor, she might drag her borderline terrorist mate to meet dear old dad. It was about time she settled a few things with him. Problem was, she couldn’t think of him without violent inclinations filling her.
Skidding across the road, she managed to stop right in the middle of it, and sit just as Tripp jumped on the brakes, sending the Jeep skidding sideways on the narrow road. She caught the amused look on his face, and then got up and walked to the door.
Tripp leaned over and popped the door open. “Come on, Kitty cat, get your clothes on.” He smirked.
She stretched up and landed her front paws on the seat and tried to give him a hard look, but her cat betrayed her and gave him a soft come hither one instead.
Tripp stood up and looked down at her, “I don’t like this.”
Amari rested her hands on her knees and looked up at him, “it’s the best plan and you know it.” She wiggled her hands, “come on.”
Tripp heaved out a breath and squatted down again, “twice, we’ve used you as bait.”
She looked at him, amusement in her eyes, “next abduction can be all about you.”
He couldn’t help smiling at her, “promise?”
“On my honor.” She smiled.
The playful look she was giving him made him want to kiss her, and more. No time for that. “Try to look defeated.” He smiled, “or keep your head down.”
Amari lifted an eyebrow at him and leaned back against the tree, “if they know anything about me, they’re going to know I’m not going to be cooperative.”
“Are you ever?” He tilted his head, “cooperative?” Tripp leaned over and adjusted the collar of her jacket, then did it up. “Can’t have him seeing that right off.”
She realized he was covering the bite mark. She hadn’t thought of that. Taking a mated female would be useless on all fronts. “What are you going to tell him if he asks about Darrel?”
“Just leave it to me, okay? We need him to turn his back to me.”
“And if there’s more than one?” She hoped she’d at least get to take a swing at someone today.
“We’ll deal with it,” he jerked his chin toward the tree, “put your arms back.”
She reached behind her and felt him tug the rope that was around one wrist, pulling her arm further back. He wrapped it around the other wrist and then placed it in her hand.
“Just try to look like you’re tied to the tree until I can see if there are any others with him that have been dropped off before he gets here.”
She nodded as he stood up, “wait, pull up the back of my jacket.”
With an amused look, he bent down and did as she requested, “can’t block access to your knife.”
“How did you know?”
He stood up and shrugged, “Kenzo warned me.”
Amari laughed softly, “yeah he would know, he was almost on the wrong end of one once,” she gave him a quick look, “sneaking up on me isn’t a good idea.”
“No, it is not.” Tripp stood there looking down at her and then sighed loud before he squatted back down. Grasping her chin lightly, he tilted her head up, “no stupid chances, okay?” He leaned down and kissed her mouth hard, then released her and stood up. “Vehicle coming.”
Amari watched him walk away and then scowled, wondering if he’d only kissed her to disarm her plan. How was she supposed to think about maiming some jerk when all she could think about was kissing him?
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and blew it out. Focus. You can be his little kitty cat later. She opened her eyes, stunned at her cat’s thoughts. “We’re going to have to have a talk later.” She meant it for her animal, but he glanced over at her where he was leaning against the jeep, you too, she thought, and then looked at the road to watch for the vehicle.