This was no local hunter. He was the real thing.
Noelle stood from behind the log pile, her gun quivering as she pointed it toward him. She didn't want to shoot anyone, but she would if she had to. "Get on the ground. Facedown. Tell your buddy to come out."
The man started moving as if to lie down, but said nothing. He was moving too slowly, though, almost like he was trying to stall for time.
A sick feeling twisted Noelle's stomach. His easy surrender was a trick.
Noelle moved to flee, but it was too late. Before she could even turn, she was lifted off her feet and the gun was wrenched away from her sweaty grasp. She tried to scream, but a hard hand covered her mouth even as the air was crushed from her lungs by a thick arm under her breasts, trapping her hands at her sides.
Panic seared her nerve endings, giving her strength. She thrashed and kicked, landing a couple of solid blows to the man's legs that brought forth grunts of pain from her captor. She shook her head trying to dislodge his hand enough to bite it, but his grip was too firm.
Beneath the thick band of his arm, she twisted her hand and dug her fingernails into his hard thigh, but it did no good. No matter what she tried, he held her tight, unable to get away.
"Hold still," he commanded in a low, gravelly voice. "I won't hurt you."
Noelle felt the man holding her go completely still a second before she heard David, his voice an icy cold thread of sound. "That's right. You won't hurt her, at least not while I've got this gun to your head."
"Easy," said the man holding Noelle. "I'm letting her go, David. Don't shoot. It's Caleb."
The second his grip eased, Noelle scrambled away, trembling with fear and adrenaline. Her legs were barely able to hold her up and her head spun from lack of air. She was breathing too hard, too fast.
"Caleb?" asked David as he jerked the big man around to look at him.
"Yeah, and Grant, too," Caleb said, motioning with his head toward the second man. "Your woman has him kissing dirt."
Grant pulled his lean body off the ground and brushed the dust off his legs. "I only played along so Caleb could have time to get over there and disarm her. I was afraid she'd do something stupid and shoot one of us."
David looked Noelle over from top to bottom and back again. "You okay?"
She nodded, her breathing starting to slow. Relief made Noelle's head spin and she sat down on the chopping stump to regain her sense of balance. "You know these guys?"
"Yeah. You sure you're okay?" He lifted a hand as if to stroke her mussed hair but stopped himself short and let his hand drop.
"I'll be fine. They just scared me." Though "just scared" was a pretty generous way to put it. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to hug them for being good guys or punch them out for scaring ten years off her life.
"Sorry about that, ma'am," said the big guy, Caleb. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Her fingers were a little sore from clawing at him, but she didn't see the need to mention it. "No."
Caleb's dark eyes went to her sore fingers as if he knew she was lying.
"Did I hurt you?" she asked.
"Just enough to make me regret picking you up. My shins will never be the same. You're tougher than you look."
"And smart," added Grant, giving her a charming smile. "That gunshot was a good way to call David."
"No kidding. I don't think I've ever run faster in my life," said David.
Noelle felt like a fool. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to have known these were David's friends, but she still felt silly to have mistaken them for terrorists. "Sorry I thought you were the bad guys. Guess I've been a little jumpy lately."
"You didn't do anything wrong, Noelle," said David. "I thought about telling you they might be coming, but I wasn't sure my message would get through."
"It got through fine," said Caleb.
David pulled Caleb to him in a hard hug. "Thank God."
Caleb was a few inches taller than David and had at least fifty pounds of muscle on him. David was built, but he could pass for normal in street clothes. Caleb, however, wouldn't have been able to do anything to disguise his muscular bulk.
Grant, on the other hand was leaner than both men, with a build that reminded Noelle of long-distance runners. His movements were fluid and easy as if each one had been carefully choreographed and planned weeks in advance. He had gold eyes that glittered with humor.
Grant leapt over the pile of logs as if it were no more an obstacle than a rumpled rug. So much for her thoughts of being safe behind the log pile.
Grant hugged David, smacking him on the back hard enough to raise dust. "You sound surprised that we'd get the message."
"We told you when you left the Army that all you had to do was call, and we'd come," said Caleb. "You called. We came."
"I wasn't sure the number was still good. A lot can happen in two years," said David.
"Not so much that we wouldn't be here for you," said Grant. "How many times did you save our asses? We couldn't leave a debt like that hanging."
David eyed Grant, his mouth twitching with a grin. "And if Monroe asks if I've seen you?"
Caleb's face was a stony mask of neutrality, showing none of the humor David and Grant shared. "It'd be awfully hard for you to see us, considering we're stationed in an unnamed desert thousands of miles from here."
David nodded in understanding. "As much as I'm relieved to have you here, I don't want either of you screwing up your careers because of me."
Grant smiled, smooth and friendly. Even under all that paint he was a fine-looking man. "Hell, Captain. We're not here for you. We came on account of the lady here. You know how I can't keep my hands off the redheads." His smile turned warm as he looked at Noelle. Oh, yeah. This guy was a serious womanizer.
David tensed and Caleb laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Easy, David. Grant doesn't know she's your woman."
Noelle blushed and wondered if some sort of macho battle was about to break out over her, the gawky nerd with messy hair and baggy clothes. How surreal.
Grant held up his hands in surrender and took a meaningful step away from Noelle. "I think I just found one redhead I can steer clear of. I guess that just proves there's always a first time for everything."
David's eyes searched Noelle's body, hovering at her face. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.
Noelle's pulse had slowed, but she was still quaking inside. The adrenaline crash after this scare wasn't going to be fun. Already she was starting to feel cold and weak. And she really had to pee.
Caleb gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry if I hurt you. I tried to be careful, but I couldn't take the chance you'd put a bullet hole in my buddy."
"I'm fine."
"You're cold," said David, reaching out a comforting hand before he let it fall to his side without touching her.
Again.
She offered him a feeble smile. She still wasn't done shaking inside and hated it that she wasn't made of sterner stuff. "I'll go put on some hot coffee. Anyone interested?"
Caleb and Grant nodded, but David just stared, his blue gaze hot and unwavering. "Go warm up. We'll be in in a minute."
It was a dismissal, and she knew it. Even so, she was glad to obey just to be back inside where it was warm, where David didn't look at her like he was about to kiss her.
If he kissed her, emotions without names would boil up inside her, just like they had last night. She was already on edge, struggling to keep control over her fear and worry and lust. There was no room for anything more right now.
Anything more and she'd break.
David had to use every ounce of self-control just to keep himself from taking her in his arms and stripping her naked to make sure she was all right. She was shaking and pale, and he just wanted to hold her until all the bad stuff went away. The things that had raced through his head when he heard that gunshot and saw her thrashing and fighting to get free of Caleb still made his blood run cold. He'd never been more afraid in his life.
Not even when he'd been about to descend into the Swarm's camp and recover Mary's body.
He wasn't sure what was happening to him, but whatever it was, it wasn't good for his thinly held control.
"She's cute. Kinda pixielike," said Grant, strategically standing well out of striking distance from David.
David scowled at Grant. "She's a hell of a lot more than just cute, and you stay the hell away from her. Got it?"
Grant grinned. "Oh, yeah. I got it loud and clear, sir."
David looked at Caleb, who was slowly studying the tree line. Even months under the desert's hot sun hadn't managed to lighten Caleb's coal black hair. His skin was even more tanned than David remembered, and that wasn't the only thing that had changed. The man inside seemed to be more of an emotionless soldier than David remembered. It was habit for any fighting man to keep watch, but Caleb was more than just cautious. He was suspicious and watchful as if he expected an ambush at any moment.
David was so relieved to have him at his back it nearly drove him to his knees.
"How did you know about Noelle?" he asked Caleb.
Hard, black eyes met David's. "You mean how did I know she was your woman?"
David nodded.
Caleb shrugged one massive shoulder. "She had your scent and the smell of sex all over her. No way she'd smell like that if you'd just accidentally brushed up against her."
David felt himself harden at the words. He'd done a lot more than just brush up against her, all right. He was dying to do it again. Too bad Noelle didn't feel the same way.
Neither man mentioned Caleb's uncommon olfactory sense. They'd gotten used to his uncanny abilities years ago.
"Good choice in women, by the way," said Grant as he pulled a camouflage cloth off his head, revealing his sun-bleached hair. "She's no wilting flower to stand back and let herself get killed. It was smart to fire that gun to get you to come running, and, frankly, I'm surprised she didn't try to shoot me. I mean, she wouldn't have hit shit with her hand shaking like that, but I wouldn't have been shocked if she'd tried."
"I should have been here," said David, hating himself for not being close enough to save her the fear of encountering two strangers with weapons. What if it hadn't been his buddies?
His gut clenched into a knot at the thought, and he ruthlessly pushed it away. Thoughts like that would freeze him up and make him useless to her.
"Yeah, and we're supposed to be back in that desert hunting sand rats," said Grant. "You can't be everywhere at once. Get over it."
Easier said than done, thought David. "How did you two get here so fast?"
"A few days ago we got word that you'd rejoined Delta. We'd been trying to find you, but until your call came through, we had no idea where to look."
"Why were you looking for me?" asked David.
"We've been monitoring communications throughout the Middle East. Your name came up," said Caleb.
"Needless to say," continued Grant, "we started listening a little harder. Word's out that you're back in the game and there are a lot of bad-ass men out looking for you. The Swarm is back up and running, and as you're the man who nearly destroyed them before, they want you dead as a message to anyone else who might try to do the same."
