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The plane’s engines cut and this time died altogether. Rudy guided the plane toward the lights. They were losing elevation fast. Lower. Lower. She could see the surface of the water now. Oh God, they were going to hit!
Instead, the plane whizzed by a rocky shoreline. The shape of a rooftop was next. One of the wings clipped the top of a tree. Rudy tilted the aircraft to one side to avoid another tree, then leveled it as a gently sloping hill appeared below them.
“This is as good as it’s going to get.”
Sabine squeezed her eyes shut and screamed as the plane struck the ground and bounced and rattled and shook. Her body jerked forward as Rudy worked to bring them to a stop. Loud thunks beneath the plane were the only clue to the kind of terrain they’d landed on. A tree branch smacked Sabine’s side of the plane and cracked the front window. The plane slowed. Ahead, she saw the side of a mountain growing larger through the cracked window. The plane slowed to a safer speed but not enough to avoid impact. The crash threw her forward, but the shoulder harness held her body in place. Then she blacked out.
Moaning, she came to and looked around. Rudy was yanking off his harness. He scrambled out of his seat, crouched beside her and held her face in his hand, breathing fast as he inspected her.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded dizzily. “I think so.”
He reached for her lap and unfastened her harness. “We have to get out of here and destroy this plane before anyone finds us.”
Wasn’t it already destroyed enough? She used his sturdy body as leverage and climbed to her feet. Wobbling, she leaned against the side of the plane and waited while he hurried to gather what gear they might need. After he threw a rucksack outside, he helped her through the door. She waited for him there while he set an explosive.
Hooking the rucksack over one arm, he took her hand. “Come on.” He led her down the hill, away from the plane.
Sabine stumbled and gripped Rudy’s T-shirt to steady herself. When he slowed to a stop, she fell against him.
He dropped the rucksack and put his arm around her. Pulling a black device from his pocket, he depressed a button. A violent explosion followed. Sabine watched as the burning plane lit up the night and gave her a glimpse of rocky peaks surrounding the hilly earth where they had landed.
“Can you walk?”
She looked up at him and nodded, not really all that sure how long she could. But she didn’t want him to have to carry her anymore.
Rudy led her the rest of the way down the hill. An hour later, they hiked over a steeper hill. Sabine thought of them as hills because they were nothing like the mountains she grew up in. Southwestern Colorado was filled with fourteen-thousand-foot giants that made these look like foothills.
Her limbs were trembling by the time they crested the peak. Rudy stopped. Sabine hooked her arm with his as she had several times along the way and leaned against him, breathing hard and closing her eyes even though she saw lights at the bottom of the slope that relieved her immensely.
“It’s a village,” he said, and she heard relief that matched hers and something else. Incredulity at their fortune.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“I don’t know. One of the Greek islands.”
She turned to study his profile, unable to comprehend how she’d come from a small concrete cell awaiting a horrific death to something as magnificent as a Greek island.
Rudy began walking again, taking her support with him. She collapsed to her hands and knees. A very strange sensation. She had no control over the movement of her legs. Virtually all her strength had abandoned her. Combined with her throbbing and stinging body, she was finished. Her head pounded like lightning strikes with each pulse of her heartbeat.
Rudy cursed. Two strides brought him back to her. He lifted her into his arms, rucksack hanging from one arm, and carried her down the slope. He found a footpath and followed it.
“Don’t lie to me when I ask you a question.”
She looked up at his rugged face. “I didn’t lie.”
“You said you could walk.”
“I did walk.”
He looked down at her beneath a scowling brow.
“You didn’t ask how far. We’ve been walking a long time,” she said.
He didn’t respond but the scowl remained. Several minutes later they reached the main road going through the village. It was paved but it was the only one that was. No one moved in the street, but it was late at night.
A door opened in a building to their right. An older woman wearing a dark, embroidered dress spoke rapidly in a language Sabine didn’t understand. She looked at Rudy when he answered fluently in the same tongue.
He stopped walking and spoke to the woman awhile longer. The woman pointed up the street and spoke again.
Moments later Rudy carried Sabine to a white mortar building with neat rows of square windows lining the first and second floors. At the door, he put her down but kept his arm around her waist for support. She leaned against him while he opened the door, her legs shaking. Inside, a small sitting room with a single light burning on a simple desk illuminated walls covered with row after row of ornately painted plates. Rudy stepped inside with her and closed the door behind them. A short, thin man with dark hair and missing front teeth yawned as he emerged from a dining area, slipping into a robe.
Rudy deposited Sabine onto a chair and spoke to the man, whose name seemed to be Alec. They exchanged words until Rudy finally nodded and handed over a few American bills. Alec handed him a key, and Rudy turned and approached her. She would have protested as he lifted her, but she was so exhausted she didn’t think she’d make it three steps.
Their host watched but made no comment as Rudy climbed a narrow stairway. Down a hallway carpeted in a red mosaic pattern, Rudy stopped at a door and put her down on her feet. Her eyes felt heavy and she couldn’t wait to lie down on a real bed. Rudy wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her walk inside. Two twin beds on top of a raised platform were covered in white blankets. The walls were adorned with hand-carved lutes and lyres, unique musical instruments that gave a charming clue to the culture of the people here. It was simple but clean and inviting.
Sabine looked to her right and spotted a bathroom. A small sound escaped her. A private bathroom. She tentatively stepped away from Rudy’s sturdy support then stumbled toward it. Breathless, she leaned with her hands on the white pedestal sink and saw there was only a small shower. Standing would be a challenge, but she hadn’t bathed in two weeks. The thought of a shower charged her with energy she didn’t think she had. Determination to be clean fired through her.
Rudy peered into the bathroom, saw the shower with no tub and frowned. “Maybe we should just give you a sponge bath.”
Sabine shook her head. “I want a shower.”
He turned and met her gaze. Without arguing, he went back into the room and returned with some clothes.
“Leave the door open,” he said, and left.
She looked down at the clothes he’d dropped on the floor, wondering where he’d gotten them. Just a white T-shirt, dark blue lounge pants, and underwear, but it would be divine to get out of the clothes she’d been wearing for so long.
“You can sleep in this if you want.”
Sabine took the bigger T-shirt he held, watching him go back into the room. He sat in a chair across from the bathroom where he could still see her.
Gripping the edge of the sink with one hand, she pushed the bathroom door with the other until it blocked his view of her, then undressed. She hoped her legs would hold her long enough to get clean. Rudy carrying her the rest of the way to the village had helped some, but what she really needed was rest. Turning on the faucet, she waited for the water to warm before she stepped inside.
Water showered over her head and caressed her battered body. Sabine closed her eyes and moaned. Standing, however, made her legs shake uncontrollably and water trickled into the open wounds on her shins, stinging her. She braced her hands against the shower wall but didn’t think it would be enough to keep her upright. When she tried to turn in the shower, her knees gave and she collapsed. Sitting on her hip with her hands flat in front of her, she hung her head and let the water spray fall on her.
Hearing a curse, she looked up to find Rudy holding the shower curtain aside, his mouth in a hard line and his eyes fierce with something more than concern.
Chapter 3
Sabine’s pulse jumped faster when Rudy stepped fully dressed into the shower. He leaned down and put his hands under her arms, lifting her easily. She didn’t want to see in his eyes the purely instinctual male response to holding a naked woman, so she stood there staring at his broad chest, where her hands were spread.
Anchoring her around her waist, he reached for a small container of shampoo and put some on her head. Sabine wearily lifted her hands and began to wash her hair. Her breath came harder with the effort, but it felt so delicious she closed her eyes and let her head fall back a bit, bringing it more under the spray. She tried not to think about Rudy watching her.
His wet T-shirt heightened her awareness of her body against him. Hard muscle compressed her soft breasts. After she rinsed her hair, he reached behind her and retrieved a bar of soap. Readjusting his hold to support her with one of his powerful arms, he began to wash her back. It felt too good to stop him. She let her head fall to his wet T-shirt-covered chest.
“Turn around.”
He sounded raspy. Sabine lifted her head and found her eyes trapped by his unreadable ones. She moved her legs but wouldn’t have been able to turn on her own without falling. Now with her back against him, she took the bar of soap and moved it over her skin. She lost herself to the pleasure of feeling clean again. When she finished, she was shaking and short of breath.
Shutting off the water, Rudy lifted her dripping wet in his arms. Sabine pulled a towel from a rack above the toilet when he stopped there and held it to her body as he carried her out of the bathroom. In the other room, he sat in the chair and draped her legs over his. Sabine dried herself on his lap.
“Lean forward,” he said, taking the towel from her.
She did and froze. Beneath her, a hard ridge told her just how much the shower had affected him. Seeming not to notice her sudden change, he wrapped her hair in the towel. Then he cradled her, stood and put her back onto the chair, by herself.
Slumping against the chair, she watched him go into the bathroom for the big T-shirt and return. His expression was stern as he gripped the shirt in his hands and pulled it over her towel-covered head. A couple of unceremonious yanks, and the top fell down over her body.
“Thank you,” she murmured, glad to be covered again.
He said nothing in response and just lifted her and took her to one of the twin beds, where he’d already pulled the covers down. Before covering her with those, he opened the rucksack and pulled out a roll of bandages and a tube of ointment.
Propped by two fluffy pillows, she shut her eyes and bit her lower lip to keep from crying out when the ointment touched the raw flesh of her shins. Her fingers gripped the sheet and blankets while he wrapped her legs. When he finished, her legs were throbbing so much her mind swam with pain and dizziness.
“I’m sorry,” Rudy said.
She couldn’t respond with more than a single nod.
He left her and went into the bathroom with the rucksack. When he returned, he was shirtless and in a pair of lounge pants. Sabine caught his profile as he passed the bed and couldn’t look away from his broad back. Hard muscles tapered to a trim, fit waist. His butt was tight and perfectly shaped. She held her breath when he leaned over the table and retrieved a bottle of water. Opening it, he faced her and sat on one of the chairs with a long sigh. Lifting the bottle of water he held, he drained half its contents. Sabine forgot the stinging pain in her legs. Smooth skin and a light covering of hair followed the rippling muscles of his chest and abdomen. He sat with his knees spread and his big body slouched lazily in the chair. It gave her a shock to notice him like this, a man with overpowering masculinity that appealed to her on a level she had never experienced.
He lowered the bottle and she stared at his big hand. His other hand lay over the opposite arm of the chair. Those hands had touched her in the shower. Heat began to stir in her. She raised her eyes. He watched her. There was something erotic in his gaze. Leashed interest. Maybe even unwanted desire.
The first shiver of something other than fear raised bumps on her arms. She was alone with him on a Greek island. What would tomorrow be like, she wondered, waking to the Aegean Sea and this mysterious man who’d saved her life?
Cullen sipped a cup of strong Greek coffee and looked out across the turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea. Of all the places to crash-land a DeHavilland, this had to be the best. Under any other circumstances, he’d have enjoyed it. He’d known this rescue would be among the most dangerous he’d ever done, and he’d taken as few men as he could to avoid risking more lives than necessary, but no one should have died. That helicopter had been waiting for them. Anger simmered close to a boil inside him. Only someone close to Noah could have leaked their plans.
He’d give Noah every resource he had to find out who and why, and whoever was responsible would pay with their lives.
Hearing a sound, he glanced at the door of the room. He couldn’t see her but knew Sabine had moved on the bed. She’d slept on and off for two days now. He’d decided to let her and had only disturbed her to make sure she drank water and ate and had clean bandages. Letting her sleep this long made him nervous, but it would be better if she could board a commercial plane without drawing too much attention. If he had to carry her, she’d attract attention.
“Hello up there,” a woman called in Dorian Greek from below the balcony.
Cullen dropped his feet from the railing and leaned forward to see her better, sending her an answering smile. It was the same woman who’d told him where to find this pension and an available room to rent. Today she wore a white embroidered dress with gold coins draped around her neck. She was a nice enough lady, but she was way too curious about him and Sabine. All it would take was an awestruck villager like her to pick up the phone and talk to the press. The thought nearly made him break into a cold sweat. All he needed was the media to catch up to them.
The woman lifted a basket. “Makarounes for you and your lady.”
He kept his smile in place as he straightened. “I’ll come down.”
He turned before she could respond and moved through the room, checking on Sabine before he left her still sleeping. He made his way to the lower level. The pension owner, Alec, looked up and smiled with a nod.
“Good morning,” Cullen said in Greek, and Alec answered in kind.
The wrinkled woman stood outside the door of the pension and smiled when he appeared in the doorway. She extended the basket, its contents wrapped in a red cloth. He took it from her.
“Thank you,” he said.
She nodded graciously. “You must bring your lady to my taverna when she is rested. We have fresh seafood every night, and it is very quiet.” Her dark eyes held a secretive glint.
The notion of having a romantic dinner with Sabine tantalized him too much for his comfort. “We just might have to take you up on that,” he said anyway.
“Alec told me about your crash, and that you were on your honeymoon. You come. Have dinner at my taverna.” She told him where it was.
Cullen said nothing. She was just an old woman swept up by the intrigue of a plane crash and the couple who’d survived it. Alec had questioned Cullen on the crashed airplane, and Cullen had come up with the quickest explanation he could think of without revealing his and Sabine’s identities. They’d come to Greece on their honeymoon and crashed before they’d reached Athens.
The woman waved and turned to go. Cullen squinted as he leaned his head out the door and caught rays of sunlight, watching her walk down the narrow street.
He wasn’t sure why being known as a newlywed bothered him. Maybe it was the shower, and Sabine’s determination to see it done. The woman had grit. She also had a body made for his hands and eyes that beckoned with green fire. She flared an instinctual response in him. The degree of his interest made him nervous. He liked his relationships comfortable, not out of control. He didn’t need that kind of intensity with a woman. His job gave him plenty of that. If he ever got married, it’d be to Mrs. Compatible and Good in Bed, not Mrs. Take My Heart and Twist It into a Pretzel of Agonizing Love. He’d seen what that could do to a man.
Back in the room, Sabine was as he’d left her, rumpled covers enveloping her, red hair tangled over the pillow. She looked very snug and content. He didn’t want to explore the other “verys” he thought she was. Knew she was, now that he’d seen her naked.
Taking the basket out to the balcony, he set it on the table. At almost eleven, it was close to lunch.
An hour passed before he heard the sound of Sabine stirring inside the room again. He listened to the toilet flush, and moments later her bare feet trudged toward the balcony. He started to rise to help her but stopped when he saw that she was moving all right on her own, limping but all right. The T-shirt fell to just above her knees, exposing the bandages he’d wrapped around her tender shins. Her legs were skinny but spectacular. He bet they’d look even better once she healed and put on some weight. Just like the rest of her.
Cullen raised his gaze to her face as she looked across the Aegean Sea. Her mouth was slightly parted and her green eyes were the brightest he’d seen them since getting her out of Afghanistan. Their whites were healthy and the green color sparkled in the Mediterranean sunlight. The swelling on her lip had gone down, and the cut on her cheek was healing, though bruises still colored her skin and would for a while. She’d used the comb he’d bought in the village. Her hair was naturally curly, but it looked like soft, woven silk and fell to the top of her breasts. Even skinny, she was an extremely beautiful woman. All Irish with smooth, pale skin and striking features. Especially her eyes.
“Where are we?” she asked without looking at him.
He was glad she hadn’t noticed his scrutiny. “A village called Olympos. The north end of Kárpathos. It’s near Crete.”
“Wow.”
Cullen had experienced a similar reaction, despite his constant vigilance for someone with a camera or a gun.
He caught her furtive glance when she became aware of him watching her. She sat and reached for one of the bottles of water on the table, careful not to look at him. He had to agree it was strange being in a place like this with someone he’d just rescued. Especially at the cost of his team, the few that he’d dared bring on this mission.
The reminder of what he’d lost punched him again. Nothing had gone according to plan. Who had betrayed their mission and why? None of the men he’d hired were married, but the pilot and medic had parents Cullen would have to face when he returned to the States. He wasn’t looking forward to that, especially since he was going to have to lie about where their sons had died.
Sabine’s reaching for the basket diverted his attention. He welcomed it and watched her.
She glanced from the basket to him in question.
“Homemade pasta with cheese and onions. A local favorite.”
“Mmm.” She parted the cloth and lifted the ceramic bowl covered with a matching lid. Next came the bread.
“They make their own bread in outdoor ovens. You can smell it every once in a while.” The appeal of this place had penetrated his vigil more than once. But then, he’d always liked Greece.
“Mmm,” she murmured again, finding a plastic fork and starting to dig into the pasta.
It disturbed him how much he liked watching her. Her vibrancy. The look in her eyes, as if everything were new to her now.
When she sighed and put the bowl back into the basket, he knew she was full. She’d eaten less than half the makarounes and bread.
“How do you feel?”
She nodded, looking at the sea. “Better.”
