Dangerous Mating (A.L.F.A., #3)(25)

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, building friction to keep her warm and knowing he was there. She wasn’t alone. She never would be again. He had to figure a way to break the mate news to her. It’d be really nice if they got out of here without her hating him. First things first. He was going to hold her, right now, as long as she would let him.

After several minutes, she let out a deep breath and settled against him. His wolf, as he, was content with her there. When he’d embarked on the undercover assignment a year ago, his wolf was pissed at him. How would they ever find a mate if he was hiding his ass in a room, spying on men? Maybe that had been the reason he’d taken the job.

If he didn’t search for her, there was always the hope she was out there, waiting for him. If he searched and never found her, then knowing he’d never have true love would crushed him. Was that fucked up logic or what?

She asked, “Where do you think the water came from? That trap was well planned.”

He thought about her question. “I heard the river disappeared underground somewhere. Maybe we were close enough that when the rocks fell to block the door, it opened a small channel that flowed through the hole. How did you solve it? What were we doing wrong?”

She sighed and leaned more into him. “I didn’t understand what was going on until I applied math concepts. There were three different-sized bowls. Say the smallest held three pounds of rocks, the middle held four, and the big bowl on the scale needed five pounds. I had to come up with five pounds exactly; any more or less triggered a dump, and I had to fill the big bowl in two trips or it tipped again.”

That was confusing, he thought. “How do you get exactly five out of three and four?”

“I filled the four pound and dumped it into the big bowl. Then I filled the four again, but dumped it into the three bowl, leaving me with exactly one pound in the four bowl. I dumped that into the big bowl to make five exactly.”

“Holy shit, woman. That was brilliant. I would’ve never thought of that.”

She moved in his lap. He smelled a sweet shyness from her. She said, “You really think so?”

“Hell, yes, I know so. If you weren’t there, I would be floating belly-up right now,” he said.

“More like if I weren’t here, neither would you. It’s my fault we’re in this mess.”

He looked at her even though he knew she couldn’t see him in the darkness. “How do you get that idea?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I just feel responsible for everything.”

He leaned her head to his lips and kissed her. “Don’t think that for one moment, beautiful. If not for you, I would be in a much worse place.” She breathed out and settled into him more.

“Do you think the guards are after us still?” she asked.

“Nah,” he replied, “I’m sure they’ve given us up for dead.”

“Have you?”

“You forget, I’m an ALFA, baby. No way I’ll ever give up on this, on you, on us.”





Chapter Seventeen




On you, on us.

She heard his words clearly, but understanding wasn’t so clear. Did he mean he wasn’t giving up because his boss would expect more of him being an ALFA or because he cared? It would be nice if this gorgeous man cared for her, but she wasn’t holding her breath. Shit, she’d almost died holding it minutes ago. It would hurt if she fell for him and he saw her as only part of his job.

But his kiss when she was sure they were going to die . . . she wondered if she had crossed over into heaven. Her body had never felt so alive. Like her nerve endings were being overloaded with sensory details she couldn’t take in. Heat suffused her from head to toes. If not for the cool water, she’d be sweating though her clothes. Then she’d have to take off those clothes and get all naked with this man holding her . . .

She’d better stop that line of thought before he smelled her and broke her heart by telling her she didn’t have a chance with him. That was what scared her the most: rejection. Her self-confidence was never high. Only when she was solving problems, putting her brain to work, did she not doubt herself.

She let out a sigh. “It’s pitch-dark for me. I can’t see a thing. I’m guessing you can see?” she asked. Stupid question, probably. But she wanted to know more about this species. What made them tick? How were they different? How the hell did they shove an animal body inside themselves?

“I can see, but not very well. Our eyes need some light to magnify,” he said. “It’s much the same as night vision googles. There has to be some light to magnify to get it all to work.” He inhaled deeply. “I smell wood and a strange . . . oil maybe.” He moved to get up. “Stay here for a moment.”

“No problem,” she replied. “Like I’m going to walk around in the dark. I can’t walk in the light without tripping, much less this.” She heard him scuffling and then a click. Several feet away, a blaze erupted from the darkness. She covered her eyes from the sudden brightness. “What is that?”

“I’m guessing it’s an old-fashioned torch. The material covering the sticks has been doused in fuel or oil. Whatever it is, it’s flammable.”

“That’s convenient,” she said. Then she thought about all she’d read about the tunnels. The Nazi theory was sounding more viable every minute. If the Nazis knew they had to flood the cavern to get up here, then they knew flashlights wouldn’t work after the batteries got wet. So they made sure to have a supply of torches available. “Is there more than one?” she asked.