Part 3 (1/2)
”And never leave any man behind, I believe.”
”No man is left behind,” he confirmed, feeling the vow he'd taken deep inside.
And in this case, no woman either.
Chapter 5.
SHE HAD TO stop. Except she refused to be the first one. And that was d.a.m.n stupid. She wasn't trained for this. They were. She should have stopped a long time ago. For the tenth time in the same number of minutes she stumbled. Mason once again caught her. Without missing a stride he swooped down and picked her up, still moving at top speed, but now with her in his arms.
”I can run,” she protested.
”No, you're done.”
She didn't argue. She was too d.a.m.n happy to not be trying to power along at his side. He was right. She was done. And she hurt enough already that the jostling of being carried was making it worse.
Then he said it. ”You were slowing us down.”
”What?” she exclaimined in hoa.r.s.e outrage. ”I was not.”
But she had been, she realized. They were moving faster. The men had picked up the speed now that they weren't maintaining the pace she'd set.
”Sorry,” she muttered against his neck.
He squeezed her close. ”You're doing wonderful. Just keep it up.”
She closed her eyes, letting her body relax, adjust to the swaying movement as he ran. Comfortable as she could be, warm against his chest and so very tired she dozed lightly.
”She's held up well,” said a deep voice beside her.
She thought that was Swede but was too comfortable to care enough to open her eyes and look.
”She has.”
”Hard to believe she's Harry's sister.”
”But appropriate.”
”Same spine.” The man gave a half snort. ”Let me know, huh?”
Silence.
In her drowsy state she couldn't quite follow the conversation. It was more a drifting noise in the background. Words flowing but not making any sense...
”Nothing to let you know about,” Mason said in low tones.
The other man laughed. ”Right. You are in denial.”
”No denial here.”
”Good, then when you make up your mind about her. Let me know. If you're not keeping her, she's available.”
”No, she's not.”
The same laughter.
A new voice joked, ”If you're not keeping her then there are more of us interested.”
Mason snapped, ”Let's keep our eye on the job.”
”Sure. The job. The d.a.m.ned prettiest job I've seen in a long time.”
Yet another voice popped in. ”And who knows how this would have worked out if someone else had rescued her from the shack.”
m.u.f.fled laughter filled the air.
She finally understood where this conversation was going. With that in mind, she made an audible groan and opened her eyes, giving the men lots of warning.
She was no prize.
And there was no way Mason would be keeping her.
Neither would any of these other men.
She wasn't a possession. And she wasn't a kept woman.
She was a big fan of these men though.
Especially the one who held her close to his chest.
”HOW ARE YOU feeling?” Mason asked in between dodging the trees. He'd kick the others if they woke her. She needed her rest. He also hoped she'd missed the conversation if she'd just woken up. Not that she'd have understood it in the first place.
It was an old joke. But one he didn't want to have to explain.
The men were all jesters. And he was one of them.
He slowed his pace as the others motioned they were stopping.
”What have you found?” he asked in a low voice.
”An old camp on the left, likely a hunting camp.”
”On the map?”