The Sergeant's Temptation by Sophia Sasson

Author:Sophia Sasson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Heartwarming
Published: 2017-09-05T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ALESSA DANGLED OFF the rock face. She had managed to catch the edge of a cliff as she fell. Searching, she found a foothold. This is going to hurt. She pushed off and hoisted herself with her arms, ignoring the screaming pain in her shoulder. Just as she got her knee onto the edge of the cliff, not an easy feat in the burka, a pair of hands gripped her under the arms. Rodgers. He pulled her the rest of the way until she could scramble back onto the road.

“Are you okay?” Luke nearly pushed Rodgers off the cliff in his rush to get to her. Less than a minute had passed since she’d tripped, likely catching the edge of the burka on a jagged piece of rock.

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

“Sorry,” Rodgers muttered and both Alessa and Luke looked up at him. “I was following too closely. I think I stepped on your skirt.”

Even in the darkness, Alessa could see the murder in Luke’s eyes. He moved toward Rodgers, then seemed to think better of it. There was something animalistic about him and it scared her a little.

“No worries, nothing I couldn’t handle,” she said, standing up and dusting loose pebbles off her burka.

A small crowd was approaching, including newcomers with lanterns. Alessa, Luke and Rodgers went on alert, ready to fight if it came to that. Each of them had a gun and a knife readily available.

Ali came toward them. “You okay?”

They all nodded. The men with the lanterns stood back. “These are my brothers, they have shelter, we take rest here.” The men were already leading Amine and Reza through the opening of the cave. Alessa, Luke and Rodgers reluctantly followed but felt better once they saw that the cave held nothing but a steel drum with a fire and a charpai. There were no visible weapons and the men were placing a kettle on the flames.

“You all rest, we will continue when the light breaks.” Ali announced. It was a good idea. It had gotten windier and colder and the little bit of moonlight had disappeared.

“I’ll take the first shift,” Alessa said quietly. They didn’t need any discussion to know that one of them would stand watch while the other two slept.

Luke put a hand on her good shoulder. “Rodgers and I don’t think any less of you for needing to rest. You could’ve...” His voice cracked.

Luke locked eyes with her and his expression was firm. She sighed and nodded. Her shoulder was killing her. Ali gestured for her and Amine to take the charpai. Alessa let Amine have it and took a seat on the rock floor, finding a smooth surface to lean against. Luke sat down beside her. Rodgers sat a few feet away from them, pretending to sleep. He had the first shift.

“You’re holding your arm against your chest. Does it hurt?”

She shouldn’t have been surprised that he noticed. Her shoulder was in serious pain and holding it in that position, the way the doctor had put it in the sling after her dislocation, seemed to help.

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