Danger on the River by Tara Taylor Quinn

Author:Tara Taylor Quinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-10-06T13:47:49+00:00

Chapter 16

His phone was waterproof. Her burner wasn’t. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about that. He had several more of those in the box in the shed outside his cabin.

Scanning the shore as he swam, Devon pulled stronger, kicked harder as he recognized the riverbank he owned.

He climbed out, ignoring the scrapes to his bare lower legs as he turned to give her a hand up only to see her standing a foot or so downriver from him.

Pulling some bark, leaves and desert vine from the immediate vicinity, he fashioned footwear for her first, using the vine to tie the leaf-covered bark to her feet, and then repeated the process for himself. Dripping wet, their feet were bound to slide some, the hike wouldn’t be comfortable. “This isn’t going to be pretty, easy or all that effective, but it should help prevent either of us getting punctured by cactus needles,” he told her.

“Thank you.” Her response was short. To the point. She hadn’t looked him in the eye since they’d reached land.

Or complained about the trek ahead.

She didn’t seem out of breath. Just quiet. He liked it better when she was talking.

At least then he had a shot at knowing what she was thinking.

He couldn’t look at her without thinking about the kiss he’d planted on her. After he’d told her she had nothing to fear from him on that score.

He’d never done anything so asinine in his life.

And...had she liked it? Anywhere near as much as he had?

The hot Arizona night air dried his clothes, took away the chill, and fed his physical hunger to do more than just kiss Kacey Ashland.

He couldn’t touch her sexually again.

Had he offended her? Scared her off?

Didn’t seem so.

But then, if she was using him, she’d take a kiss in stride until she no longer needed him.

Hadn’t felt like she’d just been going through the motions.

More like spontaneous combustion on both their parts.

Maybe just the circumstances. Life and death could do that to you.

Who wouldn’t want to go out kissing a beautiful woman? Or celebrate not having died in the same way?

Rachel had let him know during their brief phone conversation that Belen had left the bar shortly after Devon and Kacey had. He’d told Rachel he had a drive ahead of him but asked the bartender for a date later in the week.

She planned to ask for a bigger score during that rendezvous.

She’d also heard from the city lab in Phoenix. The drugs she’d scored and sent to them were the same lethal recipe as the ones on their radar.

Finally, they had the proof that they were on a solid path.

He had to hold on. Couldn’t let his compulsion to keep Kacey close until she was safe screw up the bust of a lifetime.

Period.

Too many lives were at stake.

And that kiss...had he imagined how different it had been from anything else he’d ever experienced?

A product of the circumstances, he reminded himself. Several times, as they stepped carefully, having to half drag their makeshift shoes, and stop to pull up new vines and retie them, too.

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