Her Wild Hero

He pondered the question before answering. Kendra took the opportunity to let her fingers wander farther, from his thick, muscular neck, down across both broad shoulders, and around his big biceps and finally his forearms. Declan didn’t seem to mind her ministrations, and she sure didn’t mind doing them. If she closed her eyes and blocked out all the plant smells and animal sounds, she could almost imagine they were back home in her bedroom, enjoying a leisurely massage instead of fighting for their lives in the hybrid-filled jungles of Costa Rica.

“Before we started running into all these hybrids, I would have been the first to say we should be heading in that direction,” Declan said, pulling her back to the here and now. “But now, we can’t take the risk. There are just too many bad guys running around the jungle right now. And all that shooting is bound to draw even more hybrids in that direction. We’d literally be walking ourselves right into their hands, then end up having to fight our way through who knows how many of them, exposing ourselves and likely using up what little ammo we have left. And what do we do if we get there only to find out that it wasn’t Tate and the guys? It’d be over for us.”

She sighed, knowing that he was right. “Sorry. I was just hoping. Silly, I know.”

Declan put one of his big hands on her leg and gave it a soft squeeze. The squeeze was nice but not nearly as nice as the warmth of his touch. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, and it wasn’t silly. I had the exact same thought when I heard those shots. If I thought the risk was worth it, we’d be heading there right now. But I really think our best bet is to use the distraction offered by whoever was doing that shooting and keep moving northwest as fast as we can.”

Kendra moved her hands up his well-muscled arms to his equally chiseled chest. She had a thing for really muscular chests. Or maybe she just had a thing for Declan’s muscular chest. Either way, she kept swiping here and there with one of the medicated wipes, using the flimsy prop to justify what was really nothing more than a massage now.

Declan didn’t complain. In fact, she was pretty sure his eyes were closed. No shock there. He’d just fought off three hybrids, not to mention hadn’t eaten for the last two days. He was probably wiped out, and her gentle touches were likely putting him to sleep. She smiled in the dark. She was glad she could do something simple like this for him in return for the amazing job he was doing keeping her alive.

But as she glided her fingers down the center of his abs and along the light happy trail of fine hair toward his belly button, Declan stiffened. “I think I’m good, Kendra. I don’t think any of those hybrids got me that low.”

Kendra flinched at the sudden harshness in his tone. Apparently, he didn’t appreciate her touch quite as much as she’d thought. It hurt her feelings more than a little, but she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. He’d been avoiding all contact with her for months, so he probably didn’t appreciate it now.

“I was just checking,” she explained softly. “Even a little scratch can get infected out here.”

“I know…and…thanks.”

Kendra took her hands away as he slowly sat up, already missing the contact with his skin and the sense of calm that had come with it. As she scooted back to make room for him, she abruptly felt foolish, both for letting herself get so emotionally invested in something as impersonal as cleaning a guy’s wounds and for feeling so hurt by his rejection.

She mentally slapped herself. She needed to stop acting like a hormonal teenager on prom night and focus on the here and now. They had bigger crap to worry about than hurt feelings and unrequited interest. As Declan pulled his pack over and dug out a semi-clean T-shirt, she focused on the one issue that had been bothering her since the hybrids had attacked them earlier.

“You know that needle meant the hybrids were trying to take you alive, don’t you?” she asked.

He pulled on his shirt. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, but why? They sure as hell didn’t have a problem shooting at me that first day. What could they want with me?”

Kendra had a pretty good idea why the hybrids might be trying to take him alive, but she wasn’t sure how to tell him without spilling all of Ivy’s secrets—and those weren’t hers to spill. She could try and mince words, maybe say enough to get him to recognize the risk he was facing. But that wouldn’t be fair. She’d be risking Declan’s life if she didn’t give him the whole truth. She had to make sure he understood the kind of psychos he was up against.

“They don’t want you,” she said. “They want your shifter DNA.”

Declan frowned. “How the hell do you know that? Oh wait, let me guess. You can’t tell me. It’s a secret, right?”

“It’s a secret all right…a big one. But you need to hear it because I need you to realize how serious this is.”

Declan was silent. “This involves Ivy again, doesn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yes. So when I tell you that you can never breathe a word of what I’m about to tell you to another soul, you know why.”

“Okay. I understand.”

Kendra took a moment to collect her thoughts, trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t require at least an hour of backstory. Finally, she decided to stick to the important facts that mattered the most right now.