He easily caught the hand she halfheartedly attempted to smack him with and leveled her with a smile that almost stopped her heart. Her own soft chuckle died as he hooked a chair with his foot and dragged it next to the bed. He sat, staring at her in silence before they both looked down to where his fingers slowly caressed the backs of her knuckles.
The only way to catch even a glimpse of Rafe’s thoughts was if he cared to relinquish them. Penny really wished he would. God only knew her own were a jumbled mess. Maybe it was the fever. Maybe it was the entire screwed-up situation. But somehow, Rafe drew out parts of her personality she tried to keep buried, or that she hadn’t known she had.
A few moments ago she’d cried—with no shame, no hiding. She hadn’t felt like she needed to explain the appearance of her tears, because it had felt natural. She could be herself—a quirky smartass with a passable roundhouse and an addiction to Rafe Ortega.
As if sensing her thoughts, he tucked their clasped hands beneath his chin. His stoic mask dissolved, leaving behind an unguarded expression that clenched her heart. “You really did scare the fucking hell out of me, Red. If it hadn’t been for these people, I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened.”
“You would’ve figured something out,” she said softly.
“I think you’re seriously underestimating my panic level. They took you away from me. Wouldn’t let me see you until you woke up. I’ve been in some hellish situations before, but none come even close to the last three days.”
Penny blinked fresh moisture away, his words tugging more to the surface. The things she said to him in that jungle…
They’d been true for the most part. It would be easier to keep an emotional distance if he’d just played the part of the misogynist jerk. But that wasn’t him. He was perfectly imperfect, in all ways except for his choice of occupation.
Her heart ached for purely selfish reasons. “Where are we?”
“In a Miskito village just off the Patuca. Once the people here realized we weren’t part of Fuentes’s crew, they’ve been ridiculously helpful.” He brushed the back of her hand against his lips. “We’ll wait a few more days just to make sure you’re fully recovered, and then we’ll head out. We’re only a day-and-a-half’s hike away from the Honduran military base at Mocoron.”
The reason why these people should know a man like Fuentes turned her stomach. Rafe must’ve read the realization in her eyes, because he gave her hand another kiss, this time keeping it propped against the corner of his mouth.
“All I need is another day and I’m good,” Penny stated. “We’ll go.”
“I already promised the village elders that we’d leave once you were able to get back on your feet and they wouldn’t listen. They insist on us staying until you’re entirely healed.”
“There’s no telling what Fuentes will do if he finds out they were helping us. I don’t want to chance staying longer than we have to.”
“They know the risk, and they’re willing to chance his wrath if it means stopping him once and for all,” Rafe said somberly, looking more tranquil than worried about a Fuentes appearance. “But there’s no reason for him to come back here. He’s already ripped apart their families, and they’re close enough to the base to make even a cocky bastard like him uncomfortable. So we’re staying—at least for the time being.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue with me, Red.” There was no mistaking the gleam of stubbornness in his eyes. “I nearly lost you once already and that was one time too many for my liking. You can glare, pout. I don’t give a hot damn. Until you’re able to get out of this bed and kick my ass without staggering on your own two feet, we stay right the hell here.”
“Then maybe you should go without me.” She nearly choked on her words, but she trusted him with her life and with Rachel’s. “You wouldn’t have me dragging you backward. You could make contact with the team and come back for me when you got the chance.”
“I’m not leaving you behind,” he growled softly.
“Damn it, Rafe.” Her curse held no power. “We’ve already wasted three days.”
“And we’ll get them back. You can argue with me until you’re blue in the face, sweetheart, but I’m not changing my mind. Your energy is better spent getting well.”
*
After three days of being cooped up, Penny stepped onto the hut’s front porch and tilted her face to the sky. Both the warm pound of the sun and the simplistic beauty of the village worked wonders on the soul. It was a dusting of civilization nestled on the edge of the Patuca River, a mixture of minimalism and complexity with clapboard structures housing entire families.