She blinked, and he could've sworn he spotted resolve. "Keep your hands to yourself. People are waiting, working, so if you're done trying to get into my head, let's help find Asal and bug on home."

Bug on home? She was cute when she threw down field lingo. And that made him want into her head as much as her pants, though maybe he hadn't realized either desire burned as strongly as it did until that moment. Talk about killer timing. There she stood, pretending this tension wasn't going to play out. Someday, someway, it would. "Such a tough girl."

"Don't placate me, J-dawg."

He held in a laugh. "Wouldn't dare."

Roman beeped into his earpiece, signaling they had found the girl-alive. He gave Sugar a thumbs-up. Her tension melted away, and relief radiated from her bright eyes. She released an exhausted breath as her stance softened.

That was his in. "I'm getting you out of here."

He pulled her close to his body as they scooted from their alcove. The ledge was tight. Harsh wind could push an unsteady Sugar toward the valley. Even if it hadn't been so crucial to hold her close, his protective gut said he might have anyway.

They made quick work of the trip to the rendezvous spot, but came up short at the sight of his men. They surrounded a small girl, wrapping around her like an outer ring of guns and glory. Sugar took off running toward them and barreled through the strapped muscle heads.

Jared wasn't far behind. Brock pulled out of their formation. "A kid? What's the deal?"

"No idea."

They both stared. "What are we supposed to do with her?"

Jared paused, with no plan in mind. "Where did you find her?"

"Housed up in the rocks. Looks like she had a tree-house thing going on, except it was filled with knives and sticks. She's the only live thing out here, except for the goats."

"She's coming with us." There. That was the start of a plan. It made sense. Maybe.

Brock cocked a brow. "To Abu Dhabi?"

"What are we supposed to do?" Jared glared. "Leave a damn kid exposed to the elements, to freeze to death?"

"There's going to be a lot of red tape on this one. Laws on top of laws."

"Roger that. We'll hit up the Red Cross or a UN attache. They'll know how to handle this. She's got to be an orphan. They'll find her an adoptive family. Right?"

"Right." Brock shrugged. "Until then, we're the best armed babysitters money can buy."

He wasn't about to tell his rule-following second in command that this was an out-of-pocket trip or that GSI, technically, still had the contract. That their trip was the operative equivalent of pro bono.

A chopper appeared over the side of the cliff. No jumping to rappelling ropes with this cargo. The helo passed them, signaling they were behind schedule. Not good.

"Move boots."

They had to cover fifty yards to the rendezvous spot, where it was level and the chopper could hover near the ground so they could hoist themselves up. Getting to that spot required the team to traverse a sheer part of the mountain. The plan worked fine when the pickup was for only Sugar. But the kid? That was too risky.

The men were on the move, guns out, pivoting, on the lookout for the unexpected. Sugar and the kid stepped in line, and he had the rear.

Over rocks, through brush, everyone did fine. They made good time, and he could hear the helo waiting. Once they were over the sheer part, they would be out of there.

Pht, pht, pht. Cash was in the helicopter, and sputtered bullets weren't saying, "Hi, nice to see ya." The team had spent too much time on the ground looking for the kid, and someone had come to pay them a visit. They couldn't go back and get out the way they had arrived.

"Go!" Jared gave the directive to move forward.

They reached the steep surface. Flat. Like a sliding board of death. Damn near a seventy-five degree angle. Rocco moved across, clawing his way into foot holes and using a tool to dig out handgrips. He secured a rope and tossed it to Roman, who tied the line taut, creating the one safety net they could construct.

Winters went first, tying on a carabineer and testing the line. Success. He was safely on the other side. Roman secured the kid with a carabineer and belt, then urged her to cross. His arms chopped and gestured like a New York City traffic cop. "Follow him. Do that." He repeated twice.

If the angle weren't so steep, Roman would probably have crawled out there with the kid. But it wasn't an area that two people could cross at the same time.

"Go, Asal," Sugar urged.

Asal. The kid had a name, and it meant "honey." Small world that Sugar and Honey found each other.

Rocco and Winters beckoned from the other side, waving and smiling as best they knew how. Winters had a kid at home, so his good-guy face was more practiced.

Gunfire thundered again in the background. Then a blast fell from above. Cash loved to pick off the enemy. If he was throwing grenades, there were more tangoes than he had time for. It was a clear signal to get a move on. Pronto.

Asal looked at Sugar, who gave a reassuring nod. Newly confident, the girl took a step out, then another. She got her bearings and scooted farther, halfway across. Then she was two-thirds there. Gravel gave out, and skidding rocks sheared off the cliff as a child's scream echoed into the night, and her feet struggled for footing.

"Asal!" Sugar yelled to her, stepping to the ledge. Jared threw a hard arm around her waist, holding her back.

"Hang tight." Quickly but cautiously, Jared crawled onto the incline. The girl had been saved by a few yards of tactical rope and belt, and he would get her to the other side. The seconds passed in slow-mo until he reached Asal. With an arm looped around her shaking torso, he used the rope as their lifeline.

They inched up the vertical slide. Wind gusted and howled. Fabric flapped hard. Dirt jumped into the air. Asal whispered, but Jared didn't know the translation. He guessed it was along the lines of, "Let's not die today."

After a few more feet, they finally summited the safe side after a tenuous climb.

He put the girl down. There were no tears across her face, just a big grin. The panic from falling was long gone. I'll be damned. She waved to Sugar.

"Good job, kid."

Asal repeated, "Good job kid." And it made Jared smile.

Cash buzzed in his ear. "Tangoes everywhere. I'm holding them back, but you guys need to move."

"Roger that." Jared looked at Sugar. "Ready?"

She nodded, clipped on her carabineer, wrapped her hand around the rope, and took a step. Gravel shifted. His stomach dropped, but he didn't stop her. She stepped again. More gravel fell to the ravine below.

"Wait. Sugar, hold up." He studied the surface and couldn't see the slipping stones. They were loose, but how loose?

Determination painted her face. A thin smile said she was moving forward again. Another step scattered more gravel, which cascaded down the mountainside. Again, she stepped, loosening gravel. Her footing faltered, but she caught herself.

"Get back there," he ordered, looking into the black abyss below.

She didn't look over her shoulders but wrapped her hands in the rope, balancing precariously on the slope. The wind carried her voice. "No other way out."

"There's always another way. Get back there."

"I'm tied to this rope. I'm fine."

She was closer to him than she was to the other side. Another grenade blew in the distance. She stepped forward.

"Goddamn it, Sugar. Stop." His heart chugged uncontrollably, like an out-of-control freight train. Bad feelings needled him, tingled in his palms, and put pressure on his chest.

Her foot inched forward. Rocks that were much larger than gravel slipped. The ground was giving out beneath her.

"Get the kid out of here!" Jared ordered. If Sugar was going down, the kid wasn't going to bear witness. "All of you, go."

Winters grabbed the girl, turning her around. Her cry for Sugar's safety bounced into the night. His men fell out into the darkness, heading toward the chopper.

"Don't move," he said to Sugar.

She looked at him, flashing a tight smile. He clipped on a carabineer and stepped onto the slope. Walking the absurd angle was like walking on a wall.

As still as a statue, Sugar stayed. The gravel and rocks around her didn't. "Well, this sucks."

"Stay put."

"Not moving."

"Your lips are, baby cakes."

More rocks fell, and he launched himself in her direction. The rope went taut, and his hand met her rigid arm. Rocks slipped around them. Pulling her to him, he backed them toward safety. The groundcover gave way. His hip hit rock, jamming his shoulder into boulder. Sugar was locked against his chest, and they slid with the falling dirt until they snapped to a stop. The rope stretched to capacity and held their weight.

"You shouldn't have done this," she hissed.

Too damn bad. "You needed help."

Together, they found footholds and pushed up. His fingers were frozen, and his muscles burned as he pulled their weight. Blasts of cold air were a constant. Reaching a safe surface, Sugar crawled over to a boulder, leaned against it, and dropped her head back. He did the same, catching his breath. The scent of smoke drifted in the air. Gunfire popped in the background.

As the moon appeared from behind clouds, Jared looked at Sugar. The milky moonlight bathed her beauty. Jared ran his hand through his close-cropped hair. That was too close. "You okay?"

"Never better."

"Right. Remind me to help you out again. You're so appreciative."

"Just forget it." She rubbed her eyes and then threaded her fingers into her hair, smoothing it. Then she moved them down to her lips, where she blew on them, rubbing them together.

"How cold are you?"

"Not very."

Yeah, right. It was in the thirties, maybe colder. With the wind chill factored in, brisk temps were assumed dangerous. Freezing was more like it. She ignored him, shivering.

Cash interrupted Jared's thoughts. "We're too hot. Pulling out." In the distance, the chopper rose. His earpiece buzzed in and out of range. Static again, then Cash's voice carried into his ear. "You two good for a couple hours?"

"Roger that," he said, nodding to Sugar. He mouthed, "Few hours. No problem."

She nodded.

Cash's voice crackled as the chopper receded. "Oh four hundred, pick up at the bottom of base camp."

"Affirmative," Jared replied, knowing Sugar would enjoy the rappelling-rope take-off as much as he did.

Static filled in his ear, then silence. He pulled out the earpiece. Sugar's hands were tucked under her arms, in her armpits, as she huddled against herself. Her body shook. His healing gunshot wounds ached, and the cold was beginning to seep deep into his body.

"Take my gloves," he offered, taking them off.

She shook her head, her teeth chattering. "You'll freeze."

That made him laugh. "I'll survive."

"So will I. I'm fine." Her teeth chattered.

"Goddamn, woman. You're stubborn." Without thinking, Jared dropped to the ground next to her, wrapped her in a bear hug. She fought his hold, maybe just enough to be able to say that she did. But the struggle was an exhausted token gesture.

Then all stilled. The brightest of stars shone like diamonds in the black sky. The night was silent once again, but that didn't mean much. Tangoes were ready to tussle not far from their shelter. Forgetting it all, he held Sugar close, and the closeness felt... significant.

Flickers of desire bled through him. Not in a familiar, wanna-jump-her-bones way. At least not right now. It was more torrid heat and carnal realization. Her shivers slowed, and her chattering teeth stopped, making the pressure in his lungs feel like he couldn't take a deep breath if he wanted.

She sighed, and as if by reflex, he pulled her tighter to him. A thrill soared from his head into his chest. His pulse went erratic. It didn't make sense. Everything in his life, from work to women, was as structured as it was wild, and that warm buzz bouncing in his brain wasn't on the schedule.

He'd jumped out of planes into explosions, sunk to the bottom of oceans to battle riptides. But this rush was like what addicts must feel when drugs first hit their veins, why they went searching for another hit.

In her lax position, she burrowed against him, and without his control, his eyelids slowly shut. Savoring it, he could only feel, only be in that moment, refusing to understand how or why he felt the way he did.

Her head was tucked under his chin, and her hair pushed in his face, tickling his neck. Her bottom curved against his groin, and they lay as one in the frozen night against a boulder.

Jared took a breath, trying to quell the eager anticipation of something more than he'd experienced before, though he didn't know what to call it. He focused on the act of heat transference. This was a tactical act-a physical deliverance of heat to a woman who'd been held against her will in sub-freezing temps.

"Better?" he asked.

Sugar barely nodded. She didn't act like a rescue victim, but she wasn't the same badass with the Teflon exterior from GUNS. Maybe it was the moment, not the girl.

"If you let your guard down with me, Sugar, and drop the tough-girl act, I won't tell a soul."

She nodded again.

Maybe it was both the moment and the girl. "Okay, then. Get some sleep, and we'll get the hell out of here in a few." And for some goddamn reason, he nuzzled into her hair and pressed his lips to the back of her head. A fucking kiss.

She didn't move. She didn't respond, yell, or throw him an elbow. He threw his leg over hers with the silent excuse of staying warm and let her drift off to sleep.

CHAPTER SIX.