ChapterTwenty-Nine
Sunny rubbed her arms in the chilly night air. Knowing the mine’s helicopter wouldn’t be searching for them, they’d made it back to the coordinates in record time. She shivered. The exertion had worked up a sweat, and Alaskan summer nights held little heat.
Davis stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Cold?”
“Sweaty.”
“Ew.”
He went to let go, but she grabbed his arms with one hand and elbowed him in the side with the other. His laugh held relief she hadn’t heard since this entire fiasco started. As he bent to her neck, she leaned her head to the side, relishing the warmth of his body wrapped around her. He placed his face against her skin and breathed in. Another shiver rushed through her body, but this time the sensation spread heat instead of cold.
“I take it back.” He kissed her neck. “You don’t smell bad.”
“Doubt that.” She leaned against him, hugging his arms to her. “Especially with not showering, being stuck in a mineshaft, and steeped in fear.”
“Trust me. Compared to some missions I’ve been on with big smelly men, you aren’t too bad.” He took another whiff. “The forest clings to you.”
They stood there in the clearing. The sun lit the eastern sky pink after its brief dip below the northern horizon. She could easily pretend everything was normal, easily let Alaska cleanse her of the horror the last days had held, at least for the minutes that stretched while they waited. But questions kept circling, invading the pseudo-peace the midnight sun created.
“What do you think they meant by ‘other places’?” She whispered the question blaring loudest in her head, hating the tremor she couldn’t hide.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing.” He squeezed her closer, like he wanted to shield her even in this quiet place.
“One of those binders had diagrams for the drill. It struck me as odd since there’s really not many changes you can make to one.” She shook her head, confused all over again by page after page of schematics. “I mean, equipment like that doesn’t change.”
“When we capture the facility, we’ll figure it out. Whatever it is they’re hiding won’t stay hidden much longer.” He kissed the top of her head.
“Do you think the team will surprise them, take them down without a fight?”
How she prayed it would be. She didn’t want anymore pain. Didn’t want another death to rip her soul open.
“I hope so, but—”
Sunny didn’t like how Davis’s sentence cut off.
“But what? What aren’t you telling me?” She went to turn, but he held her tight against him with a heavy sigh.
“The first room wasn’t just a supply closet. It held a locked armory behind the door. If they see us coming, they’ll fight.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Hopefully, the mine would still be deep in sleep. She glanced at her watch, her hope evaporating. By the time the cavalry arrived and they made a plan, it would be pushing five. The camp had roused at five-thirty the day before. That didn’t give the team a lot of wiggle room.
“What’s your plan?”
“You think I have one?” Davis chuckled.
“I know you do. You’re too smart not to have one, and probably two or three back-up ones set up in your head.”
“Such faith.” His awe-filled whisper broke her heart.
If only he would trust himself again. She turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his neck. His hands spread wide across her back, pulling her tight against him.
“I trust you, Davis. One hundred percent. You’re going to get us out of this, because you and I are going to have a long life together finding adventures and, one day, sharing those adventures with our children.”
“Sunny, I—” His loud swallow filled her ears.
“It’s Firefly, and I don’t know if you caught that, soldier, but just in case, let me spell it out.” She pushed onto her toes and put her mouth so her lips brushed his when she talked. “I want to marry you, find our place in the world together, and have a houseful of beautiful babies. What do you think about that?”
“A houseful?” he whispered in the quiet.