Free A Summer Smile by Iris Johansen Page A

be hard
    after having her tonight. He had been within a breath of making love to her again when she had bundled up their belongings and crawled out of the cave. What a crazy thing to do. Crazy and sweet and caring.
    He leaned his head back against the stone wall of   the cliff and breathed in the sweet warm air that was scented pungently with wild grass and tamarisk. His arm tightened unconsciously about Zilah. He felt very lucky tonight. Luckier than ever before in his life. For the first time in years he was feeling an eager anticipation about what lay ahead, especially that moment when his friend was ready to acknowledge that he was also her lover.
     
    Four
    It was still dark when Zilah opened her eyes. Daniel's arms were no longer around her, and she the dark blur of his large bulk looming over her.
    "Is it time to get up?" she asked, yawning. "It's still pitch dark."
    "Not for long. By the time we pack up and wash the sleep away it will be light enough to travel." Daniel was swiftly pulling on his sleeveless undershirt. "It will take over two hours to reach Sheikh El Kabbar's compound and I want to get there before the sun is high. Once we leave the hills we'll be in desert country again." He tossed the penlight onto her lap. "Why don't you go down to the creek while I repack the backpack?"
    She stretched lazily. "I'll do that." She got to her feet, flinching as she felt the stiffness of her cramped m.uscles. "It may take a while to get my legs working. I'dbetter start right away." She turned on the flash-light, catching Daniel in its pool of light. As usual, his sheer size was a shock. His red hair was tousled and the low-necked sleeveless undershirt revealed a wisp of the auburn hair on his chest. Despite the explosive vitality that exuded from him, his face showed fatigue, especially in the deep lines at the corners of his eyes. "Didn't you sleep at all?"
    He shook his head. "You're a very nice armful," he said lightly. "I decided I was enjoying myself too much to waste time sleeping." He inclined his head in a mocking bow. "I hope you'll forgive me for not obeying your orders, oh, Zilah."
    "Much you care." She tried to smother a smile as she turned and started down the hill toward the tamarisk grove. She glanced back over her shoulder. "You're definitely not a team player, Daniel."
    "Clancy would never have sent a team player on a mission like this," he drawled, his eyes twinkling. "And if he hadn't sent me, think of all we would have missed."
    She chuckled. "Bombs exploding, being shot at, pursuit by terrorists. I have to admit it hasn't been dull. Life may seem a bit tame when this is over."
    "Then I'll have to think of something to liven things up a bit." He leered at her. "I have a few ideas in mind that might suffice. You forgot about the Roman candles."
    She smiled softly. "No, I didn't. I have to admit your fireworks are pretty unforgettable, Daniel."
    There was still a smile lingering on her lips when she reached the creek and knelt down on the flat rocks that bordered it. She seemed to have been smiling a great deal since Daniel had appeared in her life. How many years had it been since she'd known joie de vivre rising within her? She had thought that welling spring had been stilled forever by the experience that had changed everything for her. Contentment had seemed prize enough.
    She used the handkerchief to wash her face and throat, thinking wistfully of thick terry-cloth towels and toothbrushes and hot showers. . . .
    She screamed in agony.
    The pain was so blinding, so overwhelming, that for an instant she didn't know where it was coming from. It was everywhere. It was wracking her entire body. She found herself sobbing helplessly.
    "Zilah, for God's sake, what's happened?" Daniel was kneeling beside her. He grabbed the lantern and swung it in a wide arc around the grove, the M-l ready in his other hand.
    "I don't know." The tears were running down her face. "Pain!"
    "Where?"
    She tried to pierce the