Free Ruthless Game by Christine Feehan Page B

it took effort not to sweep her into his arms. She looked exhausted, dried blood on her arms and scratches down one side of her face, a badge of courage, where she’d protected the baby instead of her own head. That made him mad all over again.
    “Who the hell jumps out of a moving vehicle eight months pregnant?” he demanded.
    “Someone who doesn’t want to get shot.” Her eyes flashed the most interesting little sparks there in the darkness. “And if you had taken care of the guard before he fired his weapon, we might not have had to jump.”
    “Which I might have been able to do had you not interfered.” As excuses went, it was pretty damn lame and childish. She’d managed to be very helpful, but that wasn’t the damn point. She had no business going into combat pregnant. “You don’t have much sense, do you?”
    If the furious sparks in her eyes could have found fuel, he would have been in trouble. As it was, he reached out and took the gun from her hand just to err on the side of caution.
    “The only stupid thing I’ve done so far is to pick you as a partner. I’m tired and I want a shower. Get out of my way.”
    “Not until I clear his safe room and the escape tunnel.”
    She went still. Her tongue darted out to touch her lower lip, drawing his attention to the full, angel-like bow. “Safe room?” She pushed strands of hair away from her face. Her hand trembled. She put it behind her back.
    She’d definitely recognized the significance of what he’d said.
    “There isn’t a safe room.”
    “Why? Because he would have told you?” Damn it all, was she going to believe him or some lying old man who had his own agenda? All Kane wanted to do was protect her ... Well, okay, that was a fucking lie. That wasn’t all he wanted from her, but his intentions were noble. Damn it, maybe they weren’t all that noble either. She was tying him up in knots. What the hell kind of woman did the things she did?
    “Oh, Kane.” Her voice shook.
    She looked as if she crumbled right in front of him. She sank into the chair, pressing her hand to her swollen belly, taking long, slow, deep breaths.
    “There’s no need to hyperventilate,” he said as gently as possible. “We’ll be fine. I’ll check the room. Take your gun, and don’t shoot me.”
    She sent him a wan smile as her fingers closed around the butt of the gun. “Tempting thought,” she murmured, her expression both rueful and apprehensive, “but I’ll restrain myself.”
    That little smile turned his heart over. He touched her face with gentle fingers before he could stop himself. She didn’t jerk away. Her skin was soft, like the petals of a rose. His knuckles brushed the silk of her hair. Immediately the memory of her body beneath him filled his mind. His body reacted, hard and full and aching for her. He ignored the urgent needs as best as he could, brushing the pad of his thumb along her cheekbone and down her jaw, tracing the beautiful bone structure, oddly grateful she remained still beneath his exploration. He needed to touch her, and maybe she understood he really had no choice.
    “Stay right here, Rose.” He gentled his voice. She really did look exhausted, and the walk in the desert had obviously taxed her endurance. Unless ... He frowned. “Did you get hurt when you jumped from the car?”
    “Just go clear the room.”
    “And the tunnel. He would have had an escape out of here. A man like Diego Jimenez would never have allowed himself to become trapped.”
    She pressed her fingers to her eyes as if her head were pounding. “I should have thought of that. I don’t know why I just accepted what he told me.”
    He crouched down beside her, his fingers curling around the nape of her neck. “You needed to hear you had a safe place to go, Rose. That’s human nature.”
    She looked directly into his eyes, and every cell in his body reacted to the pain he saw there.
    “I’m responsible for our child. You trusted me to take care of