Free Whistleblower by Alysia S Knight Page A

she’s not.”
    “What’s the old term,” Zan volunteered, “valley-girl?”
    Marley laughed. “Actually, yes. But everyone liked Julie. She was on the drill team and was homecoming queen.”
    “Well, if it makes any difference, I think I’d find−” Zan stopped talking in mid-sentence and froze. Marley followed suit. She listened, trying to detect what alarmed him. Her mind barely registered the faint sound before Zan’s order came. “Three feet to your right is a ledge, get there, now.”
    Marley didn’t hesitate. She shifted directions in climbing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zan push off the mountainside and make a leap for the ledge. In one motion, he landed and stretched out his hand for her. Marley reached out for him. He caught her wrist and pulled her up onto the rock outcropping.
    “Down.”

Chapter Five
     
     
    He shoved her as she dropped. Rolling her over, he wedged her body back in the corner. His body came down over her. One arm snaked its way under her head, creating a headrest, forcing her face against his neck, while wrapping his forearm over her hair. Zan curled his other arm up over his own head to hide his hair and shifted his body slightly to better align their bodies.
    Marley couldn’t keep in her gasp at the feel of the hard planes of his body pressed into her.
    “It’s okay.” His breath stirred the hair at her temples. He shifted again, trapping her feet between his legs.
    Marley could now make out the sound of a helicopter and understood he was trying to cover her gym shoes. She pointed her toes out to flatten them against the muscle-corded limbs.
    “Good girl. Now stay still.”
    Stay still ! She was afraid to breath. People in a helicopter were searching almost directly above them, and, she was in the most intimate contact with a man she’d ever been in in her life. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. She wondered what Zan would say. The thought dropped away as the sound of the helicopter came closer, and the edge of hysterics dug deeper. If they were seen, they’d be trapped. She shivered at the thought.
    Zan shifted his head slightly so that his chin pressed against her temple. He whispered her name but if he said anything else it was drowned out by the sound of the helicopter coming closer to the cliff.
    Marley clamped her eyes shut and held her breath as dust filled the air. She dug her fingers into Zan’s shirt, pulling him tighter down, pressing her face into his neck. Small pebbles dislodged by the wind from the rotator blades peppered around them. Marley felt Zan flinch and guessed a bigger rock struck him.
    His arms tightened around their heads, but he made no other movement. Marley bit down on her lip to keep from crying out. Seconds seemed to take hours to pass before the helicopter moved away.
    “Wait.”
    Marley didn’t need his command. She wasn’t going to move until he told her. Her breaths were labored from being pinned down by his weight. She didn’t care. Zan was security.
    As the dust settled, she became aware of his scent − musky, masculine, male. It was familiar, and she relaxed but didn’t loosen her hold. Above her, Zan too relaxed, though he didn’t move other than his hands that burrowed into her hair.
    ***
    Zan lowered his arm from over his head and went to push up only to find Marley’s hands were fisted in his shirt and arms locked so tight, he couldn’t move without taking her with him. He tried to ease off her, but she tightened her hold. He managed to get a look at her face. Her eyes were shut.
    “Marley, it’s okay now. You can release me.” When he tried to move, it remained impossible. “Marley.” He touched her cheek, running his thumb over her smooth skin. “Come on Marley, open your eyes. You can do this. I need to make sure they are gone, and we need to get to the top, in case they come back. We can’t afford to be trapped here. Understand?”
    He felt the intake of breath against the entire length of