Free The Monte Carlo Affair: Across A Crowded Room (IATO Series Book 2) by Eliza March, Elizabeth Marchat

Thankfully, he couldn’t hear her calling for Jason. The man remained unconscious. Her secret was still safe.
    Her arms ached and her lungs burned. Just when she thought she couldn’t stay afloat a minute longer, she thought she heard the hum of an outboard motor somewhere off in the black distance. It sounded like it was coming closer, or maybe it was wishful thinking. Then she swore she heard her name being called.
    “Emily, dammit, Emily, where are you?” It was Jason’s voice, the panic in his tone obvious.
    * * * *
    “Here, Jason. We’re over here.”
    She knew he couldn’t hear her clearly enough yet, not over the engine and the distance. Not enough to determine where the sound had come from. When he turned off the engine, she shouted again.
    He pointed the large probe light and slashed it through the dark repeatedly, covering every inch of water, and then he stopped on them.
    “Don’t move.” He dropped the light and restarted the engine, blindly heading in her direction, slowly. Suddenly, the light hit the water again, and the boat came up alongside Emily.
    He circled around to her and only then realized she held Mosel’s unconscious body afloat. “Shit!” Jason reached down to grab her.
    “Thanks, but would you mind taking him first?” Emily reminded him.
    “Of course, you’d be concerned about him first.”
    Relieved of Mosel’s weight, she inhaled, catching her breath.
    Jason had Mosel half in the boat, when he stopped. “What the hell?” Mosel was naked from the waist down. Jason roughly threw the unconscious man’s body into the boat and glared at Emily as he reached down to help her up to safety.
    Jason’s lips were moving, but no sound escaped. As her body emerged from the water, she felt the waves of anger roll off him when he saw what she wasn’t wearing. She assumed her intact t-back was little consolation for her otherwise naked state.
    She saw the moment understanding hit Jason and anger roiled. “You better have a damn good explanation.” His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. Every muscle in his body was taut with tension, anger. He was furious.
    She wasn’t sure what to do first, cover herself or Mosel. Thank goodness Jason saved her from having to make too many decisions. While she tried to catch her breath and spit water out at the same time, he ripped his own shirt off and threw it at her.
    “Put that on.” He wouldn’t look at her.
    She put it on quickly and crawled to Mosel, turned him over, and started administering CPR. It wasn’t long before he coughed up seawater and started breathing regularly. The bump on his head would have him confused for a while. None of the scrapes and bruises looked too serious.
    * * * *
    Jason glanced over his shoulder at her efforts. A brief thought flitted in and out of his head before he growled at her. “That’s not necessary, because if he survives, I’ll have to kill him, anyway.”
    He picked up the radio and directed the team to their location. He needed help. But first, he had to find pants or something for Mosel.
    Jason rummaged through the hatch until he came up with a blanket that he could throw over the bastard. He’d watched as Emily’s mouth covered the other man’s, jealousy biting into his gut, and then he saw the blood. Hers. His knees went weak. Pulling himself together, he went for the first aid kit.
    He couldn’t let anything happen to her, no matter what.
    Jason took out the first aid box, fussing about as he rummaged through it. He had the radio on, talking to Harrison while he applied pressure to the cut on her head. It was still bleeding, but not like it had been when the team arrived. As soon as Harrison boarded, she passed out.
    A half hour later at the hospital, Emily was whisked away for X-rays. Jason decided to stay away from her at the clinic. Staying in character required a great deal of effort on his part, especially under the circumstances. He was torn between worry and wanting to kill her. There