Free RunningScaredBN by Christy Reece Page B

Riley knew much of their communication was nonverbal.  
    Seconds later, Sabrina’s voice, calm and quiet, said, “Found her.”
    “How is she?” Noah asked.
    “Alive,” Aidan said, the bleakness in his voice telling them even more.
    “Do what you can for her, Thorne,” Noah said. “I’ll have a medical helicopter at your location in approximately twenty minutes.”
    “Roger that.” The radio clicked off.
    Riley sat back in her chair and let loose an explosive sigh of relief. Now that it was over and everyone was safe, they could all relax. She refused to consider what Taylor Vaughn had endured while in captivity. There was no telling what those fiends had done to her, and dwelling on it was pointless. What one human being could do to another didn’t surprise her. She’d lost her faith in humanity years ago. Last Chance Rescue had restored some of that faith. Not enough for her to let her guard down, though. Never again.
    Pushing those dark thoughts away, she glanced over at Justin and then swallowed hard. The fire had chased away the icy chill in the room, and the air had gotten downright balmy. Justin Kelly, who’d never had a modesty problem in his life, had stripped down to a pair of loose shorts and nothing else.
    Being attracted to a man wasn’t something Riley had ever believed would be possible. She hoped many of the memories in the dark recesses of her brain never emerged, but the ones that had were horrible, vile. Sexual desire had seemed as far out of reach for her as a kitten flying a plane. Utterly impossible.  
    But then she’d met Justin Kelly, and all her preconceived notions evaporated.  
    “She’s safe now, Ingram.”
    “What?”
    “You have a worried look on your face.”
    Yes, she was worried, but it had little to do with the journalist’s rescue. Justin was right. Taylor Vaughn was safe and would get the medical care she needed. This had been the best kind of outcome. No operatives injured and a successful rescue. It didn’t get better than that.
    So no, she wasn’t concerned about that. What troubled her was the man sitting across from her. Those intelligent, piercing eyes saw too much. And now endless hours were ahead of them with nothing to do but talk. Oddly, talking was the lesser of her worries. The biggest were the nightmares.  
    They had been with her from the beginning. Some were so obscure that when she woke, the memories of them were like wisps of thin fog, disintegrating instantly. Others stuck with her longer. Still others had her waking up screaming. What if she had a screaming nightmare? How the hell was she going to explain that?
    This wasn’t the first time they’d spent the night together out in the field. They’d been on missions where the accommodations were a hard ground and a small fire. On those occasions, she’d slept lightly, waking frequently. This time would be different. She’d had almost no sleep in over twenty-four hours. That and a long day of hiking had worn her out. Sometimes, exhaustion meant she slept like the dead. Other times, if her body was too tired, she couldn’t fight the demons that invaded her sleep.
    And now, having decided to do something about confronting her past, would her subconscious do everything within its power to stop her by reminding her what hell was like? Hiding those violent episodes from Justin was going to be difficult, if not impossible. Just how long could she stay awake tonight?
    Justin clenched his fist to keep himself from reaching out to his partner. The wary glances she was giving him were breaking his heart. Addressing them might not be the best idea, but dammit, he had to know.
    “Ingram, do you have doubts about me?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, do you think there’s some kind of flaw in my character that gives you cause for concern?”
    She jerked back as if shocked that he could say such a thing. “Of course not. I have total faith and trust in you.”
    “Then you have to know you can