Hostage to Love (Entangled Suspense) by Maya Blake Read Free Book Online

Nick, a wry smile twisting his lips when Nick immediately pulled her close to his body.
    “We have a small problem. We’ve only counted fourteen soldiers. There’s no sign of the leader, Mwana. We need to get a move on in case he’s in the vicinity. Our gunfire could also have attracted unwanted attention.”
    “Yes, he left hours ago,” she told them. “He has another camp about an hour from here but…I think he has another secret camp nearby. He never sleeps in the same place two nights in a row.”
    Nick turned as a second man joined them.
    “We’ve found two more concealed entrances to the cave and several passages that lead to dead ends. We came across some old mining equipment, and I think this is one of the abandoned diamond mines. As a hideout it’s perfect, which is why I don’t think we should hang around.”
    Nick gave a curt nod. “Right, let’s get the hell out of here. Are the others well enough to travel?”
    Alex nodded. “The Dutch woman’s fine. So’s the priest. He’ll probably need to be carried, but that’s not a problem. Unfortunately, the other guy, Morgensen, caught a bullet, but he should make it. He’s being patched up. We’ll leave as soon as he’s ready to go.”
    Belle’s relief at hearing Father Tom was unharmed disappeared at the news that Hendrik had been hurt. This time, Nick didn’t stop her when she pulled away, but his hand remained in the small of her back as she went to the injured man.
    “Are you all right, Hendrik?”
    He nodded and took her hand. “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you. We owe our lives to you.” His eyes misted.
    Edda’s sobs were muffled against his unhurt shoulder, but she nodded vigorously. “ Ja , you saved us.”
    “No. We looked after each other, and we stuck together. We’ve made it through, and now we get to go home. Okay?”
    Tears spilled down Edda’s face. “Okay.”
    The firm hand at her back moved to her shoulder. “We need to leave now. Are you all right to walk?” Nick asked. She turned and her eyes connected with his unwavering gaze. Steadfast strength emanated from him, and she selfishly tapped into it.
    Her feet hurt like hell, and her head throbbed with the beat of a thousand African drums, but there was no way she was going to slow them down by admitting it. “Yes, I’m good.” She stood up as Nick shrugged off his Kevlar jacket.
    “What are you doing?” she asked in surprise when he repositioned it on her shoulders.
    “I thought it was obvious.”
    “But…” Her protest for him to keep the jacket for his own protection died on her lips when she saw the hard implacable look on his face. Their eyes met. Battled. In silence, she let him zip up the vest.
    He pulled her to his side as a small explosion sounded behind them. The blaze in the abandoned diamond cave had become an inferno in the dark African night sky.
    It was time to go.
    Alex and John Allen rounded up the men, who took charge of Father Tom and Hendrik.
    With a last look over her shoulder, she gripped the hand that held hers and followed Nick into the black night.
    …
    Nick looked down at his wife as she slept, her head pillowed on his shoulder. Belle Andreakos, or to give her full title, Lady Tinkerbelle Poppy Winkworth-Jones Andreakos, daughter of Lord Jonathan Andrew Winkworth-Jones, sixth Earl of Edenhall, was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, even with dirt-coated hair, long scratches crisscrossing her normally smooth skin, and exhaustion etched deep in her face. The shirt and trousers he’d supplied for her might dwarf her willowy five-foot-seven-inch figure, but they did nothing to diminish her ethereal beauty.
    He recalled the first time he’d heard her full name. The venom with which she’d spat it out after he dared her to, and the furious glare she’d directed at him when his initial shock had turned to foot-stomping laughter still amused him every time he recollected the memory.
    But the laughter hadn’t lasted even a year . He