Hush by Cherry Adair Read Free Book Online Page A

for her death unless some fucking miracle presented itself PDQ.
    A sheen of perspiration made her skin glow. She absentmindedly used the short sleeve of her T-shirt to wipe the sweat from her face. The smudged makeup beneath her eyes made them appear even larger and a lot more vulnerable. Her lips were the same color as her nipples, a soft defenseless rose color. Her mouth hadn’t felt helpless surrounding his—
    Zak wrenched his gaze from her mouth, from his visceral memory of where it had been the night before. Damn it to hell. Just looking at it was evocative and a turn-on.
    He noted that she had a scratch on her upper arm. Another small one on her wrist. A fingerprint-shaped bruise on her wrist. They’d marked her. Zak’s temple throbbed, and he had to consciously ungrit his teeth.
    â€œStop looking at me like that!” she told him crossly, the pulse at her throat, damp with perspiration, throbbing in time with his own rapid heartbeat. “I wonder where we are. They could’ve driven us in circles for the past three hours, although I—”
    â€œNo circles,” Zak said shortly. “If it’s been almost three hours, at an average of fifty miles per, we’ve gone about a hundred and fifty miles.”
    â€œYou’ve been awake this whole time?”
    â€œNot all,” he told her honestly, because she was clearly annoyed at what he was sure was some perceived moral infraction.
    â€œActually,” she said, looking quite pleased with herself, “you and your friend were unconscious for the start of this little road trip, and I believe we were going a little faster when we headed out of town. We only slowed down when we hit the country roads about, oh, maybe two hours ago? So I think we—”
    â€œMy brother, Gideon.” Jesus. What a sanctimonious little thing his fellow captive was. “And approximately twenty minutes works. We’re certainly still within Canaima National Park.”
    Situated in southeastern Venezuela, the park ran along the border with Guyana and Brazil. The vast area was mostly unpopulated and consisted of rolling savanna, dense jungle, palm groves, and sheer cliffs as well as steep, flat-topped mountains. They hadn’t done any climbing; that just left them somewhere within a three-million-hectare area. Approximately the size of Maryland, most of it dense jungle.
    Underbrush had been striking the sides of the vehicle for several minutes. This wasn’t merely a dirt road; they were penetrating jungle. Fuckit.
    She got to her feet, stumbled, grabbed his shirtfront, pulled away as if burned, then spread her boots for balance. It took a moment as she swayed, trying to find her center of gravity in the moving vehicle; then she gave him an earnest look.
    Christ, she had pretty eyes. Big and soft with long dark lashes. Eyes that trusted him to keep her safe. He had news for her: he’d already failed that test. I’m the last fucking man you should trust , Zak thought savagely. Payback was a bitch. It was his own personal hell that had thrown them together, because Zakary Stark couldn’t protect any woman. He knew it. His brother, despite his protests and excuses, knew it, and she was going to learn it soon enough. The hard way.
    â€œI think if we put our minds to it we could figure it out exactly.” She frowned in concentration. “Give me a minute.”
    He dragged in a breath, got a hint of hot jasmine, and blew it out. “I appreciate your confi—” The sound of the engine changed as the van slowed down. He met his brother’s eyes and indicated he’d go left. Gideon nodded and moved into position on the right of the doors.
    â€œGo crouch in back,” Zak told her. Nowhere to take cover. No way he and Gid could mitigate what was about to go down. “Keep your head down.”
    Her chin jerked up and her soft eyes got flinty. “That’s ridiculous. I can help