She nodded, the back of her head hitting his chin. “Yes,” she breathed. “That was just a lot.”

That was an understatement, to say the least. “I didn’t hurt you?”

“No.” She snuggled her butt into his groin and pressed her face into the pillow. “Tired. My shoulder aches a little.” She yawned, the sound exhausted. The marking on her back heated his stomach, and a sharp sense of possessiveness ran through him. “I hope I didn’t just kill you,” she mumbled sleepily.

“If you did, it was definitely worth it.” He kissed her on the back of the head, holding her close, meaning every word.

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Morning came too early, but Adare had a job to do and couldn’t snuggle down with Grace for the entire day, as he would’ve liked. The urgency of this day shot adrenaline into his muscles. They had a one-shot chance to save those women; destroying the facility was secondary.

Yet he’d still get it accomplished if he could.

Adare kept the helicopter along the tree line and out of radar range of the Kurjan stronghold, his head aching but his mind clear. He’d had a headache all morning, but that was probably from lack of sleep. His hands were easy on the controls as he scoped out the landing area they’d chosen more than six months ago.

Seeing no threats in the surrounding forest, he set down and had barely cut the power before Benny and Ronan jumped out, hauling their backpacks full of weapons and explosives.

He powered down completely and stepped into the thick powder, catching the tarp Benny threw at him from the other side. They camouflaged the copter with a white tarp that would blend into the snowy landscape. He jogged around and lifted his pack onto his back. “It looked like there was an avalanche to the northeast, or at least some sort of rock slide, so let’s go with Route B.”

“Affirmative,” Benny said, all business while on op. With his winter-camouflaged coat, pants, and hat, he probably didn’t need the paint on his face. With it, he blended into the environment as well as Adare or Ronan did, even though he was a couple inches taller than their six feet six inches.

Ronan jogged up, his face painted as well. “I took a look at the last satellite feed, and the kidnapped women are still in place. Although, I didn’t see the van that was there last time.”