The Last Marine (17 page)

Chapter 19

He reached the light and bent down with her in his arms to look through the man-sized hole situated waist-high on the wall. Inside, the stone floor was clear of critters and shit and a pool curved around the far wall. “Get in.” He lowered her enough that she could crawl through without putting her feet down on this side. Then he pulled off the goggles and followed her through, pausing to dust the critters from his boots.

The stones glowed. Not all of them, but long flowing veins of iridescent stone wove into the gray rock walls. Stalactites hung from the ceiling and stalagmites poked up from the ground around the edges of the cave, streaks of luminous minerals swirling through the cone-shaped formations.

“It’s beautiful.” Prudence stared into the pool. The rocks made the red-tinged liquid glow.

At least after a bath he wouldn’t have to worry so much about infection. The claw marks stung like hell, telling him the cuts were caked with dirt and sweat and God knew what else.

She turned and her eyes widened and she let out a gasp. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I’ll decide.”

There was no avoiding her unless he wanted to go sleep with the worms. It was as if she’d suddenly grown twenty arms, no matter which way he turned, there she was, prodding his wounds. “Jesus, lad—”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Angel.”

She tugged at the remnants of his shirt. “Take this off, or at least what’s left of it.”

He pulled his shirt off, trying not to wince at the tug and burn of torn flesh. Thick gashes crossed his chest, the centers of the cuts wider than the ends. “I’ll go for a swim and be fine. The water is antiseptic, remember. You first. Go on, you’re covered in blood.”

“Stop. Enough with the ‘women first’ philosophy. You’re hurt and you probably need stitches on some of those. Get in the water.” Her eyes blazed with annoyance, but her hands were undoing his pants. “This is the exact reason why I didn’t want to do this. Look at you.” She lifted her hand to wave at the gashes over his chest and arms. “You’re a mess. What if you get an infection?” She knelt down and started taking off his shoes. “Lift your foot.”

He complied while he tried to figure her out. He couldn’t remember ever having anyone yell at him while they undressed him before. Was she coming around to admitting she was wrong?

“Look at how red and swollen your skin is around those cuts. You may as well have served yourself up on a silver platter. All you missed was putting an apple in your mouth. This was the most reckless thing I’ve seen you do.”

“Reckless?” He yanked off her shirt, dropped it to the floor and went after her pants.

“What are you doing?”

Her hair swung forward to cover her face as she looked down at where his hands worked on her pants.

“You’re getting in the water. No need to be shy, Angel. I’m pretty damn sure I’ve licked every square inch of your body.” He hooked his fingers into the waistband of both jeans and panties and dragged them down her legs. “Now, let’s talk about reckless. Reckless would be camping out in the open. Maybe having a fire, roasting some zeblu meat, falling asleep and snoring.” He pulled her foot up, removed her shoe and removed her pant leg. “You know, sending out an open invitation for dinner.”

“You don’t know that.” She scowled.

Her hand clasped into his hair for balance while he attacked her other shoe and finished getting her clothes off. “You, Angel, should be thanking your lucky stars I’m around. You’d be dead by now without my particular brand of recklessness.”

She stood in front of him like an avenging angel, fire in her eyes, chest heaving and hands fisted. Five-foot-five of pure sensuality and biting anger. “I’m not the one bleeding all over the floor.” She stomped over to the pool and lowered herself into the water. She turned around and glared at him, tears glistening on her lashes. “I’m not the one who almost died. You shouldn’t have put yourself at risk.” She turned around and busied herself washing away the blood.

Griffin wanted to shout. To pound something. To . . . argh. Infuriating woman. He sank down into the water, hissing when the liquid came in contact with his cuts and started bubbling like peroxide on an open wound.

There. Concentrate on the pain.

Dunking down, he wet his hair and scrubbed his skin clean. But time and again his gaze returned to Prudence. She kept her back to him, shoulders stiff. He didn’t like her yelling at him, not even whisper-yelling. He didn’t like being on her bad side.
You shouldn’t have put yourself at risk.
Was she worried about him? Was that why she got so angry?

He waded over to her and slipped his hand onto her hip. “Are you still angry?”

“Yes.”

This wasn’t like her. There had been plenty of times she should’ve gotten mad at him, but she hadn’t. Why had this set her off? They hadn’t had a whole lot of options.

Pressing his lips to her shoulder, he tried to gentle her. “You know there wasn’t anything else we could do.”

Softer this time. “Yes.”

“I didn’t try to start a fight with them. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“So explain to me why you’re so upset.” He trailed his lips up her neck to nuzzle below her ear.

She rubbed her cheek against his clipped hair. “Because I’ve fallen for you.”

Ah, God, he was in trouble. Elation burst through him, leaving him shaken but smiling. “And that’s bad?”

“Of course that’s bad.”

Of course. He was a soldier. A killer. He had no honor. He’d left the world worse off for his presence.

She turned to face him. “You’ve got this whole ‘save the world’ mentality going on and maybe for a while I fooled myself thinking you were all talk. But I realized today it’s not. No matter how crazy, how suicidal, once you say you’re going to do something, your goal is as good as done.”

He searched her face. “I don’t get what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying I want you to forget about returning to Earth.”

Backing away, he shook his head.

“I want you to stay with me.”

Christ.

“I’m saying I want you to consider what could be done here, instead of trying to fight for something on Earth that people don’t seem to want.”

“I can’t let it go.”

She covered her face with her hand and turned away. “I’m not enough.”

“Not true.” He came back to her, unable to allow her to think that. “Angel, I’d love nothing more than to play house with you.”

“Play house?”

Damn it, he couldn’t say anything right. “What I mean is, I can’t think of the future until I settle the past.” He put his arms around her and drew her back against him. “I can’t give up on trying to put things right. It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not. You’re not that powerful.”

Her words were like a slap in the face. He understood what she meant, there were more people than him involved in fucking things up, but unlike the rest of them, he needed to redeem himself. And he needed to believe he had the power to do so. He stepped away from her. From someone else, that might not even have phased him. He’d have ignored it. But from her, holy hell, that hurt.

“I’m sorry.” Prudence pressed her face to his back. “I’m scared I’ll lose you after just finding you and I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand living here with nothing but memories.”

“And I need someone to believe in me.”

“I do. You’ve proven time and again to be smart and resourceful.” She kissed his back. “I know if anyone could make things change, you’re the one. I’m not sure any of them want to change. Do you understand the difference?”

“I can’t believe that.” He turned around and let himself sink in the water so he’d be face-to-face with her. “I can’t believe everyone is that far gone. I have to imagine there’s still some good out there. That people are still flexible and tolerant, because otherwise, what am I? I fought for them, Angel. I fought and I killed and I have to make up for the things I’ve done. I need to know when I go to bed at night that I did my part. That I tried.” He stroked his thumb down her cheek. “I promise I won’t leave you high and dry. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

“I don’t want that. I want you to love me as much as I love you.”

The Scarecrows couldn’t have torn him up as much as she did. He
had
to complete his mission. He
had
to earn his honor back. But, by God, he loved this infuriating woman, and knowing she loved him damn near broke his heart. ‘Cause he wasn’t worth it.

Not yet.

He never should have put his hands on her, not after the things he’d done, the people he’d hurt. He didn’t deserve her. But like the bastard he was, he couldn’t stop himself from taking everything she offered.

He secured her face in his hands and he sealed her mouth with his, diving in and tasting, trying to be one with her in every way he could. Her hands wound ‘round his neck, curling over his skull, trapping him close.

The cuts from the Scarecrows tugged and pulled with each movement, burning and starting to itch, but he ignored the discomfort best he could until Prudence grasped his arm. He pulled away, a shudder of pain rolling through him.

Chapter 20

Prudence shook her head. “Griff.” She cupped his face and kissed the corner of his mouth. “We can’t do this. I can’t even touch you without causing you more pain.”

He didn’t seem ready to give up. He turned her around and pulled her closer. His lips skated over her skin and goddess bless him, she wanted him, but he needed to rest. He needed to stop moving long enough to heal.

“Baby, don’t. Your cuts.” She looked at him over her shoulder.

A blush crept up his neck. At first, she thought it might be the reflection of the water on his skin, but when the red stain hit his cheeks, her lips parted in surprise.

“I . . . .” His gaze wouldn’t quite meet hers. “I want to hold you.”

After everything he’d done to her last night, he turned red over wanting to snuggle? “Why don’t you let me hold you instead? That way, the water can have a chance to work its magic on your wounds.” She reclined back on the wall, finding a spot where she could sit, and pulled him back against her. With a little prodding she got him to sink down into the water and rest his head on her shoulder. Stroking her hand through his wet hair with one hand, she asked, “How’s that?”

“Nice.” He nuzzled her cheek. “’Cept I can’t reach your breasts.”

She loved this man, every brusque, ill-mannered, passionate, sinful inch of him. Prudence reached down and pinched his ass. “Don’t be so plebeian.”

He snorted. “It’s what I am. You like the way I am.”

“Mm. Most of the time. When you’re not trying to get yourself killed.” She pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek. “I was so scared.”

“Yeah, well, that whole scenario didn’t quite go as planned.” He put his hand around her arm, stroking her wrist.

She closed her eyes. They were going to have to do it all over again in the morning. “How are we going to get out of here?”

“I’ve got a plan.”

Prudence moaned. His plans were scary.

“Hey, now.” He lifted up to look at her. “You’re killing my confidence here.”

“I’m sorry.” She gave him a sound kiss and pulled him back down. “What’s your plan?”

He waved his hand in the air. “You notice anything unusual about this cave?”

“You mean aside from the luminescent stone?” She cupped some water in her hand and poured the liquid over his chest. “You need to keep your chest covered with water, baby.”

He lowered himself until the water lapped at his chin. “Yeah, like maybe how clean the place is?”

Compared to the main cavern, this place was immaculate. A shudder ran through her as she remember things squishing and crunching under her shoes. “The Scarecrows don’t come in here.”

“Nope. Too much light, maybe.” His hand stroked up and down the outside of her thigh. “I say we wait until they’re asleep and sneak out. If they’re anything like bats, we might get past them without waking them, but we’ll take a bunch of these glowy rocks just in case.” He let out a lusty yawn.

To her, the whole plan sounded risky. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a better suggestion. “Close your eyes and get some rest. I’ll make sure you don’t sink.”

“Don’t let me drift off too long. You need to sleep, too.” He wound his arm back around her neck and nestled up to her. Within minutes he fell sound asleep. She wasn’t surprised. He must be exhausted. Most nights she’d wake up and find him staring back at her when she opened her eyes. He always said he woke when he felt her stir, but she didn’t buy it. He was far too paranoid to rest while they were out in the open.

The gouges on his chest looked bad, still seeping a little. She’d feel better if she could stitch him up. She’d do anything for a spare med-wand, but for now, all she had at her disposal was the water.

Goddess, keep him safe. Help him heal.

She held him close while he slept, soothing him through his nightmares which seemed worse than usual, maybe because he knew they were being pursued, maybe because of the altercation with the Scarecrows. Whatever the reason, it broke her heart to see him suffering. If she had her way, she’d find a way for him to live the rest of his life in peace, loving him until he didn’t have any space in his heart or mind for the nightmares.

She stroked her cheek against his hair. What might her life be like, living with a man like Griffin? She had a pretty good idea of what the nights would be like, but she’d never seen him at his ease. What kind of job would he have as a civilian? What kind of friends would he choose? Would he be a good husband and father?

Yes. She imagined if he focused all his passion and sense of responsibility on a family, as opposed to his mission, he’d be wonderful. Supportive and protective. He’d fill them up with laughter and love until they were ready to burst. Yes, he’d make a good family man. They’d have a little place—big enough for a family of three or four—close to his brother. On holidays and birthdays they’d all get together and eat and laugh. They’d be happy.

Oh, yes, she could imagine it all. If only he could.