Read Protecting Cheyenne (SEAL of Protection Book 5) for Free Online Page B

He thought he’d discovered the line that was connected to the C4 that was strapped to her chest. He could see the bomb also had at least two pounds of nails inside it. If it went off it would send shrapnel flying. They would certainly be dead, just as the gunman had said. He didn’t want to think about what Cheyenne’s body, or his own, would look like if those nails went flying.
    Dude looked up at Cheyenne. “I’ve reached enough of this damn bomb so I can disarm it. Are you ready?”
    Cheyenne looked into his eyes. He didn’t look nervous, he was calm and matter of fact. She tried to calm her heartbeat. If he was confident enough not to quake in his boots, she would be too. “I’m ready,” she told him with far more bravado than she felt. Before he moved, she quickly asked, “Do you mind if I close my eyes?”
    Dude chuckled, feeling amusement for the first time since he’d arrived on scene and had seen this woman. “I’d close mine too if I could,” he softly told her with a smile.
    Cheyenne squeezed her eyes shut. She was still all mummified in the duct tape, still couldn’t move much, but she felt lighter just by having him there.
    Dude cut the last wire and waited.
    Cheyenne’s eyes flew open to see Dude looking up at her expectantly. “What?” he asked her urgently. He didn’t think there was a secondary trigger, but it could be possible.
    “I don’t feel it ticking anymore,” Cheyenne told him. “Was that it?”
    Dude smiled and stood up, scooting the chair back as he did. He swiped his forehead with his bicep, removing the sweat that had built up there. “That was it. Let’s get out of here,” Dude told Cheyenne, reaching for her arm to guide her out of the store.
    Cheyenne shook her head and pleaded with him. “Please…please take the rest of this tape off me now, before we go out there.”
    Dude studied Cheyenne critically. She’d held up extraordinarily well. He’d worked in some situations where he had had to knock civilians out because they were hysterical and wouldn’t let him concentrate on working. This woman had not only stood there without moving, but she’d kept her calm at the same time. Dude really didn’t want to hurt her though, and he knew removing the tape was going to hurt.
    “Cheyenne,” Dude started to deny her, but she interrupted him, frantically struggling against the bonds of what was left of the tape around her body. Now that the bomb was removed it was as if she couldn’t stand the feeling of being bound.
    “Please, Faulkner, I can’t move…I can’t breathe…need to get out of this…I…” she stopped and panted a bit and looked at the floor. Cheyenne took a deep breath and stopped moving, obviously trying to get herself under control. “Never mind, I’m okay. Let’s go.”
    Dude couldn’t help the feeling of rightness that went through him at the sound of his real name coming from between this woman’s lips. Oh, Ice and the other women used his name all the time, but somehow it sounded different coming from Cheyenne. Dude stopped her from stepping away from him with a hand on her tape covered arm. She hadn’t asked for much of anything during the whole ordeal, Dude figured he could give her this. “Calm down, Shy. Let me see what I can do. Lean back against the table.” 
    Cheyenne braced herself back on the table while Dude reached over and grabbed a large pair of scissors that had been sitting on the table behind them. He regretted not having his k-bar knife with him. Since he’d been at Aces with the guys, he hadn’t bothered to put it in his pocket before heading out for the night. Dude made a mental note to start carrying the damn thing with him wherever he went from now on.
    He started at the bottom of the tape roll at her side and slowly snipped his way upward. The tape didn’t move as he snipped, as it was stuck to her arms as well as to her clothing and the remnants of the bomb. Dude then went to her other side and did the same