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dogs even louder. He wondered if
they were stopping to make camp. Hopefully the storm would slow
them down enough to make escape possible.
    It damn well had to.
    Esca turned back to view the cave. From here
there was no sign of habitation or disturbance. He just prayed that
none of the hunting party knew of its existence and could lead the
soldiers right to them. Even if that happened, he’d take down as
many of them as he could before he surrendered Private Lang to
anyone. Not that she’d be sitting idly by twirling her hair. He
reckoned she’d be right alongside him matching him kill for
kill.
    What a female.
    He just remembered to let her know he was
coming back before he stepped inside the cave and into her raised
weapon. He maneuvered awkwardly through the obstacles to the space
behind. In the soft glow of the green light, he noticed a long slab
of rock propped up against the wall. He hefted it up and slid it
sideways, all but closing the gap to the outside world.
    “ Lang?”
    She was sitting on the blanket, her knees
drawn up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. “Yes,
sir?”
    “ Break out those rations.”
    * * *
    Damn him. Soreya rubbed at her lips where the
sensation of his kiss still lingered. She’d been kissed before, but
never with such soul-baring intensity. If he hadn’t drawn back she
would’ve been climbing him like a tree and begging him to fuck her.
Was this why the Etruscan government kept telepaths apart? She
hadn’t tried to leap on any of the other male team members from
Pavlovan. But then none of them had kissed her.
    “ Lang?”
    She stared at him as he shook the snow from
his thick dark hair. “What?”
    “ Rations?”
    Color rushed to her face and she bent her
head over the box of supplies to hide her confusion.
    “ There’s plenty here, sir.” She spread
the packets out on the blanket. “Not that it makes much difference
what you pick, they all taste the same.”
    He sat down next to her, suddenly making the
available space feel small.
    “ Give me your hand.”
    She obeyed before she thought it through and
watched as her small hand disappeared inside his larger one. The
now-familiar heat of his healing power reached her and she tried to
relax and send it back to him. She sensed he was in considerable
pain and for some reason, she wanted desperately to fix that for
him, to soothe him with her hands, her mouth, her body...
    “ Lang, that isn’t helping,” he
murmured.
    “ What isn’t, sir?”
    “ What you’re thinking.”
    She tried to pull her hand away, but he
wouldn’t let go.
    “ There is something I wanted to ask
you, sir.”
    “ Go ahead.”
    “ If we are likely to be captured alive,
will you kill me first? Knowing their opinion of females, I doubt
I’d get away with just being shot in the head.”
    He stirred beside her. “If they capture you,
Lang, I’ll already be dead. I’ll do anything to keep you
alive.”
    The sincerity in his voice made her throat
tighten with long suppressed emotion. “Thank you, sir, but will you
promise anyway?”
    “ Yes.”
    She managed to pull away. “Now what can I
give you to eat?”
    “ Lang.”
    She raised her head and found him staring at
her. “What?”
    “ You are a remarkable
female.”
    She sat back next to him and waited until he
started eating then followed suit. “How is your leg?”
    “ Bearing up.”
    She chewed in silence for a while and then
leaned back against the hardness of the wall to contemplate the
shadows of the cave.
    “ Hold up.” He wrapped an arm around her
shoulders. “Less stress on your back.”
    She didn’t protest and gradually found
herself turning into his warmth and greedily inhaling his scent.
Was this how it had been for her mother? This desperate need to be
understood—to be recognized as having worth by another
telepath?
    “ I think my father must’ve been a
telepath.”
    “ Considering your gifts, I’d assume he
was.”
    “ I never met him. He was