Her hands had come up to grip the front of his jacket, and then she did the unthinkable, sliding them up his chest and around his neck. That was so dangerous to both of them. It wasn’t that he had allowed the kiss to get out of control. He contained the fire, not letting it run away with them, but both felt the flames licking through their veins, spreading that scorching heat and the urgent need to every cell in their bodies. It was a slow burn, but it was every bit as potent as a wildfire.
Her palms on his bare skin, right over the prominent veins in his neck, felt like two brands. He wouldn’t have been shocked to find she’d burned her initials into either side of his neck. He doubted if he would have minded. Very reluctantly, he lifted his head, his gaze moving over her face, searching for signs of denial or doubt.
Her lashes lifted and her eyes had gone pure blue, sexy. A slow smile accentuated her lips. Drew attention to the ghost of a dimple she had on her left side. He couldn’t stop from leaning down to brush his mouth over that small indentation.
“We could be in serious trouble, Jonas.” Her hands slid from his neck and dropped to hang loosely at her sides.
He straightened and forced himself to let go of her. That took discipline, far more discipline than he wanted to admit. “I think it best if we just decide we’re going to work it out, Camellia. It’s smarter. Neither of us has to chase the other one all over the mountain.”
Her eyebrow shot up. Amusement put color in her cheeks and poured more blue into her eyes. “You think I would come chasing after you if you took off on me?”
“Sure you would, now that you’ve had a taste of me.”
She burst out laughing. He could get used to her laugh. He felt the vibration of it through his feet, in his veins, through the cells in his body. He looked around at the flowers that shouldn’t have been alive there in that garden of paradise. They all reacted to her laughter. Leaves rustled, turning toward the sound, petals unfolded from closed flowers, all looking toward her. Camellia didn’t even turn her head, as if she was so used to the phenomena that she didn’t notice it.
“You know you’re a miracle, woman.” He spoke the truth as he saw it.
She sent him a smile, shook her head and pointed in the direction farther up the mountain.
Jonas shook his head. He indicated with his chin the direction Kyle and Jeff were camped. “We have to get my boys and have them come along. I’m not leaving them behind, Camellia. It’s too risky.”
She shrugged. “That’s your call. I’d probably do the same if it was my team. You go get them, but I’m not waiting. I’m certain you can catch up.”
Jonas had to hand it to her. Even with the intensity of their connection, he didn’t feel even a whisper of her intent to run. She probably would too. He most likely had spooked her with that kiss. It might have been better to have gotten rough. She’d expected rough, not tender. Not gentle.
“It’s best if we stay together. I’m not comfortable splitting up. Jeff’s had strokes and Kyle’s pretty sick.” Deliberately, he played on her sympathy. She was compassionate, where he wasn’t. He’d always have that one little advantage. He’d have to be careful not to use it too often.
“Strokes?” She echoed the word.
“I told you, we’re Whitney’s flawed team. He’d be happy to get us all back on his table for a redo, if he could. He’s really angry that he paired Lily with Ryland and they had a son. Now that he has soldiers he considers perfect, he would rather one of them be with Lily.”
Jonas turned and began walking down the mountain, moving through the garden, taking as much of it in as possible as he did so. He didn’t look back to see if she followed. It was nerve-wracking, but it was a game of wits. She was either going to come with him, or he was going to hunt her.
They both were aware of the rules. He’d go after her if she ran from him. He had too many predatory species in him not to. If she asked, perhaps he could give her freedom. He was also fairly certain that if he bailed first, she would eventually track him, and he took comfort in that thought.
She made no sound. That made it damned difficult to keep moving in the direction of his two team members. Instead of looking for her, he observed the beauty of the garden.
“This place is spectacular.” He poured genuine admiration into his voice. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’ve been up here for years, but Mari hasn’t been with Ken that long. Her twins are only a few months old. She got pregnant several months after Briony did.”
He waited a few seconds for her to respond. When she didn’t, his throat grew so tight he had to force the next words out. “She had a hell of a time with her pregnancy. Mari, I mean. We were really worried she was going to lose them.”
When Camellia still didn’t respond, he decided to try a different bait. He kept moving down the narrow trail, pausing every now and then to study a particular rare orchid that grew up one of the trees. “Is this a Pink Moth, Camellia? It’s beautiful. How did you manage to get all of these rare plants?” He waited, counting his heartbeats. Hoping she would answer. Praying she hadn’t gone off in the opposite direction, that she was every bit as enthralled with him as he was with her.
“Yes,” she finally answered reluctantly. “Jonas. Stop walking. I don’t want to meet your friends. I don’t want them to see me or know about this place. I have to have more time.”
Damn. The woman made him weak with relief, so much so that his knees had nearly buckled just because she’d chosen to follow him. He wasn’t about to show her she had that kind of effect on him. He kept walking.
“You don’t need more time, Camellia. You’re either going to accept what’s between us or you’re not. I don’t want to be alone anymore, Camellia. I don’t want you to be alone. I can be the man who stands with you.”
“Because Whitney did his famous pairing?” There was sarcasm in her voice, but also a small question, as if she were really asking him.
“Do you think it matters to me how I got you? I’m telling you how I really feel, babe. I want you to feel the same way.”
“You think it’s that easy? What’s Ryland going to say? Especially when you came up this way investigating your hunch that there was a threat to the children.”
She was right behind him. Close. Satisfaction sizzled through him. He knew how to find her now. He was locked into the network running beneath the ground, and that slight vibration singing through his veins and nerve endings belonged to her. He had her trail. She would never be able to hide herself from him again. Her psychic track lit his body up like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
“Rye’s my friend, Camellia. He’ll take one look and know you’re it for me—that we belong. I’m not a man to cross. I give my allegiance to you; that means I fight for you. You belong to me, I protect you. It’s that simple.”