SEALs of Honor: Shadow by Dale Mayer Page B

her rounded bottom slid across his groin.
    It was going to be one fucking long trip.

Chapter 13

    S he dozed, shifted to get comfortable, surfaced then dozed again.
    When she finally woke it was to see a different terrain outside the truck window. She sat up and heard Shadow’s gasp, then groan.
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” she cried out in a hushed whisper as she tried to wiggle into a better position.
    He grabbed her hips and stopped her movements.
    “Is that better?”
    “Yes,” he said between gritted teeth. Then he took a deep breath. “Just stop your damn wiggling.”
    She glared at him. “Are we back to that? Remember I said there was no room in here for me.”
    “Are we back to that,” he said perversely enjoying getting her riled up again. “I said there was enough room for you.”
    She sighed and collapsed down again. “You’re getting into your mean mode again.”
    He hugged her close. “No, I’m not.”
    She was quiet for a long time. “Where are we? I thought we’d have reached the next town by now.”
    “Shouldn’t be much longer. Although there is some concern that there isn’t much there. Apparently, small Canadian towns in the north are often only a collection of houses and not much else.”
    “I remember that from last time. Nowhere close enough to drive to. It’s like six hours to the main center.”
    “Right. If need be, we can do that.”
    She sighed. “I hope we don’t have to. I’m getting awfully hungry.”
    “You’ve still got your chocolate bar,” he reminded her. As she perked up and looked around for her bag, he added, “Don’t bother. It’s in the back with the rest of the gear.”
    He reached for her hips to stop her from moving too much, but she didn’t notice. Her sore leg was stretched across Cooper’s legs, giving him no room to go anywhere. Poor Cooper.
    Shadow reached into his pocket and pulled out her bar. “Here. I pulled it out earlier.”
    With a beaming smile she took it, opened it, and carefully broke it into seven pieces.
    He watched her as she handed out a piece to everyone. One piece was slightly larger than the others and one was slightly smaller. The small one she kept for herself, and she gave him the biggest piece.
    Of course she did. He was looking after her so well. She wished she could give him more.
    But there wasn’t anything else to give him. At least not here.
    She studied the small town as they drove past. There were a few houses dotting the highway from miles out. Normal in a way. If you were a loner and preferred wilderness to city, like these people did, they all wanted to live on the edge of town. No matter how small the town was. And as small towns went she’d have said this was the smallest she’d seen. Barely a community and not big enough to be considered a township.
    There was a small store in the center and before they knew it they’d passed it. Mason slowed and pulled off on the side of the highway. “Did anyone see a store or medical center or…anything? What’s the chance we haven’t hit the main town yet?”
    “I saw a store,” Arianna said, twisting to look behind them. “But nothing else.”
    Several others confirmed the store.
    Mason had the truck turned around and pulled up to the store, which appeared to double as a gas station, except from the ancient pumps in the back, she wasn’t sure she trusted anything that came out of these machines.
    But a bathroom would be good.
    The door opened behind her, and Shadow exited with her in his arms, somehow making the movement natural and graceful.
    “Any chance of a bathroom?” she whispered, studying the gas station.
    “Likely inside.” He held her steady as she regained her footing and hobbled around a few steps to keep the blood circulating.
    The air had a freshness to it she loved. She took a deep breath. She hadn’t had a chance to notice the air this morning with everything going on but now on the way home…she sniffed happily. “Smells nice.”
    “Not in