Nathan groaned, "Fuck!"
Where the hell did she go?
Nathan could see that she had untied herself from the abandoned cords in her place, but God knows where she took off to.
Adam walked up next to him and looked around, frowning, "I thought you had Mara."
"I did! She was right here! I told her--- I told her to stay right here! She never listens!" Nathan walked away from his friend, pointing for Adam to go down one side of the lot as the former made took the opposite direction.
"Mara! Mara, where are you?!"
He kept looking under the cars to see if she'd hidden under them, or maybe behind the dumpsters. But no sign of Mara. As he kept walking and scanning the lot, Nathan kept wondering why the hell she'd take off like that after he'd told her to stay where he'd left her..
He jumped backwards in surprise when Mara bumped into him out of breath and still in her state of panic.
Nathan's eyes widened, standing in front of her and cupped his hands around her face. He shook his head, "Mara! Why did you take off like that?! I told you to stay put!" Her wide eyes searched frantically around her, gripping tightly to his sleeves and stepped closer to him.
Mara swallowed hard, still breathing hard as she looked up at him and realized who was with her. She blinked a few times before she wrapped her arms around him tightly. Her brown curls shook as her head did and she whimpered, "Don't let them get me... please don't let them get me... please..."
Nathan felt her whole body shaking against him and immediately enveloped her into his arms.
His eyes glanced around in the space over her head, not knowing what to do for the first time in his life. Mara made him completely forget to be the soldier he was, and whether he wanted to or not... she probably would not stop having this effect on him.
Adam appeared a few minutes later, slowing down from his jog and Nathan looked over his shoulder and nodded, "She's fine. She's just---just scared." His friend sighed in relief, his facial expression losing its worry. He started walking backwards, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.
"I'm going to let Ben know she's alright. He went back to check on Jane and Rory."
Nathan didn't answer.
He was too busy trying to stop Mara from shaking so badly. He could feel her fingers digging into his back. His chin lowered on top of her head, closing his eyes and letting his heart beat return to its normal pace.
"Mara..."
He tried to speak as softly as he could. She didn't respond.
Obviously she wasn't going to hear him just yet with her still in shock, so Nathan just sighed, resting his cheek on the top of her head.
They stood there, Nathan wasn't sure how long, but eventually, Mara pulled her head back and looked up at Nathan. He stared down at her and took in the small cuts on her face. He could already tell where she was going to be bruised.
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, lowering his head to her level. He shook his head, softening his tone to keep her calm.
"Those men are not going to get you okay? They made a mistake. They got the wrong person. They were after Jane, not you." He tried to give her a small smile, "Okay? You are going to be safe."
He didn't miss the way Mara's face suddenly darkened, her sapphire eyes blazed with fury before she pushed away from him.
Nathan took a step back, confused, but the small brunette obviously wasn't. She was on a rampage and the man in front of her was in the firing range.
Mara scoffed, "Safe?! Safe?! With you?! I was left alone in the room! How is that being kept safe!?" She swallowed remembering about how Jane was supposed to be the heiress. Not her.
So she quickly added, "And God forbid Janie had been in that room instead of me! They had no idea that I am just her cousin! They thought I was her!"
Mara shook her head furiously. She stepped further away from the agent who stepped forward. She snapped back, "No! No, I am not safe with you, Nathan Henry! So just--- just stay away from me!"
She ran over to Ben and Adam who she saw were approaching a few feet away from behind the stunned man before her. Mara wrapped her arms around Ben, sobbing into his belly and was comforted by his fatherly embrace. Ben, however, looked at Nathan; a questioning expression on the older man's face towards the young man.
Nathan swallowed down the guilt and sudden hurt he felt. He looked away from his two friends staring at him. There was no denying how horrible he felt at that moment; knowing that he was the one responsible for Mara's bruises and attempted kidnapping.
Now she wanted nothing to do with him.
☙ღ❧
Ben closed the door of the bronco once seated in the driver's side only to find Adam in the passenger seat, leaned back in his seat with his beanie tugged over his eyes
The older man frowned, looking over his shoulder to the backseats where Jane, Mara, and Rory were sitting.
When he looked to the front again, his delay to start the vehicle tipped off his confusion to his front seat passenger who replied drolly without shifting from his relaxed posture, "Nate's in the Hallden ride."
Ben blinked, "Why?"
Adam shrugged. He mumbled that he didn't know and was told by mentioned team member to ride up front with Ben. He added that Nathan didn't seem to want to be bothered and Adam wasn't about to test his friend's temper.
In the backseat, Mara overheard their conversation and frowned, looking behind her to see the black car already running. The tinted windows made it impossible to see its driver at all.
Nathan hadn't done a good job of avoiding her. Ever since she yelled at him the night before, he tried to approach her and apologize. However, Mara wouldn't let him; she'd walk away and even had to snap at him a few times.
Nathan kept trying to talk to her, even using Jane and Rory to talk about giving him a chance to apologize, but that had no effect on her either. Mara scolded him the next morning when he managed to catch her alone after Adam was escorting them out to the bronco.
The green eyed man took hold of her elbow, keeping her from moving forward. He stood in front of her after she tugged her arm away. He began his apology, but Mara cut him off, scowling, "Why don't you just focus on Janie since that's all you really want! And stop pretending like you care about me! Because we are not the caring kind---at least not to one another!"
After that, Nathan made sure to have Jane taken care of, but finally left Mara alone.
Ben shrugged, "Well alright then." He clicked on his seatbelt and turned on the engine to pull out of the lot to the motel.
They were looking at about a two day ride this time before another motel stop and Mara made sure to pack everything for Janie, especially her magazines. Mara looked over at her cousin sitting in the middle and she was reading one of her favorite fashion magazines in silence.
Her perfectly shaped brows rose when she saw something interesting, then flipped the page to purse her mouth at something that she really liked and folded the tip edge to refer back to later.
Beside the redhead, Rory was staring out of the window with a frown on his face. He'd expressed to Mara how worried he was about her when Jane had informed him what had happened the night before. He even tried to persuade the two girls about calling off their mix-up and confess to the team.
But Jane scoffed that it was a little too late for that since the three men already thought she was the Heiress and it wouldn't do anyone any good to admit the truth. She went on to sniff smugly that she was enjoying Nathan's company.
Mara and Rory rolled their eyes, but the former agreed with her cousin on the part that it was too late for admitting to Mara being Tycoon Hallden's daughter.
When Mara leaned to the side to check on the pair in the front, she smiled a bit to see Adam was asleep. His head was lying in an awkward position on the middle arm rest between his and Ben's seats. His beanie he'd taken out of Rory's luggage was covering the top half of his face; one eye peering out from underneath it.
Around four-thirty in the afternoon, Jane complained about needing another pit stop for food. They'd already taken six since they'd left the motel.
Adam rolled his eyes and sighed, opening the door after the driver pulled into a gas station. He jumped off the bronco, pulling the lever next to his seat to lean it forward. His eyes narrowed and rested his elbow on the bowed seat.
"What do you want now?"
Jane raised a brow, craning her neck back. She blinked a few times before wrinkling her nose and sniffed, "Well! That's rude!"
The agent stared at Jane drolly. His head tilted to the side and it was evident from his bored look that he just had about enough of Jane's prissy ways. Adam glanced at Mara, hoping she'd jump in as she always did.
As if on cue, Mara looked up from her sketchbook and looked between the displeased stares from her cousin and Adam. She sighed, closing her book and placed it into the pouch behind Adam's seat.
She then smiled at the blue eyed man, shrugging, "It's alright, Adam. I've got it."
He raised her brows, straightening, "You sure?" though she clearly heard the "thank you" in his question.
Mara nodded, unbuckling her seat belt.
"I've got to run to the little girl's room anyways." She reasoned, hopping off the bronco with the help of Adam holding out his hand to her, and walked over to the gas station store.
She picked out the healthiest snacks she could find for Jane; such as trail mix and flavored water, and sugar-free candies. She returned to the bronco, handing the carefully picked snacks to Adam and walked back into the store to ask for the key to the bathroom located behind the building.
Mara frowned at the unisex sign.
She didn't know if she wanted to use a restroom that both men and women had used.
It was probably no different than using the motel's, but at least the motel cleaning service left it spotless to use. This one she wasn't so sure. Just by the broken handle to the door, Mara could tell the owner of the gas station didn't really look out for their store's appearance.
She stood there a few moments, frowning at the door before being startled, and jumping to the side, by the large figured shadow appearing beside hers on the door.
Mara's face contorted into a scowl and Nathan sighed, looking away.
"I'm just here to stand guard until Adam is finished with whatever Ben has him doing. Then I'll leave." He wouldn't look at her at all, nor saying anything else.
After pursing her mouth to the side, Mara opened the door, stomping inside and slammed it behind her. There was no point in locking it since the handle was a bust. She had walked over to the sink, standing in front of the mirror and Mara swallowed, wide eyed at what her reflection look like.
She looked horrible!
Her left eye was a purplish-black around the socket and the bruises on her right cheek a purplish-red. She had a few scratches on one cheek, but other than that there wasn't anything permanently damaging.
Mara groaned in frustration as she slammed her fingers onto the sink bowl's edge.
Why did her father have to be so stupid?!
Why did he have to get someone so arrogant? So controlling? So--- so--- sigh, so wonderfully handsome and caring?
She frowned before turning away from the mirror and headed to one of the stalls that miraculously had a lock on it. When she opened the bathroom door to exit, Adam stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall beside it.
Adam grinned at her confused expression.
"He seemed in a hurry to leave." was his response to make Mara blink and nod slowly since he seemed to answer her unasked question. Adam tilted his head, raising a brow, watching her carefully. "He's supposed to avoid you is he not?"
Mara nodded, walking alongside the tall man to make their way back to the bronco. She shrugged a shoulder, admitting, "Well... yeah. He is. But I just... didn't expect him to keep his word."
Adam chuckled, shaking his head, "Of course he's going to keep his word! This is Nate we are talking about here. He is the most trust-worthy, honest, and prick-headed guy I know!" He still wore his goofy grin after joking about his friend and he straightened in his strut.
Mara looked down at her feet lightly tapping on the asphalt as she walked. She took a deep breath, looking up at the tall man and lowered a brow.
"And you trust him?"
Adam smiled, nodding when he glanced at her. He teased, "More than myself." Before he continued to lead her back in the direction of the bronco.
When she glanced at the black car parked behind the larger vehicle, Mara noticed her cousin was talking to Nathan as he was fixing something in the engine. Jane was continuously talking, giggling, and waving her hands about and all Nathan would do was look up and smile before returning to what he was previously occupied with.
Mara halted and took hold of Adam's arm without looking away from where her attention was drawn to. Her escort raised his brows, looking in the same direction then back to the blue eyed female currently frowning.
"What's up?"
Mara squinted her eyes further, pursing her mouth to the side. Her eyes met Adam's and lifted her chin, announcing, "I think I'm going to ride in uncle's car for a few hours. I have an earful for Mr. Mighty Henry."
Once again looking between her and the direction she was glaring in, Adam chuckled, "Don't kill him." before she smiled at him as he walked off over to Jane, to return her back to the bronco.
The redhead looked at Mara and narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw the way her cousin was staring at an unaware Nathan. She had that familiar gleam in her eyes that Jane would suspect just before Mara turned on the innate charm she was even ignorant of.
Adam cleared his throat, catching Jane's attention, and weakly smiled, "Sorry, but we have to get going now." He motioned for her to lead the way to the vehicle in front of the Sedan.
Jane nodded silently, glancing over at the other two before reluctantly making her way back to the bronco and climbed inside.
Nathan wasn't sure why she was there, but he knew she was.
He acted, as though he hadn't seen her until she said, "I know you can see me." To which he sighed heavily, dropping his head with his eyes closed.
Standing up straight, Nathan wiped his brow with the back of his long-sleeved forearm then turned Mara narrowing her eyes.
This was the stare she had been giving him whenever he'd glance her way, and with him now looking at those bruises of hers... it only reminded Nathan of what an idiot he'd been in their stupid disputes.
He looked away, back to the engine, and Mara narrowed her eyes even more. She placed her hands on her hips, leaning her head forward and raised her brows.
"We have to talk."
Nathan lifted his eyes back to her, frowning, "What... now?"
Mara nodded.
He looked at the waiting bronco, and back to Mara before gesturing to the vehicle, "But we're leaving..."
"So?"
Nathan groaned, running a hand over his face when he noticed Mara folding her arms and planted her feet firmly to the ground.
"Damn it..."
He pointed at her, narrowing his eyes and ordered, "Stay."
She smacked his finger out of her face and stretched her neck towards him, "I'm not a dog!"
Nathan rolled his eyes, pivoting on his heel and over to the bronco.
Ben looked at him with his arm hanging out of the window, sticking his head out to try and search for Mara before looking back at his scowling friend.
Adam raised a brow, shrugging, "What's the holdup man?"
Nathan sighed, looking back at Mara, who was looking in the engine and just put her arm into the back part of it.
He scowled, shaking his head and turned back to Ben.
"I'm taking Mara with me. She won't budge otherwise."
Ben grinned, taking in that annoyed look of Nathan's before nodding, "Alright then. I'm on channel six."
They kept switching channels to keep off the radar and because of the night before, they didn't want to risk it again.
Nathan nodded, "Right." walking away.
Making his way back as Ben pulled out of the gas station and down the road, Nathan threw up in hands, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
Mara looked over her shoulder and Nathan saw how quickly she had gotten black grease on her face and clothes. She shrugged, wiping the back of her hand against her cheek, leaving a smudge.
"I was messing around with the sump around the crankshaft. But I think we are going to need a new connection rod soon."
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
He narrowed his eyes, leaning his head forward, "You... know about cars?"
Mara nodded, wiping her hands as best as she could on her grey t-shirt then used her shoulder to wipe against her face. She gave a small proud smile, "Yeah, I read about them! And the grounds mechanic taught me whenever he could."
She looked back at the engine, averting the stunned look he was giving her, and sighed, "Try it now."
Nathan, reluctantly, walked around to the driver's side and sat behind the wheel with one leg planted outside the car. He turned the keys and the car started up.
He slowly reemerged to the front of the car, reaching up and slammed the hood closed. His hands were still pressed on the hood, as his eyes peeked over his shoulder at her with a lowered brow. She looked at him with a raised brow and he grinned, shaking his head.
"Just get in the car."
Mara smiled when his back was turned and eagerly took her seat in the passenger side. She closed the door before turning her head to see Nathan narrowing his eyes at the rearview mirror.
He frowned, looking over his shoulder, his jaw skewing to the side before shrugging off whatever that frown was for and brought his attention back to the front window, pulling the shift stick out of park.
☙ღ❧
"I'm sorry."
Mara looked away from the window at Nathan.
They'd been driving on the road for only fifteen minutes, and she had yet to say a word to him. Mara had been just overjoyed for some particular reason that she and the handsome agent were in close proximity and she hadn't clawed at his face.
Mara blinked a few times. She was unsure of what to say.
What could she say to his apology?
Millions of sentences came to her mind that would suffice as a good enough response to the two worded sentence he broke the silence with, but her brain was temporarily detached from the wiring to her mouth.
Nathan was staring at the road and took a deep breath through his nose, furrowing his brows when silence greeted him instead of the expected sound of her speaking.
He glanced at her quickly, keeping his eyes on the road as he nodded, "I'm being serious, Mara. I'm really sorry. I was out of line what happened last night and you had every right to yell at me the way you did."
Maras blue eyes widened a centimeter.
She was certainly astounded to hear him being so apologetic and it was strange at the same time. Of all people, Mara wasn't expecting him to be so nice to her. Especially the way she treated him before. She whole-heartedly expected for him to have taken the chance of having nothing to do with her after shed warned him to keep away.
But he didn't. Instead Mara could hear the genuine guilt he had for what had happened. This made her smile and a bit of blush rose into her face, raising her shoulders coyly.
A timid, "Thank you." was finally replied and she noticed that he appreciated her forgiveness just by the way he broke out into a smile. Not a grin, but a smile.
Mara found that Nathans smile was beautiful. Just as he was.
He grinned at her before looking back at the road, "How can I make it up to you?"
Mara stared out the front window and thought for a long while. Her face having moments where it contorted into a thoughtful expression, her bottom lip pouting. After much thought that had Nathan side glancing at her every few seconds, she grinned. She bit her lip, wondering if it would be childish to suggest, but figured she had the upper hand because Nathan wanted to make it up to her.
And she justified that her next words would do just that.
"Kiss me."
Nathan swerved to the side a little and looked behind him at the honking car before looking at Mara.
His brows met in the middle; blinking a few times at thinking he hadn't heard her correctly.
"What?"
Mara nodded, shifting in her seat.
"Yeah. That's all I want you to do... is just to kiss me. Otherwise I should have to find a different punishment that is much more severe." She was obviously teasing, smiling with her head tilted, but Nathan stared straight ahead and couldn't really comprehend what he had just heard.
He shook his head, lowering a brow and turned his head slightly in her direction without taking his eyes off the road.
"You serious?"
Mara nodded, looking at him with as much of a serious expression as she could muster.
"Yes."
Silence filled the car again and Mara pursed her mouth to the side, thinking perhaps he was trying to figure out a way to suggest something else. Did he not like kissing her as much as she liked kissing him?
Her brows shot up in surprise hearing him ask, "When?"
Mara smiled that he was considering it after all. She couldn't help it if she was feeling excited at the possibility of a handsome man such as her escort kissing her and filling her heart with that fluttery tremble again.
"Pull over."
Mara just sat there, glancing at him when she could. She was fighting the urge to take hold of the steering wheel herself and force him to follow through with her command, but relaxed into her seat with a smile when he looked over his shoulder after flicking on the turning signal.
After pulling over, Nathan gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring straight ahead. He couldn't explain why he was feeling so nervous about this. He didn't understand why he felt like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to, but wanted to do it anyway.
Mara stared at him swallowing loudly before looking at her and then she raised a brow, leaning her head forward. She shrugged, "Well?" and the military agent took his cue.
Leaning forward, Nathan rested his hand on the side of her face, his thumb gently caressing a bruise that set as a reminder to why he was about to go through with her odd request.
Not that he was really complaining.
"Kissing you is going to make up for what I did?" he asked softly, his green eyes sparkling into hers.
She whispered, her mind trying to keep from betraying Mara from shaking entirely, "It's a start."
Nathan said nothing more, lowering to her and was centimeters from her lips; those plump pink lips he tasted once before. No other kiss he's had up until this point of his life could compare to Maras. Not even her cousins. All he could remember was how delicious this sapphire-eyed, fiery imp's kiss was.
Nathan reached up a hand and pulled her face closer with his fingers holding her gently by the chin. Mara impatiently closed the distance, pushing her lips against his.
This kiss sent waves of bliss through her body like electricity. It was meant to be a simple kiss, a quick peck to say the least, but apparently neither would let it be so easy to pull away.
Nathan bit her bottom lip, making the brunette moan lightly. That sound sent chills up Nathan's spine and he enjoyed every minute of it.
Mara opened her mouth when he nipped at her lip again, and Nathan took his chance to taking better hold of her lips with his. His fingers slid to the back of her neck to pull her closer as his mouth travelled away from her mouth and down the side of her neck.
With brows lowered and eyes closed, Mara took in the pleasure of those lips on her skin. She'd never been touched like this before. She'd never felt so wanted in her life. His expert touch from both his hands and lips was making her head spin.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, leaning herself closer to him with her head willingly tilting back so that the small pecked kisses turned open mouthed.
And when he travelled down her throat, he'd been encouraged by her fingers gripping his sleeves accompanied with moans and small gasps that were music to his ears.
Nathan lifted his head covering her mouth with his, groaning at the satisfaction of her soft fingertips trailing down the front of his chest, mentally damning the t-shirt that prevented him from feeling the brush of heat her fingers on his skin would surely cause.
The ferocity of how much he enjoyed this closeness with Mara was mind blowing to him. He couldn't figure out why he wanted this woman so much when it was Jane who he was supposed to want. But this sapphire-eyed beauty was all Nathan could think about in this moment.
His mouth found her neck again, this time teasing her with biting kisses.
Her moaning was exciting and encouraging him to do more, and damn it... did he want to do more to her. Every inch of her.
But Nathan happened to open his eyes---his military instincts kicking in---and glanced in the side mirror on Mara's door. He caught the side of another black car pulling off the road as well. It was just there and somehow Nathan knew this wasn't a good thing.
He quickly pulled away from Mara, who was startled by his sudden change in demeanor.
"What's wrong?"
Nathan looked behind him and shook his head, turning around in his seat so he would be able to turn on the car. He mentally scolded himself for the shakiness in his hands from the heart-racing make out he had with the wide-eyed brunette beside him.
"We've gotta go." was all he said, warning her to put on her seat belt.
"Why? What is it? What's wrong?"
Nathan swallowed, "We're being followed." knowing that once again, he would be putting Mara in danger.