He was going to hell, Goran thought.
Jerking his mind off of those enticing nipples, he focused on getting out of…wherever they were! “Come on,” he told her, then pulled her behind his back. Walking to the door, he leaned his head against the wood, listening.
“I think there are only four guards that come and go. Some of them left about twenty minutes ago, although I don’t know if they’re just outside of whatever building we’re in, or if they have left the area.”
He looked down at her over his shoulder, lifting a dark eyebrow. He didn’t mean to be cynical, but how the hell did she…?
Calista noticed his dubious gaze and rolled her eyes. “While you were sleeping,” she scoffed, her tone almost accusatory, “I was listening and counting voices and boot footfalls. At times, there were more guards. But they come and go. Some are relatively big men.”
He nodded, not bothering to speak out loud as he once again pressed his ear to the wood.
“Earlier, I heard something that made me think that they were sitting at a table. Next room over,” she told him, then paused, waiting while he listened. But Calista didn’t wait long. “From what I could hear, there are only two rooms in the building. But I think we’re higher up than the ground. Not sure what country though. I’ve heard several different languages, including some that I didn’t recognize.”
Again, Goran nodded, still listening through the door. “I don’t hear anything now.”
Calista shifted slightly, then looked down at her shoes. “I can’t run in these. I’ll break an ankle,” she whispered.
Goran looked down as well, then smiled. When he lifted his eyes back up, she was glaring at him and he couldn’t stop the chuckle. “I agree with you there. We’ll figure something out.”
Opening the door, he carefully peered down the hallway. “It’s empty,” he whispered to her, reaching out as if to take her hand.
Calista smacked it away. “I’m fine,” she snapped to him. “I can take care of myself.”
Goran looked back at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. He took in her determined expression and relented. “Fine. But…”
“Don’t you dare tell me to keep quiet!”
Again, Goran took in her ferocious expression as well as her tense body language. Her pretty hands were fisted at her sides and she looked as if she might try to take him down! How cute, he thought with a shake of his head.
“Stay behind me,” he said, instead of saying something that might release those fists towards his head. He’d save that for later, he thought, relishing the idea. His beautiful, always-diplomatic, iceberg fiancée definitely had hidden depths!
He liked that!
Listening carefully, Goran moved slowly down the hallway, pressing his back against the rough wall of the building. He wasn’t even sure what kind of a building this was, but he could see the canopy of what he suspected was a jungle area through one of the windows ahead. There were also the sounds of birds and insects chirping away. As he moved down the short hallway, his mind was alert to several sounds but also trying to “feel” the space to determine if there was human occupancy.
When he glanced back, Goran was impressed to notice that Calista was also pressing her back against the wall, her eyes alert as she tried to make herself into the smallest target possible just in case there was someone waiting around the corner with a weapon.
At the doorway to the second room, Goran put his hand out to Calista, his fingers colliding with soft flesh and he heard a soft hiss, but nothing else. Something warned him that he was touching Calista’s breast. It had been an accident, but that didn’t stop his mind from briefly focusing on the soft fullness before he reminded himself to pull his hand away.
He heard a growl behind him and grinned. If this weren’t such a dire situation, he might actually be enjoying himself.
When he peered around the corner of the doorway, Goran discovered that the room was empty. Still alert, he looked around and…weapons! There was a whole wall of weapons! He glanced back at Calista, but he still didn’t speak. Both of them moved carefully into the room and looked around. It was a kitchen-like area with a refrigerator and rough shelves, fully stocked with food supplies and a large water tank. On the other wall, there were two narrow cots, which warned him that there was usually more than one guard here.
There were no closets, so he relaxed slightly, nodding to Calista that it was safe to talk.
“Looks like someone might be coming back,” Calista said, coming to the same conclusion that he had.
He might have replied, but he was distracted by Calista as she walked over to one of the beds. She found another pair of boots and turned to him. “These are larger. Why don’t we trade?” she offered.
Immediately, he nodded and sat down in one of the chairs, unlacing the boots. “See if you can find more of those zip ties. We need to tie up the guard in the other room so that he doesn’t present a problem while we’re dealing with the next one to arrive, or worse, a full shift change.”
Calista dropped the boots and started sifting through the shelves. Securing the other guard was a higher priority at the moment. Seconds later, she lifted a plastic container filled with the zip ties. “This isn’t an amateur operation,” she stated, glancing at him as she pulled several of the zip ties out of the container. “I’m going to secure the guy in the back room before he wakes up. I’ll be right back.”
“Calista…no, don’t…!” But she was already gone. Quickly, Goran finished tying the boots, which were bigger and much more comfortable, then hurried down the hallway, only to discover that Calista had finished securing the still-unconscious guard with two zip ties on his arms and ankles. She’d also secured him to one of the wooden support beams, keeping the guy from being able to move around the room.
“Good job,” he replied, impressed and completely turned on!
Calista shook her head at his praise. “I tied a guy up, Goran. Don’t be impressed.” She walked out of the room and called out over her shoulder, “Yet!”