By Honor Bound (24 page)

“Are you sure there’s a janitor’s closet near the stairs? The end of the shaft is coming up and I don’t see any light.”

“Maybe it doesn’t have a ventilation grille. I mean, it’s only a closet.”

“If it’s a cleaning closet, it should have some way to ventilate it or the fumes from the cleaning products will build up.”

“Makes sense. Maybe there’s no light on in it and that’s why we aren’t spotting it.”

“Good thinking! Run your hands along the sides and see if you feel it. I might have already missed it.”

Annie ran her fingers along the walls, trying to feel for any changes. It was so dark in here she could have already missed it and not have even known.

“We’re almost to the end of the line; if you don’t feel it, then we’ll have to backtrack until we do.”

If there really was a grille. They were assuming it was a cleaning closet and needed ventilation. Annie fought down the doubts. Just when she was sure it wasn’t there her finger got caught in something. The grille! “I got it! My finger is caught in the bars.” Relief swam through her for a blessed second. They were going to get out of the tunnels.

“Stay there, I’ll come back to you.”

Annie rolled and squished herself up against the wall, trying to give the much larger Mace more room. As he slid down next to her, she felt every inch of his skin against hers. She had never really thought of her back as being an erogenous zone before, but the feel of his body against her back was doing a number on her libido. Sparks of desire shot through her, straight to her crotch.

Large arms encircled her, and his hands ran down her arms until they reached her hands. A shiver of awareness went through her at the contact. Was adrenaline an aphrodisiac?

 “I’ll get your hand loose, then try to work out the vent. We want to be as quiet as possible; they could still be out there.” His whispered words brushed against her ear, and a flood of fluid went straight to her pussy.

“Roger.” Her nipples tingled as they pushed against the fabric of her sports bra, and her breath was coming in gasps. She was running for her life and she’d never been so turned on. Annie felt surrounded by Mace’s heat and it was doing strange, wonderful things to her insides.

Warm hands twisted her fingers until they came free.

“I’ve got the knife out, so be careful where you move. I’m going to work on the bottom corners and see if I can free it up enough for us to slide out without taking it off completely.”

“I’ll push as you pry.”
Focus on the mission, not your hormones!

“On three,” Mace counted off and Annie braced her hands against the grate, ready to push on his signal.

“Almost got it,” Mace grunted in her ear, sending hot bursts straight to her groin.

A screeching rasp sounded as the grille came loose. Annie’s heart was in her throat waiting for discovery. She could feel Mace’s heart beating fast against her back, and knew hers was keeping time.

When no one came to investigate the noise, Mace pushed the grille open a little more.

“Do you think you can fit down here?” Mace asked her.

“Sure. I wish I knew what I was landing on, though.”

“Yeah, if wishes were horses.”

“Beggars would ride. Okay, you are going to have to move a bit or I won’t be able to turn around.” Annie tried to peer into the darkness of the closet but couldn’t see anything.

Mace slipped down, his face brushing up against her rear end and the backs of her thighs. Annie had to clench her teeth to keep from gasping at the contact. She was about to be lowered into God only knew what, and her body thought that this was a good time to get a serious case of lust. Her timing left a bit to be desired.

Tucking her feet up to her chest, Annie stuck her legs through the opening. She squirmed around until her legs dangled into the emptiness below her. Taking a deep breath, she slid further down, kicking out to feel anything with her feet. It was so dark she could be four feet in the air or about to touch the ground and she wouldn’t know.

“I’ve got your hands. I’ll lower you a little bit at a time. Let me know if you feel anything.”

“Okay.” Annie’s stomach scraped over the side, her shirt bunching up under her breasts. Thank God it was pitch-black in there! Her feet were still swinging in the emptiness when her shirt halted her progress.

“Stop!”

 “Did you find something?” Mace gripped her hands tightly.

“No, but my shirt is caught on the vent and it’s wrapping around my neck. If I don’t loosen it, I’ll choke before I land.”

“Can you rip it?”

“With what? You have both my arms. If you unbutton it I can slip out of it and put it back on when you come down.”

“Okay, hold onto the edge, I’ll try to do this as quickly as possible so you don’t fall.” Mace let go of one hand, and she had to quickly grab onto the edge of the vent.

“I can’t see a freaking thing!” Mace’s fingers fumbled around her face, then drifted lower to brush against her breast.

He quickly shifted until he found the buttons that fastened the shirt. The knuckles of his fingers brushed her breasts again, making her nipples tighten painfully. Annie was surprised her blush didn’t light up the room.

“Why do they make these things so damn small?” Mace growled, still fumbling with the button.

Annie heard a grunt, then the ping of a button popping off her shirt. Suddenly she was free and started to slide.

“Let go! I don’t want to drag you down!” Her grip on the side was slipping. She felt Mace let go, and slid right out of her shirt.

She vaguely heard a tearing sound as she jumped back and fell onto the floor. Her hand landed on something wet that smelled like bleach, and a bottle hit her on the head.

“Are you okay?” Mace whispered from above her.

“Yes. I wasn’t that far off the ground. Not the most graceful landing though.”

“Any landing you walk away from is a good landing.” The smile in Mace’s voice was clear.

“Let me find the door and I’ll take a peek out.”

“No! Wait for me to come down,” he hissed.

Annie felt her way around the closet like a blind person, totally disoriented until she felt molding around the door. Running her hands up and down, she found the handle and opened it the merest fraction of an inch.

The hallway was deserted, and the stairway had some sort of device on it with wires and a timer. That couldn’t be good.

“It’s okay. We’re alone down here, and I think we will be.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because there’s a bomb on the door next to us.”

* * * * *

Get your mind out of your pants, get your mind out of your pants
. Annie had just told him there was a bomb next to them, and all he could think about was her walking around down there while he had her shirt in his hands up here.

“Are you sure it’s a bomb?” Maybe she was mistaken.

“Not positive, but it has a timer, a fuse, and what looks like C4 all wrapped together and stuck to the fire exit.”

“Hold on, I’m coming down. Can you stuff something under the door so we can turn on a light?”

“I could if I could see my hand in front of my face. I think we’ll be okay to turn on the light for a few minutes, the hallway is empty, and no one is coming out that door.”

It was a risk, but falling and breaking his leg was a bigger one. He didn’t have anyone holding on to his hands to keep him from falling all the way.

“Okay, when I get down I’ll stuff this johnny under the door.”

The light flickered on, and the weak bulb momentarily blinded Mace. Blinking back his tears, he took a look below him to see if there was a shelf or something he could use to step down.

“Hold on, here’s a stool, I’ll steady it under your feet so you don’t have to jump. You’ve done enough damage to your wound as it is.”

Mace tried to concentrate on locating the stool, but all he could focus on was Annie standing there in her bra.

“Go ahead, I’ll hold it for you.”

“I’m coming.” God how he wished that was the truth. He’d be lucky if his dick didn’t get him stuck on the edge of the shaft like her shirt did. The feel of her hands on his legs wasn’t making him shrink either.

“I’ve got you. A little farther and you should feel the stool.”

“Got it, thanks.” Mace balanced precariously on the stool until he was steady. His side was pulling at him again and he could feel the blood dripping down his stomach.

“Let me take a look at your ribs,” Annie said when he was finally touching ground again. She didn’t seem bothered to be standing there in nothing but a sports bra and white pants. Technically she was covered, but all that bare skin was more than his libido could handle.

“Ah, here’s your shirt.” The part of his brain that was located between his legs cursed at him for handing the shirt over. The rational part that was worried about getting blown to smithereens wished she’d put it on quickly.

“Okay, I’m decent. Now take off the johnny and let me have a look at you.”

The hospital-issue pajamas were filthy, covered in dust and blood. Annie’s hands were gentle as they removed the dressing and probed his side.

“You’ve popped two of the stitches, but that’s it. How’d you get hurt?”

 “I was breaking up a fight between an officer and two civilians and one of them got a lucky swipe at me with a knife.”

“I thought you were in aviation? What’s a pilot doing an MP’s job?” She dabbed at the blood with a corner of his johnny.

“I am a pilot. I was on leave, just got back from dropping some Rangers.” He didn’t want to think too much about that mission. He’d been lucky to get them in and come out alive. “I was celebrating with a few other pilots who’d come stateside with me when some drunken assholes started in on us. Next thing I know my buddy is getting pummeled and a knife is flashing.”

“Made it out of the sandbox without a scratch and get cut in a bar brawl. How ironic,” she smiled wryly.

“Hey, you got to watch your buddy’s back.”

“Well, right now I’m your buddy, and I say if you aren’t careful you’ll rip this entire thing open. Hold this to your side and I’ll stuff your johnny under the door so no light shows through.”

Mace looked around the little closet and tried not to zero in on the way Annie’s pants tightened over her ass as she bent down. Looking anywhere but at temptation in whites, he surveyed his surroundings.

“This is the best-appointed janitor’s closet I’ve ever seen,” he said after a minute. Amidst all the cleaning supplies, paper towels, buckets and brooms were
Playboy
centerfolds, tool calendars with busty women proudly showing the date and much more, and a whole box of chocolate bars.

“At least we won’t starve,” Annie said, standing up and helping herself to a candy bar. “Yum, you want one?”

Did she have to look like she was having an orgasm while she was eating? Did all women get off on chocolate? “Sure, have to keep up my energy.”

Their hands brushed as she gave him a chocolate bar. Mace felt a jolt of electricity shoot through him. She immediately let go of the candy bar and backed away.

“I wonder if he has a mini-bar hidden in here too.” Her voice was shaky and a blush filled her cheeks.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to find a bar and a TV in here. Looks like your janitor had a lot of free time on his hands.”

“That works out well for us. How long do you think we should wait?” Annie had backed as far as she could go in the tiny space. She was jumpy, and Mace didn’t know if it was because of him or the situation.

“I want to have a look at that bomb, then I’ll make a decision.”

If the bomb was set on a timer, he could probably defuse it. He’d had some training, but not much. If it was any more complicated than a simple fuse and timer job they’d have to come up with a Plan C.

 “Hey, look, a police scanner. Maybe we can find one of those news channels.” Annie brought the portable scanner over to him and turned it on with the volume down low.

The smell of her perfume filled his nostrils. It was light and flowery and had a hint of baby powder to it. Mace was used to women who wore heavier perfumes that were blatantly provocative. Annie’s scent sort of snuck up on him and seeped into his senses.

“―
sources from the Pentagon insist this isn’t a terrorist attack, and no group has taken responsibility for the hostage situation. Walter Reed remains silent, with no ransom demands of any kind being given. Back to you, Bob.”

“If this isn’t the act of terrorists, what is it?” Annie clicked off the scanner and moved away. “We better save the batteries in case we really need them later.”

“Hell, who knows? I want to go check out that bomb. You wait here.” He didn’t want her in the line of fire if the thing decided to go boom.

“That’s okay! I’ll come with you to watch your back. You can’t focus on the bomb if you have to keep looking over your shoulder.” Her eyes darted around the room, and her body was tense.

“I’d rather not have you in harm’s way.”

“If that thing goes off, do you really think I’ll be any safer in this coffin—I mean closet?”

Her face was pinched and she fidgeted nervously with a loose button on her shirt. What was wrong with her?

“What’s going on, Annie?”

“Nothing!” she yipped. “There’s nothing going on.”

“Then why all of a sudden do you look like a spooked horse? I can’t worry about you freaking out right now.”

She stepped back and took a deep breath, then another. Finally she looked up at him and opened her mouth. “I don’t like small places. And being stuck in here alone while you are on the other side of the door bothers me.”

“Excuse me? We spent an hour crawling around a two-foot square tunnel and you were fine.” She was claustrophobic?

“That’s different, it’s not a closet.”

“You’re not making any sense; it’s smaller than a closet.”

Heaving a sigh she turned away from him. “Do you have any older brothers?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Was she nuts? What did his family have to do with this?

“Just answer me?”

“Yeah, I have two older brothers and one younger sister. Why?”