Wild Encounter Excerpt
REUNITED
Mitch appeared behind them, wiping his hands on his jeans. “We’ve got company.”
Clare looked over to the main campsite to see a black SUV pulling up.
She groaned. These weren’t Republic Police, who might have been useful in the bush, but Men-in-Black after all. Make that one man- and one woman-in-black. Both in expensive suits and designer sunglasses. And they were definitely not African. She sighed.
“Let’s go look pleased to see them,” she murmured, setting off. But as she drew closer, her sixth-sense began to thrum. She squinted and stood straighter as the two new arrivals hauled military kits out of the back of their vehicle. It wasn’t the fluid way they moved in perfect synch that got her attention—although that did bring with it an air of authority—it was something else. Something she couldn’t quite— Her stomach dropped on the realization.
Panic rushed in to fill the vacuum. She stood, transfixed, as the male-half of the Men-In-Black straightened and turned toward her. She gasped passed the dryness that invaded her mouth. Simon.
“Clare?”
Mitch’s voice was only a whoosh in her head as her body fired into action. Self-preservation ignited beneath her as she twisted on the spot and bolted away from Tim and Mitch. And danger.
Was she running in mud or did it just feel that way? She caught the bemused stares of the local workers as she sprinted past the holding yards, changing course to lead attention away from them. If Simon was here that meant they were here, and Clare didn’t want any innocent workers getting caught up in it.
The thick scrub beckoned and she dove through the first opening she could find, sickening familiarity turning her stomach. It wasn’t much of a pathway and sharp branches tore at her unprotected skin, but she crashed on through, burying herself deeper in the protective embrace of the African bush.
She hadn’t gotten nearly as far as she would have liked when she heard a shout behind her and the sharp yelp of the trees as something large exploded into them.
Simon.
Why was he here? How did he find her? Had he come back for the dogs?
And more importantly, how had he managed to fool the Embassy? But in the midst of all those thoughts, only one thing chanted in time with her pumping heart.
He’s here… he’s here…he’s here. And above even that… He’s alive.
“Clare, stop!”
She cut left, away from his voice, and belted through an agony of tangled bracken. Her sunglasses were all that saved her eyes from being punctured blind. Behind her, she could hear the crunch of branches and the steady crash of heavy feet getting closer.
Sense finally battled through the fear, and she veered again to weave her way back to the campsite and the safety of her team. Whatever was happening she had a better chance of surviving it with her colleagues than alone.
Tears prickled. She was not going to be singled out again. She couldn’t do it.
“For Christ’s sake, Clare. Stop!”
Sudden deceleration knocked the wind out of her as angry arms snagged her. If her heart hadn’t already been exploding out of her chest with adrenaline, it would have at the first, tight contact with arms that she thought never to feel around her ever again.
She closed her eyes against the need.
Only Simon’s strength stopped them both from tumbling onto the scrappy earth.
Through the thunder in her ears, voices drew closer, calling to her. The approach of the cavalry was all that stopped her from crying out as he pulled her close against him, under his arm. Tugging her back through the bracken, he shielded her body with his own from the worst of the whips and jags until they finally emerged into a clearing.
About Wild Encounter
A wildlife release mission in Africa turns deadly when the convoy is hijacked by smugglers, and veterinarian Clare Delaney is taken hostage. Terrified for her life and her animals, the intrepid Clare establishes a rapport with the man she believes is the criminals’ leader, and reluctantly finds herself under his protection…and falling hard for the enigmatic man.
Alpha-to-the-max Simon deVries sees right through his sexy captive’s attempt to seduce her way to freedom. So when their simmering attraction flares into true passion, it takes them both by surprise. Now he’s torn between completing his secret mission and letting her escape without telling her his true identity. He knows if he lets her go, he will be risking his career, his life…and his heart.
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About the Author
Nikki Logan lives amongst a string of wetlands in Western Australia with her long-suffering partner and a menagerie of furred, feathered and scaly mates.
She studied film and theatre at university, and worked for years in advertising and film distribution before finally settling down in the wildlife industry.
Her romance with nature goes way back, and she considers her life charmed, given that she works with wildlife by day and writes fiction by night–the perfect way to combine her two loves.
Nikki believes that the passion and risk of falling in love are perfectly mirrored in the danger and beauty of wild places. Every romance she writes contains an element of nature, and if readers catch a waft of rich earth or the spray of wild ocean between the pages she knows her job is done.
Author Website: http://www.nikkilogan.com.au
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NikkiLoganAuthor
Twitter: @ReadNikkiLogan
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3211596.Nikki_Logan
