Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

main mission. He went back to her, satisfied they could spend the night and get some rest.
    “I think we’re good, Rose. I found the escape tunnel in the bedroom. I’l start the generator, and you can take a shower and get some rest.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice almost hoarse. She stood up with a groan and immediately bent over, taking slow, deep breaths and letting each one out careful y.
    “Are you hurt? Don’t lie to me, Rose. If you hurt yourself when you jumped from the sedan, you need to admit it, not be ashamed. It was a dumb plan, but we got away.”
    She gritted her teeth, breathing through her mouth. When she could speak, she made a strangling sound deep in her throat. “I’m not hurt.”
    He glared down at her with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What the hel is wrong with you?”
    “Nothing is wrong with me. This is cal ed having contractions, you big oaf,” Rose snapped back, her glare maybe outdoing his by a shade.

CHAPTER 4
    Contractions. Kane’s stomach dropped right out of his body. He stared down at her, his mind going fuzzy. That was one of those words like menstruation, period, or female products . The list just wasn’t uttered in male company. Contractions fit right in there. God. This was not happening. He forced his brain under control, ignoring the pounding in his head and the roaring in his ears.
    He studied Rose’s body careful y. She wasn’t due for another four or five weeks, right? He knew when she got pregnant. When he’d first seen her, she had looked slim, but that had been an il usion. On the other hand, she never looked as— big —as she did at that moment.
    “What?” Rose demanded, glaring up at him.
    The warning signal flashed bright red in Kane’s head. Tel ing a woman she was as big as a beach bal wouldn’t win any points. How did one describe how she looked? A basketbal ? Vol eybal ? He studied her furious little face. Yeah. He was in trouble no matter what he said. Description was out of the question. He needed diplomacy, something that flew out the window when he was near her and she said words like contractions.
    He’d jump out of a plane without hesitation in the heart of enemy territory, but damn it al , ask him to kil someone, not deliver babies. She didn’t take her eyes off him, and that expression on her scowling face demanded an answer.
    He cast about desperately in his mind and then hit on a way out. He shrugged, trying to look casual as wel as impressed. “You managed such a great il usion, looking slim earlier, it was hard to remember it was an il usion.” There. A compliment. He hadn’t stepped into the mud and sunk—yet. She was stil looking at him, hands on her hips, waiting for more. He was beginning to sweat. Hel .
    “You can’t possibly be ready to have the baby.”
    “Which is why I wasn’t already here.” She had a little bite in her voice. “I stil had several weeks to bring in supplies. Thank God the birthing kit I put together is here.”
    He squeezed his eyes shut tight and let out a groan of his own. Birthing kit. Just add that to the growing list of banned words. Okay. He took a deep breath and let it out. Someone had to take control of the situation, and obviously she was too exhausted to do so. Someone had to man up and set her straight. There was no one else.
    “Then stop. Right now. Just stop.”
    “Stop?” she echoed in a near shriek.
    “Look, Rose.” He used his most soothing, reasonable tone. “Doing this now would just be il ogical. The baby isn’t quite ready, and we’re too far from help. Just think about something else. You’re upset and worried and you need to rest.”
    Her mouth opened and closed twice. She looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Are you kidding me?” she demanded. “Because this isn’t the time to be joking around.”
    She looked as if she was contemplating ripping his bel y open with a knife and proving something to him. He took a cautionary step back and held up a hand to placate her. It was clear to him that pregnancy made women insane.
    “I’m trying to help you, Rose. These—these ...” Hel . He wasn’t going to use the word contractions ; that would make it too real. “These pains you’re experiencing, maybe they’re something else. The fal from the car could have caused them.” And that was more than a reasonable assumption.
    “They started before the jump from the car.”
    His stomach tightened into half a dozen hard knots.