And just as quickly as it had started, it seemed to end. I heard doors slamming and their engine roaring to life, then their headlights disappeared. Ian hesitantly stood and I followed suit, sidling next to him and gripping his shirt in one of my hands. He tucked me behind him as we watched the attackers turn away from our jeep and go the other direction.
I could feel my blood returning to my extremities and they felt heavy, but it was short-lived when the men turned suddenly and came barreling our direction, firing bullets all the way.
Ian turned us into the side of the jeep and pushed us to the back before landing on top of me and burying my head into his chest. I could hear the attackers shattering the windshield with bullets before speeding off into the night. We laid like that for several minutes before he would let me raise my head. As soon as I raised it, he hugged me like we were dying. I gripped his back, desperate to be as close to him as possible, burying my face in his neck. It took a good fifteen minutes for our breathing to steady, but he still held me more tightly than I’d ever been held in my life.
He suddenly remembered himself and jumped up into a sitting position, searching my face and body, running his hands where his eyes roamed, checking for injuries and warming me up from the inside.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked.
I sat up and took in his own body. “I’m fine. And you?”
“Not a scratch,” he said with a slightly shaky smirk, making my eyes burn in relief.
He grabbed me and hugged me to him again. “God, Soph,” he breathed into my hair. “I was so worried.”
That’s when I noticed his body had finally accepted it was over and he began to shiver against mine as the adrenaline left him. He pulled me away and ran his hands across my face and through my hair, down my neck and rested them on my shoulders a moment before bringing my face back into his neck. We sat there in the dirt, holding each other, molding our bodies together as closely as we could get them, fear draining from every pore.
I couldn’t believe how incredible he had been during the attack. I had never seen a man move like Ian, nor had I seen one so quick on his feet and easy to protect. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my entire life. It all came so naturally to him, I doubt he even thought twice about each action. He was calculated and aware and amazingly hot.
My hands laid flat against the hard muscles in his back, still strained and warm from the danger we’d just endured. His t-shirt clung to him and I found myself running my hands up the ridges of muscles to his shoulders just to feel them before wrapping my arms around his neck.
He held me tighter when I encircled my arms. “The windshield is done,” he breathed into my throat, bringing me back to reality.
I pulled my face back and ran my hands across his face. “Will we be able to drive?”
He followed my lead and ran his hands through my hair. “We’ll have to cover our faces the best we can, the dirt will be overwhelming, but, yeah, we’re only about an hour away from Masego.”
A small tear fell down my face. “We almost died, Ian.”
He wrapped his arms around my frame and brought my head to his chest. “We’re alive.”
“But...”
“Shhhh,” he spoke into my hair, “I told you I’d protect you, didn’t I?”
“You did,” I confirmed into his shirt.
“I would never let anything happen to you, Soph.”
Clarity came to me in that second because I believed him.
“Thank you,” I whispered, bringing my face near his. “It’s not enough, but I have to say it. Thank you for saving my life.”
“It was my absolute pleasure.”
I giggled despite myself. “So polite.”
“Trust me, Soph, I am trying really hard to be polite right now.”
My brows furrowed. “Why?”
“Well,” he cleared his throat. “You’re, uh, you’re sitting on my lap.”
“Oh.” I blushed. Actually blushed! Sophie Price, who hadn’t blushed since she was a schoolgirl, felt embarrassed!
I scurried off his lap and he stood, offering his hand to help me up. He reached into his glove compartment again and pulled out a flashlight, lighting up our small area with a click. We examined the damage. Since most of the windows were down except one of the back passenger windows, none shattered but that one and the windshield. There were bullet holes riddling the sides of the jeep but when Ian lifted the hood, the engine appeared to be unscathed.
“Thank God,” he breathed.