Connor felt a punch of lust. Was she saying she felt those things withhim?
That revelation ought to have rung his alarm bells. But all he could think about was how much he would love to give her some fireworks right now, maybe bend her over and fuck her from behind.
Not here. Not now.
Not with enemy helicopters and an army beating down on them.
He shouldered his pack, stood, drew her to her feet. “Like I said, you’ve been dating the wrong guys.”
A rustling behind him brought him around, rifle raised. “Shanti, get down!”
Standing not thirty feet away from them was a bald man in maroon robes.
The man smiled. “How good for you that I have found you.”
Shanti looked up,expecting to see Connor talking to a soldier. But the man who stood there was no soldier. “I think he’s a monk.”
The man pressed his palms together in a gesture of greeting. “Welcome. I am Ashin Dempo, and I am, as you say, a monk. But I fear you are in danger. I offer you shelter and a place to hide. I have no weapons.”
Connor didn’t lower the rifle, but that didn’t seem to bother Dempo. “How do you know soldiers are looking for us?”
“They are looking for two people, two Americans—one a male who is armed and very dangerous and the other a young female. But we must be quick.”
Shanti shook her head. “A lot of Buddhist monks are in league with the military. Some have even fueled the genocide here.”
Dempo’s smile faded. “This is sadly true, but I am not among them. I spent four years at hard labor in a government prison after the Saffron Revolution and then lived in exile in Thailand before returning under an amnesty. I stand for peace.”
“Where did you come from? You weren’t here a moment ago.”
“Long before these troubled times, the monks at our monastery used caves to build a system of tunnels. Many empires have ruled over us, and there have been many wars. These tunnels have kept us safe. I can hide you, give you clean water, food, and a place to rest while this storm passes.”
Overhead, the beating of helicopter rotors drew nearer.
“Why would you help us?” Connor still hadn’t lowered his rifle. “Wouldn’t that put you and your monastery at risk?”
“If we are discovered, yes, but doing the right thing in such hateful times is never without risk. You know this, Ms. Lahiri.”
Alarm shot through Shanti to hear a stranger speak her name, but before she could say a word, Connor stepped forward, rifle still raised, fury on his face. “How do you know who she is?”
“Even we monks watch the news. I listen to the BBC. It is widely reported by your news media that she was abducted and crashed in my country. But come. Let us take shelter in the tunnels. Otherwise, I fear you will be found by men more menacing than I.”
Shanti’s pulse pounded in her ears, the helicopter almost on top of them now.
She could tell Connor didn’t trust Dempo, his expression unyielding. She didn’t trust him either. What was to stop him from taking them prisoner himself and turning them over to Naing for favors or a reward for the monastery?
“Go.” Connor glanced upward. “We’ll follow.”
Dempo turned and hurried through the trees to a rock outcropping, Shanti and Connor behind him, Connor still holding his rifle at the ready.
Then Dempo disappeared.
Connor glanced back. “Hurry, Shanti!”
He ducked between two rocks, Shanti close behind him just as the helicopter flew overhead. She found herself in the mouth of a narrow cave, a gate of iron bars propped open with a rock.
“They cannot see you here.” Dempo gestured around him. “These tunnels are unknown to all but the most trusted monks. We rarely use them.”
He bent down, moved the rock, and started to close the gate, an old, rusty padlock hanging from one of the iron bars.