Page 5 of Rescued By the Lumberjack
As I stretch to peer over the edge of the cliff, her voice floats back up to me, guiding me to a spot where the side of the mountain looks like part of the ground has recently been disturbed-- like a rock, or something heavy might have caused it to give way.
Not that I'd noticed when I passed it, or would have given it much thought if I had seen it. It's not unusual for cliff edges likethis one to crumble. That's why the trail is built several feet back from the edge.
"I just need some help climbing back up, I can't get a firm grip on anything."
When I'm certain I'm directly above the voice, I lean over to see what her situation is-- and get a look at the woman I've been looking for all my life.
Chapter Three
Phoenix
Aman peers over the edge of the cliff above me and the sight of him catches me so unprepared that I lose my grip on the roots of the shrub I'd been hanging onto.
It means sliding back down the rocky slope and losing the six feet or so of ground I'd gained, but holy hell! He's gorgeous.
In that rugged way that seems to be par for the course for most of the men on the Ridge. Thick, dark hair flops over his forehead, temporarily hiding the furrows of concern etched there, as he lowers himself to the ground above me and scoots close to the edge to look down at me.
"How far can you climb up, sweetheart?"
Dark eyes crease at the corners in an expression that's both worried and kind.
"Sorry," I call up to him. "You startled me and I lost my grip. I can climb back up again, but I can't get farther than that bush."
His beard brushes the dirt as his head moves to look at the bush I'm gesturing at. The dust in the dark whiskers give it a gray tint, making him look older than I'm sure he really is.
My rescuer nods, mentally calculating what will be required to pull me up the few feet that I can't manage on my own.
"Okay, don't start climbing yet," he tells me before moving back out from the cliff above me, out of my sight.
My heart does a little dying Pacman noise. Not because I think he's abandoning me, but because I wasn't done looking at him.
"I want you to wrap that cord around yourself, hear?" A loop of olive drab parachute cord falls down to me, barely long enough to reach between me and the man above me. "Loop it under your arms so if you slip, you don't fall any further down the cliff. It's all right to rely on the cord, I've got you."
It's thin, nylon parachute cord. It's not comfortable wrapped around me and I'm not confident that it can really support my weight if I were to slip but it's what we have.
I start climbing my way back up, carefully placing my feet into the little divots I managed to kick into the near vertical surface of the cliff on my previous attempts to climb out of here.
"That's it, you're doing great, baby."
The man's deep voice has a roughness to it that does something wonderful to my lower belly, but his words of encouragement as I climb up as far as I can go on my own are spoken softly. The combination has me forgetting the ache in my muscles and becoming aware of a different kind of ache forming in my body.
"Just a little more," he coos down at me, one long arm descending toward me. "You're doing such a good job, you can do it, baby. That's it."
The arm reaching down to me is thick with muscles that threaten to split the flannel shirt wrapped around them when his massive hand grasps my wrist and begins to haul me the rest of the way up.
"Good girl," are the first words I hear when I'm safely on horizontal earth again.
The earth isn't the only thing that's horizontal. My mountain man hero has pulled me over the edge in a way that has me landing against his broad chest, his strong arms immediately wrapping around me, as he rolls us away from the ledge.
Adrenaline sparks through me, as relief and triumph short circuit my senses; that's the only excuse I can think of for what would make my lips land so confidently against his.
Adam
My heart's beating a thousand miles a minute, scared to fucking death that the loose dirt of the cliffside might give way under the toe of her cute little hiking boot, or that my palm is too damn sweaty to keep a solid grip on her wrist when she can finally reach high enough for me to grab hold of her.
Adrenaline rushes my nervous system as that fear turns to victory as the curvy little goddess with the bright blue eyes and raven black pony tail clambers over the edge.
Her soft body collides with mine as I pull her onto level ground, my arms instantly encircle her, so damn relieved to have her safe that I don't even take advantage of the opportunity to appreciate holding those beautiful curves against my body.
