Page 27 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
“No,” she shouted as soon as she saw me heading closer to the precipice. “Stop!”
Holy shit, the jump looked high, but there was no way I’d throw myself to the ground and inch down the side with her watching. I hurtled over the edge, feeling like I was one with the sky for about three seconds. Then I crashed to the ground in a heap, hurtling ass over elbow until I lay in a pile at her feet. When I opened my eyes, she looked down at me in abject terror, probably certain I was dead.
“That was fucking amazing,” I said, then groaned. It hurt like hell hitting the hardpacked snow, but what a rush. I was ready to get up and do it all over again.
“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever witnessed,” she yelled, looking down at me with fury and concern, though shewas no longer scared I was dead. “Are you crazy? Can you move? How the hell do you think I’m going to get you the rest of the way down the mountain if you’re broken, you big—”
“I’m fine,” I said, rolling over to start the process of getting up.
“Do you know how dangerous that was?” she asked, begrudgingly helping me, then vigorously dusting the snow off me with hard slaps. “You wouldn’t be the first idiot getting himself killed for being such a—such a—”
“Crazy idiot?” I helpfully supplied, grabbing her hands to stop her from thumping the hell out of me. She bit back a smile. “Your concern is touching,” I said, meaning it.
But no, I was mistaken, she was just pissed, as usual. She turned away, shaking her head. “There,” she said, pointing. “Take that way down instead, it’s an easier trail and you might just get to the bottom of the mountain alive.” She pushed herself forward onto the trail she meant to continue down. “Don’t try to follow me,” she said. “I may be trained in first aid but that doesn’t mean I’ll use it on you.”
Here I’d gone down the hard trail to repair my dinged pride and it was more battered than ever after falling on my ass and being berated by this little girl. All while she looked so utterly gorgeous all I could think about was grabbing her and kissing her.
I shoved ahead of her and started down her chosen trail, turning to give her a grin. There were a lot of things I would do if she demanded them, but letting her get away from me wasn’t one. This time she’d have to try to keep up. Picking up speed, I soon left her behind me, shouting more rude names at my back.
Chapter 18 - Paisley
My mouth hung open in shock. The absolute madman was heading down one of the most dangerous trails on the mountain, and was about to disappear from my sight if I didn’t make a decision soon.
I had been fully prepared to follow him down the easier trail to make sure he didn’t break his neck, only bluffing that I was going down the rougher track. The snow was getting heavier, coming down in harsh gusts now, and I cursed myself for not pointing that out to him during my tirade.
My heart was still pounding double time from watching him hurtle over that rocky rise. It had taken a bit of maneuvering for me not to land on my ass, and I’d gone from transcendent glee that I nailed it to complete horror as I watched Dan attempt it instead of inching his way down like someone who had a lick of sense. And then when he landed, the slow dread that crawled up my spine kept me from drawing breath, certain he was gravely injured. With the way the weather was, I might not have been able to get help back to him in time.
Right now I had a good mind to call for backup from the mountain patrol, but remembered my phone was still sitting on my bedside table, turned off and ignored. Damn it. There was no other choice but to go after him.
This early morning ride was supposed to clear my head, but it was anything but that. It was full of Dan’s idiocy, his absolute arrogance, and now worry, of all things.
For a split second, as I watched him get smaller down the trail, I contemplated just turning and going down the easier way on my own. He’d lived through the jump and he was really remarkably good for someone so inexperienced, strong andnaturally athletic. He could fumble his own damn way down the mountain in this gathering storm.
With a huge sigh, I shoved down the hill, picking up speed to catch up with him. All my years of safety training, along with the fact I worked for his family, wouldn’t let me leave him behind. It had nothing to do with the fact I was still shaken from watching him hit the ground and lay unmoving for a second. Nothing to do with that awful feeling when I worried he wouldn’t be grinning at me ever again.
When I caught up with him, he had the audacity to laugh. Despite the fact visibility was getting worse and we were still a good way from the bottom, I joined him. We were flying, taking on nature, going fast. Everything I used to love so much. Once again I was free and we separated to keep from hitting a clump of trees, meeting up again with more laughter on the other side.
It was short lived. The snow was battering us now, and suddenly the way wasn’t so clear. We were no longer flying, but getting bogged down in the new, slushy snow. The only thing we could do was continue to struggle our way down.
We finally had to stop in front of a long swathe of trees. “Are we lost?” Dan asked, his voice muffled in the steady rustle of falling snow.
I turned, wondering where we went wrong, but really having to accept the fact we might have lost the trail a long ways up. It was a hell of a distance to try to backtrack, and with the wind picking up, blasting us toward the trees that groaned under the onslaught, it would have been impossible to try.
Nodding for him to follow me, I nudged my way under the cover of the trees, wiping snow off my frozen nose and pulling my face mask up. “Try your phone,” I said.
He brightened, pulling it from a hidden pocket in his snow pants. I could tell he wasn’t getting any signal from the moment his eyes met mine. He shook his head anyway, and I kicked out of the locking mechanisms, glad I favored the softer snowboarding boots since they were slightly easier to walk in.
“We’ve got to get out of the wind if we can,” I said, blocking out rising panic.
Anyone who spent as much time on snowy mountainsides as I did, understood what to do. I also understood that if we didn’t find shelter, we were screwed. I tugged my neckwarmer up as far as it would go to try to cover my stinging ears. Dan gave me a long look as he also kicked out of his board, then pulled the thick, handmade purple hat off his head and plopped it down on mine.
Staying close, as if he were trying to shelter me from the gusts that whipped through the trees, we made our way further into the forest, leaving our boards propped against a tree. I gave mine a last look, certain I’d never see it again, but too scared of freezing to death to give it much thought at the moment. We trudged along in silence, the effort of walking through the underbrush and snow in our unwieldy boots taking most of our concentration.
Every time I shivered, Dan moved closer, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close to his body heat. He was like a furnace and I took a moment to gather his warmth before pushing away and continuing.
“We have to keep moving,” I said.
The trees were a welcome guard against the snow, which was coming down in sheets now whenever we came to a clearing. They wouldn’t be enough to shelter us for long if it kept up, andI was beginning to lose hope when I could no longer feel my toes and my hands were aching in their thick gloves.
