Page 46 of Kiss Across the Universe
Alannah suddenly felt nervous about putting her arm around him. “It’s nothing personal,” she warned him.
“Of course.” He held out his arms.
Alannah slipped under one of them and wrapped her arm around his back, which gave her a chance to measure the true width of him, which the unstylish warden’s uniforms hid. She’d seen that he was strong. The width of his back and shoulders confirmed it. She felt heat against her arm. “You’d better put your arm over my shoulders,” she told him.
His arm came down over her shoulders.
Alannah held still for a moment, painting the image she needed of her destination, and building the jump in her mind. “I’m going to bring us to the side of the truck facing the fence, so we’re on the path. Less chance of a car passing by seeing us suddenly appear.”
“You’re the jumper.”
“Okay, bend your knees and on three, jump into the air, because I won’t be able to lift you.”
“I didn’t jump into the air when you brought me here,” he pointed out.
“You were falling backward. Impetus is what drives the jump. The direction doesn’t matter.” She looked up at him. “I can push you onto your back again, if you want.”
His smile was knowing. “I’ll jump,” he assured her, bending his knees.
She bent hers. “One, two,three.”
She jumped and felt him come with her.
Chapter Nineteen
The footing was firm andeven and Alannah stepped out from under Kit’s arm quickly. The green Ford was right in front of them. She could reach out and touch it. Alannah was pleased at her precision. She was more pleased to be able to breathe properly again. She took in deep lungfuls of the fresh air.
Kit crouched, then lowered himself to the ground and worked his way under the truck.
“Doesn’t matter what’s wrong,” Alannah told him. “You’re still out of gas.”
He wriggled back out from under the truck. “Just wanted to confirm the problem. A piece of rebar is jammed in the bottom of the gas tank. The front tire must have flipped it up when we drove over the divider in the parking lot.”
She remembered the ringing sound and nodded. “So…wave down a car?”
He moved to the back of the truck, and punched at the digital pad on the tray cover, unlocking it. “If we head back to civilization, Iron Grey will find you. What hedoesn’tknow is how to move in the bush.”
“Neither do I,” Alannah pointed out, alarm building in her. “You’re not suggesting we head back into the trees?”
“If we go off grid, he can’t reach us. Not easily and not without me knowing he’s coming. He’s not a bushman.” He opened the cover and pushed it back, revealing the interior of the tray.
Alannah’s eyes widened. “Is that…a side of beef?” The package was wrapped in clear, heavy-duty plastic and was the size of a suitcase.
“A bison leg,” Kit said. “Friend of a friend had the whole beast. I got the leg for helping him cut it up.”
“That you’re just carrying around in the back of your truck?”
“I was bringing it to Taylor,” he said. “Figured it was a change from salmon.”
Alannah pressed her hand over her mouth to hold in her laughter. It wouldn’t be a humorous expression. She could feel the stressors and strain of the day nagging at her, looking for an exit, a way to vent themselves.
If only she could hide on the timescape somewhere… She reached for it, to reassure herself it was there, and felt the same liquid mental coolness wash over her that she had felt before. It was the strangest sensation she had ever experienced when dealing with the timescape, but it wasn’t alarming. Not now. It felt simply…different.
She couldn’t jump anywhere and leave Kit here alone to deal with Iron Grey, so she focused instead on what he was doing. Yet the cool sensation lingered in her mind. She didn’t object to its presence. Like the timescape itself, it was reassuring. It meant she had options.
Kit dug deep beneath the folded back sections of the cover and tugged and hauled a backpack out. He stood it on its base. The pack looked loaded…and heavy.
“You just happened to have that with you, too?”
