Page 53 of Risk It All
“Not that you…umm… Are you feeling warmer?”
“Yeah.” His gaze stayed locked with hers, unreadable emotion there, before dropping to her mouth. “A lot warmer.”
The flash of heat that shot through her made her forget ever being cold. She ducked her head, not even realizing that she’d moved until she felt his breath on her lips.Not the time or place, Cara!Knowing that her inner killjoy was right, she pulled back and tried to focus on practical things, but it was hard. Henry Kavenski had just professed that he didn’tnotlove her. “Did you want to try to stand?”
As if he could read her mind, his mouth crooked up, but the look in his eyes was filled with affection and something else that she didn’t want to think about too hard, not when she was trying to be practical. “Sure.” Instead of getting to his feet, though, he pulled her tighter against him for a long moment before finally releasing her.
Reluctantly, Cara peeled herself off him, immediately missing their full-body contact. Her skin cooled as she stood, and she hopped a little, trying to warm up again. Henry pushed himself up to a sitting position and then paused for a moment, just long enough for her to start worrying that she was going to have to haul him over her shoulder and carry him to Red Hawk.
She reached down to offer help, but he pushed himself up on his own, getting steady on his feet before taking her outstretched hand. The press of his palm against hers made her brave, and she stood on tiptoes to say quietly in his ear, “I don’tnotlove you, too.”
He gifted her with a full, gorgeous smile, using his grip on her hand to pull her in flush to him. “We’ll make it,” he promised, cupping her jaw so she met his resolute gaze. “You’ll be safe.”
“I know.” She didn’t even hesitate. With Henry, she always felt secure.
His eyes blazed with heat and something else, something like longing, and then his lips were on hers. She returned his kiss just as fiercely, determined to keep him safe as well. Breaking the kiss, he met her eyes for another intense moment before reluctantly releasing her and turning around. When he swayed, she reached out to steady him, but he managed to catch his balance. He started walking upriver, and she bit her lip with concern. Despite his best efforts, he was obviously not his usual steady self.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t get you warmer first?” she asked, hurrying to catch up.
“Physical activity will work,” he said. If she didn’t hear the slightest burr in his voice, she would’ve felt a lot better, but she had a feeling that Henry wouldn’t show any weakness…until he collapsed again. “Besides, the sun’s out.”
Hiding her anxious concern, Cara followed him along the bank. They were so close to safety. All she had to do was climb a cliff, possibly carrying an almost-drowned Henry.No problem.Despite the overwhelming task ahead of them, she was determined. He’d kept them safe up until this point. Now it was her turn.
Chapter 17
A short time later, Henry came to an abrupt halt.
“What is it?” Cara asked.
He pointed to the beginning of a faint path that led up the slope before moving toward it. “Here’s our trail.”
As she followed, she tried very hard to be grateful for an actual path rather than their trailblazing method of getting down to the river. Her adrenaline rush was fading, however, and exhaustion was starting to set in. Her legs felt like they weighed eighty pounds each, and her soaked boots weren’t helping. Every uphill step was an effort.
Henry is alive, she told herself, trying to think of all the positives to take her mind off how much she just wanted to collapse and sleep for a week.The sun is shining. The wind isn’t blowing…too hard. No one is shooting at us…at this second. Henry is alive.She realized that she’d counted that one twice, but it—he—was worth a double count.
The thought of him brought her gaze to his back just in time to see him sway, only catching himself from falling over by grabbing the twisted branch of a stunted pine tree and using it to hold himself upright.
“Whoa,” she said, hurrying to get close enough to support him in case he started going down again. “You okay?” It was a stupid question. She knew that as soon as it left her mouth. If he’d been even close to okay, he would never have wavered.
“Yeah.” His paleness under his tan and unfocused eyes told a different story. “I just need to…sit for a second.” His knees softened, his body sagging as if he was about to plop down right on the trail.
“No, no, no,” she said, her tone halfway between panic and sternness as she looped her arms around him in a hug that was meant to keep him standing. “No sitting. We’re walking. That’ll get you warm and to a hospital, both at the same time.” She hoped that Red Hawk had a hospital—or a doctor, at least.
He leaned in to her for too long a moment, and she had to lock her knees to not collapse under his weight, but then he straightened with a grunt of effort. She eyed his face, which didn’t look any better than it had a minute ago, but at least he was standing independently.
Although he didn’t say anything, he gave a grim dip of his chin and started trudging up the path again. His pace was slower than normal, and every so often a step would waver, threatening to dump him onto the muddy path. Forgetting her own dragging exhaustion, she focused on Henry’s back, trying to push him up the slope with just the strength of their combined will.
He paused, swaying slightly, and Cara knew she had to get him moving again. “Let’s go, big guy,” she said in the most upbeat tone she could manage. Resting her hands on his back, she pressed him forward ever so slightly, afraid that too hard a push would knock him over onto his face, and then she’d never get him moving again. “I didn’t get soaked dragging you out of that water so that you could fall over and die on this trail.” He gave her a glance over his shoulder, and she was enormously happy to see a spark of sardonic amusement. That was the Henry she knew, the one who’d manage to get up this mountain.
He started walking again, slow and close to stumbling at first, but then he seemed to catch his stride. Without seeing his face, she wasn’t sure how close he was to total collapse, but at least he was moving forward and wasn’t swaying at the moment. The path gradually turned from what appeared to be a narrow deer trail into a wide, well-worn hiking route, and Cara was so grateful for its relatively even surface that she wanted to cry. Instead of having to navigate their way up the mountain, they could just grimly follow the trail, trusting that it would lead them to civilization.
Once they were far enough from the river that the trees thinned again, the wind picked up, cutting through her thin single layer.It’ll dry our clothes, she thought, reaching for positives even as she clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering. Henry was visibly shivering, making dread cling to her insides.
When she wasn’t staring at him, she was checking for Abbott over her shoulder. As she glanced behind them for the thousandth time, a movement down by the river caught her eye. She immediately focused on the spot below them, but she couldn’t see whatever it was that had grabbed her attention.Maybe it’s a deer, or a bear, or men with guns…Swallowing hard, she turned her attention back to a wavering Henry.
“Faster,” she ordered, desperate to warm him up and put more distance between them and whatever was by the river. He gave her an incredulous look, but his not-quite-focused eyes made her even more determined. “Let’s go. Move it. You said you went to something like boot camp, so show me how it’s done. We’re running this trail now.” Her body screamed a protest as she picked up a jog, but she ignored it, everything in her concentrating on the man in front of her.
His steps picked up a little speed, but he was still just walking, and the toes of his boots dragged across the rocky surface of the path. She darted another quick glance into the canyon. Even though she couldn’t see anything, her heart beat faster as nervous tension slid up her spine.
