Page 67 of Rescue Me (Tempting SEALs 6.10)

Not really freezing, but close enough. Hypothermia was a real possibility with the water temp running a very cold fifty-something.

“We need to get out of here. Hang on. Just hang on.”

He searched the shoreline. Less than two yards of wildly rushing water lay between them and relative safety. He reached for an overhanging tamarisk root. Missed. Stretched and tried again. This time he caught it.

“Turn around,” he ordered. “And hang on to me.”

Very slowly and carefully, her limbs stiff with cold and fatigue, she maneuvered her body against the boulder until she was facing him.

“Atta girl. Now wrap yourself around me like a monkey. That’s it. Don’t let go. Whatever happens, do not let go, okay?”

Shivering uncontrollably, she nodded, clung.

He paced himself, puffed in several deep breaths and took the plunge. With only the root to hold them both, he swung their weight toward the shore. The root snapped when they were halfway there. They dropped back into the current like stones and the Colorado had them in her grasp again.

The water sucked them under as they swirled and spun, at the mercy of the river intent on claiming them as her own.

Then he hit solid rock, felt the air burst out of his lungs on a rush, gasped on a spear of pain as his ribs took the brunt of the crash. Never letting go of Elena, he wrapped his free arm around a stone spire that rose out of the water like a tree trunk and saved their lives.

“We’re okay, now,” he panted into her hair. “We’re … okay.”

Several deep breaths later, he mustered the strength to drag them the rest of the way out of the water and up onto the damp, sandy bank.

Where he collapsed. Flat on his back, beyond feeling pain in his head or ribs. Barely believing he was on solid ground with Elena spread out on his chest. Panting. Gasping. Choking up water and battling to catch her breath.

His hand felt like it weighed a ton as he lifted it, cupped her head. “So … that was refreshing, huh?”

She breathed deep. Managed to lift her head. “You’ve got a … strange sense of humor, King.”

He smiled into the night. “And you like it.”

She made a weak sound of exasperation. “Yeah. I like it.”

He wrapped his arms around her, held her trembling body tight. “We’re not out of the woods yet, you know that, don’t you? They’re going to come looking for us.”

“May … maybe they’ll think we … drowned.”

“Maybe. But they’ll still look.”

She was quiet for a long moment as she s

quirmed closer to the warmth of his body. “How f-f-f … far downstream do you th-th-th … think we rode the river?”

“Hard to say. Half a mile if we’re lucky. Less if we’re not. Can’t figure they’ll try to find a path down in the dark. At least we’ve got that in our favor. Jake and Cravets are not outdoorsmen. They aren’t dressed for hiking. They’ll lick their wounds until morning. Start their search at first light.”

The violence of her shivering alarmed him.

“In the meantime, we’ve got to warm you up.”

“And you’re going to d-d-d … do that how?”

“You know how.”

“Oh, nnnn … not that old cliché,” she sputtered, but there was a faint smile in her voice.

“Yeah, that one,” he said, admiring her grit. “Lucky for me. Can you sit up?”

Her entire body trembled as she pushed herself up and sat on the rocky shore beside him.

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