Amber reached for a root, pulling herself up with the last bit of strength in her arms. Her foot slipped on a rock, dislodging it and sending it crashing down. Scott raised his arm to steady her, or she would have lost her grip on the only thing holding her up at the moment. More gravel and dirt gave way as she struggled to find a new foothold.
Suddenly, Scott’s reassuring arm was no longer there. Amber’s head whipped around, looking down in time to see Scott slip as rocks and gravel dragged him down and into the churning water of the creek that had become a torrential river.
“Scott!” she yelled, nearly losing her grip on the vegetation protruding from the rocks. “No, Scott.”
Rain continued to pelt her, and she lost sight of him as the current swept him away. Amber shook with fear and horror. He could have scaled this wall with ease many times over, yet he’d stayed with her to make sure she’d make it to safety.
No, no, no. This wasn’t happening. Adrenaline kicked in. Amber pulled herself upward, putting one limb in front of the other. Her mind went blank to anything but reaching the top. She had to get to the top and run to follow the river and find Scott. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. A little river wasn’t going to get the best of him.
And it’s not going to get the best of you, either.
With the last of her strength, she dug her fingers into the dirt at the top of the ravine, and kicked to shove her body upward. She lay on even ground for only a second, then scrambled to her feet, running along the edge of the canyon, stumbling over shrubs and rocks.
The ground sloped downward the further she ran until she was nearly on even terrain with the water again. They had almost made it out of the canyon before the flash flood.
Almost wasn’t good enough.
The creek had overflowed its banks, but the water was already slowing and receding. How far downstream had it carried Scott?
He’s not dead. He can’t be dead. He’s got too much to live for. We both do.
Amber stumbled along through the rain, keeping her eye on the water, calling Scott’s name. A tree had been uprooted further ahead and hung precariously in the water. Something looked hung up on the tree.
“Scott.” Amber ran faster. “I’m coming, hang on.”
Without forethought, she plunged into the water, which now was only knee high, but the current was still stronger than it looked. Water filled her boots, and she nearly lost her balance. Amber pushed ahead until she reached the tree, grabbing hold of a branch for balance. She made her way to where Scott clung to the trunk.
“Scott,” she called again.
He moved, then moaned. A red gash marred his forehead, and a streak of blood streamed down his face.
Amber reached for his arm. “I’m here. I’m here with you.”
“Get out of the water,” he croaked. “We need to get out of the water.”
“It’s not far. You can make it.”
Tears mixed with the rain running down her face. Scott let go of the tree with one hand and took the hand Amber offered. Bracing against the current, she pushed her legs through the water toward shore. Amber wrapped her arm around his waist to get him upright. When he found his footing, he moved through the water with apparent ease. She kept her hold on him while he struggled to reach the creek bank.
Stumbling out of the water, he dropped to the ground, falling onto his backpack. His chest heaved with exhaustion. Amber sank down beside him, shivering uncontrollably. She continued to cling to him, her arm still around his waist. His body shook as much as hers. Amber squinted through the rain. If they didn’t find shelter fast, they weren’t going to make it out of this century alive.
Chapter 13
Scott stood on unsteady legs. Whether it was from the cold or the aftermath of his body getting slammed repeatedly against rocks and debris didn’t matter. One thing was for sure. He and Amber had to find shelter. She stood just as dazed next to him, her teeth chattering and her body shaking uncontrollably.
The rain hadn’t let up, and visibility was almost nonexistent. He squinted at his surroundings. It looked as if there was a grove of trees off in the distance, further downstream. The danger of the flash flood growing larger was still present, but at least they were in an open area now and not in a confined canyon. They were well away from the creek bed, even if the water rose to greater depths. He wasn’t going to get caught walking in another gully where he couldn’t get to higher ground. That had been a near-fatal mistake. He knew better.
“Let’s move, or we’re going to freeze.”
Scott wrapped his arm around Amber, hugging her close to him. If only he could shield her from the cold. He wasn’t going to fail her now that she seemed to have made a turnaround in her attitude. She wanted to live. She’d fought and clawed her way up that canyon wall, scared for her life. That wasn’t the action of a person with a death wish.
“I’m so cold.” Her voice was feeble and weak, barely audible over the rain.
Her body continued to convulse violently. Scott tightened his hold around her waist. The fact that she was cold was at least a good sign. When a person stopped feeling the cold in these conditions, they were in greater danger.
He leaned in close to her ear. “We’ll find shelter, but we have to start moving or hypothermia will set in faster.”
Amber nodded, or at least it looked like a nod.
Scott pushed through the downpour, focusing his eyes on the trees in the distance. Amber stumbled about every ten steps, and he held her up, supporting her with an arm wrapped tightly around her waist. His head pounded where some heavy debris had nearly knocked him unconscious earlier.
He clenched his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. Every step brought pain to some part of his body, but giving in and giving up was not an option. While the river had swept him away, his only thought had been of Amber and how he’d failed her. She depended on him to get her out of here, and back home to see an oncologist.
They had to be getting close to finding the town. They hadn’t been more than two days away from Heartsbrige when Vin had let them go, but clearly they hadn’t been heading back the same way from which they’d come with the outlaws. Maybe the river Vin had mentioned was this creek all along, and they were already well on their way back to town.
Your entire survival strategy hinges upon the words of an outlaw.
There was also the good chance that Vin Kincaid had misled them, and Amber had been correct all along. Vin could have simply let him and Amber go, knowing they’d have a slim chance of finding their way back to town. He could have deliberately sent them in the wrong direction.
Scott shook his head. Right now, his main focus had to be on finding some kind of shelter to get out of this rain, or it wouldn’t matter if they were close to a town or not. Getting a fire started in this downpour would be nearly impossible.
“Please, I need to rest.” Amber went limp next to him. Scott held her up with the last of his strength. He shook her firmly in an effort to bring her back to her senses. If she gave in to the hypothermia, she would die.
“There are trees up ahead. You can make it that far, then you can rest,” he coaxed.
“I’m too tired. I can’t go on.” Amber stumbled along, her words slurred. She wasn’t supporting herself anymore. He was the one holding her up. “I’m sorry I failed you, Scott.”
“You didn’t fail me. What are you talking about?” He stopped and faced her in the rain. His hand came up to wipe the rain from her face, then cupped her cheek. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, and you’re going to make it. It’s just a short distance to those trees.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I can.”
Scott’s voice rose in anger. It might be the only thing that would keep her going. “Can’t, or won’t try? Don’t give up now, Amber. I know you want to live. Someone wanting to die wouldn’t have done all the things you’ve managed to do to survive. Don’t be a quitter now.”
She squinted at him
through unfocused eyes, the water running off her hair and streaming down her face. A faint smile formed on her lips. Her body no longer shivered as much as it had before.
Scott swiped at the rain on his face. Dammit. He wasn’t going to lose her now, not after everything she’d overcome and how her attitude had changed.
“Come on, Amber,” he growled, then his voice softened. “I’ve been trying to muster up the courage to ask you on a date once we get out of this. Don’t ruin it for me.” He grinned through the rain, licking at the water on his lips.
She stared, her eyes going wide for a second. She shook her head as if he’d said something incomprehensible.
“And I promise, I’ll take you out to a nice dinner. There won’t be lizard on the menu,” he continued.
“I could go for some lizard right now,” she mumbled, her words weak and slurred as if she were drunk.
“We’re not going to find one if we don’t get dry, so come on.” Scott brought her arm over his shoulder, renewed his hold around her waist, and dragged her along. He would have carried her, but she needed to move her body. Amber’s body stiffened for a split second, then she set one foot in front of the other, looking toward the trees.
“That’s my girl.” Scott laughed in satisfaction.
She had it in her all along. Cheryl would have complained throughout this entire ordeal, and probably given up by the second day, tops. She’d gone camping with him on a few occasions, but she’d always whined about the bugs, the heat, the cold, the hard ground, or the smoke of a campfire.
What had he ever seen in Cheryl? Right here, next to him, was the girl who could hold her own and keep up with him. She’d climbed out of a canyon, and then managed to find him despite the downpour.
In hindsight, Cheryl and he had few things in common. After his accident, she’d seemed almost happy, constantly talking about finally planning their wedding, now that he had learned his lesson and would be forced to stay home. Her constant badgering and disregard for the things he wanted out of life had been a big part of why he’d been driven to get better and get back on his feet. When he’d told her that he was going on a bike tour once his body was healed, Cheryl had walked out of his life. Scott glanced at Amber. It was the best thing that could have happened to him.
“What’s that up ahead?”
Scott nearly missed Amber’s weak question, but she pointed at something in the distance where the grove of trees stood. Scott squinted to see better. Sure enough, there was something else among those trees. It looked like a building of some sort.
“It’s shelter.” Scott moved faster, as fast as Amber could keep up. She almost ran next to him. The prospects of getting out of the rain had clearly invigorated her.
The structure became more visible as they moved closer. It looked to be an old cabin. It was too small to be a house or a barn. Other than the trees, there was nothing else around the area that would indicate that someone even lived there. It clearly had been abandoned. Scott laughed triumphantly. This was too good to be true.
He opened the door and took a slow step inside, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. It looked to be one room, with one small window that gave off a faint amount of light. The musty, earthy odor was a good indication that no one had been here in quite some time.
Something scurried in the far corner when he moved further into the room. He held Amber’s hand, and tugged at it for her to get in out of the rain.
“There’s a fireplace.” Scott dropped her hand and rushed to the stone hearth.
The first thing they needed was warmth, even though it felt slightly warmer simply being out of the rain. He peeled his soaked backpack off his shoulders and fumbled for his flint and knife. Several inches of built-up ash and charcoal filled the bottom of the fireplace.
Scott groped for some wood, anything that he could light. He glanced at the chimney. If it was clogged with debris, the cabin could fill with smoke, or worse, catch fire and burn the entire place down. He shrugged. Once he got a fire going if the smoke didn’t appear to draft upward, he could always put it out before it was too late.
His fingers tangled in some cobwebs, but finally found some twigs and a few larger pieces of wood haphazardly piled next to the hearth. It wouldn’t be enough to last beyond getting a fire started, but he’d worry about finding more wood to burn in a minute.
He piled up the smaller pieces in the fireplace, then dug through his first-aid kit and found a piece of gauze and his tube of lip balm. His hands trembled from the cold, but he managed to break off a chunk of the petroleum-based lip moisturizer and smeared it onto the gauze.
Striking his knife against the flint, a spark dropped onto the gauze and instantly caught fire. Carefully, he placed it into the tinder, and blew air on it until the flames took hold of the wood. Seconds later, the cabin glowed in a faint orange light as Scott built up the fire with the rest of the wood.
“Come over here, Amber. Get as close to the fire as you can.”
She didn’t have to be told twice. She practically shoved her hands into the small flames in an effort to get warm. Scott glanced at her for a moment. She was shivering again, which was good.
“I’m going to try and find more wood, because this isn’t going to last.”
His body trembled when he reached for his drenched shirt and peeled it over his head. They’d never warm up in their wet clothes. He knelt next to Amber, holding his hands to the fire for a second, then touched her arm. She tipped her head to look at him.
“You need to get out of your wet clothes. It’s the only way you’re going to warm up.”
She stared for a few seconds as if she didn’t comprehend what he’d said. Her eyes lingered on his shoulders and chest, then she nodded without saying anything. She moved to unbutton her top. Scott stood and glanced around the cabin. There was a crudely-built, tiny table in one corner, and a couple of chairs, all made from wood. A wooden-framed bunk stood along the other wall.
Scott grabbed one of the chairs and smashed it as hard as he could against the wall. The pieces split apart with a loud crack. He did the same to the other chair, then the table.
He gathered an armful of the pieces, then turned triumphantly back to the hearth.
“This might be enough wood to get us through the night.”
His breath caught in his throat. Amber stood by the fire. She’d removed all but her panties and bra. She stared back at him, uncertainty in her eyes and looking a bit uncomfortable, but she raised her trembling chin as their eyes met. The flickering of the orange flames played off the curves of her shivering body. Scott swallowed.
He peeled his eyes away from the vision in front of him, then dropped the wood by the hearth, adding several large pieces to get a blaze roaring.
“Lay out your clothes so they dry faster.” He cleared the hitch from his throat with a cough. He peeled off his pants and wrung them out, then laid them next to Amber’s clothes.
“Thank you, Scott,” she whispered.
Scott reached for her hand, and brought her down to the ground in front of the fire with him. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped her in his arms. She leaned her head against his shoulder, still trembling. Her skin was cold as ice. Scott rubbed his hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm her up. He shook his head and inhaled deeply of her damp hair, pressing his lips to the top of her head.
He chuckled. “Do you realize you’ve rescued me twice now since we started this wild journey? I don’t know why you would be thanking me. I’m the one who’s grateful to you.”
Scott reached for the wood and added more to the fire to keep it burning hot. Holding Amber in his arms was doing a good job of keeping his insides warm. As the minutes ticked by, they both relaxed as their muscles thawed out. She pressed her body against his as if she couldn’t get close enough. She raised her head to glance up at him, her eyes soft and drawing him into their depths.
“I want to thank you for showing me what it feels like to be alive.�
��
Her lips parted, and Scott answered her invitation. He dipped his head and brought his mouth down on hers. Amber’s arms slid up to wrap around his neck. Without breaking the kiss, Scott lowered her fully to the ground and covered her body with his.
The flames cast dancing shadows around the cabin, and the rain pounded on the roof. If he had anything to say about it, he’d only just started showing her how to truly feel alive.
Chapter 14
Amber stirred, her elbow scraping against a hard surface. She groaned and shifted to ease the cramp in her leg. Her eyes opened, and she blinked to adjust her focus. The glow of dark coals and embers shimmered and danced a bright orange. Heat radiated from the hearth, wrapping her in delicious warmth. Her back rested against something firm and equally as warm.
She shifted her hips, her efforts hindered by a heavy weight draped around her middle. Her head rested on something solid, but it wasn’t the backpack she normally used for a pillow.
Amber twisted to roll over, her nose bumping into Scott’s chest. She inhaled the strong scent of warm, masculine skin, and her gaze drifted upward.
Adrenaline shocked her body, quickly turning her limbs into a gooey mass of immovable parts. Scott looked down at her with a soft grin on his face. Dark whiskers covered his chin and along his jaw, making him look every bit the mountain man he’d proved himself to be with his survival skills.
The heavy weight around her middle turned out to be his arm, which quickly became apparent as his fingers trailed light strokes along her waist, setting every inch of her on fire. If the small cabin became any hotter, she’d melt.
“Did you sleep well?”
Amber nodded, the only response she could produce at the moment. She sucked in a quick breath as a slight shudder rippled through her. The tips of Scott’s fingers continued to torch her bare skin.
“You’re not still cold, are you?” His grin widened, right before he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his.
Timeless Bond (Timeless Hearts Book 8) Page 10
