by Bec McMaster
Eighteen
RILEY SCREAMED AS she pushed away from the jeep.
It was finally going, and she threw herself back into space, her heart in her throat and her ears tight and ringing. Trust. Trust him. It was all she had.
The world was weightless. Airless. No pull on her, no greedy gravity sucking at her.
For a few seconds, all was beautiful. That quivering moment where her motion propelled her through space, and then the world came rushing back, and she was falling, arms flailing, her mouth wide in a silent scream as she tried desperately to fly.
And failed.
Wade came flying out of nowhere, cutting over the edge of the cliff in a flawless dive. He gained on her, inch by precious inch. Riley couldn’t breathe. The air around her was a vacuum – she was going too fast. No oxygen, her lungs heaving desperately in her chest. Somehow, she turned her head to the side and sucked in a short breath. The blue beneath her was growing bigger as she tumbled onto her front, staring directly at it. Her eyes watered at the sudden stream of air, her swollen cheek screaming with pain as her cheeks pulled back from her mouth and rippled.
Then Wade hit her hard, strong arms wrapping around her waist and sending them into a free-falling somersault. Legs, arms, sky, water.... She couldn’t make sense of herself.
“...got you...” he bellowed, dragging her into his grasp.
They flipped again until she was on top and was breathing into his chest, his arms wrapping around her like steel, drawing her own in tight between them. She caught a glimpse of the jeep, cart-wheeling beside them.
“Hold on!” he screamed.
The world stopped as they smashed into the water, Wade’s grip on her loosening. Then she was under, her body slowing as it tore from his grip, her head spinning at the impact. Nostrils full of water, choking, air... Needed air... Which way was up?
She clawed and kicked, trying to orient herself. The world was tinged with gold, and bubbles streamed past her as she tried to find the surface. Up. A shimmering disc of molten light burned above her. Riley tried to reach it, her body a world of hurt.
She broke the surface with a gasp, her lungs burning as she coughed and choked. Water spewed from her nostrils, then it was dragging her back under as the weight of it filled her clothes and boots.
She came up again, the cold of it starting to seep in. So cold her lungs felt like a vise squeezed them. Or maybe that was the fall.
Air. She sucked it in. Choked again. Wade. Where was he? Riley’s lungs were burning so badly she thought she was going to vomit, but she couldn’t see him. Panic squeezed tight, making it even harder to breathe. The slam of the impact had hurt so much, and she’d been on top.
What if…?
Sucking in a lungful of air that burned within, Riley dove back under. Her body was so weak it fought her, but she strove beneath the surface, hunting furiously for him. A warg could survive a fall like that, maybe. But a warg could also drown.
Luc.
No sign of him. She came back up, gasping in another mouthful of sweet, precious air before she dove again. That time, she went deeper. The water was colder there, the pressure of it tightening over her skin and chest as the murky depths came closer. Ears ringing, Riley was just about to surface again when she saw him.
He floated slowly, his body sinking toward the dark bottom. Riley lashed out with her feet, her chest constricting as she fought to reach him. The faint light from above gleamed golden on his bare chest, the only reason she’d seen him.
Each stroke was a struggle. Her lungs were starting to burn, her vision narrowing. The ringing in her ears was almost screaming at her, pressure clamping tight over her nostrils and sinuses. Her fingers brushed wet denim. She fought on, her hand clamping around his ankle. Elation flooded her, then the weight of him dragged at her, and she had to kick hard to get them moving up.
Riley fought as she’d never fought in her life. To hold on to him, to herself, to the ringing in her ears as her kicking slowed, thrashing violently toward the surface. She could almost feel the warmth now, the bright light of the sun spreading across her vision. Ripples spread in the water, and she broke the surface with a gasp.
One breath. Not enough. Lungs still burning.
But she had to drag him to the surface too. He’d been down longer than she had.
Sliding her arms under his armpits, Riley kicked hard and they both broke the surface. Her vision narrowed in and out, little dizzy spots dancing across the center as she sucked in as much air as she could breathe. Her entire body quivered, her muscles wanting to just seize and give up. To sink below the cold, cold water and enter the silent depths below again.
No.
Riley kicked with weak legs, turning Wade’s face to the side. Water spilled from his mouth, but his chest hadn’t moved. No. No, not this. She’d brought him to the surface. Breathe, damn you.
Snuggling his back against her chest, she locked her fingers together and brought them up under his ribs. His chest was so broad she could barely keep her fingers laced.
One hard yank, forcing his body back against hers. His head rested against her shoulder, wet hair spilling against her skin like silk.
“Come on,” she whispered, her lips starting to quiver. If she lost him... Hot tears welled in her eyes.
Riley gave another hard yank, forcing the water out of his lungs. Wade jackknifed in her grip, turning his head violently to the side as he coughed. Hard fingers clenched in her forearm, as if he didn’t know where he was.
The tears spilled then. Riley pressed her lips to the side of his throat and cried loudly, her nose running, lungs burning with abuse.
“I’m here,” she said hoarsely. “I’ve got you.”
His fingers eased on her arm. Wade sucked in a rasping breath that rattled in his throat, and it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.
“I’ve got you,” she whispered again, resting her head back in the cool water as her tears spilled down her cheeks.
No matter what she had to do, no matter who she had to fight, she would never let him go again.
* * *
They collapsed on a narrow sandy strip, barely making it clear of the water.
Riley made sure he was breathing all right, then crumpled onto the wet sand, her body finally giving out. She didn’t think she could ever move again. It had taken everything she had to swim them to shore.
She woke – or came to – hours later, as someone pulled her up the beach. Panic made her dig her nails into the sand, then Wade lifted her in his arms, half-crawling with her, half-dragging her as he got them to dry sand.
Night was coming, the sun fading into the horizon in a hot, coppery puddle. Wade moved himself into a sitting position then helped her up, her back to his chest. Riley shivered with the cold, her entire body aching from exertion.
“Here,” he said hoarsely, rubbing stiff hands down her arms to bring some heat back into her flesh. The chafe hurt, but some of the muscle ache eased. She cried again, not sure why, as he held her and kissed the top of her head, slowly rubbing the heat back into her damp skin.
“Need... to get warm,” Riley breathed. Her throat burned like she’d been doing shots of pure acid, and her lungs felt like someone had punched her in the chest several times. “Desert... night... coming.”
And with it, a chill so cold she almost began crying again. They might have survived the fall and the water, but the cold was the next true danger.
“Let me warm you,” Wade whispered, his clammy hands picking at her shirt. He pried apart a button, then another. At her back, the heat of his body began to seep through, as if finally penetrating the chill of his skin.
At least there was no wind here, tucked high against the base of the cliffs, and the sand was dry and silky. Riley lay limply in his arms as he stripped the wet, chilly shirt from her body and the tank she’d borrowed from Eden. It was harder for him to get her jeans off, dragging them down over her damp legs and tugging them impatiently. His
hands shook as he fought the wet material, and she thought he was going to tear it.
“You just... want to get me naked,” she said through chattering teeth, as he laid her back on the sand.
A smile danced over his face. “Always.” He cupped her fists in his hands and blew on them, hot breath curling over her skin as he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. He sobered a little as he straightened. “But I don’t think either of us is up for what comes after I get you naked.”
Stripping off his own jeans, he tossed them aside and knelt over her, his body thick with shadows. Scraping the sun-warmed sand up around her, he slowly knelt down, muscles straining in his forearms with fatigue as he pressed his body flat over hers.
Riley soaked in the heat of the sand, shivering uncontrollably. His skin was chilly to the touch, but as they both dried, she could feel that heat deep within him start to soak through again.
The sun slowly set, the indigo blackness of the sky sweeping across the heavens. Riley clutched him tight to her, drowsy against his chest as he pressed his weight down onto her. She was starting to feel all of her hurt now, her cheek and side aching from the crash. The events of the day just seemed too surreal to take in fully.
“You saved my life,” she whispered, remembering that moment when he dove over the cliff after her.
“You saved mine.” His hand stroked the left side of her face and cupped her cheek. He pressed a kiss to her hair.
“Even?”
A rumble sounded in his chest. “If I start a fire, will you owe me?”
Riley almost shivered again. “I will do anything you want if you get a fire blazing.”
“Anything?”
“Anything,” she whispered sleepily.
* * *
Flames crackled.
Riley pried her eyelids apart, staring at the dancing flames in front of her. Wade knelt in front of it, slowly feeding larger pieces of wood into the crackling inferno.
Stars gleamed overhead and the moon was halfway across the sky. Riley could barely move she was so exhausted. Instead, she stared at the flames, her mind blessedly blank as the heat licked over her skin.
Drifting in pleasant dreams of nothingness, she gave a start when warm hands helped her up. Then naked skin was sliding over hers, and Wade lowered her down near the fire, pressing his chest against her back. The heat was so delicious she tried to stretch a hand out toward it.
“Rest,” he whispered, curling his arms around her. “We’re safe and dry and alive.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, her eyes drifting shut.
Warm lips against her bare shoulder. “You don’t owe me anything, darlin’. Just sleep. And let your body heal.”
* * *
Sunlight heated his skin. Wade stretched sleepily, feeling the body in his arms murmur and turn toward him. He could smell smoke and ash, but as he cracked his eyes open, he realized the fire had died down long ago.
Rolling onto his back, he ground his teeth together against the pain and peered up blearily at the sun. Had to be nine, or thereabouts. Luc scraped an unsteady hand over his face, his stomach growling. Every part of him ached from the fall. The night was a seeming blur as he’d hauled himself up off Riley once she’d stopped shivering, setting out to find enough wood to make her a fire. He could barely remember collapsing against her back once more.
With a wince, he rolled up into a sitting position. As much as he’d like to stay here and heal, he couldn’t. Lily was out there somewhere, and he had this one last day to get to her. The thought hardened him. No matter how much his back hurt, he had to find her.
Rolling onto his knees, he slid a hand over Riley’s shoulder. “Hey,” he murmured.
She pushed at his hand and growled something under her breath that sounded like, “Go ‘way.”
Wade looked up at the sun’s position. They had a long way to go. “You have to get up, darlin’. We have to get movin’.”
Riley blinked up at him, her velvety brown eyes disoriented with sleep, and her silky blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders. His heart clenched in his chest at the sight. His golden warrior. He could scarcely believe she’d dragged him out of the water. This was the type of woman who’d never let him go.
No matter what the danger was to herself.
His heart clenched again, this time in pain. He’d almost gotten her killed because he hadn’t been strong enough to tell her not to come. He’d wanted someone by his side so desperately that she’d nearly died.
Selfish.
The right thing to do would be to get her back to Absolution before she got hurt. But it was too late now. Today was the third day, the last to find Colton. He couldn’t leave her behind, unprotected in the desert, and he didn’t have time to get her safely back to Absolution. He would have to take her with him.
Straight into Bartholomew Cane’s lair.
“If you’re thinking what I think you are, you can forget it,” Riley said suddenly.
The world around him came back into focus, Riley's warm brown eyes narrowing at him as she shook out her shirt with stiff movements. “What am I thinking?”
“About Cane. About me. Leaving me here.” She dragged her bra and tank on, wincing as she had to reach over her shoulders. One eye was swollen and black, her cheekbone grazed, and her ribs were a mass of bruises.
That she read him so well bothered him. “You’re hurt.”
“So are you.”
“I’ll heal,” he reminded her.
“So will I.”
Luc’s lips thinned. “I’ll heal by tonight.”
“Tonight. Tomorrow.” She sat down to drag her jeans up her long, smooth legs. “What difference does it make? I dare say I look worse than I feel.”
“Riley,” he warned. Each of her movements was slow and precise. She was hurting, she just wouldn’t admit it.
“You’re not going to win this argument. You don’t think I can track you, wherever you go? And you said yourself we’re heading for the old Copperplate Mine.”
Luc shoved to his feet, knowing when the battle was lost. “I had this idea,” he told her, reaching for his own jeans. “A week ago now, though it feels more like several of them… Here’s a pretty little blonde, practically begging to be kidnapped. Perfect bait. Just what I need to lure McClain to me—”
“How did it all go so wrong?”
“Precisely. I wish I could go back in time. Talk some sense into myself. Say, ‘Luc, old man, you are going to regret this. This pretty little piece of ass is going to make a mule seem reasonable. She’s going to send you up against revenants, reivers, and settlers waving pitchforks. She’s going to take every single plan you had and smash them to pieces, like a child with a tower of blocks.’”
“She is going to change your life.”
“She is going to make your life hell,” he countered.
“She is going to give you some of the hottest sex you’ve ever had.” Slowly, Riley stood up, her face admirably blank. “Finished feeling sorry for yourself?”
He had no argument to that. “The sex is good.”
An arched eyebrow.
“Amazing,” he amended.
“Just the sex?”
Luc dragged his shirt on and looked around for his boots. The leather was ruined and still damp, but it would do. “Maybe more than just the sex. You’re pretty easy on the eyes too.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
Another taunt sprang to mind, but he stared down at her, those molten brown eyes meeting his. Luc stepped forward and cupped her jaw with both hands. “Riley, you are the devil,” he whispered. “And I would sell you my soul gladly, if you didn’t already own it.” His face lowered, lips brushing against her own.
A soft kiss, full of promise. Tongue darting against hers teasingly before he drew back, knowing she was in pain. And there was nothing he could do about it.
The sweet rush of Riley’s breath stirred against his damp mouth. “Then stop trying to leave me behind. You’
re right, Luc. You belong to me,” she whispered, hands sliding up his chest and curling around his collar. Hot brown eyes met his. “I’m not going to let anyone take what’s mine. Not Cane. Not Colton. Not the reivers.”
His hands dropped from her face, but she didn’t let him go. “How do you plan to stop them? We’ve got no guns, no ammunition, no food, and no water. All of that was in the jeep.”
“You're right,” she said, looking at the cliffs above them. “But I’ll sure bet the reivers had those supplies.”
Luc smiled. “That’s my girl.”
Nineteen
THE CLIMB WAS torture.
Riley started out gamely, knowing that if she gave any sign that she was hurting, he’d try and leave her behind to rest. The road wound back and forth like a snake’s trail as it worked its way up the sheer cliffs. Soon, she was dripping with sweat and staring directly at her feet. Didn’t seem so much of an angle then. She could almost pretend that she was walking on flat ground.
Almost.
The right side of her face ached in the searing sun, her teeth throbbing. Nothing broken, thank God, but just the thought of running her tongue over them to check made her wince. Soon it was all she could do just to put one foot in front of the other. Her vision blurred until she blocked out the world, the pain, everything but each step at a time.
“Here we go.” A hand curled around her arm, helping her the last few steps.
Riley looked up. They’d reached the top. She could have cried.
Luc stared down at her through narrowed eyes. Riley tried to smile, but it died on her mouth as the movement screamed through her cheek.
“I’m okay,” she muttered.
He hesitated. “Maybe you should rest.”
The words hit her like the sight of a desert oasis, but if she sat down she’d never get up. Riley shook her head.
Though concern warmed his eyes, he didn’t say anything. Simply helped her forward, his large body blocking out the sun.
“So, how old are you?” he asked suddenly.
