by Cora Blu
“Seth—Seth Dragoslava.” Taking her hand, he nodded toward the ground. “Fall into me, I’ll help you.”
“Thanks but I can manage. Thank you for the camera though. I appreciate it,” she said, placing the lanyard around her neck. “I’ll get a few more shots before the hiking van is ready to leave. Thank you again,” she repeated and watched him slip back into the woods. She refused to notice, what a sexy voice he had. No man-candy this trip.
~~~
“Wait! Wait!” Simone screamed, racing out of the wooded area into the clearing where the van had been parked. Catching her ski jacket on the low branches and tugging free, she grabbled for traction with mud caking the bottoms of her hiking boots. Melting snow left the dirt path a mud slick. She slid to a stop in time to see the tour van go over the rail-less worn edge of the mountain cliff.
She gasped. Her heart leapt in her throat. Were all four of the other passengers in that van now careening down the mountainside? She scanned the area and saw no signs of any other guest. Her heart broke with that reality. Horror gripped her as she watched the van hit the bottom of the ravine after tearing over the bramble and snow covered grass.
Frantic, she searched for a foot trail leading down the steep sloop. Her gaze settled on one several feet away, down the slick mountainside. She needed to help them now. Her hiking companions might only have minutes left to live.
She tested the crumbling edge with her booted foot. Even if she made it over, there was nothing else for her to hold on to. Fear rushed with adrenaline through her bloodstream. Large hands closed around her body hauling her away from the edge.
“Simone, what are you doing?” a man yelled behind her.
“Let go of me,” she said, trying to jerk his hands away from her body. His grip tightened as he spun her away from the edge and pushed her toward the woods.
“You’ll get yourself killed, Ms. Daniels.”
“Are you crazy? The rest of the group was in that van. Help me get down there.”
He continued blocking her from the edge.
“If you won’t help me—”
“—you’ll go over the edge like they did and you’ll need rescuing too,” he stressed, eyeing the tracks leading off the edge. “Did you see what happened?”
Simone peered around his large frame, praying a ball of flames didn’t rise from the valley, and clutched her jacket against her heart. “No. The van just went over the cliff as I came through the trees.”
“Stay here,” he said, moving closer to the edge. He crouched over the muddy ground, shaking his head. Mud coated her gloves as she crawled through the muck beside him.
He held a hand out in front of her to stop her from going closer to the edge. “Miss, I said stay back. It’s slippery close to the edge.”
Simone closed a hand over her mouth as bile rose up into her throat. The dark green van rocked on its side. Hiking gear stuck out of the busted windows. She caught a flash of bright yellow hanging out the side window. Closing her eyes, she could picture the woman from the lobby that morning getting in the van. Her face open and excited, her bright smile glowing.
Blood pounded in her ears so fiercely she couldn’t hear their screams–if there were any. The dented van stopped rocking. Was anyone conscious? Guilt and relief raced hand-in-hand through her heart in a manic throb. “I could’ve been in that van.” Her voice quivered. Glancing up at her company, she said, “We need to get down there to help anybody who might’ve survived.”
He turned glacier blue eyes on her, held her in his stare before he shook his head.
“The snow’s melting—the mountain is too slippery. You won’t make it down without some sort of harness,” he said, peering around indicating the woods behind them. “It’s too far out of the way to go over the other side, it’ll take all day to climb down the mountain and make it back around to the van.”
“So how do we get down there?” Her voice warbled as she thought of those people dying down there once she pulled herself from the blue trance.
“I doubt you’re trained to scale a mountain, miss. It’ll be a challenge even with the skill level I have,” he said. Simone caught the quizzical stare as he took in her bright green ski jacket while shaking his head. The square set of his shoulders, proud rise to his chest, and the raw strength in his hands closed round her ankle—military. The look her father gave when one of her non-camping friends tagged along as kids. She knew what he thought, another woman with no outdoor experience in the woods. Well that’s where he was wrong. Heck, she was born outside—in a car—but still it was outside.
“If you know you can make it, then get down there,” she barked. She grabbed his sleeve on reflex when his body angled further out over the edge, him shaking his head, absently. “I’m not jumping. It’s too dangerous to try and get down there.”
“So we sit here and wait for summer to reach the mountains? We have to do something. Those are people down there.”
The tall man sat back on his heels. Long thighs brushed Simone’s as he took a stick to the mud caking her boots now folded under her hips. “Hold still. You wouldn’t make it past that first sapling with mud in your boot tracks.” He flicked mud over the edge.
“I’ll make it,” she insisted. And fought the urge to lean closer to inhale his incredible scent. Embarrassed to find him studying her as she fixated on the strong line of his throat, she chewed on her bottom lip trapped between her teeth.
“I doubt that,” he said, his attention focused on her mouth.
“I’m not helpless,” she snapped. His gentle grip on her ankle held her immobile with silent strength running through his hands.
“No, you’re helpful, but that can get you killed out here.” He pulled her foot from under her. Simone braced a hand on the ground for balance
“That’s your opinion,” she muttered, becoming angry at his presumption of her inexperience in the forest.
“You could’ve fallen out of the tree earlier—broke a bone,” he accused.
“I’ve climbed trees since I was three. Don’t concern yourself with my safety. Focus on getting down the mountain.” Her breathing picked up as she was arguing with this man. All she needed was to start sweating in the cold air. She’d catch a cold for certain.
“We’ll need to walk through the woods to get out of here,” he said. “And there’s likely to be animals out here somewhere.”
She took a deep breath, listening to all his reasons why they couldn’t help those people. Blowing it out she knew most of what he said was right. It did nothing to make her feel better—nothing at all.
“Unless you know of some sort of shelter down there that’s inviting death. Even if we get to them in one piece, what then? What do we take care of their wounds with?”
“I don’t know, Seth, but we can’t just stand here doing nothing.”
Something she said must have gotten through that thick skull. His shoulders relaxed as he nodded his head.
“Simone, we’ll never make it down safely. What we need to do is stay alive. Come on, it turns cold up here early.” He pulled off his ski gloves, unzipped his white ski parka, and took out his iPhone. “If you have a cell, I suggest trying for a signal. Let’s check out the little shanty back in the woods… see if it’s dry. We can stay there.”
“We?” Simone groaned, pushing off on her thighs to stand. “Why don’t I stay here? If anyone heard the van hit the valley, they’ll see the tracks coming down the mountain. They’ll come for us.”
“Here,” he said, handing her his cell. “I’ll run up to the house, check it out while you keep trying for a signal. Come get me if you see anything.”
She waved her phone through the air to pick up a signal. “Hard to believe there aren’t any cell towers up here—this being a touristy area,” she said before he slipped into the woods.
He called over his shoulder, “Most tourists come for the mountains, not for the cell reception, miss.”
“You don’t have to...” she st
arted to say, but a muffled explosion rocked the cold mountain air, sending her stumbling forward. Together they bolted to the crumbling edge. She closed a hand over her mouth as the sight of the flames dancing around the tour van burned into her mind. They were too far up to make out any movement, but she knew they were dead. No one could have survived that blast.
His embrace came just as she closed her eyes and shook her head. His hard jaw pressed down on the top of her knit cap. The clean scent of man wrapped around her. Scraping her booted foot in the soft earth, she ached for those people and their families they’ll never return to.
Minutes passed. Cold air blew across her face as he stepped away from her, angling her toward the woods. “There’s nothing we could have done for them, Simone,” he acknowledged. “If no one comes for them after that explosion, no one will come for us up here, either, because they don’t know we’re up here.”
“What about the other tourists up here? I’m sure they heard it.”
“What other tourists? The hotel is miles from here. Why do you think we left so early this morning?”
“How far are we from the cabin?” She scrubbed her hands over her jeans while eyeing their surroundings.
“On foot… seven, eight hours. In good weather. This is just a stretch of bare mountain. It’s a family that owns the cabin, not the hotel. They’ll most likely have a tower up there.”
“We’re not scheduled to go back for another day. We’re stuck,” she said. From the tight set of his shoulders and the way he kept scrubbing his dark eyebrows, she could almost feel the wheels in his mind spinning He had something other than those lives lost and being stranded on his mind. He was mumbling something incoherently in German or Russian, she wasn‘t certain which. Seth turned those wicked blue eyes to her. He must have noticed her confusion.
“It’s useless looking for a signal until we get further down the mountain,” Seth remarked, stepping away from the carnage.
“I’m not the best at accents. Are you from Austria?”
“Miss Daniels, here in Europe, Americans have the accent, and I’m from Russia.”
“I stand corrected,” she said. “Where are we going? Not the shanty, I hope.” She pivoted around, taking in her surroundings. It was a beautiful place, just wish she weren’t stranded there with a stranger.
“You’re welcome to join me,” he said. The heavy clouds overhead left her with few options on how to answer that offer.
“It’s a pile of rocks, Mr. Dragoslava,” she said, peering around for something sturdier. “Does someone live up there?”
She stopped talking as his eyes slowly moved over her face, much too intimate for a stranger to be looking at her. She couldn’t pull her attention from his crooked mouth and the way he held it slightly parted. His head tipped it at an angle the closer his face came to hers. Would he try to kiss her? She felt like things were happening in slow motion seeing his hand come up between them. Tension thick. She slid her tongue out, wetting her drying lips and cursing herself for her bad timing. He cupped her jaw—flicked mud from her cheek with his thumb. If a rock fell out the sky, she would try to be under it. How embarrassing that was.
“You had mud on your face,” he said. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down while the white jacket glowed under his freshly shaven jawline.
“Thank you.” She shot a hurried glance back over her shoulder. “So, uhm, did you get a chance to look inside the house?”
“It’s made of stone blocks,” he started. “I got a quick look before I heard you screaming out here.” He tilted his face to the sky.
Hmm, she thought, what was so all-important in the woods that he didn’t hear the van’s engine as she had?
“I’ll deal with whatever we find in the house. Right now, I’d say we’re looking at rain, possibly snow. We need shelter.”
A flicker of red caught her attention in the distance. She manipulated her steps on the mushy ground. The reflective tape on her travel bag came into view along with a second bag beside hers. “That’s my overnight bag. Why did they take it off the van?” Hooking the long strap over her shoulder, she patted the sides, feeling for the hardness of her laptop. Unzipping the top, she stuffed her camera inside.
“Mine as well,” he said, picking up his bag beside her. Simone held still seeing him turn in an agitated circle. “Something’s off. The hiking lodge is back that way. Why go down the mountain with hikers still in the van?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she agreed, unfolding the brochure from her pocket. Her heart sank seeing how far they were from the cabin. “What I can’t figure out is why they would leave the two of us. We don’t know one another,” she said, watching him. “Seth…”
“Simone, we need to get out of sight,” he said, his tone tight.
“Why?” she asked, looking around the wide-open expanse. Not seeing anything or anyone, she looked for animals. Her heartbeat kicked up. She walked in a backward circle looking for whatever predator was out there. “What are we hiding from?”
“Our bags were left out here together. They must think we’re a couple—us,” he said, gesturing between them. “It’s no coincidence.” His solid voice turned into a stiff gruff of a command. “Leave the bag, Simone. It’ll make it appear as if we were in the van when it went over the cliff.”
“My laptop and battery pack is in here.” Snatching the zipper open, she grabbed the case along with the two Ziploc bags of trail mix bars and almonds and her camera. She clutched the jeans and sweater she bought as a gift for her brother in the gift shop right before they had gotten in the van. Pants cost her ninety dollars. No way was she leaving those. She straightened to find a pair of confused eyes staring at her. “You don’t use Ziploc bags in Austria?”
“I wouldn’t know.” Seth grabbed her arm, hauling her through the woods, slipping and sliding on the mucky ground toward the shanty. Once inside he bolted the door. She did what she would do as a girl when her parents camped in cabins, check for rations. Box of oatmeal, come crackers, a glass jar of tea, some coffee and a couple cans of soup. This was a hunting shanty like the ones back in Michigan. At least they wouldn’t starve. She spun around as Seth began to bark at her.
“Go in the back. Check the windows. See if they lock,” he ordered.
“Back where?” she argued. “It’s only two feet away from where you’re standing now. I can see the outside wall from here and there’s no door on that… room or space or closet with a bed,” she muttered.
“Check the windows—see—if—they—lock.”
That surly comment wasn’t helping the situation. “Yes, Commandant,” she snapped as she tossed him a salute. His brows crushed together as she continued, “In America, we say please when you want someone to do something for you.”
“You’re not in America,” he said, flipping a hand toward the back of the shanty. “Check the windows, Simone.”
She bit back the urge to push him into the potbelly stove and headed down the short expanse to the bedroom. Why was she listening to this stranger? Because if any part of what Seth said out there is true, she wanted him on her side. However, there’s only so much tongue biting she could handle.
Three
Dry and clean. Her quick once over of the room revealed that no rodents or spiders had taken up residence. Someone lived there or at the least used it recently. The wood boards on the floor creaked as she began unzipping her jacket.
“Seth?” she asked, her voice barely audible as she tossed a look between him and the bed, filling the room. Was it a room if it had no door and two feet from the sofa?
“You check the window yet?” he tossed out.
“Look behind me.” She pointed to the small bed in the tiny room. “This bed can barely fit me and there’s only one.”
“So we’ll sleep together.” He shrugged and peered around the space. “Hmm— no window. That’ll help keep the heat in.”
Her gaze met his. “Sleep together?”
His blue eyes he
ld her until she had to think to breath. “You’d rather die of hyperthermia than share a bed with me?”
She crossed the two steps to the bed, grabbed a corner of the quilt, bringing the worn material to her nose. “Bleach…” she said, pleasantly surprised.
She turned to find him shoveling wood into the stove out in the main part of the cabin. He pushed to full height, pulled out a pocketknife, and then scratched at a small log until it looked like beavers had gotten a hold of it. Taking matches from the mantle, he lit the frayed wood on fire in the stove.
“Simone, come out here, watch this and blow on it if it gets low,” he said, gesturing toward the wood. “There are some broken branches outside beside the house. See what you can find in here to eat. I’ll go grab the broken branches.”
She folded her arms and stood before him. “I can tell you were in the military. I’m not one of your soldiers so speak to me and don’t command me.”
The tips of his ears reddened.
“Keep an eye on the fire, Miss Daniels? Don’t let it get too low while I grab some more wood?”
“I won’t let it go out,” she said, fighting the temptation to roll her eyes. He had thought she was just another city girl looking to experience nature with no clue as to what that meant. “I’ll try not to be a burden and let the flame die out.”
“Good,” he said without any inflection in his tone. “Lock the door behind me. I’m not asking; I’m telling you.” He winked at her and the room felt warmer. Maybe it wasn’t the room heating after all. Her body flared to a warm ember. “If somebody’s out there, make ‘em work to get inside. I don’t want you hurt. I’m sort of looking forward to sharing that bed,” he said and she couldn’t tell if that was a joke or the real Seth. She didn’t care right then.
“If it means I make it till the morning and can get back to America, that’s all that matters,” she admitted. The lump in her throat plummeted to her stomach where a knot started to take shape. Pacing across the floor, she was in over her head with this man. Why did he fluster her this way? So he was flirting. Normally she would barely notice. Why him?
