by Rachel Grant
She didn’t release Alec’s hand, which surprised him. He had a feeling Isabel wasn’t really a hand holder, but she was facing her deepest grief and needed a hand to hold. He was damn glad that he could provide it.
Mosquitoes swarmed in the late summer heat. He waved an arm to disperse them but didn’t release Isabel’s hand to dislodge the worst offenders. No way was he letting her go now that he had her.
They reached the glade where he’d found Vin eleven months ago. Back then, snow had dusted the ground and Vincent Dawson’s body. Between the snow and his camouflage clothing, he’d blended into the landscape, and Alec hadn’t spotted him until they were just yards away. Today Alec was glad for the bright afternoon sun and the late summer wildflowers, which lent the clearing a peaceful beauty.
“It was snowing when he walked here, and continued snowing for several hours after he died. There was a faint, single set of footprints leading to his body.”
A granite marker rested on the exact spot where Vin had lain down and died. Isabel gasped when she saw it and dropped to her knees, tracing the letters of her brother’s name etched into the stone. She looked up at Alec. “Did you…?”
“Yes.”
She smiled at him, and he was surprised there were no tears. “Thank you.”
“Do you want to have a ceremony here on the first anniversary? You can invite friends and family. I’ll make sure my people leave you alone.”
Now her eyes did tear. “Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’d like that. We don’t have any blood relatives, but there’s a military family I lived with in high school, when Vin was deployed. It would mean a lot to them to be able to visit.”
“I’ll pay for their trip.”
Her brow furrowed.
“No strings, Iz. I’m just doing what I should have done months ago.”
She stretched out a hand, and he pulled her to her feet. She stood before him and slid her arms around his neck and rose up on her toes. She kissed him again, not with passion, but not exactly platonic either.
She dropped back to her heels and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go to the river, then head back to the compound.”
He nodded and took her hand again and led her toward the low, wide stretch of the river that was the only shallow crossing for a mile in each direction.
Isabel studied the rapid flow. “How high was the water when Vin crossed?”
“About the same as it is now. It snowed that first night, and again the last night, before we found him, so the ground was slick on the bank. There were footprints on the far side that indicated he’d stumbled and fell into the water.”
“That’s when he lost his pack?” Isabel asked.
“We think so, but continuing across after losing his gear has never made sense. He knew the compound buildings were on that side of the river. Plus, there’s a prove-up cabin, where he could have gotten warm, just a half mile away.”
She dropped to the damp ground above the bank and unlaced her heavy hiking boots.
“You want to cross?” he asked, surprised.
“It’ll be faster than hiking to the bridge.”
He wanted to caution her, but if anyone knew how to cross a rapidly flowing river in Alaska, he had a feeling that person was Isabel Dawson. She tucked her socks into her boots and tied the laces together, then draped the boots around her neck. Next she hiked her pants above her calves and cinched them in place by tightening elastic bands built into the cuffs.
Alec dropped down beside her and ran a hand up her bare left shin, loosened the band, then slid the cuff higher, above her knee. He caressed her knee before pulling the elastic through the spring-cord lock and tightening it again. “In the middle of the river, the water will reach your knees.”
She chuckled. “You could have just told me.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
The light in her eyes shifted. She leaned into him, pulled his head down, and kissed him, no hesitation, no holding back. Her mouth opened, inviting his tongue inside. He wasn’t one to pass on such a sweet offer and slanted his mouth across hers, kissing her deeply as he fulfilled the fantasy he’d had yesterday morning and threaded his fingers through her curls.
The boots draped around her neck dug into his chest, and he ended the kiss with a grin. “I wonder what my employees’ll say when they see your boot print on my heart.”
Her eyes lit with humor as her gaze dropped to his shirt, which did indeed have her boot print stamped across his chest. “I’m sure they’ll assume you had it coming.” She adjusted her other pant leg and stood.
Alec hitched up his own hiking pants but left his boots on.
“You aren’t going barefoot?” she asked.
“In a combat situation, you never remove your boots.”
“It’s at least three miles to the compound buildings.”
“I’ve hiked farther in wet boots.”
“Suit yourself.” She faced the river.
The water was a heavy slate gray—opaque due to the high glacial silt content. No way to see what lurked beneath the surface. “I should go first,” he said.
She shook her head and adjusted the straps on her backpack to balance the weight. “This isn’t my first Alaskan river crossing. A big old Ranger like you, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to walk sideways, facing upstream?”
He winked at her. “I’ve crossed a few rivers in my time as well.”
She stepped up to him and grabbed his shirt, pulling him down for a fast, hard kiss. “See you on the other side, Ranger.” She stepped into the river, letting out a soft curse directed at the frigid water as she carefully probed for a place to plant her bare foot.
Alec watched, impressed with her surefooted confidence as she inched into the deep murky center of the glacier-fed river. He followed a few feet behind her, keeping her within arm’s reach.
At the midpoint, her foot slipped and she sucked in a sharp breath as the water reached her upper thighs, soaking her hitched-up hiking pants. She glanced sideways, a half smile on her face, and he expected a quip about how he’d been wrong, but all at once her face fell and she let out a low wail of agony.
Pain stabbed at Alec’s head.
Holy fuck. He grabbed Isabel’s shoulder. “Infrasound waves can’t go through water.” He shoved her down, into the icy river.
Chapter Fifteen
Daggers of cold sliced into Isabel, taking her breath away, but surfacing was not an option. She’d been facing upstream, so she twisted and tried to swim across, but the current was too strong. Her side slammed into a rock just beneath the surface. Shooting pain radiated from her ribs as she swallowed silty water.
She surfaced and took in a lungful of air, then dove under again, but this time twisted to go with the flow, feet first, the only safe way to ride a rushing river.
Alec caught her wrist and pulled her across the current, slightly changing their trajectory. The water was so brutally cold, she couldn’t hold her breath—it rushed out the moment she submerged. She needed air but was terrified of surfacing and being hit by infrasound again. They reached a stretch of rapids. Her back scraped rocks that lurked below as she tried to stay under the surface.
She lifted her head and took another deep breath and glanced downstream. The current had carried them farther than she expected. Ahead was a boulder that split the river. She tugged on Alec’s hand and pointed, then angled her body to aim for the far side of the boulder.
The boulder loomed; she dodged to the side just before slamming into the face. Instead, she scraped along the edge, likely losing a layer of skin, but her body was so numb with cold, she didn’t feel the abrasion. She landed in a groove and came to a stop, no longer at the mercy of the current. Alec surfaced beside her and pressed her against the stone, his body shielding her from the opposite bank.
“Fuck me,” he said. “I’m the shittiest Ranger alive.” He took a deep breath. “We won’t last long in this water. Dow
nstream there’s a drop-off. Stay to the right.”
“What’s on the left?” she asked.
“Rocks, big and jagged, and not much water. To the right there’s a pool. The drop is only about four feet. I think there’s a beaver dam below that. We can grab it and pull ourselves out.”
She shook with the cold, massive quakes that racked her entire body. She doubted she’d be able to grip the tangled sticks that made up the dam with her numb hands but didn’t have a choice. “Let’s do it.”
“Take the drop feetfirst, toes pointed. Protect your head.”
She nodded.
“I’ll go first. Count to five, then follow. Got it?”
“Yes.”
He captured her face in his frozen hands and kissed her. “See you on the other side.” He pushed off the boulder and was gone. Isabel counted to five, sucked in a deep breath, and shoved off the boulder, torpedoing feetfirst to the right side of the drop-off.
Alec had never been so afraid in his life. Not when he was under fire in Afghanistan, not when conducting a covert op, not even when parachuting into live-fire zones to aid a squad of pinned soldiers.
His fear was for Isabel. Unlike the Rangers he’d teamed with, she hadn’t signed up for this. She could die. Here, now.
He plunged down the drop with knees bent to prevent slamming into the rocks below with undue force. A stone gouged his calf and scraped his side, but the current quickly shoved him forward. He sucked in a breath and dropped below the surface.
The river was much deeper here, over his head. The current pushed him toward the center, but he swam to the side, aiming for the dam. His arm caught a tangle of branches and a log braced against a boulder. The tree limbs loosened under his weight, with numb fingers he scrambled for a stronger hold. Isabel slammed into him, and he nearly lost his grip. She grabbed him with one hand and the tangled limbs with her other.
He tightened his hold on the roots and branches and grabbed her pack with his free hand. “Hold on to me, and I’ll pull us to the bank,” he said over the noise of the rushing river.
Her fingers slipped on his shirt just as he let go of her pack, and she started to slip away. He caught her by the hair, and winced at the pain it must have caused her. She caught the waistline of his pants. He felt the tug, and she tangled her fingers through his belt loops. As soon as he knew she wouldn’t be swept away, he released her curls and grabbed her arm to pull her to his chest. “Sorry, honey.”
“S’okay. Too numb to hurt.”
“You’ve got a firm grip now?”
“Yes.”
They had to get out of the frigid water before their bodies completely shut down. And they had to pray that whoever had hit them with infrasound was still looking for them upstream. Iz quaked against him. “Hold on. I’ll pull us to the bank,” he said.
She nodded.
It was slow going with the need to make sure every handhold could support their combined weight against the current. More than one branch snapped, but he managed to get them both to the side.
He took her hands and placed them in the network of roots extending from the beaver-gnawed trunk that was firmly embedded in the bank. She’d have to find the strength to climb on her own. The roots would snap under their combined weight.
She struggled to grip the slick roots.
“You can do it, honey.”
She nodded and pulled herself upward. Inch by slow inch, she emerged from the river and climbed over the log to land. Thank goodness overhanging branches shrouded them, or they’d make a clear target for whoever had zapped them earlier.
She collapsed on the bank while he pulled himself up and out, then dropped to the mossy ground beside her. The low overhanging tree provided adequate cover. They could take a moment to catch their breath before getting the hell away from the deadly river.
He pulled her against him, seriously concerned about her intense shaking. Her deathly pale face and blue lips didn’t instill confidence they’d escaped the river before hypothermia had taken hold.
“I d-d-on’t know w-what’s worse.” Her words were broken with chattering teeth and stuttering speech. “The fr-igid w-ater or the c-c-old air.”
Shit. They were three miles from the main buildings. He grabbed his phone from his soaking backpack. Waterlogged and useless. “We’ll go to the prove-up cabin.” He touched her cheek. The half mile to the cabin might still be too far. Her boots were gone, lost to the river. “Can you hike barefoot? The cabin has electricity, a fireplace. Everything we need to get you warm.” There was also a direct radio link to the compound. “I can carry you, but we’ll get there faster if you can walk.”
She nodded.
He dropped a kiss on her cold lips. “That’s my girl.” He stood and pulled her to her feet.
“W-hat if…what if wh-wh-oever z-apped us is w-w-aiting at the cabin?”
Alec drew his gun from his back holster; thankfully, it hadn’t been dislodged as he slammed into rocks in the river. “Infrasound is directional. Trees—or water—can break infrasound waves. If you feel a sudden headache, or any other infrasound-like symptoms, take cover.” He checked the load on his gun and chambered a round. “Leave it to me to hunt the bastard down.”
Isabel proved her strength as she hiked barefoot without complaint or hesitation. She held up as well as many soldiers he knew. As soon as they were safe, he’d strip off her wet, miserable clothes and warm her.
They reached the crest of a steep hill, affording them a limited view through trees to the south and east. Twenty yards of open space separated them from the safety of the cabin. When they were inside, he could commandeer a damn tank if he wanted and take out the bastards who’d forced her to swim down a glacier-fed river—less than ten miles downstream from the actual frigging mile-thick melting glacier.
Beside him, her body shook uncontrollably. Alarmingly. The clicking of her chattering teeth rebuked him for his failure. He had to get her warm. Keeping the cabin in view, he grabbed her shoulders and positioned her against the trunk of the nearest spruce, then took her hands in his. Her fingers were ice, but his weren’t much better. He lifted his shirt and placed her cold hands against his belly. His skin might be cold and damp, but she was even colder.
Her hands slid up to his chest, leaving an icicle trail in her wake. “Surprisingly, this isn’t a come-on.”
“I know, honey.” He turned to study the structure below. “It’ll take me a moment to type in my security code to unlock the cabin. While I do that, I want you to tuck in between me and the cabin, so no one can get a clear line of sight at you.”
In this condition, if they were both hit by infrasound, he might not be able to hold it together long enough to get her inside. This way, only he’d take the hit. She’d be okay.
“Can you run for the door?”
She nodded.
“You are one in a million, honey. On three.” He counted, and they both sprinted through the open space.
Halfway, she stumbled. He scooped her up and ran. At the door, he pressed her between the wall and his body as planned, and punched in his code.
The click of the lock releasing was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. He lifted her again and carried her inside, then slammed the door closed with his foot. Still holding her with one arm, he slid the manual bolt home and punched in the code to arm the security system and relock the door.
Far better than the structure Isabel had taken Alec to on Thursday, the prove-up cabin had originally been a basic one-room log home built by a homesteader—a requirement to prove he would live here and work the land—but had been expanded over the years. Alec had added his own embellishments after he purchased the company. It now boasted indoor plumbing, electricity, and bulletproof windows—a necessity with the live-fire trainings. Between the thick log walls and hardy glass, they were safe.
He set Isabel on her feet and pulled the damp top from her body, wishing this were a different circumstance to be stripping her, but he was seriously
worried by the bluish tinge to her skin. “Finish undressing while I build a fire,” he said.
He turned to the fireplace and opened the damper, then threw in a fire-starter log and a bunch of kindling. No time to finesse the job. He lit the wrapper on the starter log, then turned to see Isabel fumbling with her pants, unable to work the button.
He helped her. The lightweight hiking pants easily came off even when wet, and were made of a special fabric that wicked away moisture and dried quickly, which was probably the only reason her body hadn’t completely shut down on the hike to the cabin. There was blood on her waist. A scrape from the river. Warmth first, then he’d check out her wound.
He shucked his own shirt, then turned back to the fire. The kindling hadn’t caught yet, but he tossed in a log anyway, hoping he wouldn’t kill the meager flame. It was more important that he help Isabel. After she was warm, he could worry about the damn fire.
She stood in the center of the room, almost in a daze, shivering.
She was in trouble.
With the knife from his belt, he cut his bootlaces, no time to untie the wet leather. Thus freed, he stepped out of the boots and stripped out of his pants and socks. Naked but for boxer briefs, he scooped her in his arms and carried her to the bed. After pulling the thick comforter aside, he placed her in the center, then slipped in beside her, covering them both with flannel sheets, wool blanket, and down comforter.
He gathered her against him, her cold body pressed to his as he whispered encouraging words. She was a helluva hiker and outdoorswoman but lacked bulk to keep warm or the training to power through trying physical circumstances.
He held her tight while she tried to burrow into him. “Mmmm,” she said. “You feel heavenly.”
Hardly—his skin wasn’t much warmer than hers, but being skin to skin and covered by blankets he too was beginning to warm.
He kissed her forehead as he lowered his hands to the scrap of wet fabric that covered her butt. This last bit of modesty was ridiculous in this circumstance, and he peeled off her panties, wishing the first time he got his hands on her luscious ass had been part of foreplay.
