Chapter 7 #2
Mary shivered behind him, her face buried in the back of his jacket. His hands and feet were cold, even with the miniature heaters on the hand- and footrests. Mary had to be freezing. He increased his speed, carefully negotiating the turns in the trail.
So intent on avoiding a head-on collision with a boulder or giant spruce, Nick wasn’t prepared when another snowmobile erupted from a side trail, swerving within inches of their front end.
Nick jerked the handlebar too late to miss the other vehicle. The front runner of their snowmobile clipped the back of the other machine. At the edge of an embankment, the sudden movement sent them over and sliding down a twenty-foot slope toward a frozen creek.
Holding on with everything he had, Nick tried to steer the machine to a halt, but they were moving too fast toward a huge boulder.
“Jump!” he yelled, kicked against the footrest and threw himself to the side.
At the same time, Mary’s arms let go of his waist.
Nick crashed into the snow, his shoulder hitting a rock before he rolled and continued his wild tumble down the hillside.
Pain radiated from each point he rammed into an obstacle beneath the snowy surface.
He reached out, grasping for something to slow his fall, but his gloved fingers couldn’t find anything but snow and loose rocks.
More snow and debris slipped down the hillside with him.
If he continued to fall, he wouldn’t stop until he crashed through the ice in the creek.
And if he didn’t break all his bones getting there, he’d die of hypothermia before he got back to civilization.
As this thought crossed his mind, his back hit against something solid and his downward spiral ended in a bone-jarring halt.
The rest of the hillside continued tumbling down on top of him, pelting him with rocks, snow and sticks.
Then Mary’s powder-blue-clad body slammed into him and knocked the air out of his lungs.
Mary lay with her face smashed against the solid wall she’d crashed into, her nose smarting from hitting it.
Nerves throughout her body reported in, detailing all the aches and pains collected on her death slide down the embankment.
She’d lost her gloves somewhere on the hillside, knocked from her hands as she scrambled to find a handhold.
Too soon, the cold seeped into her fingertips, spreading up her arms into her body, and she shivered.
The wall beneath her moved, a coat-padded arm curling around her. “You okay?” Nick’s breath warmed the top of her head, her hood having fallen off in her fall.
“I just fell twenty feet down a rocky slope—you do the math.” She tried to move but felt wedged against him, her chest and torso firmly smashed into his. The shock of the attack, on top of the terror of free-falling, made her movements slow and unwieldy.
An engine revved on the trail above them.
Nick seized her shoulders and shoved her away from him, then rolled behind the tree he’d been leaning against.
One minute Mary was sitting on a hillside wondering what the hell had just happened, the next, she was thrown on her back into the snow behind the tree. Nick’s body slammed down on top of her, squeezing the air from her lungs.
A loud bang echoed through the treetops and a splinter of wood bit into her cheek. “Crap!” Mary yelled. “Is that what I think that is?”
“Shut up and be still.” Nick covered her head with his face and arms, his body completely burying her in the snow.
Another bang split the air, the sharpness of the report sent fear searing through Mary.
Someone was shooting at them. The snow beneath her didn’t chill her nearly as much as knowing someone wanted to kill her or Nick, or both of them.
Mary lay still, her ears straining to hear what her eyes couldn’t see.
The rumbling engine revved again and roared off into the distance.
Nick lifted his head enough to peer around the edge of the tree trunk.
“I think he left,” Mary whispered. The chill of a moment ago transformed into a slow, steady boil as her body became increasingly aware of Nick’s on top of hers.
His chest rested against her, his hips pressing into her hips, a hard ridge evident beneath the bulky snowsuit, pressing into her lower belly.
Heaven help her. She’d just been shot at and all she could think about was the way Nick felt lying on top of her.
Nick dragged his gaze back to her. “You’re right, he’s gone.” Still, he didn’t make a move.
With Nick’s lips a few short inches from hers, and adrenaline pinging through her veins like a pinball, Mary’s mouth dried, her heartbeat increasing to a mad pace.
She ran her tongue over her lips, searching for something to say, coming up with nada.
Every ounce of her energy seemed to pour into her arms, urging her to. ..to...
She reached out, cupped the sides of Nick’s cheeks and pulled his face down to hers.
He didn’t put up a fight, didn’t resist.
When their lips met, Nick took control, jerking off his gloves to tangle his fingers in her hair. His lips slanted over hers, his tongue scraping across her teeth, pushing through to toy with hers.
The ridge between them hardened and Mary squirmed to get closer, cursing the layers of clothing in the way.
Her body ached to be next to his, skin-to-skin. She wanted to touch him, feel him, run her fingers over the hard muscles of his chest and down his washboard abs to...
Nick’s lips left hers and trailed a path along her chin to the sensitive area beneath her earlobe.
Without his head shielding her face, a large fat snowflake landed on her eyelid, melting against her heated skin. Another flake followed the first until the cool air and direness of the situation penetrated her lust-clouded brain.
Was she absolutely insane? What was she doing? She slid her hands between them and pushed against his chest.
When Nick’s lips left the curve of her neck, Mary’s entire body chilled. She wanted more but knew she’d be a fool to continue down this path.
Nick stared down at her, his eyes black and glassy. Then he was on his feet, racing up the side of the hill, his gun drawn.
Although she’d heard the snowmobile drive away, Mary couldn’t stop the rush of fear washing over her. What if he hadn’t gone far? What if he was gunning for Nick?
Mary scrambled to her knees and peered around the tree trunk.
Nick had reached the top of the hill, holding close to the tree trunks, barely visible through the thickening snowfall. Then he was sliding down the hill again, headed for the snowmobile that had come to a rest on its side against a large boulder.
Mary worked her way across the slope, collecting their gloves before heading for the machine. She reached it at the same time as Nick.
If not for the cushioning of the seat where it hit, the machine would probably be a complete wreck. As it was, it had sustained considerable damage to the runners and body in the tumble down the steep slope. Ed Scruggs would not be happy.
With Nick on the handlebars and Mary at the other end, they tugged and leaned hard on the machine, pushing it into the upright position. Once on its skids, the snowmobile slid downward again.
Nick and Mary braced against it until it came to rest again on the boulder that had stopped its initial fall. Nick climbed aboard and pressed the starter.
Nothing.
Mary envisioned a really long, cold walk back to North Pole. Her body, already soaked from lying in the snow, shook violently.
After fiddling with the starter and lifting the seat to wiggle the battery connection, Nick pressed the start button again and the engine sputtered to life.
Now all they had to do was get it back up the hill to the road. Mary stared up at the very steep slope and groaned.
“Can you make it to the top on your own?”
Mary stared up the hill. Her ankle throbbed but held under her weight. “Yes.”
“Go.”
She stared at him. “What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Mary looked from him to the road high above and back. “Are you sure?”
“We don’t have time to argue. Just do it.”
His bark sent her scrambling up the hill.
Her fingertips stung. Frostbite would set in all too soon as the temperature dropped deeper into the negatives.
When the engine revved behind her, Mary forced herself to concentrate on getting herself up the hill, amazed at how worried she was about a man she barely knew and was just beginning to trust.
The roaring increased, along with the clashing sound of runners on rocks.
Almost to the top Mary couldn’t stand it. She turned in time to see the snowmobile fly into the air, Nick clinging to the handlebars, his feet flying free of the footrests.