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.
Chapter 8
With the throttle wide open, Nick shot up the hill, bouncing over rocks and logs buried beneath two feet of snow. He couldn’t avoid them without losing control of the machine, so he rode the worst of the bumps, his teeth jarring against each other, his head aching from the constant banging. As he neared the top of the hill, he held his breath. On a practically vertical slope, he knew he risked flipping the machine and tumbling back to the bottom.
Nowhere else along the side of the embankment was much better. He had to make a run for it or they’d freeze to death.
His breath held in his throat. Nick leaned all his weight as far forward as possible and gunned the throttle. The snowmobile shot straight up.
For a second, Nick was suspended in midair, his feet flying free of the footrests, all that connected him to the snowmobile were his hands on the grips. Gravity kicked in, and the machine fell forward, the skids slamming against the flat trail. Nick landed hard on the seat, his chest bouncing off the handlebars, the breath knocked from his lungs. Immediately his hands loosened on the throttle and the snowmobile slid to a stop against the opposite side of the trail, the front runner bumping softly against the base of a massive spruce tree. When he found his breath and his feet shifted back to the footrests, Nick shot a look through the blowing snow for Mary, his pulse hammering.
He found her on the side of the trail, her eyes wide, her face blanched.
“Get on.” He jerked his head toward the back of the vehicle.
Mary stood transfixed for another moment, then shook her head, as if shaking off the fear of the past few minutes and hurried toward him. “I truly think you have a death wish. Promise me you won’t do that while I’m on the back.” She slid onto the seat and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing tighter than necessary to hang on.
A grin twitched the corners of Nick’s mouth, a rush of relief-induced endorphins making him feel as if he could conquer the world. “I make no promises. Hold on.”
Mary’s hands clenched around his gut, her breasts smashing against his back.
With adrenaline pulsing through his system, a beautiful woman with her arms and legs wrapped around him and a powerful engine rumbling between his legs...life didn’t get much better than this.
The rest of the trip back to town Nick kept a sharp eye out for further attacks from rogue snowmobile operators. He’d let his guard down once too often for his own good, but they’d survived and now was the time to neutralize their attacker.
When they inched into town, the snowstorm had hit full force, blinding in its intensity. Not to be deterred, Nick headed for the police department they’d passed earlier that morning walking along Snowman Lane with Mary. Hard to believe it had only been that morning when so much had happened in between.
He parked the snowmobile in the snow-covered parking lot and hurried Mary through the door, a blast of wind and snow shoving them through to the inside warmth.
Mary stood in the entry, pulling the gloves from her hands, her entire body shaking.
“Mary, what are you doing out in this storm? I thought everyone would be holing up until it passed.” An older man in a police uniform hurried forward.
“Ch-Chief Landham, we j-just came in from M-Moose Lodge out on the T-Tanana River,” Mary stammered through chattering teeth.
“You were where?” He grabbed her arms and ushered her to a chair beside a space heater. “You’re frozen.” He clasped his hands over hers and rubbed them.
“This is my...f-fiancé, Nick St. Claire.” Mary nodded toward Nick, her brow dipping in warning.
