“Come on.” Her fingers loosened when she stood, leaving him to stare at his bare, red hand.
“Ford.”
He blinked. “Lost my glove.”
“You took it off.”
“Oh.” He shook his head, startled into action again when she handed him the missing item. “Thanks.”
Using the ski pole to test the ice before him, he stepped away from the hole, finally seeing it in its entirety. Where Angel had fallen was the narrowest part of the crevasse. The rest of it split the world open in either direction, as far as he could see. Angel had no doubt disturbed the camouflaging crust of ice and snow when she’d fallen into it, causing something of an avalanche inside. If she hadn’t fallen in at that exact spot, if she’d walked five feet in either direction…
A final, ominous groan echoed from deep in the giant crack, before leaving them in silence, broken only by the whistle of what, if Murphy’s law had its say, was sure to be another megastorm blowing up around them.
Chapter 28
Almost dying tasted hot and mineral, like rocks and dirt and rusted metal. Even after gulping what felt like a gallon of water, she couldn’t get it out of her mouth. Couldn’t wipe it from her lips or stop herself from gagging.
Everything was so hot, she had no choice but to yank off her gloves and hat.
A laugh escaped her, as abrupt and alien as a bark. Her head shook slowly from side to side as if in denial, but she was here. She’d seen it.Beenit. She’d died. And come back to life. No, almost died. Although for a while, everything had hung in the balance.
She’dhung in the balance.
Flexing her bare hands, she stared as if she couldn’t quite place what they were and sank to the ground, surprised when her butt encountered Ford’s sled instead.
“You okay?” Ford sat beside her and put an arm around her. Tightly.
She leaned into the man who’d proved himself more solid than the ground they walked on.
“I…” A slow turn brought them face-to-face, which didn’t tell her much. Instead of pulling his ski mask off to see his expression, she reached for her own. His hand was there to help her, then somehow his was yanked up and his mouth was there, hot and hungry on hers.
The kiss was life-giving. It showed her just how real this was. How real they were. It proved there was blood rushing in their veins, life in their bodies. She wanted him. Badly.
She pulled away, muttered something about the heat and moved to unzip her coat. Shook him off when he tried to stop her.
“No. No, I need this. I need you.” Her hands scrabbled at his zipper, fighting him. “Need to feel…” She leaned in, with all the intensity in the world, as if she’d sucked it from the air. “Alive.”
“We’re alive.” His big hands covered hers and pulled them to his chest. “But we won’t be if we get naked out here.”
“If we…” She blinked and looked around. Her chest kept rising and falling like she’d run or, hell, fallen into a big hole in the ice. “Oh crap. What am I doing?”
She hurriedly rezipped her coat, reached for Ford’s, and stopped when he did it up himself. “I’m sorry. I feel crazy. I could laugh or cry or… Doesn’t matter. Right. Right. Let’s go. Keep moving.” She stood up on wobbly legs, then sank back down again. “Whoa.”
“You okay?”
“I’m like rubber.” She braced herself to stand again and got a faceful of confetti-like snow.
“We need to get inside.” He looked around. “I’ll put up the tent. You get in and—”
“No. No, I’ll help. I can—”
He squatted, framed her face with his hands, put their foreheads together, and spoke. “Let me do this.” If he were any other man, she’d brace herself for more. Arguments, reasoning, worries, pleas. But from Ford Cooper, those four words were enough.
“Okay.” She nodded, sinking all the way down with relief.
Eventually, the weather stopped cooperating entirely, sending her to her feet to help after all, which was far better than sitting and watching. They fought for control of the tent. Angel held it while Ford hammered his horizontal deadman stakes deep into the ice so they wouldn’t budge in the night.
By the time they’d gotten it up and thrown their belongings inside, they had to bend double in order to move.
