Instead of following his gaze and looking over her shoulder to confirm whatever he’d seen, she picked up her pace. As if she believed him. Trusted him.
He shivered and tried to shake off the extra weight on his shoulders. Damn word again.
“What is it?” She glanced up at him.
“Rain’s slowing down.”
After a few minutes fighting the headwind, bent almost double, she spoke again, her voice barely audible. “You’re worried about the aircraft returning.”
He nodded.
“So, what? You think they’ll hunt us down across the ice? And when the sun comes out, pick us off from above like…”
“Alaskan wolves?”
Unless he was mistaken, they’d shoot her on sight. She was expendable. More collateral damage in a senseless war. He sped up. Pushed himself faster, harder.
Hewas a different story. They needed what he had.
Or they thought they did. Either way, they’d stop at nothing.
He knew this from experience.
“Guess we’d better hurry across, then, huh?”
“Yeah. And once we make it, pray the ice cracks.” He forced a grim smirk to his lips. “With them on it.”
She stumbled, righted herself, and nodded. “Will do.”
***
Leo was not used to being the ball and chain in situations like this. She was used to speeding ahead, her body strong, her mind clear.
Right now, neither was true. But if she focused on a far-off object, she could keep up. The second she turned to the side or slowed or looked at the ground, she lost her steam.
Then again, even without the head injury and a body that felt beaten and broken, she would have had difficulty matching Elias’s pace. It wasn’t just that he was fast either. It was that he was fast in a place that wasn’t meant for humans. It was made for wolves and bears. Leo eyed the man’s wide back.And yetis, oh my.
Elias’s hand lifted, the movement sharp and sudden, and Leo froze instantly, eyes wide-open in the drizzle, poised for whatever came next.
Her eyes dipped to take in what she could see of his solid, muscle-bound form. He had the sure, careful gait of a man who’d definitely seen action.Of all kinds, whispered a lascivious little inner voice.
She blinked. What the hell was that? Had the bump to her head damaged her brain?
No, she reasoned. The action, the fatigue, and the stress of this situation felt like being back on deployment, where shit-talking was the norm. Except here she was having dirty, trash-talking conversations in her head instead of with her guys.
She flicked a look around, searching for whatever had made him freeze, and instantly regretted it when the world spun out of control.
The protein bar he’d foisted on her burned its way out of her belly and up her throat as her knees tried to give out.
Oh, hell. Not again.
She straightened her knees, swallowed to keep from gagging, and blinked fast and hard to keep the world right side up.Bile down. Air in. Bile down. Air out.
Her vision blurred, darkened. She shut her eyes and waited for the wave to pass.
When she opened them, Elias squatted beside her and leaned in, hand outstretched.
Whoa. Had she fallen?
