He inhaled.
Collette. Vanilla. Her skin. Her taste.
Tender hands soothed his shoulders, his arms. “I’m here.”
He nodded. And then inhaled her scent again. He needed to get her to safety in case the entire structure gave out. God help him, he needed to gauge their situation before he lost control of his fear completely.
Because if their situation was as dire as he thought it was, his heart would explode before anyone even discovered they were trapped here.
But it wasn’t his life that mattered. It was Collette’s.
In fact, Collette was all that mattered. He nodded again, inhaled, and forced his eyes open.
Black. Black everywhere.
“Are you all right?” He pressed his mouth to the top of her head.
Sweet and warm. He inhaled again, filling his senses with…her.
When she didn’t answer right away, he moved his hands over her shoulder. “Collette?”
“My foot…” A tremor shook her voice. Addison froze. She’d try to hide her fear from him—his brave Collette. She’d been brave from the moment he met her. “Something’s caught it.”
“Does it hurt?”
“A little. More now. But…” She gasped. “It’s trapped.”
His heart skipped a beat. The possibility that her foot was crushed only increased his urgency to get the two of them out from beneath this damn house. She would need a physician, and quickly.
If he failed… He thrust away the wave of fear and hopelessness that wouldn’t help anything and steeled himself.
Reaching down to free her from his position was impossible. Only a few inches of empty space surrounded them.
Addison swallowed hard. The cot had saved them from being crushed outright. It was as though they’d been entombed—buried alive.
Before panic could crush him again, he rejected such thoughts.
He’d make damn sure they didn’t die here together.
An opening. There must be gaps in the debris. He’d locate one and then he’d ensure it had sufficient supports for them to pass under.
“Can you move your foot at all?”
“Oh!” She gasped. “I can, but… Addison, it hurts.” The pain in her voice tore at him.
“Don’t move it then, love. I’ll free you. I’m going to get us out of here.” All he wanted to do was hold her, reassure her, and make all her pain go away. First, though, he needed to save her. “Trust me?”
“Yes.”
Sliding his arms out from beneath her, he could only make incremental movements but managed to roll so that he faced the outside—or what he thought was outside. Cool air teased his chest.
An opening.
He explored the space with his hands. Fabric. The wool of his jacket on the floor. He didn’t even remember taking it off. And wood. Planks, small gaps surrounding most of them.
If he could push the lower half of himself out, then he could turn around enough to free her foot.
“Someone will come, won’t they? What if the cot breaks?”
