He hesitated, but sat her down outside the shed on the cold ground. Ice and snow froze her butt, but since the chill took her mind off the pain, she didn’t mind. She heard the rattle of chains, and then he was carrying her again.
She felt the warmth as they entered the cabin, and he lowered her to the kitchen chair.
Something touched her lips, and she instinctively opened her mouth. The bitter liquid made her cough a little. Her emergency whiskey wasn’t for the faint of heart. His worried face appeared in her line of sight. She wanted to ease the furrow between his brows. “Don’t worry. Normal. Always a balance.”
“Is this what happened after you fixed me?”
She inhaled, the pain already starting to recede. “Worse. You were in much worse shape.”
“If I’d known…”
He didn’t have to finish the thought. Genevieve knew he was wishing he’d tackled her before she healed the man. “Had to do it. You didn’t freeze.”
“Huh?”
“You must have come running when you heard the first shot. You didn’t freeze.”
Alex blinked. “I guess I didn’t.”
She could move now. She shifted her legs, conscious of the water pooling on the floor.
She noticed wetness dripping on her as well. Oh God, he was still shirtless and shoeless. Blood and water had left streaks across his chest. His skin had turned from brown to blue. “You’re going to get frostbite.”
He looked down, as if just realizing he had been exposed to the elements for far too long. “We’re both shaking. Come on, let’s warm us up.”
Alex gathered her in his arms and lifted her from the chair. She tried to make a token protest. “Your shoulder—”
“Is fine. Hush.”
She must still be woozy from shock and pain because she didn’t even care. He set her on her feet. She blinked at the harsh fluorescent lights of the bathroom. He stripped off his pants and boxers, and she allowed him to remove her clothes as well, standing there like a doll.
He cranked the shower to the hottest level. His lips were as blue as his skin, and she felt a spurt of real alarm and an impetus to move out of her daze. “Hurry, get in there.”
He hauled her in with him, his body flinching at the first touch of warmth on his skin. Though he needed the heat more than her, he made sure the water fell over both of them. He picked up the bar of soap. “Stand still.”
She obeyed as he washed her clean. He spent an inordinate amount of time scrubbing her hands and arms. To offer comfort, she figured, more than actually cleaning her. Since it kept him firmly under the hot spray as well, she didn’t object.
Finally, Alex must have judged her to be clean or warm enough, since he shut the water off and reached out of the stall to grab the towel. He rubbed her down thoroughly before swiping at his own wet chest and tucking the towel around his waist. He used a dry towel to wrap her up, and then herded her from the bathroom. “Alex…”
“Hush.”
She followed him into the main room and stood awkwardly, a stranger in her own home, while he locked the back door, checked the locks on the front and started a fire. The sudden light, after they’d spent a whole evening in darkness, seemed wrong in the room, and she cast a nervous glance at the window.
He noticed. “You’re sure he was alone?”
“If there is someone else out there, he doesn’t know about it. Did you check the phone?”
“When I got you the whiskey. Still dead.” Finished with the fire, he stood and pulled the blanket off the bed before he walked toward her with a determined glint. “Drop the towel. I want to get you warm.”
Uncaring of her modesty, she tossed the towel aside. The chill touched her for an instant before he wrapped the extra blanket around her. As if she weighed nothing, he picked her up in his arms again and sat down with her in the armchair. She didn’t protest, only snuggled closer. “I can’t seem to stop shaking. It’s not because I’m cold, I think.”
“Have you ever fired a gun at another person?”
“No.”
“First time I had to fire a gun, you’d have thought I had palsy. It’s a natural reaction. I’d be amazed if you could just laugh it off.”
“I can’t believe I shot a man.” How could she have thought she could just kill a man and walk away?
