Page 58 of Mountain Impact

A gust of wind caught her and almost threw her onto the ground. Drake reached out a steadying arm.

“You okay?” he asked gruffly. Then his voice softened a little. “We’re almost there.”

Isolde nodded but didn’t waste any energy replying. As much as she liked to understand and control everything in her environment, in this case she knew she simply had to trust him.

Soon she was cold enough she couldn’t feel her toes anymore, but she kept going. Stopping would only expose them further, and it wasn’t like he could carry her out of here, anyway, not without letting go of Amélie.

Isolde’s heart clenched when she thought of how close they’d come to losing Amélie.

“Is she okay?” she asked.

“Still breathing,” he said. His eyebrow lifted. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. She needs help, Drake.”

“She tried to kill you.”

“She’s hurting. She needs help.”

He looked at her for the longest time. “You’re a better person than I am,” he said, finally.

“Not really. You’re the one carrying her.”

“That’s different.” They walked on in silence until, finally, he pointed up the mountain. “There it is!” he said.

Even though Isolde couldn’t see three feet beyond her, his enthusiasm was contagious. She pushed herself that extra distance until she finally saw what he was talking about. It looked more like a hole in the wall than a cave, but at least inside they’d be protected from the rain.

Drake dropped the unconscious woman gently on the ground. “Stay with her,” he asked. He began a thorough inspection of the area outside the cave, looking for any sign that an animal had chosen to set residence there, she assumed.

After a minute, he walked inside the cave. His large body disappeared from view almost immediately―the cave must be bigger than it’d looked from the outside. Isolde counted the seconds.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.

Where the hell did he go?

She thought of the lynx, and all the other animals that could have been hiding inside the cave, just waiting for Drake to step in. She wondered if she should leave Amélie and go inside to look for him, but what if―

Finally, he came back outside. He was no longer wearing his backpack. Isolde swayed in relief and exhaustion, almost going down to her knees. He ran to her side and placed a steadying hand on her waist.

“I’m okay, it’s just―”

“I know. I’m sorry I’m asking so much of you. We’ll be safe inside―and dry.”

“Dry? Don’t tempt me with such words, Drake,” aiming for humor. She didn’t miss the dark, smoldering look in his eyes.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, now that I know dry turns you on,” he whispered in her ear.

He wrapped his left arm tighter around her. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

“What about Amélie?”

“I’ll come back for her in a minute. I want you out of the storm, Isolde.”

“Take her in, please. I can walk.”

I couldn’t bear it if anything happens to her.

She didn’t say that last bit out loud.