She’d been down that road a few years back when she had dated a
pro-football quarterback. She had fallen head over heels for Caleb Redmond, and
he had said he loved her, too. They had planned to get married, even talked
about having children.
Then he’d dumped her six months later and taken up with one of
the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, leaving her heart in tatters.
She’d known better. She’d fallen for a West Point grad when she
was in college, a soldier headed for the Middle East. That relationship had
crashed and burned, as well.
Macho men were all alike, all just interested in making a
conquest or sleeping with you until something better came along. Alex was no
different.
She eased a little away from him, trying to put some distance
between them, ignoring the rush of cold that slipped beneath the foil
blanket.
The arm around her tightened, drawing her back against his
side. “Just stay put. If you don’t, both of us are going to freeze our asses
off.”
She ignored a shot of irritation, forced herself to relax and
settle back against him, absorbing his warmth. By the way he was scowling he
didn’t like the situation any better than she did. It seemed unlikely that
either of them would get any sleep.
She must have dozed off. When she awakened again it was
morning. The sun was up, a fire started, and Alex was nowhere in sight.
A shiver went through her.
He’ll be
back,
she told herself. He wouldn’t just leave her—not even to go for
help.
Would he?
Rina pulled the foil blanket around her shoulders, forced her
stiff muscles into action and shoved to her feet—or foot, as it were. Her head
immediately started pounding, she ached all over and her ankle throbbed. But the
flames beckoned, promising their warmth.
Limping in that direction, she sat down near the fire beside
the pile of dry branches, which appeared to have been replenished, and began to
feed the flames, determined not to let them burn out until the desert air grew
warmer.
By then Alex would surely be back.
Rina searched the horizon for any sign of him, but didn’t see a
thing.
Five
A
s he made his way back to camp, Alex
checked his wristwatch. It wasn’t quite noon but he’d accomplished a lot. There
was a huge SOS made of rocks in an open area on the other side of an outcropping
a hundred yards from the burned-out chopper. Using a sheet of plastic, a plastic
container and a few heavy rocks, he had set up a still for making water in the
dry streambed not far from their makeshift camp.
Next he planned to build a stack of firewood to light at the
first sign of a search plane in the area. He walked into camp expecting to see
the little redhead, wishing he wasn’t quite so eager to get there.
She wasn’t sitting beneath the ledge out of the sun with her
foot propped up as she should have been. The fire had burned down to embers, but
the pile of dry branches had mostly been fed into the flames so he knew that
wherever she was, she hadn’t been gone very long.
A pit stop, he told himself, which was the only reason he
didn’t chase off to find her. He’d give her a few minutes of privacy before he
took off in search of her. By then she would probably be back.
He set down the pair of makeshift crutches he had made for her
that might need to be shortened, and started collecting wood for the signal
fire. All the while, he was listening for sounds of her return. When five
minutes passed and he didn’t hear footsteps, his worry ratcheted up, and he
started calling her name.
“Sabrina! Sabrina, where are you?”
He checked for small, female footprints, found a hop-skip
pattern that moved off down a trail leading toward a rocky ridge not far from
the campsite.
He had almost reached the pile of boulders when a bloodcurdling
scream sliced through the quiet desert air. A jolt of adrenaline hit him and
Alex shot down the path, his heart practically exploding as he raced toward the
rocks, nearly running over Sabrina as she hobbled as fast as she could in the
opposite direction.
To avoid a collision, he caught her around the waist and swung
her away from him before she could impact his aching ribs.
“Alex! Oh, my God! Oh, my God, it bit me!”
Fear kicked his heartbeat up a couple more notches.
“Rattlesnake? Show me. Show me where it bit you.”
She was shaking her head, red curls flying around her face.
“Not...not a snake.” She wheezed in a breath. “Scorpion,” she said, shaking all
over as she pointed toward the rocks behind her.
Crawling into a crevice was a big, black, nasty-looking
scorpion about five inches long. It disappeared into the shadowy depths of the
rock, and Alex relaxed a little.
“It’s all right, love. They sting like bloody hell but a
scorpion bite won’t kill you.” Her arms tightened around his waist and when she
looked up at him, he read the terror in a face that was rapidly turning
blue.
“Can’t breathe...”
“Oh, shit, you’re allergic.”
She nodded, wheezed in a breath. “Bee...stings.”
For the second time in two days, he gritted his teeth against
the ache in his side and lifted her into his arms. Alex started running, heading
back to camp.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing ragged as he laid her on
the grass pallet, raced over to retrieve his pack, set the bag down beside her
and unzipped the top.
“Listen to me, Sabrina. You’re going to be okay. One of my
sister’s friends was allergic to bee stings. I had to take her to the hospital
once. Scared the hell out of me. After that, I’ve always carried an EpiPen in my
gear bag.”
She nodded, tried to smile. His chest squeezed at her bravado.
He knew Sabrina was a woman who liked to be in control, one who had a hard-on
for men she couldn’t walk on. But now he knew she was also sweet, and tough when
it counted.
Determined to do it right, he unzipped her jeans and tugged
them down over her hips, ignored the pretty little pink lace panties she was
wearing, took the cap off the needle and jammed it into her thigh. He flinched a
little at her faint whimper of pain.
“Just take it easy. Lie still and let the medicine go to work.”
He checked her pulse and waited for her heartbeat to slow. A few more minutes
ticked past. “How are you doing?”
Sabrina swallowed and opened her eyes. She was breathing much
easier, some of the color back in her face. A little of his tension eased.
“I...umm...always carry a Pen...in my purse,” she said,
“but...”
“But your purse went up in flames when the chopper exploded.
It’s all right. Things happen out here.” He wanted to rail at her, yell at her
for leaving the camp and scaring him half to death, but he held himself back as
much as he could and helped her slide the jeans back up when he wanted to pull
them all the way off instead.
“What the hell were you doing out there?”
A blush crept into her cheeks. “What do you think? I’m human,
you know.”
His mouth edged up. And female. No question of that. “Feeling
any better?”
She moistened her lips, which were pink and plump and made him
think about last night and how much he’d wanted her.
“I could use a drink of water. I know we don’t have very
much.”
He pulled the plastic water bottle out of his pack. It was the
last of the first bottle, just enough for a couple of sips. He took the lid off,
handed it over, and she pressed it against her lips. Sabrina held the wetness in
her mouth for a couple of seconds before she swallowed.
“Thanks.” She handed him back the now-empty bottle and tried to
sit up but he pressed her back down.
“Give yourself a few minutes.”
“I think I’m okay. I’m a little dizzy but I think that’s
normal.”
“You ever had a reaction to epinephrine?”
“No. I’ve only had to use it one other time, but I remember it
worked pretty fast.”
His sister’s friend had been nauseous and light-headed, but
without the drug she could well have been dead.
“You’re getting sunburned,” Alex said. Capping the needle, he
disposed of it back in its case and stuck it in the pack. Withdrawing a tube of
sunscreen, he smeared it over her forehead, cheeks and nose.
“I swear you have everything in there but the kitchen
sink.”
“Actually, I’ve about exhausted my bag of tricks.”
“You...umm...mentioned you have a sister. Does she live in
Connecticut?”
“Used to. Six months ago, Rebecca and her daughter, Ginny,
moved to Houston.”
“That sounds nice. The two of you must be close.”
He nodded. He loved Becca and her little girl. When he found
out his sister’s husband was abusing her, he had flown back to New Haven and
confronted the bastard. It wasn’t much of a fight, just enough to show the guy
what it felt like to have someone beat the crap out of him the way he had done
to Rebecca.
“Her husband was knocking her around,” he said, keeping it
simple. “She left him and came to Houston with her daughter to start over.”
Sabrina’s eyes remained on his face. They were a different
shade of blue than his own, more vibrant somehow, more a sapphire, while his
were the color of the sky.
“You know, Alex, you’re different than I thought.”
He grinned. “You mean I’m not the cocky jet jockey you thought
I was?”
She laughed and he felt a sweep of relief. She was going to be
okay.
“Oh, you’re cocky, all right. But you have a tiny, itty-bitty
hidden nice streak I missed seeing before.”
He smiled. He
was
a decent guy, and
now he knew that Sabrina Eckhart was a really decent girl. The kind you took
home to meet your family—if you had a normal family—which he didn’t.
A nice girl like Sabrina was the last thing he needed. He
wasn’t ready to get involved with a woman. He had no idea what he wanted out of
life, had been trying to figure it out since the day he graduated from Yale and
signed up to become a naval aviator. He’d loved the job, but after a while he’d
learned it wasn’t what he wanted for the rest of his life.
He liked what he was doing now, but it didn’t seem to be
enough. Nothing did.
Her eyes searched his face. “Saving my life is kind of getting
old, don’t you think?”
“You could have done it yourself if you’d had your purse.”
Something shifted in her features and the softness disappeared
from her voice. “Is that bit of humility actually coming from the great Alex
Justice?”
Irritation slipped through him. She had always seen him as
arrogant and self-centered. Apparently, that hadn’t changed. “You’re right. I
saved your ass so now you owe me. As soon as we get back, I intend to
collect.”
Fire flashed in her eyes. “You’re on the payroll. I’ll be sure
to give you a bonus.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, money isn’t what I had in mind.” Turning he
stormed off, leaving her sitting there fuming. Maybe it was better this way. He
didn’t need a pain-in-the-ass redhead in his life.
“I’m going to build a signal fire,” he called over his
shoulder. “There’s a chance they’ll send up a search plane today and if they do,
I want them to see the smoke.”
Alex stalked away.
* * *
Sabrina watched him go, wishing she could call back the
hateful words. Alex hadn’t deserved that. It was a defense mechanism she had
used against him since the day they’d first met. She’d been physically attracted
to Alex Justice from the moment Sage had introduced them.
She knew the kind of man he was, knew he wasn’t a one-woman
man. Alex dated some of the most beautiful women in the world. He was the last
man on earth she wanted to get involved with.
From the shadows beneath the ledge, she watched him head off to
work on the bonfire. It took a while, but eventually he had enough dry branches
stacked up to send a decent signal, and twigs and leaves in position to get it
started.
It was hot now, the sun beating down, sweat glistening on his
bare torso. She shoved to her feet and started hobbling toward him.
“Alex!” He turned, saw her limping in his direction and swore
something she couldn’t quite catch.
He strode toward her, stopped directly in front of her. “I
thought I told you to keep your weight off that ankle.”
“I just... I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I don’t know why
I said it. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done and there is no amount of
money or anything else that could ever repay you.”
Some of the tightness in his features slipped away. He reached
out and touched her cheek. “I don’t expect any payment, Sabrina.”
“I know.”
Then he smiled. “But if you’re offering, well who am I to
refuse?”
She laughed. He was teasing her, no longer angry. “Forget it,
flyboy.”
His mouth curved. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
She was still smiling as she looked past him to the pile of dry
branches and wood he had collected.
“I wish I could help you with some of this. Dammit, I hate
having to just sit there and do nothing.”
“That reminds me. I made you a present.”
“A present?” She felt a jolt of excitement. Out here where she
had nothing, anything at all was appreciated. “What kind of present?”
Alex walked over and picked up what looked like two pieces of
wood and carried them back to her. “I had to guess on the height.”
It was a makeshift pair of crutches. They were no more than
sturdy branches stripped bare and fitted into a cross piece that tucked under
her arms. Another crosspiece fit through a hole partway down the shaft to
provide a handhold. Rina reached for them, eager to try them out.
Fitting them beneath her arms, she gripped the handles, took a
couple of tentative steps and grinned. “I love them! They’re a great present.
Thank you, Alex.” She swung over a couple of steps and stopped right in front of
him, leaned up as far as she could and pressed a kiss on his lips.
A flash of heat hit her that went all the way to her toes.
Alex’s mouth opened under hers and for an instant the kiss went deeper. But when
he reached for her, Sabrina pulled away.
She stared into his handsome face, her fingers trembling as
they came up to touch her lips. “Oh, my...”
Alex’s eyes looked dark and turbulent. He seemed to be
replaying the mind-blowing kiss that hadn’t even gotten off the ground.
“I was afraid of that” was all he said.
* * *
No plane came that day. Alex hunted that afternoon,
retraced his steps and brought back the feral pig. He roasted it that night, and
as hungry as both of them were, it was delicious. By the morning of the third
day, they were down to half a bottle of water and half of the first plastic
bottle refilled with the condensation he’d been able to collect from the
greenery living in the dry streambed.
It was early, still chilly but beginning to warm. They were
sitting beside the fire, sharing a few more chunks of roast meat.
“I think we should try to walk out,” Sabrina said. “My crutches
are working great. It’s early. We can cover a lot of ground if we leave right
away.”
“It’s not a good idea. Best thing is always to stay with the
downed aircraft.”
“Yes, but even if they’re looking for us they might not find us
for days. Maybe not at all. There are thousands of acres of desert out there.
Remember that guy who got lost in the mountains outside Las Vegas? They didn’t
find him or his plane until years after he was dead, and he was some famous CEO
or something. Imagine how many people in Rio Gordo will be looking for us.”
In a way, he agreed. If he was by himself, he’d already be
gone, but Sabrina had a sprained ankle, and no matter how game she was, the
territory between here and the road was brutal.
“It isn’t all flat, you know. You saw what it looks like from
the air. Hundreds of ravines, miles of cactus, hot sand, scrub brush,
rattlesnakes and more of those damnable scorpions. And those crutches won’t be
easy to handle.”
“I can do it.” She grabbed the crutches and made a show of
using them just to prove her point. It reminded him of the first time she’d
tried them, of the hot kiss they’d shared that wasn’t really a kiss at all and
had turned him inside out. He’d hardly been able to sleep last night just
thinking about it. Aching to do a lot more of what they’d started.