Page 41 of Tormented Hearts

Hawk lunged sideways, half controlled, half falling, and caught her arm before she could start rolling. Both of them scraped hard against stone, bumping and crying out before they came to a stop.

His heart hammered and he was sore all over. But his first concern was for her. “You good?”

“Good.” Her voice shook. “Let’s keep going.”

They picked their way down the rest of the slope in tense, careful silence. When they finally hit level ground, both of them were shaking with exhaustion, palms torn open and bleeding from grabbing at rock the whole way down.

By the time the sun dropped lower and turned everything to gold, he felt like they’d forged through uncharted territory.

They found a sheltered spot to pitch the tent, and while he got the fire going, Sinead dug out the first aid kit, and they worked in silence, cleaning grit and blood from each other’s palms and wrapping the worst of their scrapes.

She’d been too quiet ever since he’d told her of the legend, and the near- catastrophe of pitching down that rock face hadn’t shaken loose whatever sat heavy in her thoughts.

He could only imagine how she must feel, knowing what her ancestor was a part of—and what threat could be following her now. As soon as he had a minute to catch a satellite link, he’d shoot a message to the Black Heart Security team so they could start looking into those families.

When she finished with the sleeping bags, she sat back on her heels and gazed off at the setting sun.

As she took a moment to rest, he set off around the perimeter of the clearing to forage for food. At their noon break, he’d emptied the entire contents of his food pack and found a handful of protein bars and a special treat he planned to surprise her with for dinner. This humble windfall eased his worries a little, because at least she had protein to keep going.

She was thin anyway, in that way women who were too busy to sit around for long were. He didn’t want her losing more, getting sick or lacking enough energy to complete her personal mission.

He located mushrooms growing in a drift beneath a tree and another discovery that almost made him let out a hoot of victory.

He stuffed it down before he could alarm Sinead and began gathering enough hazelnuts to carry her for at least a day.

When he walked back into camp, she was sitting before the fire, staring at the small, flickering flames. A tiny crinkle between her brows smoothed when she saw him.

Then she really looked at him. “What happened to your shirt? Did a bear rip it off?”

He flashed a grin and dropped the bulging, makeshift sack he’d formed by knotting the corners of his shirt together.

Her eyes widened. “More berries?”

“Take a look.”

He lowered himself to the ground across the fire from her and watched her open the sack.

She sucked in a gasp of delight and scooped up handfuls of the hazelnuts, letting them trickle out of her hands. “This is fantastic, Hawk.”

His gut tightened at the memory of her saying his name—his real name—as he moved inside her.

Across the fire, she met his gaze. “Thank you. Really.”

He didn’t know why her gratitude touched a spot deep in his chest. But he had to tug his stare away before she caught his reaction.

“We had a long day. I wish we were covering the ground faster.” He chatted as he set up the tripod over the fire and set a little pot of water on top to heat.

“I wish the mountain would stop trying to kill us. I didn’t think we were going to make it down that face today.”

He pushed out a low noise of agreement. “I think our tough moments are behind us.”

“Let’s hope.” She used a rock to crush the shells of several nuts and chewed the meat thoughtfully. “How do you know how to do all this?”

He glanced over. “All what?”

“This.” She gestured vaguely at the campsite, the fire, the rugged terrain around them. “You know how to read the ground. You navigated that loose rock like your forefather was a mountain goat instead of a doctor. You know how to find food for a vegetarian in the wilderness.”

Their gazes connected for a soft beat.