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She was awake in a flash. “Sorry about that,” she mumbled embarrassed.
Laura attempted, unsuccessfully, t
o straighten herself from the intimidating closeness of his large form. Suddenly, all awareness of this man as being of the opposite sex had her blushing hotly.
In her struggles, her knee slipped between his legs causing her thigh to rub against his male form. Immediately, her breast responded instinctively. Beneath her winter coat, under the smooth silk of her evening dress, her nipples hardened against the soft material.
Below her, Dexter's mouth set in a hard grim line as the rest of his body went completely rigid. Laura’s cheeks burned with humiliation. She wanted nothing more than to get away from this man, and as far away as possible.
Her attempts, however, proved to be useless. The vehicle's resting position left her movements clumsy. She couldn't seem to get a grip in order to extricate herself from his disturbing body.
At last, mortified, she had no alternative but to ask for help. “Would you mind lifting me slightly so I can get my balance?”
Throughout her struggles he remained silent, his body stiff and his face set in a dark foreboding stillness. Now, he stared unsmiling up at her. “Why did you come back here in the first place?”
“You were shivering,” she uttered defenseless.
“So?” He snapped.
“Well, it seemed a good idea at the time.”
Sighing heavily, he placed two large hands around her tiny waist and firmly lifted her to one side. Then in one swift motion he sat up, separating the distance between them.
She muttered thanks and received no response. Instead he looked out the window surveying their predicament. The sun had come up and shone its brilliant light over the earth. The daylight provided a clear view of their location. It was much worse than he feared.
Not more than three feet away, the edge of the gorge dropped off to the rocky ravine far below. Laura shivered from the realization. Dexter's expression only sharpened into a harsh grimace.
“Let's go.”
“I can't.” All of a sudden she froze, her fear from the night before, resurfaced.
“What do you mean you can't?”
She turned a frightened face from the gorge to him and repeated, “I-I mean, I can't.”
Still scowling he stared at her, then, unexpectedly, the smallest flicker of understanding crossed his features before he immediately turned away, suppressing the look. “If you plan on getting off this ledge I suggest you ignore your childlike fears and get your—”
“Childlike!” If he had slapped her, she couldn’t have felt more anger swiftly replace her fear. “How dare you! Just because you are some fearless barbarian willing to come down this gorge—”
“Barbarian, possibly.” He gave her. “Fearless, no. Now move it, or be left behind.”
Her eyes widened in shock. He wouldn’t dare! Then, not waiting to see if he was serious, she sprung over the front seat intent for the open window. However, she had moved too quickly, causing the car to rock precariously in its unusual resting spot between the two trees. Immediately, she froze and glanced behind to Dexter. Their eyes locked as they waited a heart stopping moment for the car to settle. When the rocking at last eased, he visibly relaxed and nodded to the window. “Let’s go.”
Nodding, she began again, crawling across the front seats toward the open window. She had just managed to plant her knee over the shift gear when she heard Dexter shout, “Get out, now?”
He vaulted the front seat, barking and shoving at her backside propelling her non-too-politely out the window. “The car's moving! Move it!”
With a forceful heave, he shoved her out the window. Fear gripped Laura once more and caused her movements to falter half way through the window.
Enough for Dexter to shout at her. “Move, Laura, now!”
Then she felt his hands on her backside and her body hurled carelessly into the snow outside. She turned just as Dexter came flying toward her; the vehicle behind him groaning as it completed the 180-degree somersault to its demise far below.
She sat stunned staring after it, realizing what happened could have easily befallen them last night as they slept. An eerie chill swept up her spine. He noticed her shivers. “I sure hope you have insurance on that thing.”
She looked at him. What a stupid thing to say. A stupid, uncaring, and unemotional thing to say. Here she sat, convinced she was traumatized for life, and all he cared about was if she had insurance or not.
“I'm fine thank you.” The sharp edge in her voice surprised her.
