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“Ryan!”
Mindless of the pain in her hip, she began moving, her gate hindered by her limp. When she thought she heard some leaves rustling behind her, fear flooded her consciousness. With a little cry, she picked up pace certain at any moment some hungry wolf would leap out at her.
Her hip gave a violent twist and her legs came out from under her. She hit the snow packed forest with a thud. Squeezing her eyes shut, she heard the definite sound of branches moving.
Oh God, she was going to die.
“Jay!”
Someone’s hands clamped around her arms and hauled her to her feet. She would have collapsed with relief against Jay’s chest, if he did not bear a scowl on his face.
“What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you stay put?”
“You’d prefer that wouldn’t you? Leave me out here as sitting prey?”
He shot his eyes heavenward, before removing one of his hands to run through his hair. “What are you talking about?”
Recalling why she had not stayed put, fear resurfaced quickly. “There’s something out here.”
His scowl disappeared swiftly as concern creased the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes as he turned them to look back at the now silent forest. “Where?”
“There—” she began, pointing toward the sound, and then stopped when she noticed a tiny brown creature break from the woods and scramble up a tree.
Behind her, she heard Jay release a heavy sigh. “A squirrel?”
Her back went erect as she turned to glare at him. “It could have been a lot worse. You shouldn’t have left me out here.”
“I didn’t leave you. Ryan did.”
That certainly didn’t help her mood. But at that point, she didn’t rightly care who abandoned her in the woods. “Just don’t do it again.”
To her surprise, he actually grinned. “I promise. From here on out we won’t leave you to the clutches of any wild-man-eating squirrels.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.” She glowered at him, hating his smile even more because she had always thought it was rather attractive. Then he went and ruined it by using it in such a hateful manner.
“Is everything okay?” Ryan came out of the woods and looked between the two of them.
With a start, Erika realized that Jay still held her by the shoulders, making it look as if they were on the brink of an embrace. She shuddered at the mere thought and gave her shoulder a shrug to brush his hands away.
He didn’t release her as quickly as she would have preferred, though admittedly if he had, she would have probably collapsed once again to the ground. When his hands finally did break away, Erika felt a coldness sweep over her arms where his large and warm hands had been.
Ryan came over and draped an arm over her shoulder to help guide her, but it nowhere near held as much warmth as Jay’s touch. Annoyed with this disturbing thought, she turned to Ryan and asked, “Can we go now?”
His face went grave and if she wasn’t mistaken, turned slightly pink. Apparently finding it difficult to look her in the eye, he said, “Come with me, Erika.”
She frowned, glancing behind him to the trees. That wasn’t the way home. A flicker of hope had her wondering if Jay had possibly found a shortcut. But one more look at Ryan’s face put serious doubt into that. “Where?”
“Please, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “It’s for our own safety.”
Puzzled, she allowed him to take her arm and aid her through the thick pine trees. Their needle branches clutched at her hat and hair as she passed between them. Brushing them aside annoyingly, she wondered where on earth he was leading her.
Jay had already disappeared behind the huge trees. When she emerged into the other side, she noticed a small clearing not wider than ten feet across. Jay was busy pushing the snow on the ground to form small embankments around the area. Confused, Erika wondered if he had gone daft from the cold temperatures and the inhumane walk.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t reply, just continued his task.
Behind her, Ryan quietly told her, “Making shelter.”
