AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Directly to your right. A long step.” Damn. The muck was crawling up her neck and she could barely see above the grasses in front of her.
He moved.
“Now three right in a row directly in front of you. Normal stride. Do you see them?”
“Yes.” Three quick steps and he looked to her.
“Now look forward to your left. Two short jumps.”
He nodded, then jumped from one to another.
“Stop.” Her chin dipped below the surface and she had to fight the instinct to start gasping for air before she went under.
He looked at her. He was close enough now that she could see the terror in his eyes. He wasn’t used to this. He was huge and strong and fearless. Nothing could stop him.
Nothing but a death-sucking bog.
His eyes flickered down to the right. The last lump of the driver’s backside still hovered in the air. “He…” He looked to her.
“The bog has him now. It’s not safe past where you are. The board.” She twisted her neck up as high as she could so the thick water didn’t get into her mouth.
For a moment he looked dumbstruck, his stare was so intent on her, but then he looked down, finding the board he forgot he carried in his arm.
“Just slowly onto your knees. Get a solid spot and don’t lose it.”
He dropped to his knees, digging his toes into the fleshy mound. “Hell, Sloane.”
“I hope not today.” She smiled at him.
His look seared her in place, then he stretched the board out toward her gloved left hand sitting precariously still next to her left thigh clutching the mushy mound.
He nudged the tip of it under her fingers and she clutched the edge of it.
The mud had splattered onto her glove, making the leather slippery and she swore to herself. Of all times she wished she weren’t wearing the blasted thing. She conjured a smile and looked to Reiner. “I ken you want to pull me over to you fast, but that’s not going to work.” She stopped, spitting out the mud that had just slipped into her mouth past her bottom lip. “If I lose grip, I can sink fast. So slow. Slow.”
He nodded, then started to tug. Her leg shifted off the one solid piece of ground she was clinging to and sank.
He pulled her, inch by inch to him until her fingers slipped. “Too fast.”
He stopped, jabbing the board into her palm so she could re-grip the edge of the wood before she sank further.
“Just keep your head above the water, no matter what.” The growl in his voice shook the air around her.
“I don’t intend to die today, Reiner.”
“Good.” His arms straining against the force of the sucking bog on her body, he got her close enough to reach her wrist.
Done with the torture of moving slow, he flung a hand out, grabbing her wrist as he dropped the board. His strength against the bog, and he didn’t bother to slow, merely dragged her with all his might—the bog battling him with every inch gained—until she was on the edge of his mound of solid ground.
Shifting backward onto his calves, he yanked her fully from the suck of the bog, clutching the muddy, sopping mess of her to his chest.
“Dammit, Sloane,” he growled into the top of her head.
“Don’t yell at me—we’re not on solid ground yet.”
“Strip off your dress.”
Her head jerked away from his chest. “What?”
