AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Obviously, that was the end of the hike and we turned back straight away,” Shyla continued.
By the way her lips were pinched and the flinty look in her eye, Jeri suspected there was more she wasn’t telling them, but he supposed that was personal. She’d explained the situation, after all. She didn’t owe them anymore.
“I know you have your own,” Dante intervened from across the room.
But did Antony have a locator beacon?”
Shyla looked across at his brother and Jeri felt her stiffen. As relaxed as she appeared, Dante’s standoffish attitude was obviously not lost on her. He rubbed her neck some more.
“Yes,” Shyla replied, primly. “I brought two and gave one of them to him myself. I even insisted he keep it when he objected.”
Jeri flashed Dante a scowl, to let him know he needed to lighten up.
“That’s good,” Lazarus interjected. “Hopefully he used it if he needed to, and mountain rescue picked him up.
“Which doesn’t explain why they didn’t come for Shyla,” Dante pointed out.
“I’ll get on the satellite phone and speak to the rescue center. I was planning to anyway,” Lazarus replied, gently moving Shyla’s feet so he could get up and propping them on the pile of folded blankets.
“Just out of curiosity, why didn’t you set yours off, Shyla?” Jeri asked.
He felt rather than heard her sigh.
“Maybe I’m just as pig-headed as Antony.” She slithered down on the sofa, so her head was resting in his lap and Jeri closed his eyes and tried to imagine how cold the snow was in an effort not to get a hard on, with her mouth being so close to his cock and all the dirty places his thoughts immediately went.
“I didn’t realize I’d slept all through the night. I could tell the weather had closed in, but I got up to see to the call of nature. I was planning to get the tent secured better, but the wind took it as soon as I crawled out and my weight wasn’t anchoring it anymore.”
She rubbed her bandaged temple. “One of the tent pegs I had managed to put in was tangled in the guide rope and it flailed around in the storm and caught me.”
She winced as she prodded at her cheek bone and Jeri caught hold of her hand, pulling it away before stroking her hair. He had such a huge urge to take care of her.
“Without the tent, I knew I needed to get to shelter. I was aware of this cabin and thought I could manage to get here. I didn’t want to set my beacon off while I was still moving and lead the rescue team on a wild goose chase… and possibly I wasn’t thinking too clearly,” she admitted ruefully.
“Unfortunately, I found myself on the wrong side of some upturned tree roots. I guess that’s when you found me.”
“Well, we did find you, and we’re all safe now,” Jeri said, smiling down at her.
Across the room, Dante was staring moodily at whatever Lazarus was saying on the satellite phone, but from their cozy perch in front of the fire, the crackling of the logs and the sound of wind stopped them from hearing him clearly. They’d find out soon enough, Jeri knew, so he didn’t concern himself with trying to listen.
When he was finished, Lazarus made his way back and seated himself on the sofa again, but this time Dante trailed him. Their middle didn’t look pleased.
“I’ve spoken to the coordinator and the rescue headquarters,” Lazarus told them. His expression was grim. “Unfortunately, Antony hasn’t checked in with them at all, and no beacons have been set off.”
Shyla’s hand flew to her face, and she covered her mouth, muffling the pained groan that escaped her throat. “Oh god! This is all my fault,” she moaned.
“No, it’s not Shyla. There was nothing you could do if he wasn’t prepared to listen to good sense. He could have stayed with you, set off your locators, and you’d have both been safe.”
She flung her arm across her face and Jeri felt her shoulders quake. He tangled his fingers with hers in an effort to give her some comfort and she clung tightly and buried her face into his abdomen.
“Mountain Rescue is going to send out a team to look for him…”
“There’s more,” Dante added as Lazarus trailed off. “The rescue teams are already spread thin, because a group of idiot kids decided it would be fun to go snowboarding in a whiteout and got into difficulties.”
Lazarus nodded. “They’ve got their work cut out, so since we’re safe and not in any immediate danger, I told them not to worry about us. I hope that’s okay, Shyla.”
Shyla uncurled herself and wiped her eyes. “Of course it is!” she said emphatically. “I wouldn’t want anything else.”
She pushed herself up and stared at the cheery orange glow thrown out through the glass of the log burner. “I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been.”
She looked around at the three of them. Held their eyes; even Dante’s.
“I can’t ever thank you enough. You saved my life, without a doubt. And now the rescue teams need to save the lives of those who weren’t as lucky as I was. It’s no great hardship to wait the weather out here for a few days.”
