AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The rope tightened and they slowly rose upwards, the winch dragging them higher, up into the helicopter.
Catherine clung to Jason frantically as they swung gently back and forth beneath the helicopter. She’d never been good with heights. She didn’t even like to stand on a chair to change a lightbulb. And this—swinging on a rope below a helicopter above a mountain ravine—was so much worse than standing on a chair. Or a ladder.
“Open your eyes,” Jason said. “The view is phenomenal.”
“No. Can’t!” she squeaked, burying her face in his shirt. “How do you know I have my eyes shut, anyway?”
Jason chuckled, his chest vibrating against her cheek. “I know you, Catherine. I’ve known you a long time and you’ve been scared of heights for as long as I can remember. You’ve got your eyes shut.”
He sounded so certain that it irritated her, so she wrenched her head away from him, forced herself to open her eyes, and determinedly looked around, across the mountain landscape. She tightened her grip on the ropes, and Jason, just in case.
“You were right—it’s gorgeous!” she breathed. “It’s almost worth getting lost for.”
“Ah, no. No, it’s not,” Jason insisted. “But it is pretty.”
Being winched up seemed to take forever, but just a few seconds at the same time. It was both terrifying and exhilarating, dangling on the end of a rope, in the middle of the mountain wilderness, above a mountain valley that swept for miles below them.
“No wonder you fell,” Jason commented, pointing with his finger.
There was a fresh landslide down the side of the craggy cliff she’d skidded down. She remembered the sheer volume of rocks, dirt, and scrubby plants that had fallen with her, and she could see the side of the cliff now, where they’d fallen from. It looked like someone had gouged the side of the mountainside out with a spoon. Like they were digging out ice cream or something.
“Wow,” she breathed in awe.
As soon as she was safely in the helicopter with Jason, she collapsed very ungracefully into the seat. Her legs were wobbly, and even the good leg—the knee that she hadn’t injured in the fall—couldn’t hold any of her weight. So she just lay there, sprawled in a big heap, trying to steady her breathing. Her heart pounded erratically and her head was spinning.
Carly handed her a bottle of water and she guzzled greedily, the tepid water rehydrating her parched mouth.
“Slow down,” Jason said, taking the water from her. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”
Catherine wanted to object, but she didn’t have the energy. Plus she knew he was probably right, anyway. She’d already drunk half the bottle in one go.
By the time Josh landed the helicopter back at the hut, her breaths were still ragged and uneven, but her body had mostly stopped shaking.
Josh and Carly helped her to the door of the helicopter and Jason lifted her out and carried her inside, setting her down gently on the big bed that took up so much of the tiny space. He looked at her as he plumped the pillows up around her, being careful of her knee, but she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. His face was expressionless, a frozen mask. It was impossible to guess what was going through his mind. He didn’t say a word, just left her there on the bed, turned his back on her, and strode back outside, presumably to talk to Josh. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she was pretty sure she saw Carly shoot a fierce glare at his retreating back, before she, too, disappeared.
Catherine was alone on the bed, but she could hear Carly pottering about in the little kitchen, filling the kettle up with water, setting it on to boil. Rattling drawers, clanging cups, jangling cutlery. Whatever it was she was doing, she wasn’t being gentle.
Carly poked her head around the corner. “Tea?” she asked. “Coffee?”
Catherine ignored the question. Tea, coffee, wine… it didn’t matter. There were more pressing issues she wanted to discuss.
“I guess everyone’s pretty pissed at me, huh?” she murmured, not really expecting a reply. She was fairly sure she knew the answer. After all, three men she didn’t even know—plus Jason—had to abandon whatever it was they were doing and come up here and search for her. Josh had to bring up the helicopter.
Carly shrugged. Catherine took that to meanyes.But she appreciated her diplomacy.
“You’re not the first woman to do a runner up here and get lost,” Carly said, slightly sheepishly. “At least you had the good sense to do it in the daytime. I did it in the dark, during the autumn muster. If they hadn’t found me when they did, I would have frozen to death.”
The tiniest of smiles escaped Catherine’s lips. There was comfort in solidarity.
“I wasn’t lost,” Catherine insisted. “I was just stuck.”
“Uh-huh.” Carly nodded. It was clear that she didn’t believe her, but Catherine didn’t care. Maybe she would have been lost, maybe she wouldn’t have. It didn’t matter now, in any case.
“I was lost,” Carly admitted even more sheepishly, coming closer. “Got my ass busted for it, too.” She put her hand over her mouth almost in shock, blushing red, clearly embarrassed at making such an admission.
Catherine couldn’t help but grin.I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen to me, too,she thought, but she kept her suspicion to herself.
“You’re married to an alpha man too, huh?”
