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CHAPTER6
Xavier stared at the woman.She couldn’t be serious, could she?
But then she shimmied out of her coat. Staring up at him with her big green eyes, she offered him an arm. “Pull, please.”
She was serious. He bit back a sigh and took the proffered sleeve, giving it a tug. Normally he’d like nothing more than to be curled up with an attractive woman with a hot body but this…this wasn’t his jam. The crash had brought back all kinds of painful memories. He was struggling to stay focused. Being close to a woman right now wasn’t the best idea.Not a bad idea, just not the most appropriate thing.He didn’t want to be close to anyone right now.
It wasn’t that cold, was it? He looked out into the falling darkness. The snow was coming down hard. His breath looked like smoke in the air. Yeah, it was that fucking cold and going to get colder. He swore silently and tried to rein himself in. His heart jack-hammered against his ribs and a thin tremor rolled up his back. He wanted to just sit quietly and let what happened wash over him. He’d lost Jamie in the last crash, and this catastrophe had ripped the scar back open.
“Which side do you want?” Allegra asked.
He blinked and tried to focus on what she was saying. “Sorry?”
“Which side?” She gestured to the cushions.
He gritted his teeth. With his left hand numb there was no way he could lay on that shoulder. “I’ll take the right.” This was ludicrous but what choice did he have? Jamie would’ve loved this. He’d have been the first one to curl up to Allegra. He loved the ladies, and they had loved him right back.
She nodded and then scooched to the left edge. She pulled her coat out from underneath her and then spread it out over herself. “You need to get down here if we’re going to stay warm. Body heat with the coats will work much better than the coats alone.”
She was right. He moved over to the right side but couldn’t bring himself to sit down. His breathing rate increased and his gut was churning. Jamie’s face popped into his mind. He’d been laughing about something when they’d boarded the chopper. He’d been keyed up for the op. Anticipation always made that man grin. That smile haunted Xavier. One minute Jamie was laughing, and the next the chopper was caught in an out-of-control spiral. They crashed onto the deck of the aircraft carrier.
“Xavier,” Allegra’s voice cut through his memories, “are you okay?”
“Um…yeah. Sorry.” He ground his teeth and gave himself a mental shake. Focus on the task at hand. He knelt down and then took off his parka. “Let me help you,” he said as he positioned her long coat over her legs. “We can use mine for the top.” At her nod, he lay down beside her.
“It’s better if we spoon,” she announced and then quickly rolled onto her side facing away from him.
Xavier took a breath and then followed suit. He made sure to get her coat over his legs as well as hers and then put his parka across their upper halves. He paused and then finally put his arm over her and pulled her tight against himself.God, when was the last time he’d spooned someone?
Xavier held himself rigid at first but then slowly he relaxed. Holding Allegra grounded him. He’d been bottling his anxiety about the crash, and pushing it down. Being curled up with her relaxed him almost as much as sex normally did.
I’m okay.
He hadn’t died in the crash. It was a good thing. He was alive and he was helping someone else survive. A hundred-pound weight was slowly being lifted off his chest. Breathing came easier. He owed Allegra a debt of thanks. Did she know how much she was helping him right now? Probably not, but he wouldn’t forget it.
He moved his wrist to try and get some feeling back in his hand but it was no use. He was starting to relax but it wasn’t enough. He needed his shoulder to unbunch for that to happen and in the current situation, frigid temperatures and sleeping on some cushions on the floor, that was unlikely.
He rested his head on his other arm with Allegra tucked under his chin. The scent of her hair filled his nose. Flowers of some kind. The warmth of her body worked with his. She’d been right. It was warmer this way. It was also starting to be more problematic. The curve of her ass hugged his dick perfectly.Yeah. Not good.
As the light faded, Xavier did everything he could to keep from responding physically to Allegra pressed against him. Since he started to relax, all of him was less tense. It was totally inappropriate for him to have a hard-on but what did she expect? She fit so perfectly against him. If things were different, he’d be doing all kinds of things to her at this moment that were guaranteed to keep both of them warm, if not hot and bothered.
He eased back slightly making a bit more space between them but immediately had a sense of loss once they were no longer touching. It was colder this way but safer. Allegra was too damned sexy to be crushed against him all night and have him do nothing about it. She’d been through hell today, just like he had. The last thing she needed was some asshole hitting on her.
He’d been impressed by how well she’d handled the aftermath of the crash. One moment of nervous laughter that she’d recovered from quickly. He’d been a bit worried he’d have to slap her but when the moment came, he just couldn’t do it. The kiss had worked just as well and he’d gotten to taste those lush pink lips of hers. Not a bad thing at all.
Shifting his weight slightly, he tried to ease the stress on his shoulder. He cursed Simon once more and whoever he worked for. Could he have been the target? Xavier didn’t think so. Hank only had him doing mundane things. Flying clients around Europe mostly. Nothing crazy. Sometimes moving equipment but nothing that would attract negative attention. No, it wasn’t him, which only left her as the target. What in the hell could Allegra possibly be involved in that caused someone to want her dead?
Xavier woke with a jolt. His heart hammered and sweat slicked his back. Allegra was tight against him again. He’d been having a nightmare. It had been about the chopper crash. Jamie’s smiling face loomed large in his brain but that wasn’t what woke him. He was cold and stiff but that hadn’t been it either. Something was off. He stayed still and listened. Allegra’s breathing was slow and even. Nothing. It was pitch dark in the fuselage, as it could only be in the middle of the wilderness with no light pollution.
Suddenly, he registered a faint sound. A buzzing. Snowmobiles. Possibly multiples. Rescue? He moved very slowly trying not to wake Allegra. He got up and stretched out his limbs. He was stiff and freezing without his parka but he didn’t want to wake Allegra unnecessarily.
Quietly stepping over her, he went to the end of the fuselage. The sound grew louder. Darkness made it hard to see but he could tell the snow had eased off at least for now. He dug his flashlight out of his bag and left the safety of the aircraft.
The wind was light but he was shivering already. It was damn cold. His breath hung in the air, frozen droplets waiting for gravity to take over. He moved through the trees to the rise and looked down the mountain. Snowmobiles were on the way up. Four of them. One of the drivers was lit up by the light from the machine behind him. He was dressed all in white. White parka with the hood up, white gloves, white boots. But the thing that made Xavier move as fast as he could back to the fuselage was the machine gun that was strapped across his body.
* * *
Allegra woke up disoriented.Why the hell was she so cold? She blinked in the inky darkness. Plane crash.How could she forget?As she pulled the parka closer around her she realized Xavier was gone. Panic clawed at her throat. She was alone in the darkness. Did he leave her here to die? He’d left her his coat, though, so that was a conclusion she shouldn’t leap to. Where the hell could he have gone without a coat? The temp had to be below freezing. He wouldn’t be lasting long in that cold, but without him, neither would she. Her stomach lurched.
