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Her lips tingled where he'd kissed her and she wanted to stop and kiss him deeply but instead, she tightened her arms around his middle and her thighs around his hips once again. He restarted the snowmobile. She’d never been religious but she uttered a prayer now. They needed to get down this mountain as quickly as possible and get to safety. Their time was limited at best.
She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. When she found out who was behind this, they’d be lucky if they stayed alive long enough to go to jail. She was liking the idea of meting out justice on her own more and more.Do No Harm.But they were doing harm to her. All bets were off now. Whoever put her in this spot had to pay dearly for this nightmare.
They traveled slowly down the side of the mountain, and Allegra huddled behind his back to minimize the effect of the wind. Xavier zig-zagged to avoid some of the steepest bits and there were a couple of large jolts where they’d hit something, probably a rock or tree trunk. It hadn’t been pretty but Xavier had been taking it slowly so it wasn’t too bad.
They were more than two-thirds of the way there when they hit something and she flew off the back of the snowmobile and landed in a snowbank. Stunned she laid there trying to figure out what had happened. Finally, the cold seeping into her bones roused her. She tried to sit up. She didn’t seem to be injured. Her ribs were still hurting quite a bit as was her ass from where she’d fallen last night, but there didn’t seem to be any new injuries.
Rolling on her belly she looked around. “Xavier,” she called trying to keep her voice quiet and yet loud enough to be heard.
No response. Her heart pounded as she looked around. The snowmobile was on its side about ten feet away.
“Xavier?” she called again, a little louder this time. She waited.
What if something happened to him? He had to be okay. Her world tilted as a groan reached her. She struggled to get to her feet and then lurched toward the machine. The sound came again. As she approached the snowmobile, she saw Xavier about ten feet away from the machine. He was lying in the snow, spread eagle like a kid making a snow angel.
“Xavier,” she exclaimed as she tried to get to him. The snow was deep and with her skirt and long coat, it was a hard slog. “Please let him be okay”, she mumbled as she fell to her knees next to him. “Xavier,” she said again as she pulled off her glove and felt his neck for a pulse. Relief pulsed through her: his pulse was strong and steady.
“Hey, open your eyes.” She needed to see those gorgeous gray eyes of his more than she needed anything else in the world at the moment. “Please open your eyes.”
His eyelids fluttered and then opened. He focused on her. “Allegra,” he breathed. “Are you okay?”
She laughed out of sheer relief. “Yes, I’m fine. A few more bruises. But what about you? What hurts?”
“My left shoulder. I hit it against something.”
“Is it broken? Can you move your arm?” She unzipped his parka and stuck her hands inside trying to feel around his shoulder.
He let out a growl.
“Are you in pain?”
“Your damn hands are frigid.”
She started to laugh, and he joined in. It was such a relief that he was okay. Xavier was going to be fine. That brought all the joy to her.
“If nothing else hurts, let’s get you up on your feet.” She grabbed his hand and stood up.
“Brauchst du hilfe?” a voice said from behind Allegra. She froze and stared into Xavier’s gray eyes as panic rose in her throat.
He looked past her and she slowly turned to see an elderly gentleman standing about twenty feet away. He was wearing a parka like Xavier’s only in black with a matching hat and gloves. His gray hair peeked out from under his hat. “Brauchst du hilfe?” he asked again.
Xavier stood up slowly. “I’m sorry my German is not great.”
“Ach. English. Do you need help? I saw the accident. Very bad.”
“Thankfully we’re okay,” Xavier replied, “but we could use some help. We’re trying to reach the nearest town.”
Allegra looked around frantically. Where the hell was the gun? She tried to appear nonchalant as she scanned the snow for the weapon, finally locating it slightly behind her on the left. It had sunk into the snow. Could the man see it?
He looked them up and down and then cocked his head. “Where did you come from?”
Xavier took a step forward and shifted so he was partially in front of Allegra but also blocking the man’s view of the gun for which she was grateful. She didn’t want anything to spook the man.
Xavier grabbed her hand. “We were on the other side of the mountain and got turned around.”
The man looked at the snowmobile and then back at them. “Do you wish to go back to the other side?”
“No,” Xavier replied. “Just the nearest town where we can rent a car or get a train or airplane.”
