BRIAN HEADED IN the same direction they’d been going when they’d stopped the night before. He was careful not to limp, even though his leg ached.
There was an easy explanation for why his fever had abated overnight, but he’d decided not to share it with Taylor. The truth was he’d woken in the middle of the night so hot that he’d gotten up to search for somewhere he could cool off. He might even have been a bit delirious, although he wasn’t sure. He’d accidentally stumbled upon the stream, or rather, stumbled into the stream, where he’d spent the rest of the night.
His head had remained on the bank, while his body, including his wounded leg, had spent several hours being refreshed by cool flowing water. When he’d examined his leg this morning, it was still red, but the swelling was way down, and his fever seemed to be gone.
He had no doubt it would be back. Which was why he hadn’t made love to Tag. When he’d seen her rise out of the water and watched it sluicing off her curves, he’d wanted her more than he’d wanted anything in a very long time. But he wasn’t sure how long he had before his body betrayed him. How long he had before the lethal fever returned.
He hadn’t been able to resist kissing her. Caressing her. Letting his eyes devour what he was afraid to take. He could see she was willing, which made it all the more difficult to refuse them both. She was clearly distressed by his behavior, and he’d wanted to explain. But he couldn’t do that without revealing how dire his situation was. With any luck, they’d find help—or help would find them—before that became necessary.
In the end, he told himself that whatever energy he had left was better spent getting them back to civilization than indulging his need to touch her and taste her and put himself inside her. Once they were safe, he would have all the time in the world to make love to her.
If you get out of this mess, are you really going to pursue Tag? With all the shit Angus will rain on your head if you get involved with one of King’s Brats? After what you did to fuck things up between Aiden and Leah, Aiden will go nuts.
Was he going to let his family dictate who he could and could not love? Both he and Tag had succumbed to family pressure when they were kids. They weren’t kids anymore. He liked her. He wanted her. And he was damned well going to find out whether there was any hope that whatever spark had arced between them all those years ago could be fanned back into flame.
“Keep a lookout for Chaos Mountain,” he said. “We weren’t far from there when we left the plane.”
“I can’t see much past the trees,” Tag replied.
The forest was so overgrown it was nearly impenetrable. The going was slow. But they had enough boiled water to last them for a couple of days, and they’d eaten a hearty breakfast that morning to give them the strength to keep moving. To his surprise, Tag had consumed the roasted hare with relish.
“You never told me how you liked the rabbit,” he said.
“It could have used a little salt and maybe some sage or thyme, but overall, it was delicious. I think I could have eaten it raw, I was so hungry.”
They were able to walk side by side for a short distance, and Brian took advantage of the opportunity to search Tag’s face for signs of the brief starvation they’d endured in the cave. It was there in her gaunt cheeks. What he found more provocative was the worried look staring back at him from her blue eyes.
“Chin up,” he said. “We’re bound to find a logging trail or a Forest Service road or the spot where the jumpers dropped. It’s only a matter of time before we get rescued or discover a way out on our own.”
“Don’t bullshit me. You forget I flew over this area. I know how isolated it is. We’re miles from any road. We’ve got shade from the sun and food and water in this forest, but we’re completely hidden from anyone searching for us from the sky.” She paused, then added, “I don’t know how you got rid of that fever, but without antibiotics, we both know it’s coming back. Maybe we ought to find ourselves a spot in an open meadow to set up camp and lay out that parachute, so it can be seen from the air.”
“What if no one happens to fly by and notice us?”
Tag made a disgruntled sound. “You’re being pessimistic again.”
“No. I’m calling it like I see it. Walking out of here is our best chance of surviving.” He didn’t mention the fact that if anything happened to him, her chances of lasting in the wilderness diminished. Two people had a far better chance of fending off predators and finding water and food than one. “Right now I feel fine,” he said. “So long as I do, I don’t intend to sit around in the sunshine and wait for help to arrive. So move your beautiful ass, Tag.”
She shot him a narrow-eyed look and marched off ahead of him. “You’re awfully bossy.”
He remembered ordering her out of the plane with exactly those words. He wondered if they’d have been better off staying with the Otter. Certainly, it would have been easier for searchers to find them, especially if they’d remained near the plane. But he’d been fearful they would end up crash-landing in the middle of the fire, from which there would be no escape.
She stopped abruptly and said, “Do you hear that?”
He paused and listened. He heard aspen leaves fluttering in the wind. He heard chirping birds and buzzing flies.
And he heard a small plane.
“Move!” he ordered.
Tag looked at him helplessly until he gestured toward an open area to their right.
“Anywhere is better than here!” he snapped.
She began to run, the sleeping bag bouncing on her back. “It’s too far!” she yelled breathlessly. “We’ll never get there in time.”
“The plane might be circling. Run!”
It was another one of those tiny meadows that appeared in the forest with no rhyme or reason. He slung the red-and-white parachute off his shoulder and shook it so the wind could catch it and spread it to its full size. Tag was waving her arms, her head back, her gaze aimed at the sky.
“We’re down here! We’re here!” she shouted.
He didn’t point out that there was no way anyone in the air could hear her. Waving her arms couldn’t hurt, but it probably wouldn’t help much either. He was counting on the billowing parachute to announce their location. Assuming the plane flew over this meadow. And someone was looking down at the right moment and saw them.
He tried to find the plane in the sky but couldn’t locate it. “Can you see where it is?”
She put a hand up to shade her eyes from the sun and searched the cloudless blue sky. “No. Can you?”
He shook his head but kept looking.
“Do you think it’s searching for us?”
“I doubt it would be flying that low if it weren’t.”
“Why don’t they see us?”
Because we’re a dot on the landscape. Because they’re at the wrong angle and the trees are blocking their view. Because they’re only in the air at all because someone is paying them to fly, and they’ve long since given up expecting to find us.
He thought all those things, but he didn’t say them. He could hear the plane moving away.
“We need smoke,” Tag said, her voice frantic.
“We couldn’t get a fire built in time.”
“We could try!”
“It would be a waste of time.”
“They’re leaving,” she cried, shooting him a panicked look. “Do something, Brian!”
“I’m sorry, Tag. Maybe we’ll get lucky next time.”
“Next time you’ll have us hidden in the forest again,” she retorted.
They’d never seen the plane, only heard it. It hadn’t seen them, or it would have done a flyover to let them know they’d been spotted. Brian offered what little encouragement he could. “Chances are they’ve found the Otter by now. They know which direction it was flying, and they did the math to figure out how far the plane glided before it hit the ground. If they found the plane, they know we got out alive.”
“But they don’t know whether we left the Otter after it crashed or by jumping,” she protested.
“They likely searched the area near the plane first. Now we know they’ve finished their search there and have moved off to this area. There might even be people on the ground somewhere around here. They would have used the few roads that exist to drive in, so if we can find a road we’re halfway home.”
He saw her shoulders slump before she lifted her chin, squared her shoulders and said, “All right, then. Let’s get moving.”
“That’s my girl.”
She arched a brow. “I’m not your girl or anyone else’s. At least, not yet.”
He laughed and said, “That’s my girl.”