Snow covered the cabin, the wolf door buried. Not having any choice, Tom shifted in the icy snow, threw open the human door, and slammed it shut. He tugged on his clothes, jammed his feet into his boots, pulled on his parka, a ski hat, and gloves, then grabbed a wool blanket and ran back out into the snow.
He swore he’d never reach Elizabeth in time. Not as slow as his progress was while trying to run through the deep snow. No wonder she couldn’t make any headway, being petite, barely dressed, and injured on top of that.
When he was close enough, he thought he saw her struggling to walk in his direction, but he couldn’t believe his eyes. He expected her to be lying in the snow, half buried before he reached her. She hadn’t given up. She’d actually made it several more feet. Good. He tried to move more quickly but couldn’t. It just wasn’t physically possible to travel any faster through the deep snowdrifts. Her eyes widened a little when she lifted her head from watching her footfalls, following his trail, to see him. He couldn’t even smile. The situation was just too grave.
When injured victims saw help arrive and quit the struggle to survive, thinking they were now safe, they died. She needed the adrenaline rushing through her blood, keeping her alive. She needed to keep trying, as if he wasn’t coming to her aid.
To his relief, she trudged forward, but then she fell.
He thought he heard a choked sob. The disquieting sound made him feel as though an ice shard had stabbed him through the heart.
“I’m coming,” he said. “Don’t quit, Elizabeth!”
She struggled to get up, but she couldn’t make it.
He was beside her before she could lift her head to try again. “Don’t give up,” he growled at her, angry at the weather, at the plane, at her if she succumbed to the elements before he could get her to safety.
He dragged his coat around her, intending for her to wear it, and remembered too late about the handcuffs. He cursed and grabbed the blanket, wrapped it around her, then the coat, and zipped it, folding her into it like a protective cocoon. He pulled the hood over her head and tightened the drawstrings until the fake gray fur fit snuggly around her small face, nearly covering it.
She stared up at him with her blue-green eyes filled with tears and a look of gratitude. Her dry cracked lips parted, and he was certain she tried to say, “Thank you.”
“Don’t… give… up,” he said urgently, harshly. He lifted her into his arms and made the long trek back to the cabin. Her body was ice cold, but the parka and blanket and his body heat would help to warm her.
Carrying her made the journey nearly impossible as he tried to make headway through the knee-deep powdery snow. He knew the direction to go, even though he couldn’t see the cabin.
“What happened?” he asked, not wanting her to go to sleep and never wake. He needed her to talk to him. To get this close to the cabin and lose her now… he couldn’t think of that.
“Plane crashed,” she murmured, her words slurred.
Not good. “Elizabeth, listen to me. Stay… awake. I’ll have you to the cabin in just a few minutes. I’ll have a warm fire blazing in the fireplace in no time. I’ll get you some hot tea and chili—if you can manage.”
“You…” she said weakly, straining to look at him, to watch his expression.
“Yes?” he responded, encouraging her to speak, to stay awake until he could get her to the cabin and ensure she would be okay.
“…will… warm… me,” she said hesitantly, rasping out the words between clenched teeth, in pain, shivering.
“Yes, yes, I’ll warm you.”
“You’ll… be…”
He looked back down at her, his feet trudging through the deepening snow. He had to hear what she had to say, even if she didn’t make any sense. He really didn’t expect her to make any sense. Not as hypothermic as she had to be. But he was glad to hear her speak about anything.
“…naked,” she finally got out.
He raised both brows, unable to prevent the curve of his lips, the first time he’d managed to smile at her. “You… mean us? Together? Naked?” He suspected the warmth of the fire, hot tea sliding down her throat, and being bundled in blankets and anything else he could wrap her in would do the job, if he could just get her out of this blasted cold weather. Lying with her naked? Yeah, he’d damn well like that, but he didn’t know how badly she might be injured.
She smiled. And that one little smile sent his heart skittering.
Chapter 17
Elizabeth wanted so badly to sleep, but she knew she had to remain alert. The only thing that had made her stir a little from her grogginess was the thought that the big, sexy wolf would lie with her naked to warm her. After trying to keep some distance from him, she knew that was probably a bad idea in the long run.
Yet part of her hoped he’d say that was just what he intended to do. Because it was the only way she’d live. And maybe even take it further…
He’d seemed highly amused at her suggestion, and she was sure that if she hadn’t lost so much blood and wasn’t so chilled, her face would have been three shades redder. Her cheeks felt icy, so she hoped she hadn’t blushed and given herself away.
He still smirked, the cad. She felt the difference in his footfalls, first through soft snow, then on hard wood, the porch to his cabin. She couldn’t look that way, though, not with the hood of his coat blocking her view of nearly everything except his strong jawline. Dark stubble covered the rigid bone, making him look strong-featured and sexy and able to warm her up just fine. Like he’d done before when she wasn’t nearly this cold.
She shook her head at herself. He had to be angry with her for leaving him. And she had to look terrible. She had a gash in her forehead, and the skin around it had probably turned an assortment of rainbow colors. The rest of her had to be ice white otherwise, except for the blood dried on it. As much as her skin burned, she had to have a lot of abrasions. She was a mess.
“Elizabeth,” Tom said, laying her on the floor as close to the hearth as he could safely get her. He was concerned when she closed her eyes. “Elizabeth!”
Her eyes fluttered open. He took a breath of relief. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.”
Another wave of relief washed over him. He’d had every intention of seeing her again—but not like this. He’d planned to locate the wolves stalking their livestock first, and then he was going to fly out to be with her in Canyon, Texas. To stay with her. To learn about her. To convince her to come home with him.