Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(54)

“How do you feel?”

Amusement entered his eyes. “Alive.”

She cocked a brow at him, waiting. “Cold?”

“My toes are cold. That’s good. It means I can feel them. I feel bruised up and down my body like a tanker hit me. I think I reinjured my knee. And I’m hungry.” He smiled again, and she felt her skin heat under her coat.

He didn’t look like he minded the pain or hunger. “What did you do to your knee?”

“Now or originally?”

“I think I know what happened to it today. How about originally?” She kneeled beside him, pushing her dog out of the way and laying her hands on the leg he rubbed.

He froze.

Brynn jerked her hands back, eyes widening. “Did I hurt you?” She squinted in the bad light, checking his leg for blood. It looked OK.

“Ah, no. I think you shocked me.” He shifted on the floor and frowned at his leg. “Old hole from a bullet.”

“You were shot? How long ago?”

“A few years. Nearly destroyed my knee joint.”

“Work related?” she asked.

“Yes. It happens sometimes in my line of work.”

She waited for an explanation but none came. Who’d shot him?

“Do you want me to look at it?”

He met her eyes and grinned as her cheeks painfully flushed. Wrong thing to say.

“There’s no blood. I think I just overstrained a weak area. It’s gonna ache like hell for several days.” His smile stayed strong.

“Everything else OK?” Relief flooded her. Getting Alex out of those pants wasn’t something she could handle at the moment. “Are you cold?”

He raised a brow and shook his head. “Just my toes.”

“That’s right. You said that,” she mumbled, embarrassed she was repeating questions. She retrieved her pack from one of the seats and unzipped a side pocket. “Protein bar?”

“Please.”

“More ibuprofen?”

“Pretty please.”

She snorted but kept her gaze inside her pack. “Charming, aren’t you?”

“When I want to be.”

“And when is that?” Their light banter relaxed her as she continued to dig through her pack, looking for her little bag of drugs.

He didn’t answer.

She glanced at him, her hands buried. He was looking at her, his gaze serious…and something else. She looked closer at his eyes. Had he hit his head? In the plane the light was dim, and his pupils were dilated, nearly filled his irises, making his gaze dark and heavy. Warm.

His eyes weren’t dilated from a head injury.

She drew a fast breath, unable to pull away. It felt like he’d buried her in warm honey.

“Brynn. I really owe you for today.” His voice was low, those eyes locked with hers.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Bullshit.”

“It was a team effort.” Her heart thudded in her chest.

He waved that aside. “I know. Always the team, but Ryan told me how upset you were when you dug up your pack.”

She nodded.

“You kept going.”

“Everyone did. Ryan pushed himself beyond healthy limits digging for you. Thomas was like a backhoe with the shovel. None of these guys were going to stop until we’d found you. Neither was I.” Her tone was fierce as she felt the terrified determination flow through her bones again. Just like when she was digging.

“Ryan said he nearly gave up a dozen times, but seeing you attack the snow inspired him.”

She glanced at the sleeping man. “I felt the same way watching him. All three of those guys. We’d still be out there digging if we hadn’t found you.” She pressed her lips and felt her eyes sting. Alex would be dead, long dead.

“Still. I’d like to think…” He reached out a hand as if to touch her cheek. She couldn’t move away; she wanted to feel his touch. Her lips opened slightly, and she inhaled softly. He’d touched her before on the trail, helping each other along, but they’d both worn gloves. Now his fingers hesitated an inch from her jawline, and he held her eyes with his as she kneeled beside him. Her hands tried to strangle the protein bar. He was so close she could feel the heat from his fingertips on her skin. His gaze dropped to her mouth as his hand touched her. The energy from his palm made her lips open, and he shifted closer.

“When I was buried I thought I saw…”

Pounding rattled the door before it flew open. Jim and Thomas tromped in, brushing the snow off their jackets. In a single fluid movement, Alex pulled back, his hands at his sides, and the sudden cold stung her face.

“Ahhh.” Jim breathed out in pleasure, throwing back his hood. “It’s got to be twenty degrees warmer in here. Nearly a sauna.” His grin was contagious.

Thomas pulled off his gloves and sat heavily in a seat to work off the snowshoes. “No packs.”

“That’s all right. I think we’ll be just fine,” Brynn stated quietly. She stood, feeling her legs tremble slightly as she handed Alex his squished protein bar and his hand brushed her fingers. His gaze met hers again, something stirring in the depths, promising her they weren’t done. The intense look on his face had vanished at the sight of the two men. But its aftereffects lingered in her blood, tingling, warming.