Alaskan Mountain Pursuit Elizabeth Goddard (best short novels .TXT) 📖

of her injuries matter if someone shot her in the head like Snake?

Once she climbed through the window, Will let her scramble onto his back again and then he sprinted as though she weighed nothing, which she knew wasn’t true. She might be small, but her solid frame made her weigh more than other women her size.

By the time he made it across the small clearing between the cabin and outbuildings and into the thick cover of woods, Will was breathing hard. He stopped behind a big tree for cover and panted. Sylvie wanted her freedom from the position on his back but knew to keep quiet. They weren’t out of trouble yet and she wasn’t sure they would ever be until help came.

He crept forward between the trees, putting distance between them and Snake’s cabin. She’d brought danger to Snake that had killed him—a man who’d chosen to live away from civilization. Her stomach soured. It never should have happened.

She couldn’t let it happen to Will. She tried to watch the woods to help him, but twisting her neck around while she jostled on his back made her dizzy. Neither did she want a bullet in the back. Maybe the pack she wore would provide protection enough. Will stepped into a brook and waded upstream, getting his boots wet. She wasn’t sure how far they’d gone when he stepped out of the brook and paused in the crack of a bluff between large boulders. When he set her down, she collapsed onto soft, mossy ground and shrugged out of the backpack.

He plopped down next to her, his face drawn tight. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

She nodded.

To her surprise, he ran a finger down her cheek, picking something off. A leaf, dirt, she wasn’t sure, but something in his gesture made it feel as though he cherished Sylvie. That couldn’t be true. Nor did she want that from him or anyone. Unfortunately, her heart jumped at his touch no matter her personal resolve.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“We can hike to town if we have to.”

Right. She blew out a breath. Like she would believe that. Time to face the truth. “Even if that were true, it won’t take them long to track us. We’re too slow and we can’t outrun them. We can’t make it to town before they find us.”

“Then we’ll just stay alive until help arrives.” Will leaned in closer until his face was inches from hers. So he could lower his voice? “Do you trust me?”

His brown eyes seemed to caress her. His masculine scent—a woodsy mixture of loam and pure, wild adrenaline—grew heady and wrapped around her until she couldn’t breathe. She struggled to speak. “I don’t know.”

She couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. Still, she wanted to trust Will. Just how far, she wasn’t sure.

His brows knit together.

“I trust you to do your best, but don’t lie to me about our chances. I’m grateful for all you’ve done, but I don’t see how we’re going to make it.”

Hurt spilled from his gaze. He eased back, pulled his weapon out. “Have a little faith, will you?”

“I’ve never had anyone shoot at me before, have you?”

“No.” He angled his head to listen. Through the opening between the boulders he watched the woods.

She didn’t like this position. They were trapped. Someone could ambush them. What was he thinking by stopping here?

When he turned back, the warmth had returned to his eyes, but under it was a cold resolve that hadn’t been there before. It scared her. This wasn’t the Will she’d come to know in a few short hours. Was this experience changing him, like it changed her? And yet, how could it not?

“What are you thinking?” she asked, not at all sure she wanted to hear his answer.

Drawing a breath, he worked his jaw. She was close enough she could feel the muscles in his shoulders tense. “I’ve never had anyone shoot at me. Nor have I ever shot at someone until today. And I’ve never—” he exhaled long and hard “—killed another human being.”

He hung his head, and once again Sylvie held her breath even with her heart pounding wildly. “Will.” Her whisper was a mere croak.

He lifted his eyes to hers. The way he held her gaze, searched for something inside her, Sylvie almost thought he was trying to decide if she was worth the cost, but then she knew he’d already found that answer. He’d claimed that he was just doing what anyone else would have by rescuing her yesterday, but he was going far beyond what she ever could have expected from a stranger. And Sylvie had the strangest sensation that this moment in time bonded them together forever. Gave them a connection like no other. She didn’t want to be that close to anyone or dependent on them. She saw where that had gotten her mother. But at that moment her connection to Will was her lifeline, and it went far deeper than she cared to admit.

Whatever the bond, he broke it with his next words. “My father taught me everything I know about weapons. Told me if you’re going to learn how to shoot a gun, you’d better be prepared to use it.”

Sylvie wasn’t sure she liked where this conversation was going. Her insides quaked, but at the same time she resigned herself to the fact that they might have to kill to survive. “Meaning?”

“I will protect you, Sylvie. Whatever it takes. Whatever that means. If it comes to that, I’ll kill for you.”

His words elicited dread in her eyes. He wanted her to believe in him, believe they could survive this. The words were meant for him as much as for her. He had to speak out his resolve, let it sink in. When he’d fired his weapon from the cabin, he hadn’t been aiming at anything or anyone in particular. The shots had been meant to deter their pursuers. He wasn’t in a position to