“Just...let it go. Okay?”
She tried to nod, but his fingers gripped her too tightly.
The noise that came out of him sounded suspiciously like a sob and she regretted everything. She should have left it alone.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He eased back and stared at her, the distance between them pregnant with regret. She sensed desire in him along with grief.
When he leaned toward her, his lips hovering above hers, she remembered his kisses. Their sweetness. Was he going to—
The crack of the gunshot sent shards of rock flying. Cody pulled her against him, his hard arms strapping across her back, and rolled both of them off the rock.
“Nooooo,” she screamed. Not again.
He landed half on and half off her. Excruciating pain overwhelmed her.
Her heart started a crazy staccato beat.
“What the hell?” Cody pressed as much of his body over hers as he could. His heartbeat battled with hers, wild and crazy.
“Where’d it come from?” Between the pain and his weight, she could barely breathe. “Do you know which direction?”
“No. Goddamn!” He eased up on her and peeked around the boulder. “I can’t see anyone. The growth’s thick here. He could be behind any tree and I wouldn’t know it.”
He moved off her, only slightly, turning her onto her uninjured side. He helped her move back against the rock and flattened himself in front of her.
“You’re shaking.” He held her head against his chest, his big hand firm, cupping her as though she were precious.
“Yeah,” she admitted to the obvious. “Being used for target practice does that to me.”
He leaned against her, using the full force of his body’s warmth to reassure her. “We’ll get out of this. I’ll keep you safe.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, but I’m so pissed off I could tear apart whoever is doing this with my bare hands.” And yet, despite his anger, those hands made her feel safe.
“It’s an unfair fight. I wish we had a gun.”
“Me, too, Aiyana.” He peeked around the boulder again then lay back down on top of her.
She missed his hand on her head. She could almost see the wheels spinning beneath his intelligent brow. “What are you thinking?”
“Just trying to figure out how to get us out of here alive.”
“I know that, Cody. I mean specifically. You look like you’re coming up with a plan.”
“Yeah. I’m trying to. We might be able to get lost in the bush. The problem is that you can’t run.”
“You should go. Leave me. Get help.”
He pressed his palm over her mouth. Sparks of anger flashed in his blue eyes. “Stop with that kind of talk. It’s foolish.”
She jerked her head away from his hand. “It isn’t. It makes sense and you know it.”
“Yeah, it does, but there’s no way in hell I’m leaving you behind, so just quit. If you go down, so do I.”
She should be quiet and grateful. She was grateful, but above all, relieved. What she wouldn’t do, though, was leave everything to Cody.
She wouldn’t play the distressed damsel to his big, strong knight. He was brittle and on edge, about to shatter even while he did his best to protect her. A man like Cody would probably die protecting her.
Getting out of this predicament would take all of the wits both of them possessed.
The problem, of course, was her ankle.
Slowing her heart rate, she looked at the situation dispassionately. Whoever was shooting at them hadn’t come around to attack from this side. They would have seen him walk up the creek. Coming down from above them through trees and brush wasn’t an option, either. In the stillness of the woods, they would have definitely heard him.
So, he had shot at them from behind—he’d followed them. She shivered, but kept control of herself, refusing to allow fear to overtake her. The ways ahead and above were clear. They could do this, except that the shooter was sitting waiting for them to move.
“Can you reach our bags?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah. And if I’m quick, I won’t get killed.” His chest rumbled with the depth of his voice.
Cody might be big and strong, but judging by the tightness around his eyes and the lines around his mouth, he was dead tired. He’d already carried her for an hour. He’d said he’d arrived home in the middle of the night, so he’d had little sleep.
He might try not to show his exhaustion, but she was fully aware of it.
He exhaled, lunged and snatched both bags, falling back on top of her. She grunted.
“Sorry.” He held up their knapsacks and grinned, a true grin this time. Triumphant.
A split second later, a shot rang out, hitting the rock surface, chipping it. The ricochet hit a tree trunk above them.
“He’s wasting his ammunition.” Aiyana wriggled away from a stone digging into her back. “Why?”
“I don’t think he wants to kill either of us. Not yet. He’s playing with us. He has all of the power and we have none.”
“So we’re dealing with a bully.”
“Looks like.”
“Let’s switch up the balance of power. I have a plan.”
“What is it?”
She used her hand to illustrate a path up the hill, showing him where they could wriggle through holes in the underbrush. “Look. We can get out of here on our bellies, zigzag so we disturb the vegetation as little as possible.”
He nodded. “That could work. You’ll go first.”
In response to her fierce Why me? reaction, he answered, “Because it will give the shooter a chance to aim. You’ll get away. If anyone gets hit this time, it’ll be me.”
“But—”
He placed a finger against her lips. Again with the tenderness even while he was taking control. “You’re already wounded all over your body because of him.”
She finally recognized the expression she’d been trying to decipher since the shot rang out. Regret. Self-reproach.
“Why are you taking the blame for what this guy is doing?”
“I should have taken this more seriously.” He brushed damp hair from her cheek. His eyes softened. “I should have been more diligent.”
“You couldn’t have known he would show up again. Neither could I.”
“The behavior you described is not that of an animal hunter. We’ve got a criminal out there. I should have been more aware of our surroundings.”
“So should I. Neither of us is responsible for this maniac’s actions. Okay?”
He nodded, but vestiges of remorse lingered.
“We’re getting out of this, Cody.”
He flashed a smile that looked more real. “I like your spunk. You’ve changed.”
“I’ve had to. Anyway, let’s get out of here.”
“You’re going first,” he asserted again.
Her mouth tightened. “And if you get hit? I can’t carry you