What in God’s name was Shelby doing? Again. Eric’s disbelief at her boneheaded choices had become a theme over the past few weeks.
He followed the sway of her slim hips, while keeping his hand on his sidearm.
“You can stop that any time,” she called over her shoulder, her voice clearer than when they started this stupid side trip.
“What?”
“Thinking about my butt.”
“I can’t stop thinking about your butt any more than I can stop breathing.”
A hitch in her step, and her neck above the backpack turned red. Good.
“Yes, but I can’t concentrate on my target.” When she spun around, her golden scowl almost made him laugh.
Good. If she couldn’t concentrate, hopefully, she’d give up her quest soon. They’d been walking for more than a half hour. They hadn’t seen or heard anything.
Only the whoosh of wind whipping through the trees as they walked on the top of a rise with a steep rocky drop on one side.
Nothing evil going on out here. Time to leave.
He flipped the collar of his coat up. “It’s getting late, Shel. Nothing’s out there.”
“You might be right.” She turned and faced him.
The cold had brought out pink on her freckled nose and cheeks. If it weren’t for that murderous glare, he’d kiss her but good.
“Stop it,” she said.
“What?”
“Thinking that stuff.”
In the absence of doing anything besides trailing behind her, he said, “Easier said than done.”
Maybe he could break her line of thoughts and get her to leave.
He threw out an image of panting, screaming, sweaty desire that involved some physics-bending maneuvers.
When she spun around, the gold and brown irises had compressed into thin disks. Good.
“You can’t do that,” she panted.
“Why not?”
“It’s. It’s . . . distracting.” She licked her lips. “I can’t think.”
He brushed his gloved finger over the moisture, loving how the pillow of her lips compressed under his thumb. Loving how she didn’t move while he touched her. “Maybe you don’t need to think. You don’t need to analyze anything. Just feel.”
“Out here? Are you nuts?”
“The main reason I’m not throwing you on the ground and stripping your clothes off right here has to do with the risk of hypothermia.”
“Dude, we’re tracking . . . something.”
“I see nothing to track. And we should go back to camp.” He leaned close and growled. “But here’s what I would do if it were warmer and we weren’t crunched for time.”
Conjuring one of his best fantasies about Shelby, a medium-sized tree trunk, and a lasso, he sent the image right to her, complete with her screams of ecstasy and bark burns. He didn’t care if it shocked her. Didn’t care if it repulsed her. He was done hiding what he wanted out of life, and what he wanted out of Shelby. He couldn’t control much in his world, but he could be crystal clear with his intentions toward her.
If they didn’t have a future, then he’d sure as hell find some comfort in the present.
“Oh my God.” Her jaw dropped.
“That’s exactly what I would want you to scream, over and over.” He cupped her butt and pressed her to his hips.
“I can’t live like this. With your mind inside of mine.”
“In a state of perpetual arousal from the images my mind kicks out when I think about you, look at you, or catch a scent of you?”
She bit her lower lip. “Long may it last, right? That’s the problem. When it all comes crashing down, I’ll know in painful detail the minute everything changes.”
“You think I could get tired of thinking up new ways to make both of us very happy?”
“I’m not so stupid to think this can go on forever. Nothing ever does.”
“Shelby, come on now—”
Raising her hand, she cut him off. The woods around them had gone dead silent. Even the wind had stopped.
No noise from small animals scavenging.
No movement.
Silence.
Not normal. Maybe she had been right.
Sweat turned icy on his forehead. A new priority hit him in the gut.
He needed for both of them to be away from here. Now.
She spun around, broke free of his embrace, and started walking. Her gait was stiff, like a puppet’s jerky movements.
“Shelby?” Nothing felt right. Even the shadows looked strange as they moved and shifted.
Everything was wrong.
“Stay back a bit, could you? I want to isolate what I’m picking up.”
That hurt. “I don’t like it, Shel.” With a shake of his head, he followed her from fifty feet away. Too far to respond quickly if something attacked her. He fingered the revolver handle.
He peered into the soundless forest.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“Fine. I think we’ll find the source over here.” She walked along the edge of the drop off.
He didn’t like this situation one bit. He pulled the radio and called Kerr, giving a brief update. Fifteen minutes, and Eric was taking her back to camp. Period. Even if he had to carry her out of here.
Twilight created strange shapes in the forest. He was done with this weird mission.
As he turned off the radio and bent his head to stow it, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He strained to see in the dim light, spying Shelby far ahead on the edge of the rocky drop-off.
A dark shape emerged from behind a tree near her.
A warning burst from his mouth as her strangled cry reached his ears. Her body lurched forward, as if a hand shoved her.
Then she disappeared over the edge of the bluff.