Danger

Todays Sat Snippet theme is Character in Danger, and I was driving myself nuts trying to think of a scene in any of my books where the Heroine was in danger…then I thought, why does it have to be the girl in danger?

So…here’s a snippet from a scene in PRIMAL MALE where they’re both in danger-together.

(To set it up, they’re being chased by the bad guy, and they were ran off the road in a snowstorm.)

EXCERPT:

Drake steadied the Timberwolf against his right shoulder and scanned the mountainside through the night scope, making adjustments until the vision was as clear as it could get. He’d been unable to brace himself when the truck had gone over the ledge, and his left shoulder had taken a beating against the steering wheel. Not only had shoulder had taken a beating, but he’d smacked his head good, and his vision was all blurry.
Concussion, he thought to himself as he struggled to stay focused.
Melissa muttered as she pulled stuff out of the first aid kit and he prayed.
He couldn’t remember the last time he prayed. He’d grown up not believing in God, but he’d met true evil in his line of work, and he believed in Hell. He figured he couldn’t believe in Hell if he didn’t believe in the counterpart.
That didn’t mean he prayed though. But for Melissa, he prayed. It was dark, he was hurt, and they were stuck. He could protect himself with a bullet, but he wasn’t so sure he could protect her. He’d certainly done a piss-poor job of it so far.
A hard lump formed in his throat as he watched the woman beside him. The snow was falling more gently now, but the wind kept blowing her hair into her face and she just kept pushing it back. No hesitation.
That was her. She didn’t whine or complain about the hand she was dealt, she didn’t blame anyone, she just did what needed to be done.
“Hurry up.” He’d had to work to push the words past his tight, dry throat, and they came out as a growl. She glared at him, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was making her happy enough with his situation that she would shift and get the hell out of there.

Ignoring the demands of her patient Melissa looked at all the crap she’d pulled out of the first aid kit. How could so much stuff fit in such a small kit? The kit was smaller than the one he’d had in the hotel room, yet it seemed to have more things. It was all starting to blur in front of her.
Focus, she told herself. You can do this.
A deep breath in, and blow it out. She studied the stuff again. A pressure bandage! Closing her eyes she thought back to the mountain survival first aid class Erin’s dad had made them take when they started going got for early morning hikes. Brace it. She needed to brace the break before bandaging it.
Finding some more gauze pads, she stopped and looked at Drake. He’d been silent, sitting back against the tire, watching her. “Any advice?”
“Maybe cut the pant leg open, so you don’t work the fabric deeper into the wound,” he said. “But other than that, you look like you know what you’re doing.”
“The pants,” she muttered, digging through the first aid kit for a pair of scissors. “I know I saw you in here back at the hotel.”
“Melissa.”
Her head snapped up and she saw the very large, very sharp knife Drake held out to her. She bit her lip and grabbed his pants leg, slicing it neatly to the hem and exposing his ugly wound.
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, she was doctoring him. That scared her.
Taking another deep breath, she ignored the chill that crept into her lungs and leaned over his leg. “I wish I had rubber gloves,” she muttered.
Rolling the gauze pads into tight little sausages she prepared to wiggle them into place. “Ready?” she glanced at Drake.
He nodded, his eyes on the mountainside behind her.
She went to work, doing her best to touch as little as possible as she set the gauze sausages under the break and let them slowly expand to fill the space, stabilizing the broken bone.
She peeked at Drake from under her lashes, but he wasn’t watching her. His eyes were roaming, scanning their surroundings for any sign that their assailant had decide to follow them down the mountain.
“You think he’ll follow?” she asked as she laid some more gauze pads over and around the exposed bone.
“Yes.”
“Even in this snow?”
Drake looked at her. “He’ll follow. I’m surprised he’s not here already.”
She swallowed. “Done,” she said, after tying off the gauze she’d wrapped around his leg to hold everything in place.
“Tie it tighter,” he said.
“There’s no need to make it tighter. It’s covered and it’s protected.”
Drake bent forward, reaching for the end of her knot himself.
“Stop. I’ll do it.”
Looking him in the eyes, she gritted her teeth and jerked the ends tighter. Drake gasped, and all the color drained from his face.
“Drake?” she cried. She lunged over his legs and shook his shoulder. Cupping his cheek, she felt the heat of a fever and panicked. “Don’t you pass out on me. Don’t you dare fucking pass out and leave me alone out here.”
His eyelids fluttered and lifted. “I’d never leave you alone,” he said, staring into her eyes.
Caught by the swirling emotions in his bright eyes, she moved closer, lifting her face and placing her lips on his.
The chill went away and she sighed into his mouth. It wasn’t a big sloppy passionate kiss, but it touched her heart.
Pulling way she stood and brushed the snow from her pants. “Let’s go. We need to get you somewhere safe, then I want to check on your shoulder.”

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