Wild Men of Alaska 01 - Impact

“Give me a second.” She sidled past him and climbed into the tail of the plane. “Shine the flashlight this direction.”
    He tilted the flashlight toward her and was rewarded as her sweet ass caught in the beam of light. He smothered a groan. He wanted that ass snuggled up to his—
    “Hey, could you be helpful here or what?”
    He jerked the flashlight beam off her becoming backside and shined it where it would actually help her. Geez, where was his head? Get it together man. She’s going to think you only have sex on the brain. It was the truth, but he should pretend otherwise. Women didn’t like to know the truth about men.
    “Got it.” She held up some frayed rope like it was a trophy.
    “What are we going to do with that?” Tie each other up? Another pump of blood headed south.
    “I’ll tie one end around my waist, head out there—” she paused and shuddered “—tie the other end to the struts on the plane so I can find my way back in the snow.”
    He liked his idea better. But hers was more practical though less titillating. “Good idea.” She beamed, and he suddenly wondered how many people, him included, had ever complimented her. Yeah, he’d always told her how beautiful she was but never how brilliant. But then she hadn’t done a lot of smart things in her life. So many people had relished pointing that out to her. Her father especially.
    “Let me go first,” he said. He could at least break a trail.
    “If you don’t mind, I’m about to burst.” She grabbed her coat and slid it on.
    He reached up and untied the flashlight from where he’d hung it. “Take this.”
    He handed it to her but didn’t let it go when she grabbed it. “Don’t drop it.”
    “I won’t.”
    She tied an end of the rope around her waist. When she was finished, she met his eyes. “I won’t go far. Don’t worry.”
    He buried his hand in her hair, and yanked her in for a fast and hard kiss. He’d meant to only kiss her quick, but she did that softening thing again, and he helplessly sunk into her mouth. She moaned into his mouth and slid her arms around his neck. He reached out to pull her closer and tweaked his broken arm. He hissed and released her, pain flared hot and cold, diminishing his desire.
    “Be careful,” he gritted out, not wanting her to know how much pain he was in.
    “I will.” She cocked her head. “You okay?”
    “I’ll be fine once you’re back here. So hurry.”
    “See you in a few.” Then she turned and climbed through the cockpit. Opening the door, wind and snow swirled in, and then she was gone, and he was alone in the cold, in the dark, and in pain. But the pain had transferred from the physical to the emotional. He wanted her back. Now. He wanted to follow her out there.
    What if something happened? What if she tripped and hurt herself or lost the hold of the rope and couldn’t find the plane in the blowing snow? She hadn’t been able to see the plane when they had returned from depositing Jim.
    Jim.
    Holy shit. She was right. They should have tossed him over the bank. Right now, Wren could be fighting for her life against a bear. It was early yet for them to all be in bed. Just the other day, he’d spotted a sow and her cubs. Jim’s scent could have brought one close. Bears sense of smell was eight hundred times that of humans. There were wolves running about too.
    What the hell had he been thinking to let her go out there alone? She didn’t even have a weapon with her to help protect herself. He grabbed his coat and struggled into the one arm. He couldn’t get it to stay over his bad one. Frustrated, he tore the thing off and threw it on the bed of cushions.
    She’d been gone too long. What if she hadn’t tied the rope properly and the k not worked loose with the wind?
    That was it. He was going out there.
    ***
    Wren shuddered in the cold. There was nothing more bitterly cold than baring your ass in a blizzard. She’d finished her business and had her clothing back to rights when a large hulking creature stalked her way.
    A chill that rivaled the storm shivered through her. Skip should have listened to her. Jim should’ve gone over the bluff. She dropped to her knees and inched to the left, where she remembered the plane being.
    If the bear caught her scent, she’d lead him right to Skip.
    She grabbed the rope and struggled to untie the knot from around her waist, but the bear lumbered closer. Shit. She needed to get free, run. But where? Then she