Bear Meets Bride (R) - Amy Star Page 0,35

of needing another person was even more insatiable.

“What am I to you?” she asked again, as if trying to urge an answer from his dreams.

I know what you are to me, she thought, biting her lip again and reaching out to trace the outline of his jaw with one finger. He murmured something, and the tightness in his brow lightened, as if she’d dispelled whatever had been ailing him. Love. It was such a strange word, so short, succinct. How could anyone possibly hope to contain its meaning in something so truncated?

It didn’t matter, all that mattered—

CRACK. This time, she sat straight up again and her arm was already shaking Dylan awake, who squirmed beside her. That was not her imagination and neither was it lightning because it was still dark outside, pitched into a gravity of blackness.

“What’s going on?” Dylan murmured.

Sarah was already up, pulling on her old jeans with the holes in the knees. “Something’s wrong!” she gasped back. “That was too close. And there’s no lightning. That’s not thunder!”

Something that loud could only be one thing.

Sarah threw open the door of the bedroom and rushed into the living room and kitchen, nearly stubbing her toe on the couch and swore under her breath. The lights were dead in the lamps, long sputtered out, and the door outside was slightly ajar. Already a small puddle had clotted on the floor from the rain trying to invade, and Sarah felt the bottom of her stomach cave in as she reached out to grip the sink for support. Dylan was fast behind her and it took him a moment to reconcile what had happened.

“Chris,” he murmured.

Sarah pushed past him and reached over the couch. Not only was Chris gone, but the satellite radio had disappeared as well. That didn’t make sense. “He was supposed to wake us… for our watch,” she said breathlessly, and turned to see Dylan at the door, staring into the night.

“Something happened,” he said. “C’mon.”

“That sound…” she whispered. He looked at her but neither of them wanted to say it aloud. It was obvious – the sound had been gunfire. Somewhere, somehow, the poachers had landed.

In less than a minute, Sarah and Dylan had both donned their raincoats and ventured into the clearing. It came down in a smothering torrent, inconsistent, almost as if the sky itself was breathing the rain down on them. Dylan went first, holding his hood down as he tried to peer through the tumult, while Sarah hunched in his wake, using the wind break to scan the forest to the left and right of them. In moments, their pants were soaked through and cold rain was already leaking through their boots as mud clung to their ankles. She shivered, feeling fear like a cold compress, seething through her limbs.

Be strong, she hissed, slapping her legs and trying to find the muscles in them.

Up ahead, Dylan led them over the creek, and at least here under the trees, the rain wasn’t quite as bad, although it was still coming down in droves. “Where did the sound come from?” he whispered over her shoulder.

She could barely hear him. “I don’t know… from inside, it was like it was coming from everywhere. If I had to guess though… north… toward the summit.”

Without a word, he lowered his head and chose one of the major paths. There was no hesitation. She was amazed at how well he seemed to know where they were. True, she had run almost all of the paths in her short time since coming but in the dark and the storm it was impossible for her to get her bearings. She merely bent her head and followed behind him, trusting his sense of direction implicitly.

Another shot. CRACK. This time, neither of them jumped because they’d been waiting for it, anything, a sound that would lead them like a landmark. Sarah had been right; it was bearing north toward the summit. The two of them started to run. She reached out and grasped Dylan’s hand. His hands closed around hers, chilled by the rain. Her breath felt like a gear that kept missing its catch and she felt frustrated that her body should give up on her.

“There!” Dylan shouted.

Up ahead, through the forest, they saw someone running, clothed in camo gear. It looked as if he was trying to follow the paths, but he kept swerving off into the bush and then had to take a step back and regain his composure.