Royal Line (Tattered Royals #1) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,14
you’re fine.”
“I’ll have you know I am fine. If I hadn’t twisted my stupid ankle, I would be out of this ravine already.”
I frowned then. “You’re hurt?”
“Mostly bumps and bruises. I don’t think anything is broken, but my ankle hurts a little. I don’t think it’s a proper sprain. It’s just twisted.”
When I reached her side, I could see her better in the moonlight. She did have some cuts and bruises. I knelt in front of her. “I’m Kannon. Kannon Adams.”
“Oh, names again? You know mine.”
“Well, at least I’m not going to offer to buy you a drink—yet. But from the looks of it, you could probably use one.”
“You’d be right. Of course this would happen on a night like tonight.”
I assessed her foot. Slim. Delicate. Well arched. A dancer’s foot. Except, they were too smooth for her to be a dancer. I lifted her ankle and found it was mildly swollen.
She winced. “Careful.”
“Easy does it.” When I looked up, her gaze on me was intent. Her blue eyes bore into mine, and that kicked my heart rate up even higher.
What the fuck?
Her hair was in a tangled mess around her face, spilling onto her shoulders. I had to focus to ask her the necessary questions. “Okay, London, how did you get down here?”
She swallowed hard. “I think some idiot ran me off the road.”
My brows snapped down, senses going on alert. “What do you mean, ran you off the road?”
“I was driving on my way to a friend’s house, and out of nowhere, a car came up and banged into the back of my car. I started to pull over to exchange details, but instead, it came around the side of me, sped up, and hit me again. I lost control. And here I am. Then you came along.”
Jesus Christ. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I do hate to be late.”
“Hot date?”
“I mean, not as hot as my current situation, but sure.”
I grinned at that. She still had a sense of humor. That was good. And I liked her accent. Her voice rolled over me like a nice shot of scotch, warm and smoky. It made me think of doing dirty things to her, making her light up like fire.
Stop it. She clearly needs help. Fantasizing about her was definitely not the best idea at the moment. “I’m going to take your hand. Put as little pressure on your ankle as possible. I’m going to tie you to me, and then I’m going to climb us out of here, okay?”
“How are you going to do that?”
“We’re going to climb up. Mostly me. You’re going to climb up onto my back and stay there. But you’ll still be attached to me, even if you fall off.”
“What if I fall? Will you fall too?”
I shook my head. “The grappling hook will hold our weight. You’re just a little thing. And it held my weight coming down, so we’ll be fine climbing back up.”
“Dare I ask why you have a grappling hook?”
“For situations like this.”
“Oh my God, you’re a serial killer, right? But I’m an easy target. It’ll be much better for you if you hunt your prey. And, as I can’t run on this ankle, I make a terrible serial killer target.”
My lips twitched. “Sweetheart, if I wanted to hurt you, you’d be dead already.”
She blinked at me before deadpanning, “That’s not as comforting as you think it is.”
I shook my head. “Come on. Do you have everything you need?”
She had a sturdy cross-body bag strapped on. It was bulky though. Like a camera bag.
“I couldn’t get out of the driver’s side, so I shimmied over here. I just need this bag. I’ve got my phone in here. I have a few things in the back, but they’re not urgent. I didn’t want to attempt climbing in there and have the car fall farther down.”
“Smart girl. You’re sure that bag is urgent?”
Her nod was insistent. “I’d probably give my life to secure it.”
I lifted a brow but didn’t question her. I’d find out soon enough what was in there. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
“Kannon, that’s an interesting name. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Kannon.”
“Well, not everyone can be as handsome and unique as I am.”
“Are you flirting? That sounded like flirting. Bad flirting.”
I ignored that, not sure what I would say in reply. Instead, I focused on the task at hand. It was easy enough for me to do simple knots and loops around us. The scent of