Page 49 of Searching Blind

She winced at the suggestion and swallowed the pills, washing them down with a swig from his canteen. “I don’t trust him.”

“I don’t trust any of them,” Sawyer said flatly and leaned against the trunk of a tree, pulling her back against his chest. “But he was a medic.”

She relaxed into him. “We should keep going toward the cell tower. Unless you think you can get the radio working…?”

His chin was resting on her shoulder, and she felt his jaw tighten in frustration. “No. It’s fried.”

“Then trying to get a signal on the phones is still our best bet.”

Sawyer drew a breath, then let it out in a whoosh. “Dammit, I don’t like it. I’d rather get you back to someone who can actually look at that wound… but you’re right.

Sawyer’s arms tightened around her in a protective manner, an unspoken promise that he would do whatever it took to see her safe. She’d never had that before he came into her life. After escaping her ex, she’d thrown herself into becoming a park ranger, and then into her job. She’d taken care of others, but couldn’t remember a time when anyone had taken care of her, not like this. Not like Sawyer.

She turned in his arms and snuggled closer to his chest. Beneath her ear, she felt the steady thud of his heartbeat.

Something warm curled in her chest, something that felt suspiciously like love. She turned her head to look at him, at his pale blue eyes hidden behind the golden strands of his hair. He was looking right back at her, his gaze steady and unblinking. She knew he couldn’t see her, not physically, but it still felt like he was seeing right into her soul. It was a feeling that both terrified and comforted her. It was also a feeling that made her want to kiss him stupid.

And so she did.

She slid her hands up his chest, one resting on his heart, the other curling around the nape of his neck. She pulled him down and pressed her lips to his.

His reaction was immediate and electrifying. He met her kiss with a force that left her breathless, his hands tightening on her as if he was afraid she would pull away. But she wasn’t going anywhere— not now, not when everything felt so impossibly right.

It was the kind of kiss that made the world fall away. It was just them in that moment, wrapped up in each other’s arms and lost in the taste of each other’s lips.

Pulling back just enough to catch her breath, Lucy stared up at Sawyer. His pale blue eyes reflected a world she longed for— a world without predators lurking in shadows or wounds aching deep within her soul. A world where there was just him and her. That was what she wanted. What she had always wanted, even before she knew who Sawyer Murphy was.

She opened her mouth to tell him all of that…

Zelda nudged between them, dropping a wet tennis ball on their laps.

Sawyer groaned. “You really do have the absolute worst timing, girl.”

Zelda sat and panted happily, her eyes flicking from the ball to Sawyer.

The dog looked so unapologetically hopeful, Lucy couldn’t help but laugh. “Where did she find that?”

“My bag, probably.” Sawyer picked up the ball and gave it a toss. Zelda launched after it. “I either knocked it out while looking for the ropes to pull you out of that hole, or she went digging for it.”

Lucy looked over at his backpack. He’d propped it by a tree, but it now sat on his side with its contents strewn over the ground. “She definitely went digging for it.”

“Crazy dog.” Sawyer chuckled, ruffling Zelda’s ears as she returned and dropped the ball again. He picked it up and lobbed it into the trees.

Zelda darted back and forth, the ball occasionally skittering out of her reach with every enthusiastic snap of her jaws. Sawyer leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, listening to her play, his face creased in gentle amusement. Despite everything—despite the ache in her back and the uncertainty of their situation—a warmth spread through Lucy as she watched them.

After everything she’d been through, the simple act of a man and his dog playing fetch was almost unbearably sweet.

Neither of them spoke for a long while. The forest came alive with the night sounds as the sun sank beyond the horizon—the hoot of an owl, the rustling of leaves, and the distant howl of a coyote.

A chill crept over her skin as the air cooled. “I’m going to start a fire.”

Sawyer’s eyes popped open. He tilted his head in her direction, a small half-smile playing on his lips. “Do you need a hand?”

“No, I got it.” There was an almost fierce pleasure in the task, in setting up the kindling just right and striking the flint until the spark grew into a flame. She fed it slowly, patiently, until it was a roaring fire that drove back the shadows and warmed away her aches. She pulled the MREs from her bag. She only had the a few packages, but she figured after the day they’d had, they deserved to splurge on a… well, if not good meal, at least a full one.

“Chicken burrito bowl or beef stew?” she asked.

“Whichever you’re not eating.”

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