Page 40 of Sheltering Instinct

“And that’s coming soon?” Goose asked.

“Maybe in a few weeks.” Enrico gestured up the hillside. “Here we go.” And he took off, racing up the barely visible trail.

The men fell silent as they concentrated on where to put their feet. The rocks were loose here, and a fall might start them down a very rough slope.

Hearts pumping, sweat dripping, the men rounded a last boulder. Levi saw a lone boot wedged between two rocks.

One woman stood. “Oh, thank goodness!”

Another woman stretched long with her arm thrown over her eyes, lying perfectly still. Mojo sat on the platform next to her, looking pleased with himself with a “Look what I found!” wagging tail.

“What’s going on Gwen?” Enrico slowed his pace.

“A viper bit my friend, Tess. Be careful. There could be more in the area.”

As soon as Gwen saidviper, Enrico and Levi stepped aside to let Goose pelt toward the woman lying prone on the platform.

When Goose kneeled beside her, the woman dragged her arm away from her face.

And Levi’s heart stopped.

Chapter Twelve

Tess

There he was, larger than life.

From the tension around his eyes, he was as surprised as she was that they were suddenly in the same spot at the same time.

Levi, by nature, was stoic. He kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. But in his blue eyes, Tess could see the storm.

Here he was, a natural hero, the kind of guy who would dive off the bridge to save a drowning person. He’d do his best to help her. Of that, she had no doubt. But it would come at a cost. Just her presence would stir up old ghosts.

If Levi hated her, she completely understood.

There was a moment of hesitation. A moment when he pulled back as if the mental shock was a physical one.

He dragged a hand over his face as if painting a mask into place.

But in a split-second, he was by her side, scanning Tess from head to foot, looking for a problem to solve. An enemy to take down. A village to save.

“Shit, Tessy,” he hissed between clenched teeth.

Tess could decipher those two words in a handful of ways. And he probably wanted to convey all of them.

Gwen leaned forward. “The bite was to her right calf.”

Kneeling beside her, Levi lifted her wrist with a light pressure on her pulse point. He’d find her heart racing. She’d done a good job keeping her cool through this situation right up until she saw his face.

Frowning at his watch, Levi gently laid her hand back on the wooden platform, then pulled a pad and pencil from histhigh pocket. “You’ve stayed still?” Just a trained medic running down his medical checklist.

She deserved that.

He wouldn’t feel the same for her as she did for him. They were a long-ago dream. And this was a brutal reality.

“I haven’t moved,” She chattered out. Her whole body was awake and buzzing. The flutter of her heart when Levi’s fingers touched her skin was nothing new to Tess. She remembered it so well.

It was the same reaction all these years later.

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