Page 23 of Clashing Moon

He rolled to his back, and I shifted, splaying myself over his large frame. Instinctually, one leg wrapped around his as I nestled into his chest.

“Can you hear my heart beating?” Rafferty asked softly.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’m afraid it’ll give me away.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m holding a beautiful woman in my arms, and I’m only a human. You feel way too good.”

“You feel pretty good too.”

“All right, then. We have that established. Let’s go to sleep before we get into further trouble.”

Trouble sounded good right then. Very good. But like the good girl I’d always been, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

I blinked awake slowly,dawn light filtering pale and soft through the frosted cabin window, aware of the warmth of someone’s body next to me. Rafferty. We’d made it through the night. Why had it felt like the best sleep I’d ever had?

Rafferty’s arm rested around my waist, his breathing a gentle rhythm. I shifted just slightly, careful not to wake him, as I escaped from the cot and strode to the window. The frigid morning air seeped immediately into my bones. I glanced back at him, taking in the sheer beauty of the man. Those thick eyelashes and angular cheekbones. Locks of dark hair mussed.

How had I kept my wits about me last night? I turned back to look out the window.

A layer of snow lay pristine under the gray sky. Two feet at least. The storm had finally passed, leaving a silent stillness behind.

I hugged my arms around myself.Dad, where are you?

I heard Rafferty waking and his feet hitting the floor. “How bad is it?”

“Two feet. At least. But it’s stopped snowing, and I don’t hear any wind.”

He came to stand behind me. “We should eat a little something and head out right away. In case the snow starts up again.”

I nodded in agreement and excused myself to use the bathroom. When I returned, Rafferty handed me a granola bar. “Eat one and put one in your pocket, just in case it takes us a while to get back.”

“Good idea. Everyone’s probably worried about you. They’ll have no idea why they can’t reach you.”

“Yeah. I’m sure Mama’s been calling my phone every five minutes. We’ll get a team together to find your dad the minute we get cell service.”

“Okay, yes.” Even as I said it, I had a crushing dread wrap around me. If he had been out here, he was gone.

We ate breakfast quickly and drank full glasses of water. After Rafferty used the bathroom, we stepped outside. The trail we’d followed to the cabin was completely hidden now, buried beneath the thick snow.

“Do you have any idea where the trail was?” Rafferty asked.

“Yes, between those trees. I’ll recognize trees as we go along. And we know to head down, which will take us to the foothills one way or another.”

Beside me, Rafferty exhaled, his breath visible in the cold air. “We can do this.”

I tugged my hood tighter around my face. “Let’s do it.”

He gave a single nod, and we took our first steps into the snow. Immediately, my boots sank deep, the cold wetness reaching nearly to my knees. It was slow going; each step meantlifting my leg high enough to pull it free of the drift before plunging it back down. But soon, I fell into a rhythm, the crunch and lift, crunch and lift, with Rafferty’s steady presence right next to me.

The silence was absolute. The snow muffled everything, even our footsteps. Only our breaths, rising in puffs of white mist, broke the quiet as we trudged onward. Up ahead, the branches of a tall pine, heavy with snow, arched over the path like a natural gateway, its boughs drooping under the weight. “This is the right way,” I said.

Rafferty grunted in agreement. “You okay, or do you need a rest?”

“I’m good for now.”

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