Page 28 of Saved

“Are you feeling warmer now?” I turned to her, aware that her legs and feet were still exposed.

Bared beneath the blanket I’d offered, she was truly vulnerable. My pulse sped up at the delectable thought. I liked the idea of her helplessness almost as much as I wanted to look after her.

“A little, thank you.” She feigned a smile. “I’m not looking forward to climbing into the bed, though. I bet it will be freezing.”

A glance in the bed’s direction confirmed the basis for her unease. Positioned on the opposite side of the cabin to the fire, it would likely reflect a temperature closer to the door than the flames.

“Want me to move it over here?” I could manage it, especially if she lent a hand.

“Would you?” Her voice was hopeful.

“I wouldn’t offer otherwise.” Stalking to the end of the bed, I moved the chair out of the way. “Can you help?”

“Erm, sure.” She tied the top of the blanket in a knot at her hip. “Okay.”

“I suggest we drag it toward the fire.” It was only a few feet of effort. “Can you take the other side of the bedstead? We’ll see how we do.”

She moved into position. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good.” Weaker and less experienced than me she might have been, but I had no doubt she was capable. She’d exhibited her mettle in the clearing before James and Miles had fallen. “We move on three. Three, two, one...”

Pulling at the post, I hauled it ten inches or so across the timber floor. The noise of the wooden bed grating against the wood flooring filled the space around us, and when I glanced up, I noticed she’d managed almost as far at her end.

“It’s harder than it looks.” Her face lit up in the first natural display of exhilaration since she’d laid eyes on the waterfall, and a shot of hope bloomed inside me. If she kept the faith, I could get her through this.

I have to.

I couldn’t lose them all—couldn’t add another specter to my list of lost souls.

“You’re doing fine,” I encouraged. “Let’s go again.”

Inhaling, she squatted, waiting for my count before she heaved her post further along the floor.

“This is quite the workout.” Her smile was weary as she rose to stretch out her back.

“It will be worth it,” I reminded her. “When you go to sleep by the heat of the fire.”

“I know.” She swallowed. “I want to thank you for letting me take the bed. I know you didn’t have to.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

I left it at that, preferring not to mention how I’d imagined what it would be like to climb into the bed beside her and spoon her tempting body. Her reaction to the mere idea of sharing with me had shown me her reluctance, and I guessed that was understandable.

We were two strangers trapped in the cabin. Nothing more. Only two random people thrown together by circumstance.

It was ridiculous of me to contemplate how soft her skin might be, or how it would feel to tangle my limbs with hers, and wrong to imagine the noises escaping her throat when I slid my shaft into her warm, wet places.

“Ready to move the bed again?” Lunging for the post, I held her gaze.

The light shining in her eyes insisted I pause for one further second. Her pupils conveyed a knowing I hadn’t noticed before, a sense that she might know what was on my mind after all, but in an instant, the look was gone.

“Yes.” Her fingers tightened on the wood. “I’m ready.”

We continued, lugging the bed past the table and on inch by inch until finally it filled the space between the spare logs and the fireplace. Peering back into the comparative gloom of the unlit half of the room, I noticed the path the posts had taken scratched into the floor.

“Well, I’m feeling warmer now!” She laughed, flinging her arms out as she collapsed onto the blanket-covered bed.

“Best you get under the covers, then,” I jested, dragging the chair to the side of the bed nearest the flames and sinking onto its hard seat. Adjusting to its uncompromising confines, I wished I’d been less of a gentleman and taken the bed for myself. If I’d climbed into it first, she’d have had no choice but to either take the chair or share the bed with me. “You need to capture that body heat.”

---