Page 34 of Forbidden Night with the Duke

* * *

He’d done exactly as she’d told him. Maybe he was in shock. Or maybe he’d felt it too, that sudden connection that had shot between them when it had seemed almost inevitable that she would slide away from him, down the slope. She’d asked him to work with her, but their conscious minds had only been able to go so far in breaking down the barriers. It had taken this one moment of panic to shatter them, and it had rocked them both to the core.

Careful what you wish for. She checked that the dressing she’d applied over the splint to immobilise the side of his hand wasn’t too tight. That was going to have to do. If they got to the village and found that all was well, she could re-dress it then.

‘How does it feel?’

She’d treated broken bones plenty of times before, and in Africa she’d done so with fewer medical supplies than she had available now. But not Jaye’s bones. Not with the adrenaline of having him haul her out of danger and into his arms running in her veins. Not with the scent of his body teasing her like a mischievous sprite.

‘Much better, thanks.’ He held up his hand, waggling his thumb and forefinger in answer to her next question.

‘Good. Let’s go, then. Where are the keys?’ She collected up the roll of tape and the scissors and bundled them back into the medical bag.

He pulled the keys out of his pocket, frowning slightly, as if he was thinking about what to do with them. Then he handed them over.

‘I’ll guide you across.’ Jaye stood up, stretching his limbs slightly.

‘Sure you’re okay? You don’t feel dizzy or anything?’ They were in a hurry, but having him keel over on her wasn’t going to make things any quicker.

‘I’m fine. There’s a track that leads up to those houses a couple of miles further along the road. Let’s go.’

* * *

He guided her through the mud and rocks on the road, and Megan inched forward, careful not to go anywhere near the slope on her right. The track that branched off the road, leading to the houses, was bumpy and potholed but Jaye’s sharp eyes and quiet directions meant that they made it without getting stuck. As Megan drove up to the small group of houses, arranged around a dirt compound, her heart sank.

Three of the houses were untouched. A fourth had taken some damage to the roof, and a fifth was almost completely buried, one side of the roof sticking out from a mass of mud and rubble. And there were people digging, men, women and children using their hands and whatever tools were available to make a path through the debris.

‘There must be someone in there.’ Jaye had opened the passenger door almost before she drew to a halt, and he swung out of the truck, jogging towards one of the men who seemed to be directing operations. A brief conversation, and he was back again.

‘There’s a woman and three of her children inside. They’ve heard the baby crying and the woman calling for help.’

‘Is everyone all right?’

‘One of the children is hurt. They don’t know how badly.’ Jaye strode to the back of the truck, opening the tailgate, and one of the men pulled out a large canvas bag and unzipped it. Inside Megan could see a couple of shovels and a tarpaulin, obviously intended to dig the truck out of the mud if need be.

‘Can you help dig?’ He held out one of the shovels and Megan nodded, taking it. ‘We’re going to try to get a rope around that big piece there and tow it out of the way.’

At least he wasn’t going to try and dig one-handed. She left him uncoiling a piece of rope from the bag, and joined the line of people who were toiling to move the pile of debris at one side of the house.

As she started to dig, it began to rain heavily, and within moments she was soaked to the skin. It would have been a relief from the heat if there hadn’t been the worry of water and mud trickling down into the house from above.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started, leaving the workers struggling and slipping in the mud. When Megan straightened for a moment, her back aching, she felt a hand flutter against her arm, and a tiny old woman offered her a hot drink in a patterned china cup. She drank the warm, sweet tea down, thanking the woman in Sinhalese, and got back to work.

Megan was vaguely aware that Jaye was directing the operation to get the tarpaulin and ropes around a large, solid mass of rock and earth that blocked one side of the house. The tarpaulin had slipped once, dragged down by the rain and the mud, but the men had wasted no time with dismay, just shaken their heads and started all over again.

‘Please, miss. Over there, if you please.’ She’d finished helping shovel away the debris on one side of the boulder and had barely caught her breath when the man from the village who was directing the diggers pointed to another place that needed work.

‘Thanks.’ Megan trudged over to the spot he’d indicated, turning as she heard Jaye call from the direction of the truck.

‘Don’t wear yourself out. I’ll be needing you later.’ He was almost a head taller than most of the men around him, a natural leader who expected more from himself than he did from anyone around him. Powerful, with a raw edge of grace, which gave him the air of a warrior king. Jaye’s assertion that it was only the chance accident of his birth that had made him any different was wrong. Understandable maybe, but wrong.

‘I don’t have time for a break. Will you take mine for me?’

He smiled, heaving on the ropes that were being fixed to the tow bar of the truck. ‘Will do. When I get the chance.’

Another fifteen minutes, and they were ready. Everyone stood back, the muffled sound of a baby crying breaking the silence. Jaye carefully edged the truck forward, stopping for a long moment to allow the men to adjust the ropes.

A disappointed groan sounded through the knot of people, families gathered together all holding their breath, as a large crack formed in the boulder. For a moment it seemed it might break apart, but it held for long enough for Jaye to edge forward another couple of inches.

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