Gwen's Lifesavers

by Eileen Green

Gwen glanced between the two men, trying to figure out why they were doing there, but her body knew right away. It was responding to the voices who were speaking to her the night before to stay with them. Smiling shyly, she said softly, “I remember your voices. I remember both of you talking to me.”

  “Yes, we did. You gave us a hell of a scare.” That was Jake, his voice deep and smooth as aged whiskey. “I had never seen anyone as blue as you were in all my years of being a paramedic.”

  “You don’t look old enough to have been doing it for very long.” Gwen wasn’t used to men trying to hold a conversation with her. She avoided men at all costs. This encounter was causing her nerves to jump and fizzle.

  “I’m thirty-two. I’ve been doing this for seven years. Same with Andrew here. We actually went to school together.”

  Trying to hide her smile, she found his nervous state interesting. When the two of them had first begun the conversation, Jake was confident and serious. Now, his nerves were exposed, his words were coming out quickly as if he was getting ready to ramble.

  “So, does that make you both the same age then?” Gwen asked curiously. If they were, Andrew looked very youthful. She guessed him to be about twenty-five.

  “Almost, baby girl. I’m thirty.” Andrew’s baritone voice was gentle, caring.

  What shocked Gwen was the term, “baby girl,” he had used. Her girly parts had stood up and taken notice with the endearing term, but she knew he most likely didn’t mean anything by it. He probably didn’t realized he had even said it.

  “Wow, both of you are young,” she said as she set both vases on the table.

  “You make it sound as if you are old,” Jake said as he moved to pull up the chair close to the bed and then sit down.

  Andrew followed suit with the other chair, both of them making themselves comfortable. What were they doing? It was almost like they were getting to know her. For what?

  Not wanting to be rude, Gwen settled back against the pillow. It had slipped down her back. Trying to twist around to fix it, Andrew moved quickly and helped position it where she wanted it.

  “There you go, darlin’. Comfy now?” he asked, his voice nearly a drawl.

  Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, the smile exposing the twin dimples that graced his cheeks. “Can we get you anything?”

  “No. Thank you.”

  Confusion swamped her mind. It was still a bit muddled from the cold, but now that they were here, acting as if they were trying to court her, her head seemed to spin. Visions of the past stole her thoughts and mistrust rose within her.

  “I don’t mean to sound rude,” she began after taking a long deep breath. “But, what do you guys want?”

  Jake’s hand moved out to cover hers as it lay at her side. Andrew followed suit. Trying to hold on to her senses and her patience, she kept herself from pulling away from them.

  “When we saw you last night looking so frail, we knew we wanted you. We want to get to know you. Protect you. Love you,” Jake explained as his hand squeezed hers.

  “What?” Gwen exclaimed. “I don’t even know you. Besides…wait! We? What the hell?”

  She knew she was babbling. Taking another deep breath, she tried to calm herself.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Jake said sheepishly. “Let me explain.”

  Schooling herself with patience and an open mind, Gwen listened as he did just that. Love at first sight wasn’t something she believed in, but she did have to admit her body responded to both of them when she first laid eyes on them. Ménage?

  Gwen Bowers’ head was spinning as he continued. For the first time, she was beginning to sympathize with Alice as she fell down that rabbit hole. Words, feelings, uncertainty, desire. They all whirled around her and she had to wonder when she was going to hit the floor. Or better yet, when she was going to come out of the dream she was having.

  “Are you going to deny that you don’t feel anything for us?” Andrew asked. “Your body speaks for you as well as your words do.”

  “I appreciate what you are requesting of me, really, I do,” she said, trying to pull her hands away, but didn’t succeed. The two men demonstrated their strength and held on tight, but not tight enough to cause her pain. Also, if she had to admit it, she really didn’t want them to. “I had a bad experience in the past with a boyfriend, or what I thought was one, and I don’t think I can trust men ever again.”

  “Sweetheart, you can’t base your life on what one person did to you. If you did that, you won’t ever live your life to the fullest. There will be no long-term happiness. In the back of your mind, you will always wonder what could have been.” Jake’s face showed all his emotions as he spoke to her.

  “You don’t understand,” she whispered. She explain her life’s choices and mistakes, watching their faces and body language for their judgment of her, but it never surfaced.

  “What you did was admirable, honey. A lot of girls would have had an abortion or given the baby up for adoption. You have shown you are a strong, loving woman, and that’s what we want. Please say you will go out with us once you are all better?”

  Quietly, as two sets of eyes watched her, she debated in her mind what to do. Their reasoning made sense, and she had led a very lonely life, a personal exile, if you will. Not only were their no men in her life, but there really weren’t any friends either. She kept everyone at arm’s length, afraid of getting hurt again.

  Perhaps now was the time to change all that.

  “Please give me time to process all of this. I’ll need time to recover fully and try to make some sense of my life now that I don’t have a job. I’ll have to reassess and go from there.” Not giving them a definitive answer, she would have to see where all this went, for her life was now in an upheaval again.

  “Anything you need help with, just ask. We’ll be here to help you. Please, give us a chance.”

  The seriousness in Jake’s voice told her that she would be remiss not to do as they requested. She didn’t find that they were being bossy, they really and truly did want to help her. Also, the sternness in his voice called to her body, confusing her in its response to the sound.

  “Dominant is the word you’re looking for,” Jake said, a smile on his face that was a cross between smug and knowing.

  “Excuse me?” she asked, confusion lacing her words.

  “Your body is responding to our words because we are Doms and it wants to please us and let us take control of it. You will make a fine submissive.”

  The fact that they were so confident that she was going to let herself open herself to them was both exhilarating and frustrating. And that they were into BDSM was mind blowing. She had read about it in erotic novels, but she didn’t know if she could let any man spank or whip her.

  Gwen wanted to say yes to these two virile, glorious men. She really did. Their words were spot on about living her life to the fullest, and she had missed out on a lot. She wanted to live again, to experience everything she possibly could. Could she trust her heart to these two men?

  Now, of course, she trusted them explicitly. They held her life and heart in their hands as did she with them. Jake had to come home to her. She didn’t know what she would do if he didn’t.

  Heather leaned in and cuddled against her under the blankets. Gwen didn’t realize she was crying until her daughter spoke. “Don’t cry, Mom. It’s going to be okay.”

  Siobhan’s arm circled her shoulders as she leaned in closer, offering her strength, support, and comfort.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The wind was whipping around his body as he was certain it was doing to the other twenty-five to thirty people that were tied together by a rope line. Snow blew haphazardly. Thankfully it wasn’t coming down heavy yet. That meant that there wasn’t a lot of fresh snow to contend with on the ground.

  They were about halfway up to where the three PLBs were going off according to Commander Jacobson on the
radio. The three beacons were separated by about five hundred yards so they had agreed they would take the two beacons that were closest together first, which were most likely with the helicopter. The other beacon would be Jake and the girl and they would most likely need to carry her down the mountain, and possibly Jake.

  Andrew was just about in the middle of the lineup. Everyone thought it best since he was a paramedic to have that position so he wouldn’t have to traipse from one end of the line to the other if he was needed. This way, he was only halfway down.

  To his right was Kyle, one of the firefighters at the station. To his left was Trey. Both men he trusted with his life, so he was comfortable with the placing. They had tried to stagger professionals with the volunteers, but since many of the ranchers had already helped in search and rescues before, there was only a handful of inexperienced people.

  Trey called a halt and the command was called down the line. The thermoses were brought out and since they couldn’t afford to carry and deal with cups, the men drank from the carafes and then passed them down. The hot liquid hit the spot to help warm him up from the inside.

  When they had drank enough, they trudged on, carefully stepping to avoid another rain of snow, ice, rocks, and trees, but also, to make sure they weren’t walking on anyone.

  * * * *

  The snow was heavy on his back, but Jake could tell it gave a bit, which meant they weren’t totally buried and hopefully come morning, they would be able to get out without a problem. He had to hope that Gerald and Pete were safe.

  The body next to him was still but warm under the space blanket he had laid on top of Lily. Luckily, when the avalanche hit, he was able to get himself under his own blanket and hold on for the ride. Actually, they didn’t move. He suspected that the worst part of the slide had taken place during the first one, and they had only gotten hit by some of what was left.

  His space blanket was doing a good job at containing his body heat and he was certain Lily’s was heating her also. Shifting a bit, he garnered a moan from the woman, but otherwise she remained asleep as he pulled his cell phone out of his jumpsuit pocket. Thankfully, the battery was still nearly fully charged, the only problem was, no bars. Damn!

  The backpack was lodged between him and the snow. Twisting his arm around, he was able to retrieve the bottle of water that he had stuffed into the side pocket. Carefully, he opened it and took a swig. He knew Lily needed to stay hydrated.

  “Lily, I need you to drink some water. Can you wake up for me?” Jake’s voice was soft. With the compact space they were in, he didn’t need to speak to loudly.

  A soft moan escaped her. He could tell by the light of the phone, her eyes were fluttering open. “What happened?”

  “We got hit by another avalanche. It’s night time so we’re going to have to wait until morning to get out of here. Now, I have some water. I need you to drink just a little. Okay?”

  “‘Kay.” She opened her mouth as he held the bottle to her lips and poured in a little bit. When she swallowed and opened up again, he poured a little more and then put the lid back on the bottle. He held the bottle between them so that knew where to find it when they needed it again.

  “How are you doing?” he asked her. “Are you in a lot of pain?”

  “My arm and my chest hurts.”

  “Are you having problems breathing?”

  “A little. It’s more uncomfortable than a sharp pain,” she murmured. “Really sleepy.”

  “Okay, go back to sleep,” he said. “But, I’m going to wake you in an hour or so to make sure you’re doing all right.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  He knew she had gone back to sleep. He was tired also, hopefully it was because he hadn’t slept much the night before and not because of a lack of oxygen.

  Setting the alarm on his phone for an hour from now, Jake let his eyes close. The only thing to do now was wait.

  * * * *

  The shaking of the Tahoe and what sounded like a scraping sound woke Gwen with a start. Heather and Siobhan had done the same, indicating they had dozed off also.

  Siobhan opened her door, for the sound was coming from her side. She only looked out for a quick second before closing the door and snuggling back up against Gwen. “It’s Lawrence. He’s puttin’ petrol in the car.”

  Gwen had to wonder whose vehicle he had syphoned the gas from. Perhaps that nasty commander’s. Looking out the windows, she found it was still dark and the snow was still blowing around. Nothing seemed to have changed.

  The lights in the trailer were still blazing. The door was closed. She figured Lyndee was inside with Martha and Jacobson. The urge to hurt the commander had dissipated greatly. She knew he was only trying to do what was best for everyone involved, but then, his lover wasn’t on the mountain.

  The back door of the Tahoe opened and Lawrence climbed in. “How are you ladies doing?” he asked as he closed the door.

  “Okay,” Gwen responded as she twisted around a bit to look at him. “Thank you for the gas.”

  “You need to stay warm. Wolf’s truck has an extra gas tank on it so I got the gas from there.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out some granola bars and a plastic bag of homemade cookies. “Martha sent these over. She figured you guys might be hungry. Do you need fresh coffee?”

  “I’m sure Heather and Siobhan are hungry. I couldn’t eat a thing, but thank you.” Butterflies were doing aerial acrobatics in her stomach.

  “We’re good on coffee for right now, Lawrence,” Siobhan spoke up. “We’ll let you know when we need more. Any news?”

  Gwen had been afraid to ask. Afraid there would be bad news.

  “Nothing to report. They’re about halfway there. The plan is to go for the guys in the helicopter first. Hopefully they’ll be able to walk out on their own. The woman that is up there may need medical attention so they know they’ll probably have to carry her down. The worst of the storm is holding off which is a good thing since it’ll probably take a few more hours for the search party to reach them.” Lawrence was thorough in his report, Gwen noticed. He was most likely used to having to deal with victim’s families as she noticed his calming demeanor as he spoke.

  “When you ladies need a bathroom break or just want to come into the trailer, call me so I can come get you.”

  In unison, Gwen and Siobhan answered, “Yes, sir.”

  Heather’s head lifted from Gwen’s shoulder quickly, letting Gwen know she had noticed their responses. Lawrence smiled at Gwen but didn’t say anything more.

  It was becoming second nature to Gwen to respond to a Dom respectfully even though they weren’t Jake or Andrew. As she became more observant with her friends, she had discovered other submissives doing the same thing.

  “You ladies get some rest. It’ll be a while longer before we hear anything,” he said as he was getting ready to open the door. “And Gwen?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Eat something. You have to keep up your strength. Your men will expect you in good shape when they return. Also, Jake will most likely be in the hospital for a few days and you’ll need to be strong. Is that understood?” His explanation was sound, even though her stomach disagreed with him.

  “Yes, sir.” Her voice was low, not because she was ashamed of answering him respectfully in front of her daughter, but because he had told her exactly what her mind had been telling her. Denial was so easy to latch onto in circumstances such as this.

  “Remember, call me when you want to come to the trailer. I don’t want any of you wandering around by yourselves out there.”

  This time, three voices responded in unison. “Yes, sir.”

  Gwen laid her head back down on the back of the seat as Lawrence darted out of the vehicle and closed the door quickly behind him as if he was trying hard not to let in too much cold. Gwen felt herself drifting off again as the sound of the wind lulled her.

  * * * *

  A shout came from down the line to the left that they had
come upon the helicopter. Making his way in that direction, he felt the tug on the rope line to his right as everyone began to follow him.

  Beams of light glanced over the red and white hull of the bird, highlighting dents and dings. Further up, the evidence of broken blades stood up out of the snow as if markers for the accident.

  The copter was lying halfway on its side. The cabin door had been pulled nearly all the way closed, leaving a bit of room for a person to get through if needed. Several of the men tested the stability of the hunk of metal and it seemed pretty stable.

  Untying themselves from the line, Kyle and Andrew slipped into the bird to find both Pete and Gerald huddled together under space blankets in the cabin. At first, Andrew was concerned that no movement from either one of them meant the worst, especially with the men on the outside making noise by hitting the hull.

  As he was getting ready to touch Pete’s shoulder, the man moved, sending a moment of fright through Andrew. “Heya, Pete. We’ve come to take you home.”

  “Hey there. Gerald’s banged up. His arm’s busted and he appeared to have hit his head. He comes and goes because I keep waking him up. I figured no one would come out for us due to the weather. Thought we’d wait for morning and try to head down the mountain.”

  “Good thinking,” Andrew agreed. “How’d everything fare in the back?”

  “Things got tossed around some, but I retrieved the medicine box. I figured the lady was going to need it in the morning. If she made it through the night.” Pete’s last words were a bit sad.

  “Why’s that, Pete?” Andrew had to ask, but he really was afraid of the answer.

  “Had a tree land on her during the first go round with the mountain. We were hauling it off of her when the wind caught us and slammed us into the slope. Not sure what happened to them after the slide.” The man ran his hand down his face in frustration. “We can only hope for the best. Sorry, man.”

  “We’ll find them. Jake activated his PLB, just like you guys did. We’ve got a line on it, but this will change some things.” Andrew thought for a minute as he heard Kyle moving things around in the bay.