Racing Against the Clock

by Lori Wilde

  “Snowmobile. And there’s not a good answer for that question.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Their eyes met. Hannah’s heart sank.

  “We better get out of here. Fast.”

  “You don’t think it could be whomever it was that trashed the place, do you?”

  “I don’t intend on waiting around long enough to find out.” Tyler reached for her hand and tugged her toward the stairs.

  “What if it’s the same guys who were following us in Galveston?” She asked.

  “It very well could be.

  They scrambled through the kitchen and out the back door. The air was frigid but unnaturally still. A sprinkling of stars carpeted the sky but the moon had disappeared. They could hear the engine more clearly from out here and the sound was definitely drawing nearer.

  “Come on.”

  “But the car is over there.” Hannah pointed south.

  “No time.” Tyler dragged her toward a clump of trees a few yards away.

  The snowdrifts were high. If it hadn’t been for Tyler hauling her along beside him, she didn’t know if she would have made it.

  “Get down.”

  Gently, he thrust her behind a cedar tree and with his palm, pushed her head down, tucked her head under his arm and shielded her with his large frame.

  Hannah found herself on her knees in the snow, her head resting on Tyler’s bent thigh as he crouched above her, her gaze pointed directly at his crotch.

  Strange time to notice, she thought inanely, how the part of him that was strictly male strained against his blue jeans. But notice she did and with a vigor that surprised her. She should be terrified, frightened by their grave situation. Instead, she was thrilled, invigorated by the cold, the danger and Tyler’s awesomely masculine presence.

  Her blood pumped. Her pulse roared in her ears, loud as the ocean’s surf. She tasted the sharp flavor of adrenaline underneath her tongue, inhaled the stimulating aroma of savory pine, wet snow and manly man.

  Seconds later a snowmobile slid into view with two burly men astride. Hannah tensed and caught her breath between clenched teeth. The driver killed the engine. She watched as both men pulled guns from their coats and advanced upon the house, their weapons clutched in two hands just like actors in a cops-and-robbers drama.

  Except this wasn’t a television show and those dangerous-looking men weren’t fictitious villains. The tallest one kicked down Marcus’s backdoor and they both sprang through the gaping entrance.

  “Good thing they were so intent on getting inside the house that they didn’t see our footprints,” Tyler whispered.

  “But they’ll come back. They’ll figure it out. Tyler, we’re trapped here!”

  “Not trapped.” He nodded at the snowmobile that sat where the men had left it, keys dangling in the ignition.

  “You don’t mean…”

  But he had already snatched her hand and was dragging her toward the snowmobile.

  Chapter 11

  I’m going to save Hannah. No matter what. If it means hand-to-hand combat with those two goons inside, then that’s what I’ll do.

  For six years Tyler had been adrift, going through the motions of life but not really feeling anything. It seemed as if he had been waiting. Waiting to be truly needed. Waiting for his emotions to come alive again.

  And come alive they had. With a vengeance.

  His entire body pulsed with primal energy. Awash in adrenaline, he had no choice but to act. Swift and stealthy as a predator on the prowl, he stalked the snowmobile.

  The keys glinting in the porch light swayed like a prize, enticing him. Tyler sprang across the snow and vaulted onto the thick cushioned seat.

  “Climb on,” he called over to her his shoulder. “Wrap your hands around my waist.”

  In an instant, she was behind him, her delicate arms squeezing his midsection for all she was worth.

  He started the engine. The sound seemed deafening. He knew the men would hear it and come running. There was no time to waste. Fumbling momentarily as he figured out the shifting mechanism, he finally slammed the vehicle into drive and gave it gas with the thumb feed at the very same time that two shadows loomed in the doorway.

  “Stop!” one of the men shouted.

  The other fired his pistol into the air.

  “Head down,” Tyler told Hannah. He felt her bury her forehead against his shoulder blades. Swallowing back any hesitation, he opened the throttle and wished they had helmets.

  The snowmobile shrieked and shot forward over the snow. The force surprised him. He chanced a quick glance behind him and saw Daycon’s thugs running toward them in the darkness. They soon fell behind and it took all Tyler’s concentration to navigate the slippery mountain slope.

  Hannah’s warm breath tickled the nape of his neck. “We’re getting away,” she said giddily, her euphoria contagious.

  That’s my girl.

  Recalling how she had looked not so long ago in Marcus’s basement—distraught, pale, anxious, Tyler couldn’t help smiling. She had rebounded magnificently. Hannah was a fighter.

  He zigzagged over the craggy terrain, dodging trees, maneuvering around rocks and underbrush. He thought of only one thing. Getting Hannah to safety. He was her warrior, her hero, her protector. He did not know where they were headed, he simply drove, his eyes trained straight ahead, but his heart, oh, his heart was on fire with longing for the future he did not dare believe in.

  They could no longer see the lights of Marcus’s house. It had disappeared into black sky and white snow. Their whole world was black and white. Cold and damp. Dead and scary. Except for one thing. The throbbing aliveness between them. They were a virtual maelstrom of masculine and feminine energies. Pulsing hot and quick. Spreading, growing, consuming their bodies. As Hannah hugged on to Tyler, they welded in a bizarre amalgamation the like of which he had never experienced.

  Her touch filled him with a calm inner peace, and he felt with absolute certainty they could handle anything as long as they were together.

  They drove for what seemed like hours, swooping over moguls and dodging around trees as they traversed their way around the mountain. One wrong move, one false turn and they could tumble heedlessly into an endless abyss. Tyler’s bare fingers grew numb against the handlebars, his body stiff from constant alertness. The engine droned so loudly he feared he was going deaf.

  Like a steady mainstay, Hannah’s head lay against his back. Occasionally, he would reach down and pat her hands. She would squeeze his waist and on they would travel, each fortifying the other. When at last Tyler feared he did not have the energy to go one more yard he spotted a sprinkling of lights up ahead.

  “Taos?” Hannah whispered, her voice grown hoarse from the cold night air.

  “I don’t think so. Not big enough. Taos should be farther south. I imagine this is a ski resort.”

  She pressed her lips lightly to the back of his neck, renewing his strength, pushing him onward toward the ski resort and their uncertain destiny.

  By the time they reached the resort and parked the snowmobile outside the main chalet that housed two restaurants, the ski rental/lift-ticket shop and main office, dawn was breaking over the horizon. Skiers were already packing the restaurants, stoking up on a hearty breakfast before making their run on the slopes.

  “Brrr.” Hannah rubbed her reddened palms together.

  “We’ve got to get you some gloves,” Tyler said, draping his arm over her shoulder and pulling her against his shoulder. “And snow boots.”

  She nodded.

  Tyler smiled inwardly. She no longer shrank from his touch the way she had when they’d first met. Feeling a bit macho after successfully eluding their pursuers again, Tyler put a spring in his step and guided her along the snow-covered sidewalk toward one of the bustling restaurants, pungent with the aroma of coffee and bacon.

  They found a spot in a back booth and sat side by side instead of across from each other. Tyler took Han
nah’s hands and warmed them in his own while they waited for the waitress to bring their order. Neither of them spoke. They had no need for words and they were too worn-out to do much more than grunt.

  Their food arrived. Belgian waffles, coffee, hash browns, Canadian bacon and egg-white omelets. Tyler fed Hannah a forkful of potatoes. She reciprocated by offering him a bite of bacon. They nuzzled like new lovers, delighting in their food and each other. Neither of them wanting to think about what they had just left behind nor what lay ahead.

  After they had lingered for more than an hour, watching the crowd shift in and out, Tyler finally paid the bill with a platinum credit card and helped Hannah to her feet. “Let’s go get a room,” he suggested. “We could both use a few hours to sleep and regroup.”

  “This is the height of ski season,” she said, pointing to the steady procession of vans, buses and sport utility vehicles making the trek up the only road stretching between Taos and the ski resort. “I hope they have a vacancy.”

  Hand in hand they walked to the rental office and inquired about booking a chalet.

  “I’m sorry,” the girl at the front desk told them with a shake of her head. “We’re completely sold out.”

  Tyler groaned.

  “Except,” the girl ventured, “there is the honeymoon suite.”

  “We’ll take that,” Tyler said quickly.

  “Are you aware, sir,” the desk clerk said, “it rents for six hundred and seventy-five a night?”

  He pulled out his credit card and tossed it on the desk. “Just charge it.”

  Hannah tugged at Tyler’s sleeve. “That’s much too expensive,” she whispered.

  Leaning over, he kissed her forehead lightly. “Don’t worry about it. For six years I’ve had no one to spend my money on. Let me do this for you. We need a place to rest. I don’t care how much it costs.”

  The desk clerk gave them a key and directions to their chalet. They stopped to shop at the only boutique open that early, buying overpriced gloves, heavy parkas and snow boots. Loaded with packages, but feeling lighter, freer than they had felt in days, they took the snowmobile over to their accommodations, passing near a frozen pond that served as an outdoor ice rink along the way.

  The honeymoon suite was lavishly decorated and featured a fully stocked kitchen. Here, they would want for nothing. There were two adobe fireplaces, one in the bedroom and the other in the sitting area. The wood box overflowed with logs. The bedroom held not only a king-size bed, but a luxuriously huge Jacuzzi.

  In the bathroom they found complimentary toothbrushes, razors and other toiletries. Even condoms. Which was a good thing, Tyler realized, because they had left all their personal effects in his car parked outside the front gate at Marcus’s house.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this place.” Hannah marveled over the thirty-two-inch color satellite television, digital video player, surround-sound setup with a full accompaniment of movies in the side cabinet. “No wonder it costs so much.”

  “Will you stop worrying about the cost?” He shrugged out of his coat and tossed it across the bed.

  “Hey, I’m a lowly scientist. You just shelled out what is equivalent to almost a week of my take-home salary for one night in the honeymoon suite, not to mention the clothes we bought, and we’re not even on a real honeymoon.”

  “We could pretend.” He smiled.

  Hannah blushed and looked away.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, changing the subject so she wouldn’t withdraw from him again. He had to watch himself with her. The slightest offhand remark could send her guard shooting up like a drawbridge.

  “Physically, just fine. Mentally, I’m a little numb,” Hannah confessed. “Things keep changing so quickly I can’t keep up.”

  “Come.” He kicked off his shoes and sat down on the bed. “Curl up and let’s take a nap.”

  She piled in the middle of the bed beside him and only stiffened a little bit when he tucked her into the curve of his body and pulled the covers over them.

  In a matter of seconds, Hannah was sound asleep, her gentle breathing music to his ears. He savored the weight of her head against his shoulder, the delightful scent of her in his nostrils. Tyler realized it had been a very long time since he had been happy.

  To get a second chance at love was truly a gift, but to lose love a second time would be a living hell.

  “Not if I can help it,” he whispered, his chest swelling with the power of his emotions. “I refuse to let you go.”

  Unexpected tears crowded his eyes but he blinked them back. And then he knew for certain what he had suspected the very moment Hannah had shown up as Jane Doe in his emergency room.

  He was falling in love.

  It was midafternoon when Hannah awoke thirsty and disoriented. Tyler’s hand was at her waist, his hip pressed tightly against hers. She lay in the circle of his arms, savoring the moment, enjoying the softness of the bed, the nearness of his hard body. Heavy draperies blunted the sunlight, but she could hear voices outside in the courtyard as people passed by, laughing, talking and joking.

  She was jealous of their carefree casualness. They had no idea how lucky they were to be having fun with their friends. But Hannah knew just how fragile life could be. Closing her eyes, she wished that for one simple day they could be like any ordinary couple.

  “You awake?” His deep voice rumbled near her ear.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He hugged her. The clock on the nightstand ticked loudly. Dust motes circled in the slant of light sliding around the drapes. She noticed a palm-sized water stain on the ceiling.

  “We need to get out of here,” she said, anxiety zipping through her as she thought about Marcus and what might have become of him. “Daycon’s men can’t be far behind.”

  “Hush. Let’s live in the moment, Hannah. Just for today. Let’s pretend there’s no elixir, no Daycon, no limit on our time together.”

  A lump formed in her throat. How she wished it could be so! But she knew better.

  His dark eyes turned serious. “The present is all we have. Let’s not waste it.”

  “We can’t hide from reality.”

  “What is reality, other than our perception?”

  It sounded so good. Chills chased up her spine. Her innermost feminine parts ached each time she gazed into Tyler’s darkly handsome eyes. How she wanted him! To touch him, kiss him, make love all night long. But it wasn’t possible, no matter how much she might wish things were different.

  “How about a nice hot shower?” he asked, lightly running a hand along her ribs.

  “Together?” she ventured.

  “Is that an invitation?”

  “Only if you want it to be,” Hannah said, shocked by her boldness but secretly thrilled she had said it.

  She had wanted him to make love to her since that interlude they had indulged in at the motel outside Abilene. Now, when she knew for sure she literally might not live to see tomorrow, she did not want to spend one more minute regretting not having made love with this wonderful, caring man who had come to mean so much to her in such a short time.

  “What do you think?” he said gruffly.

  She turned in his arms and they were facing each other, his dark eyes bright and hopeful.

  “Are you sure?”

  He took her hand, gently guiding it to the bulge in his blue jeans. “Does that answer your question?”

  She touched his hardness straining against the seam of his pants. Wonderment filled her. She did this to him.

  “Oh, Tyler,” she breathed.

  He slid to the floor, held out a hand to her. She accepted, willingly following him as he walked backward, leading her into the bathroom, his gaze never leaving her face.

  I want this. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.

  She caught a glimpse of their reflections in the mirror. Who was this bedraggled woman with this handsome man? Her eyes ringed with dark circles, her hair a mess. And still, he found her a
ttractive. Unbelievable.

  Tyler turned on the shower, adjusting the temperature and testing the water with the tender side of his forearm before turning his attention back to her. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

  Bashfully, she ducked her head.

  “Come’ere.” He pulled her to him and slowly began unbuttoning her flannel shirt.

  One, two, three. Fascinated, she watched his long fingers work the buttons. The farther he went, the warmer she became until she feared she had melted into a puddle at his feet.

  Unbidden, her own fingers rose and plied at the buttons on his shirt. Hannah wanted this to be a mutual seduction, to give as much as she received. A nest of black hairs curled at his chest, inviting further unveiling. Lower she went, picking up the tempo until at last his shirt lay open, as did hers.

  Tyler growled his approval. When she raised her head, she saw he was smiling.

  Steam from the shower filled the room, streaking the mirror with mist. She arched her back and he slipped the shirt from her shoulders and dropped it to the floor. Next came her camisole and in a twinkling she stood before him, bare to the waist, her breast rising and falling to match her rapid breathing.

  Reaching out, she splayed a palm against his flat abdomen. Tyler hissed in his breath as if he had been burned by her touch and his eyes glowed like twin black coals.

  Hannah loved the way he felt. He was firm and smooth, his skin thick in an unexpected way. She was giddy with joy, overwhelmed by the moment.

  His shirt fell to the floor beside hers and he wrapped those muscled arms around her, pressed his hard chest flat against her soft breasts. He hooked an index finger under her chin and tilted her face up in order to kiss her.

  Softly.

  Just when she was ready to deepen the kiss, he removed his mouth from hers and reached for the snap on her blue jeans.

  “Oh,” she whispered.

  He nudged down her zipper inch by excruciating inch.

  Hannah wriggled her hips, anxious to be free of the restricting garment.

  “Easy, sweetheart.” He chuckled and the sound rumbled deep within his chest. “Relax. I’m not going anywhere.”