Page 60 of Burnin' For You
Please, God!
The cry came from inside, but she let it ring out, fill her chest as she heaved upward.
The ax tore free of the wood and landed with a clunk on the wood-chip-covered ground.
She picked it up, ducked, and huddled in the darkness.
Patrick came striding around the house, patrolling for escapees, his gun held loosely in his grip. She suppressed the crazy urge to run out, ax raised, but…
She wasn’t the kind of person who could embed an ax in a person’s body, even if they had just tried to burn her alive.
She hunkered down, barely breathing as he walked past. Waited until he rounded the side of the house—
Then she dashed across the grass, shimmied under the crawl space, dragging the ax with her.
Reuben lay where she’d left him, his head positioned in the hole, breathing in the sweet, albeit dirty, air.
“Rube—wake up.” She patted his cheek. He didn’t twitch.
“Rube!” She patted him again—nothing, and she got desperate.
If he could do it, so could she. After all, his quick peck had shocked her enough for her to freeze, for him to wrestle her through the floorboards and shove her out of danger.
Hers could do the same.
She leaned forward, but instead of a quick kiss, she pressed her lips to his, added passion.
And, just for a second, she lost herself in the fact that for the first time well, ever, she actuallywantedto kiss someone. No, not just someone, but Reuben. Strong, capable…sweet Reuben.
It lasted only a second or two, but long enough to stir inside her something she hadn’t realized she possessed…
Sparks. A desire to get free and maybe give him another chance to ask her to dance.
She broke away, her hand on his cheek, and he roused, opened his eyes.
Blinked at her. “Um…”
“Yeah, I know. Now, let’s get you out of here.” She pushed on his shoulders and he groaned, but pulled his head out of the hole.
She shoved her way up and found him sitting on the floor.
Smoke filled the room, and the fact the cabin had yet to blow seemed a miracle from God.
“Look out,” she said, climbing up through the hole. The room was so tiny she had to stand outside the door, but after he moved his feet she managed to bring the ax down on the wood.
It bounced off, barely leaving a dent.
“Oh, boy,” Reuben said. “That’s really pitiful.”
“Hey!”
But he was climbing to his knees, bracing himself on the wall with one hand. With the other he reached out for the ax.
She surrendered it. And in one quick, chilling move, he brought the ax down on the floor, cracking it. Another one-handed swing and he’d doubled the hole.
“C’mon!” She jumped through the hole to the dirt floor and backed up to accommodate Reuben’s girth.
He slid down beside her, so big he had to back his way through the hole. Once in the dirt, his head hit the floorboards as he groped for purchase, pulling himself along on his stomach.