Stranded but not Alone (Midnight Moanings Collection) Read Free

“Thank you.” Had he been watching her? How did he know she dropped her camera?
     “You’re welcome,” he said, his voice a warm caress. Swallowing the delicious scent coming off this man, she followed his attention captured through the trees in the clearing.
    “Beautiful animal.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “The horse. He’s beautiful.”
    “The horse…” Craning her neck around the trees before catching the chestnut colored horse off in the distance nosing the ground, she said, “Uhm…Yes, he is beautiful and hungry from the looks of it.” She stuck out a gloved hand. “Simone Daniels and you are?”
    “Seth—Seth Dragoslava.” Taking her hand, he nodded toward the ground. “Fall into me, I’ll help you.”
    “Thanks but I can manage. Thank you for the camera though. I appreciate it,” she said, placing the lanyard around her neck. “I’ll get a few more shots before the hiking van is ready to leave. Thank you again,” she repeated and watched him slip back into the woods. She refused to notice, what a sexy voice he had. No man-candy this trip.
     
    ~~~
     
    “Wait! Wait!” Simone screamed, racing out of the wooded area into the clearing where the van had been parked. Catching her ski jacket on the low branches and tugging free, she grabbled for traction with mud caking the bottoms of her hiking boots. Melting snow left the dirt path a mud slick. She slid to a stop in time to see the tour van go over the rail-less worn edge of the mountain cliff.
    She gasped. Her heart leapt in her throat. Were all four of the other passengers in that van now careening down the mountainside? She scanned the area and saw no signs of any other guest. Her heart broke with that reality. Horror gripped her as she watched the van hit the bottom of the ravine after tearing over the bramble and snow covered grass.
    Frantic, she searched for a foot trail leading down the steep sloop. Her gaze settled on one several feet away, down the slick mountainside. She needed to help them now. Her hiking companions might only have minutes left to live.
    She tested the crumbling edge with her booted foot. Even if she made it over, there was nothing else for her to hold on to. Fear rushed with adrenaline through her bloodstream. Large hands closed around her body hauling her away from the edge.
    “Simone, what are you doing?” a man yelled behind her.
    “Let go of me,” she said, trying to jerk his hands away from her body. His grip tightened as he spun her away from the edge and pushed her toward the woods.
    “You’ll get yourself killed, Ms. Daniels.”
    “Are you crazy? The rest of the group was in that van. Help me get down there.”
    He continued blocking her from the edge.
    “If you won’t help me—”
    “—you’ll go over the edge like they did and you’ll need rescuing too,” he stressed, eyeing the tracks leading off the edge. “Did you see what happened?”
    Simone peered around his large frame, praying a ball of flames didn’t rise from the valley, and clutched her jacket against her heart. “No. The van just went over the cliff as I came through the trees.”
    “Stay here,” he said, moving closer to the edge. He crouched over the muddy ground, shaking his head. Mud coated her gloves as she crawled through the muck beside him.
    He held a hand out in front of her to stop her from going closer to the edge. “Miss, I said stay back. It’s slippery close to the edge.”
    Simone closed a hand over her mouth as bile rose up into her throat. The dark green van rocked on its side. Hiking gear stuck out of the busted windows. She caught a flash of bright yellow hanging out the side window. Closing her eyes, she could picture the woman from the lobby that morning getting in the van. Her face open and excited, her bright smile glowing.
    Blood pounded in her ears so fiercely she couldn’t hear their screams–if there were any. The dented van stopped rocking. Was anyone conscious? Guilt and relief raced hand-in-hand