Another Dawn (6 page)

      
The wall ended, but the ground didn't. Squinting through the rain, he saw a small opening in the side of the cliff. He eased through far enough to provide shelter. Like a womb, the rock closed in around them, shutting out the storm. The silence inside was startling, compared to the howling wind and deluge outside. As he lowered himself to the cold but dry stone floor, all Luke heard was their heavy breathing and the steady thud of his heart against the woman in his arms.

      
Incredible. Here he was alone in the wilderness with a beautiful woman–an unconscious woman who might very well cost him his freedom. And his life.

      
If he left her here out of the rain, she might regain consciousness and find her own way to civilization. Then again, she might die.

      
Which was more important, a clear conscience or his escape? He looked at her pale face in the dim light and his throat constricted. Yes, helping her would appease his guilt, but at what price?

      
Fool
. Even as he argued with himself, he knew he wouldn't–couldn't–leave her. Like that night he'd tried to save a liquor store clerk's life...

      
Luke Nolan was no killer, and he wasn't about to start now.
      
He brushed her dark curls away from the bruise at her temple. At least her wound hadn't started to bleed again.

      
She looked young for a doctor. Young and vulnerable. She shivered and he pulled her closer. If only there were some way to get dry.

      
Her sodden lab coat gaped open, revealing small firm breasts, clearly outlined against her wet T-shirt. Running for his life or not, he couldn't prevent his hungry male gaze from seeking and finding her nipples. It had been so long since he'd touched a woman.... And the last time, he'd been nothing but a horny teenager.

      
Now he was a man. A man who'd spent all his adult life behind bars. On death row. In isolation.

      
Oblivious to their predicament and his burned skin, Luke's body responded to her softness filling his lap. At least everything seemed to be in working order–amazing, considering.
 
She was a beautiful woman, though a little on the skinny side. If only their situation were different....

      
"Oh," she moaned, shifting in his lap.

      
Luke tensed as her bottom pressed against his thrusting anatomy. Some priest. Holding his breath, he forced aside thoughts of sex and raging hormones and watched her closely. Her inky lashes fluttered a few times, then she opened her eyes and stared up at him.

      
"What...what happened?" She tried to push herself to a sitting position, but abandoned her efforts when he pressed his hand gently against her shoulder. "Where are we?"

      
"I think it might be an old mine," he said, watching her face closely. Had she remembered anything more? "How's your head?"

      
She touched her temple uncertainly. "Better, I think."
 
She sighed and said, "But I still can't remember anything."

      
"I'm sorry."
 
Of course, that was a lie. He was relieved she couldn't remember his true identity. Her expression of trust would undergo an immediate reversal if she realized who he was–a convicted felon.
 

      
Again, he was reminded that only a miracle had saved him. If not for that series of perfectly timed explosions, he would be dead by now. And this woman–this doctor–would have signed his death certificate.

      
"I must have fainted."
 
She gave him a weak smile. "I'd like to try sitting up now."

      
"Take it easy."
 
He helped her into a sitting position, which brought their bodies into even more intimate contact. But if she'd noticed his arousal, she didn't show it.
Yeah, some priest, Nolan
.
 

      
Luke winced as she slid across him. Bracing herself with her hand, she eased off his lap and onto the floor at his side. Now, maybe, he could get his ill-timed and ill-mannered cravings under control. He had far more urgent matters to attend.

      
"You okay?" he asked. His voice sounded hoarse. Strained. Had she noticed?

      
"Yes, I think so."
 
She drew a deep breath and smiled. "Thank you again, Father."

      
He could grow to hate that title, except it might save his life yet. "You're welcome."
 
Clearing his throat, he brought his knees up to chin level. "We'll rest here until the storm passes."

      
"Yes, maybe when the rain stops, we'll be able to see the town again."

      
"If we've been heading in the right direction."
 
Luke tried to keep impatience from his voice, but this delay could cost him plenty. "From what I saw before the rain started, we still have to go down this mountain and up another."

      
She sighed and scooted against the stone wall beside him, her thigh barely touching his. Following his example, she pulled her knees against her chest.
 

      
Luke couldn't prevent himself from remembering what she'd felt like in his lap. His pulse escalated and his heart pressed against his constricting throat, just as his erection pressed against the zipper of Father Salazar's trousers.

      
Shame filled him. The real priest was dead and Luke was alive. The least he could do was keep himself from getting a boner every time a woman brushed against him. But how?

      
By planning his future. Now that he had one...

      
He'd take Sofie to the town, then head south. There wasn't much money in Father Salazar's wallet, but there was probably enough for a bus ticket. Distance was the key.

      
Distance...and speed.

      
Sofie tried not to remember Father Salazar's erection, but she couldn't help it. A priest had responded to her sexually.

      
A priest!
 
She swallowed hard and bit her lower lip. Of course, she shouldn't even have noticed, and it was wrong of her to think about it now.

      
What kind of person was she? She had no idea. Sofie was a stranger to herself. For all she knew, maybe she was the kind of woman who would encourage such attention from a man. Even from a priest...?

      
No. It had been a simple quirk of nature. Nothing more. The sooner she forgot about the incident, the better. Right now, survival took precedence.
 

      
And regaining her memory.

      
Her clothing was soaked through, but at least they were out of the storm. She sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. Her shivering stilled somewhat, becoming intermittent, rather than continuous.

      
"Do you know what time it is?" she finally asked.
 

      
"Beats me."
 
His voice was warm and vibrant. Alive. "My stomach thinks it's lunchtime, though. Especially since I didn't get breakfast."

      
Sofie nodded, amazed that her head no longer pounded. Nearly freezing to death seemed to have helped. Gingerly, she touched her temple and sensed Father Salazar's gaze on her.

      
"How's your head?" he asked again. "Really?"

      
"Better. Really."
 
She sniffled again. "I wonder how long the storm will last."

      
"Hard to say, but it's early enough in the season that even if it changes to snow, it shouldn't be too bad."
 
He gave a derisive laugh. "But it sure seemed bad enough while we were out there."

      
"Yes."
 
She looked down at her thin white blazer, worn over a pair of jeans and a dark green T-shirt. At least she was wearing hiking boots. Still, even to her frazzled mind, her clothing seemed mismatched. Wrong, somehow. "What's this jacket I'm wearing? Some kind of uniform?"

      
"A lab coat, I suppose."
 
The harsh edge had returned to his voice. "You're a doctor."

      
"A
doctor
?" Sofie stared at him for several seconds. The intensity of his gaze was riveting yet disturbing. He watched her as if he expected something. "Are you serious? I'm a doctor?"

      
"Yeah."
 
He released his breath in a loud whoosh and looked down at his hands, draped over his knees. "Are you still cold?" he asked without looking at her.
 

      
"Yes."
 
A draft infiltrated their cocoon and she shivered violently. "If only we could get d-dry."

      
"Dumb question, huh? We're both wet and cold."
 
He scooted closer and put his arms around her shoulders. "I can't think of any other way," he said in a somewhat apologetic tone.

      
The warmth of his embrace stopped her shivering. Maybe their combined body heat would keep them from freezing. At any rate, it made her feel safe and warm. Neither of them spoke, and despite the cold, his sunburned skin radiated heat through his wet clothing. She drew comfort against the solidness of his shoulder.

      
"I can't be a doctor," she said finally, breaking the silence. "I would remember something about medicine, wouldn't I?"

      
His arms tensed around her and she heard his teeth grinding. "Believe me, you're a doctor."

      
"How do you know? Where were we and what were we doing? For that matter, what happened back there?"

      
"What do you think happened?"

      
"I...I'm not sure."
 
She lifted her head and looked up at his face through the dimness. "Something exploded."

      
He nodded. "That's right. Something exploded."

      
She had so many more questions to ask, but he pulled away and poked his head through the narrow opening to the outside.
 

      
"It's stopped."
 
He turned to face her with an urgent expression. "We have to go now, or we'll end up spending the night in this cave."

      
Alone. Priest or no priest, Sofie didn't feel right about being here alone with him all night. Not after what she'd noticed earlier. In fact, it was
because
she'd noticed that made her wary. But why? There was nothing even remotely attractive about a bald, sunburned priest.

      
"I'm ready to try," she said. "Let's go."

      
He rose to a half-crouch beneath the low ceiling and held out his hand. Trusting him with her life yet again, she placed her hand in his and followed him outside.

      
Patches of blue showed through the clouds now, and she shaded her eyes to look into the distance. They both scanned the landscape several times before he pointed and said, "There it is."

      
Without waiting for her response, Father Salazar started walking. How many more mountains? She tried to remember what she'd seen earlier from a higher vantage point, before the storm. Down this one and up one more?

      
Her wet clothes chafed her skin as she struggled to keep pace. She understood and shared his urgency, but her body protested every jarring step.

      
At the bottom, she pulled her hand free. "Please, I need a minute."
 

      
He turned to look back at her, his eyes blazing with impatience...and something more. He looked frantic. But maybe it was the thought of being stranded in the wilderness overnight that made him seem that way.

      
Or maybe he shared her concern about the two of them being stranded out here alone.