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A soft, pinging noise against the metal roof woke her from a sound sleep. As her eyes fluttered open, she took note of their surroundings. Daylight had come, filling the compartment with muted light.
The vehicle had no doubt fallen victim at one time or another to their bountiful weather. The floor was covered in sand, dirt, and leaves, and the windows had fogged over from their shared body heat.
Krieger still slumbered, clear from the soft snore that emanated from his gaping mouth. His color was returning to normal, but his skin remained cool to the touch.
His arms weighed on her as she eased off his chest. She needed to get her clothes off the trunk before they got drenched, again, and dressed. Then find out where the hell they were. Maybe see if she could get a fire going.
She removed the tarp and cringed as the plastic crinkled. Getting caught with her pants down was not on her list of things to do.
Last night, she’d done what she had to, for the sake of surviving the night. That didn’t mean she wanted him to have a “full look at the goods.”
She reached for the pack and drew it to her as she kept a steady eye on him. If he moved a muscle, if he even flinched, she’d jump from the car. No matter how cold or wet it was out there.
As she clutched the bag to her, she reached for the handle so she could dress outside.
She no sooner opened the door than his voice filled the small space. “Eva...”
Her eyes met his just as she fell out of the opening. So much for her strategized jump from the car. As her backside met dirt, she tightened her grip over the pack. It covered the important things, but the majority of her body was vulnerable to his gaze.
“Close your eyes!”
He threw his head back and put his hand over his face. “Shit... sorry.”
Eva took a deep breath as she moved off the wet ground and crouched behind the open door. Then she looked to the clothes on the trunk to assess her dressing situation. Tiny droplets of water tapped her skin gently as she threw on damp clothes.
She searched the bag for something heavier to wear, to keep the chill in the air at bay—anything semidry. The thing was full of his clothes, but something would have to do. She removed a long-sleeved collared shirt. That would work.
She slipped on the item and stood. The material hung just above her knees, and the sleeves consumed her hands, but it was warm. After rolling up the sleeves, she tied the hem together so it sat at her waist and hurried to sit in the front seat since he would need clothes as well.
With his hand still covering his eyes, he said, “Can I look now?”
She suppressed a laugh but not the smile. “Yes.”
He removed his hand and sat up to lean against the door. The tarp covered his boxers but little else. The black upholstery framed his golden skin, and a deep ache bloomed in her belly as she tossed him the pack.
“Get dressed,” she told him.
He caught the pack as she turned away, staring out into the desolate land. The dead trees that accompanied the valley stretched behind the car as the flood waters raged in the distance before them. They were lucky it hadn’t risen throughout the night.
Although it seemed Krieger had been leading them in the right direction, the foothills loomed over them. They had been close. As it was, they were camped on an incline far enough away from the danger they had been in last night.
Her eyes wandered from the windows to the rearview mirror. Krieger’s muscles flexed and strained against his skin as he tried to dress in such a small space. She bit her lower lip as he met her reflected gaze, and heat rushed to her cheeks. Had she ever seen such a well-built man before?
Must get away from the car.
Without a word, she exited the vehicle. She walked to the dead tree line in hopes of distracting her thoughts of the half-naked man in the vehicle. She looked for anything that could be used for fire wood.
When Krieger was finished getting dressed, he got out of the car and approached her. After closing the distance between them, he laid his hand over hers. “Thank you.”
She inhaled sharply and turned away from him. “I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
As she said the words, she knew them to be true. Her shoulder had been injured; she would not have survived the flood if it wasn’t for him. As it was, a searing pain had settled in her shoulder, making her movements painful.
He cleared his throat. “I meant what you did to warm me.”
She continued to collect the fire wood. “I did it to save both of us.” He strode to her side as she added another stick to her pile. She shifted to look at him. “Don’t make more of it than it was.”
Eva tried to move around him, but he stilled her with his hand on her good shoulder. “Hey,” he said, tilting her chin up with his finger. “It means a lot. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you.” For a second, she studied his hazel eyes, and then he said, “I know we still don’t know each other very well but—”
