2
D AX LANDED HARD , on his already bruised butt.
The hit jarred him senseless for a moment, and the all-consuming dark further confused him. He remembered the destruction of the stairwell hed been on and knew that meant big trouble when it came to getting out.
He also remembered the scream.
Hello! Fire inspector, he called out roughly. In the blackness, he quickly rose to his knees, then coughed and gagged on a deep breath of dust and dirt.
Not being able to see, he felt disoriented, but his professional training and innate need to help others quickly cleared his head. Hello?
Over here!
Female. Hell, he thought, scrambling as fast as he could over what felt like mountains of brick and steel. The collapsed stairwell, he realized. Im coming! His lungs burned. Where are you?
Here. He heard her choke and sputter on the same dirt hed inhaled. Here! she cried louder, just as he reached out and touched her leg.
Oh! Clearly startled, she pulled back.
But Dax was determined, and afraid for her. Had any of the falling debris struck her? Gently but firmly, he closed in, and feeling his way, streaked his hands over her.
She made an unintelligible sound.
Where are you hurt? he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he carefully and methodically checked her arms, silently cursing his lack of a flashlight. He ran his hands over her legs, during which he had the thought that even a saintsomething he most definitely wasntwould have recognized what a fine set of legs they were. Long, lean, toned and bare except for a silky pair of stockings.
Hey, stop that! Hands slapped at him, and when he got to her hips, she went wild, scooting back and kicking out.
He caught a toe on his chin.
A toe that was covered in a high heel pump, if he wasnt mistaken. And for the second time in so many minutes, he saw stars. Stop, I wont hurt you, he told her in the same calming, soothing voice hed used to placate hundreds of victims. No broken bones, thank God.
Back off then.
In a minute. He gripped her narrow waist in his big hands. Are your ribs okay?
Yes! Now get your paws off me while I find my damn flashlight. She shifted away from him, and then promptly let out a low, pained gasp at her movement.
Immediately he was there, reaching for her. Let me, he demanded quietly, running his hands up her waist, over each individual rib with precision and care. Nothing broken there, except his own breathing because there was something inexplicably erotic about touching a woman hed never seen. Though he couldnt see her, he sure could feel her, and she was something; all feminine curves, soft skin and sweet, enticing scent.
He felt her cross her arms over her chest, and as a result, the back of his knuckles brushed against the plumped flesh of her breasts.
At the contact, she made a strangled sound, then shoved him. Not there!
Her shoulders seemed fine, if a little petite, so did both arms, but he could feel the telltale stickiness on one of her elbows, which hed missed before. Maybe it had just started bleeding.
Everything else vanished as his training took over. Youve cut yourself. Concern filled him because they were dirty, with no immediate way out, and he had no first-aid kit. Infection was imminent.
Im fine.
Her fierce independence made her seem all the more vulnerable, and as all victims seemed to do, she tugged at something deep inside him. So did her cool voice, because in direct contrast to that, he could feel her violent trembling. He ripped a strip of material off his T-shirt and tied it around her arm to protect the cut from more dirt.
She was still shaking.
You okay? Damn, he wished he could see her. If she went into shock, there was little he could do for her, and the helplessness of it all tore at him.
I just want out of here, she said, slightly less icily then before.
Are you cold? Let me He reached for her, but she shifted away.
I told you, Im fine.
It amazed him how calm she sounded. Daxs sisters were all equally loved, but also equally spoiled rotten. They were never quiet, never calm. And certainly never in control. If a fingernail broke, if it rained on a new hairstyle, if Brad Pitt got married, the world came to an end.
It wasnt a stretch for Dax to admit that the women he datedand since women were a weak spot for him, he dated a lotwere much the same.
But this woman in front of him, the one he couldnt see, could only feel, was an enigma to him.
Again, she pushed away.
He heard her struggle to her feet. Hey, careful, he urged.
Im not going to faint.
The disdain in her voice told him what she thought of that particular weakness.
Im not, she added to his silence. I had a flashlight. I want it now.
At that queen-to-peasant voice, he had to laugh. Well, then. By all means, let me help you find it. Stretching out, he felt his way along the floor, painstakingly searching for the light with his fingers. Youre a hell of a cool cucumber, you know.
It was just an earthquake.
Yeah well, that was one hell of an earthquake.
Do you always swear?
Yes, but Ill try to control myself. His back to her, he closed his fingers over the flashlight. Though the bulb flickered and was nearly dead, it came on.
Looking at the situation before him, he let out a slow breath and swore again.
Coming up behind him, she made a sound of impatience. I thought you were going to control yourself Oh. She paused. This isnt good.
No. Grim reality settled on his shoulders like a solid weight as he surveyed the situation in the faint light before him. Not good at all.
The stairway was completely destroyed, lying in useless piles around them. There was no other entry into the basement where they stood, except the hole far above them. On the ground, directly beneath that opening, was a huge mountain of fallen brick and steel.
The pile previously known as the staircase.
There was no way out. They were literally buried alive.
The entire buildingits gone, isnt it? she asked softly, still behind him.
Dax thought about lying. It would protect her and his first instinct was always to protect and shelter, at any cost. But he already knew she wasnt a woman to be coddled. Looks that way.
Were going to die.
So calm, so matter-of-fact, even when he knew she had to be terrified. We still have oxygen, he said positively. And the flashlight.
That was when the damn light died.
In stunned silence, she drew an audible deep breath.
Reaching behind him, he groped for her hand. Surprisingly, she took it and held on.
If the quake hadnt slid us across the floor, away from the opening, she said, her voice very sober, very small, Wed be toast right now.
Burnt toast, Dax thought, gently squeezing her fingers.
Well, were not dead yet.
Maybe not, but they would be soon enough. Tons of brick lay on top of the thin ceiling of the basement above their heads. Theyd been saved only by the dubious strength of that protection. Dax had no idea how long the floor would hold. He didnt imagine it could withstand the inevitable aftershock.
Does someone know where you are? he asked, carefully keeping his growing shock and dismay to himself.
No. Through their joined hands, he felt her shiver again.
Hed been in some hairy situations before, it was the nature of his job. He was good at saving his own behind, even better at saving others, but he thought maybe his luck had just run out.
Regret and rage threatened to consume him, but he wasnt ready to give up yet. He drew in a ragged breath and nearly gagged on the lingering dust. Come on, this is the hallway, there must be more rooms. Theyll be far cleaner than this, itll be easier to breathe. And maybe there would be some sort of steel-lined safe they could crowd into for protection when the ceiling over their head collapsed, assuming they had enough oxygen to wait for rescue.
Theres two offices, a bathroom and a small kitchenette, she intoned. Furnished. She shrugged, her shoulder bumping against his. I have the listing in my pocket.
Dax wished the flashlight hadnt gone out, wished that hed gotten a look at the woman next to him before it had, wished that hed eaten more for breakfast that morning than a bowl of Double Chocolate Sugary Os.
Well be fine. She sounded secure, confident, despite her constant shivers. Well just wait to be rescued. Right?
Dax decided to let her have that little fantasy since he wasnt ready to face the alternative, though he held no illusionswhen the weight of the crumbled two stories above them came through the ceiling, they were as good as dead.
Feeling their way through the inky darkness, climbing and struggling, they left the hallway. It wasnt fast or easy, and Dax kept waiting for the woman to falter or complain, or fall apart.
But to his amazement, she never did.
They decided they were in one of the offices, which after a bit of fumbling around, they discovered had a couch, a desk, two chairs and some other unidentifiable equipment. The second office was smaller, and from what they could tell, void of furniture. The kitchenette seemed dangerous, the floor was littered with fallen appliances and a tipped-over refrigerator.
There was no safe place to hide except back in the first office. Like a trooper, the woman stoically kept up with him as they made their way. He couldnt help but wonder at her incredible control, and what had made her that way.
A DISTANT rumbling was their only warning, but it was enough for Amber, who reacted without thinking by throwing herself at the stranger whod become her entire world. Later shed be mortified by her lack of control, but at the moment control was the last thing on her mind.
As the earth once again pitched and rolled beneath their feet, the man snatched her closer and sank with her to the floor.
Hurry, he demanded, pushing her under what felt like a huge, wooden desk. He crawled in after her.
She had time to think the earths movement was slight compared to the other quake before he hauled her beneath him, sprawling his big and oh my very tough body over hers, protecting her head by crushing it to his chest.
Time once again ceased to exist as she closed her eyes and lived through the aftershock. Huddled in the pitch dark, Amber knew what the man holding her so tightly fearedas she feareddeath. It could easily happen, right this second, and she waited breathlessly for the ceiling above them to give and crush them.
Unwilling to die, she held on, reacting instinctively by burrowing closer to the strangers warmth, his strength. He had both in spades and shared it freely.
After what seemed like yearsshed lost all sense of timethe rocking stopped.
She became aware of how close they were. How big a man he was, how every inch of her was plastered to every inch of him. A stranger.
Shed thrown herself at a stranger.
Mortified, she pushed at him. Immediately, he rolled off her and they lay there beneath the desk, separated by inches. Holding their breath.
Nothing crushed them. In fact, the silence was so complete it was nothing short of eerie.
It held, she whispered.
Yeah. In the dark he shifted, and she got the feeling he was staring at her. Youre incredible, you know that?
No one had ever called her such a thing before. Why?
Youre so calm. No panic.
You didnt panic, she pointed out.
Yeah, but
But Im a woman?
Im sorry. There was a reluctant smile in his voice. But yes, because youre a woman I guess I expected you to wig out over that one.
With hard won habit and sheer will, she never wigged out. Not Amber Riggs. She had too much control for that. The master himself had taught her the art. Her father had demanded perfection from her, and total submission.
Hed gotten it.
The fact that her cold, hard, exacting military parent could still intrude on her life, especially at a time like this, where every last moment counted, really infuriated her. She shoved the unhappy memories aside.
I like control, she said, and if her voice was tinged with steely determination, she couldnt help it. She was proud of her cool, sophisticated front. It certainly hadnt come easily. How many times had she been told she mustnt be like the mother shed never known? The mother whod been wild and uncontrollable before shed taken off after Ambers birth?
A slut, her father liked to remind his daughter.
No, Amber must never be like her.
Little chance of that when shed grown up with no maternal influence to soften her strict, unbending father. Once upon a time, shed done everything in her power to earn his approval, but it had never come. Shed learned to live without it.
She didnt need his, or anyones, approval.
As a result, her life was quiet, and okay, maybe a bit sterile, but shed convinced herself that was how she wanted it. She didnt need anyone or anything, and she especially didnt need what she secretly felt unworthy of love.
Instead, she buried herself in the one thing that would never hurt or disappoint herher workand she liked it that way.
So what was that stab of regret she felt now, while she lay waiting to die? What was this terrible sadness coursing through her, this certainty that by ignoring all emotion and passion in order to succeed at her work, shed somehow let life pass her by?
She was single; no husband, no children. Not even a boyfriend or a casual date. A barren woman with a barren life.
What would it be like to have a man waiting for her right now, worrying over her? Loving her with all his heart and soul?
Shed never know now.
Another rumbling came.
Before she could react, the stranger was there, again yanking her close into the heat and safety of his arms. He had big, warm hands and they settled at her back, soothing and protective.
This quake felt much slighter, a huge relief. But it allowed other things to crowd Ambers brain besides fear.
Things like the man she was glued to.
She could feel the fierce pounding of his heart, feel his large hands gently cup her head, feel the tough sinew of his hard body as it surrounded hers. The weirdest sensation flooded her.
Arousal, she realized in shock.
Good Lord, one little emergency and she started acting like her mother!
She couldnt believe it, and promptly blamed the circumstances for her shocking lack of control. But the connection between her and this man felt like ice and fire at once, and it baffled her. Danger, she told herself. It was just the danger, the sense of impending death making her feel like this, all liquidy andwell, hot.