Page 12 of Winter’s Heart (Three of Hearts #1)

“You hop on the back,” he commanded in a whisper. “Then when I climb on, hang on to me as tight as you can. This is going to happen fast; we have to get across the clearing and into the trees.”

Even though her insides trembled like a bowl of jelly, she swung her leg over the wide seat and settled herself against the bar at the back, waiting.

Her cousins owned a couple of snowmobiles, and so she was familiar with the machine, having driven one herself a few times over the years when she visited Montana.

But that’d never been in the pitch dark, in unfamiliar countryside.

Jacob was suddenly in front of her, straddling the seat, inserting a key into the ignition.

The machine coughed and died the first time he pushed the start button.

“Come on, you piece of shit,” he muttered.

Then it roared to life, the guttural engine almost deafening within the confines of the shed.

“Hold on,” he called, and she scrambled to wrap her arms around his middle as he let out the throttle.

Hampered slightly by the backpack she wore on her front, which was now wedged between them, she managed to grip his waist as tightly as possible.

She suddenly understood why he’d told her to wear the pack frontwards, because now that it was safely sandwiched in the middle, there was less chance of her losing it.

Her body, encased in Jacob’s snow camouflage, also shielded the pack so it no longer stood out against the all-white surroundings.

The sled rolled forward, and they were out into the open and speeding over the blanket of snow before she knew it.

A loud crack sounded off to their left, audible even over the din of the roaring engine.

Two more cracks followed in quick succession, and Jacob swerved the sled sideways, zigzagging his way across the clearing.

Was that…? Another crack and something whizzed past her ear.

A bullet.

Someone was shooting at them.

Nikki turned to look back over her shoulder as a figure emerged from the treeline.

He lifted a rifle and took aim. “Watch out!” she screamed, and ducked instinctively, burying her head into Jacob’s back.

A bullet cut the air near her as Jacob turned the snowmobile sharply to the left.

She hung on for dear life while Jacob threw the machine from left to right and then left again.

More bullets buzzed past and Nikki tensed, waiting for the biting pain of one embedding in her back.

But it never came, and all of a sudden dark tree trunks reared up on either side as they slid beneath the first branches of the forest.

Safe. Were they safe now they were no longer out in the open?

Jacob slowed once they were under the trees, but not as much as Nikki would’ve liked.

They were traveling through dense woodland, not following a trail, let alone a road, and he maintained what Nikki considered to be a breakneck speed.

He probably knew this forest like the back of his hand, but she remained terrified and continued to cling to him like a limpet.

If her fear hadn’t been so great, she might’ve been able to enjoy the feel of his firm abs underneath the snowsuit tensing as he rode, but right now all she cared about was hanging on long enough to get away from that shooter.

Ten minutes later, he slowed, coming to a complete stop beneath the cover of a copse of birch trees.

Their trunks glowed palely in the moonlight as Nikki dared to lift her head and look around.

Cutting the engine, he turned to the side so he could look down at her.

She hadn’t noticed at the time, but he’d pulled up the loose folds of his suit’s neckline to cover his mouth and nose as they left the shed, so that only his eyes were showing under the brim of his white beanie.

Clumps of icy snow clung to the fabric, where his moist breath had frozen as it hit the arctic air.

She must have similar icicles on her balaclava and was silently grateful for his quick thinking; otherwise, she might be sporting a frost-bitten nose right now to add to her hands and feet.

An almost otherworldly silence settled over them, and she was more than glad he was here with her; she would’ve been completely lost out in this dark wilderness.

“Are you okay?” Jacob barked, eyes boring into her face. “You weren’t hurt?”

“No. No, I’m fine. But that was real. That man really shot at us,” she panted, her breath forming a silver cloud as she tugged up her balaclava.

“Yes,” Jacob replied, his mouth a grim line. “But you did a great job hanging on.” His gaze met hers, and his tone softened. “We’ve bought a little time. They were on foot, which means they’ll have to go back and regroup before they can follow us.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “They could have snowmobiles too.” She swiveled and half stood at the thought, expecting to hear pursuing engines cutting through the stillness.

“No, they didn’t. I would’ve seen it on my camera if they did.

” His calm words reassured her, and she sat back down on the vinyl seat.

“My hut can only be accessed on foot or by snowmobile. There’s only one road leading into this area, so I leave my car parked about fifteen minutes away, then use the snowmobile to go the rest of the way.

” Her heart lifted at the idea of a vehicle.

To her, it sounded like safety and warmth, a way to escape this dangerous situation and return to civilization.

“But I think it’s too dangerous to go back to my car right now.

It’s on the opposite side of the hut. We’d have to take the risk of going back past those men.

” His words harpooned her burgeoning hope.

“Oh, really?” She tried not to let her disappointment show.

Where else were they supposed to go? The idea of being stuck out here all night wasn’t in the least bit appealing.

The cold was intense, and she could feel its bite even through the thick layers of her snowsuit.

And while the fur-lined boots were indeed much warmer than her hiking boots, she wasn’t sure her throbbing feet would survive an entire night in these conditions.

“Hmm.” His mouth was again in that thin line of determination. “If they have other men, or other teams tracking you, they might try to block all roads out of here. Our best chance is to ride the hidden trails through the forest and get to Jokkmokk via the back way.”

“Okay, let’s do that,” she replied brightly. How could she have doubted him? Of course he would have a plan B.

“It’s an hour’s ride through the freezing dark. Are you up for that?”

Did she have any choice? Briefly, she thought about her hands and feet. At the moment, the adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, keeping her warm, but when that vanished, how would she feel then? She would just have to endure, so she nodded and pulled her balaclava down over her face.

Jacob continued to stare at her for a few more moments, as if weighing up her capacity to keep going.

She stared steadily back at him, knowing that only her eyes would show, but she gave him nothing but determination.

The last thing he needed was to worry about her.

He was the only one who could get them safely to town, and she required his full concentration on the path ahead, not worrying about her.

At least Jacob’s body had shielded her from most of the icy wind as they sped through the wintry night; he had no nice warm body in front of him to stave off the freezing air whipping past them.

Despite his claiming to be used to these conditions, perhaps she should be more worried about him.

“Right. Hang on tight,” he said, turning his head forward. “I’ll get us there as quickly as I can.”