Lost in You by Lorelei James Page B

That scared her far more than she cared to admit.  
    “Why?” she whispered.  
    “Because there is a rattlesnake coiled about a foot from your backpack.”  
    Sure enough, through the sudden silence, she heard an agitated rattling.  
    Lacy screamed, launching herself off the log like a long-jumper on steroids. She stumbled and face planted in the dirt. For a half-a-second she stayed completely motionless—until something dry slithered over her bare calf, followed by a sharp sting.  
    She leapt up, frantically beating her clothes, hopping from foot to foot drawing her knees to her chest. Her high-pitched shrieks blocked out the sounds of blood pounding in her ears, but didn’t hide the taste of fear lodged in her throat.  
    A large hand clamped over her mouth. She was pulled against a solid, warm body. “Quiet.”  
    Her heart slammed in her chest, but she stopped struggling.  
    “Calm down.” His breath fanned her ear. “It’s dead.”  
    A shudder moved through her. She slumped in Becker’s arms.  
    He released his hand. “Did it bite you?”  
    “I—I don’t know. I felt something touch my leg.”  
    “Okay. I’m going to pick you up and carry you to that log. If it did bite you, and you continue to act like a Rockette on acid, then the poison will move through your bloodstream twice as fast, understand?”  
    She nodded.  
    Strong arms hooked under her knees. Her head rested under his chin as they shuffled to the log.  
    Becker sat, keeping Lacy on his lap. “Which leg?”  
    She burst into tears. “I don’t know.”  
    “Ssh. Calm down. Deep breaths, Lacy. We’ll figure it out.” He shifted, running his hand down her right leg to her knee. “Lift up. Let me see.”  
    Lacy concentrated on the gentle way his callused fingers slid over her skin and not the idea of poison flowing just below the surface.  
    He turned her foot, fingers circling her ankle. “Nothing. Good. Next leg.”  
    She remained immobile through the same procedure on the other calf, although his hands caressing her body made her skin tingle.  
    Finally, he eased her from his lap.  
    “You were lucky. Doesn’t appear to be a bite mark. You feel okay?”  
    Relief soared through her. “If it had sunk its nasty fangs into me?”  
    He tenderly brushed a strand of hair from her tear-stained cheek. “I carry a snakebite kit in my pack, just in case.”  
    “Bet you were an awesome Boy Scout.”  
    Becker actually flashed a half-smile. “I’ve never been a Boy Scout.”  
    Whoo-ee. That could be taken the wrong way. Smiling, gentle Becker was far more dangerous than surly Becker.  
    Maybe the rest of the hike wouldn’t be so bad now that they’d come to a truce.  
    “So you killed the varmint, huh? With your bare hands?”  
    “Nah. Chopped it in half with a shovel. Want to see?”  
    “Sure.”  
    Lacy stood frozen in place, horrified by what lay next to her dirty backpack. Her stomach roiled, but not at the sight of a potential snakeskin purse in its rawest form.  
    No. She was sickened by the chunks of metal and broken glass that used to be a compass—a compass she’d accidentally pulverized during her impromptu snake dance.  
    Damn.  
    Her stunned gaze caught his.  
    She decided a snakebite might’ve been preferable to the venomous gleam in Becker’s eye.  

Chapter Two  

    Sam Becker stared at the broken compass.  
      I could kill her. Wrap my hands around her lovely sunburned neck and squeeze until her cynical blue eyes popped out of her beautiful head.  
    No one would find her body. Hell, since they were for all intents and purposes lost in the Bighorn Mountains, there was a good chance they’d never find his body either.  
    He shoved aside his murderous impulse and jerked the chain holding the powdered compass. Spun on his boot heel and stalked to the other side of the log to consider their options. Although he felt her questioning gaze burning his neck like a laser beam,