Free Lost in Shadows by CJ Lyons Page B

sink into oblivion, a man’s strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her—God, she missed that feeling so very much.
    Lucky must have been good at math. Only a moment passed before he exhaled a bitter, “Sonofabitch.” 
    Vinnie jerked upright, pushed her fantasy aside. 
    “You said something about a bridge.”
    She tapped another spot on the map. “Here. It’s a suspension bridge—the old fashioned kind. You won’t make it across, shape you’re in. Not alone, there’s no way.”
    “Says who?”
    His face was beside hers, almost touching as they studied the map. Vinnie pulled away, giving herself breathing room. He didn’t wear cologne, but something about his scent, his warmth was intoxicating. “It would be suicide, Cavanaugh.”
    He shrugged with his good shoulder. “I’m not all that easy to kill.”
    Vinnie felt cold sweat bead the back of her neck and remembered her premonition earlier. She stood and turned from him, pretended the fire needed tending. 
    He moved to stand behind her, his good hand resting on her shoulder. She closed her eyes for one long, blissful moment. It had been so very long since anyone had touched her, been this close.
    “Hey, Smokey,” he said, pivoting her around to face him once more. 
    His eyes locked onto hers, and Vinnie felt a jolt of heat that she tried very hard to ignore. Then his gaze dropped to her mouth, and she knew he had felt it as well. 
    “It’s going to be all right,” he whispered as he lowered his lips onto hers. 
    Vinnie wasn’t certain if he meant The Preacher, their getting off the mountain alive, or this kiss that sparked through her body like a wildfire through dry brush. She opened her mouth wider, inviting him, answering him, and decided it didn’t matter.
    His hand rose to cradle her jaw, stroked her cheekbone in a soft caress that contrasted with the urgency she felt. She shifted her weight, pressed her body against his as her arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer. For the first time in so very long, Vinnie felt warm.
     

     
    Big mistake, Lucky kept telling himself, even as he sank deeper into her embrace. Very big mistake. 
    One or both of them might be killed soon—and he had no choice but use Ryan as his backup quarterback to deliver his intel to Rose Prospero. Which meant he would be placing her life at risk, a civilian with no training. What other choice did he have?
    None. And making that choice wasn’t going to be any easier by getting emotionally involved with this woman. 
    Who cared? the basest, most primitive part of his mind shouted. 
    For the first time since The Preacher had caught Lucky last month, Lucky felt alive, didn’t feel as if he were wrapped in cotton wool, unable to feel anything. He’d been frightened that that dull, cold emptiness would never leave him. Now he’d found someone not only to banish the numbness that had engulfed him, but who could lead him from the darkness.
    He looked down into her eyes, loving that she was only an inch or so shorter than him, their bodies fitting together just right. He felt as if he knew her—
    A memory jolted through him. A memory from that awful night last month while he was unconscious, left for dead by The Preacher. He’d dreamed of a forest primeval and a regal Lady who ruled it, a woman with alabaster skin and raven hair, eyes dark as night.
    Ryan was his Lady, he was certain of it. 
    No, it couldn’t be. He pulled away from the kiss, gently disengaged her hands from his body and took a step back to clear his mind. It would be a cruel fate indeed to find his dream Lady—the one who led him out of Hell and gave him the will to survive—here in this godforsaken wilderness where there was a very good chance they would both die.
    “I’m sorry,” he muttered, turning his head away. His thoughts collided, jumbled. 
    The Preacher, the information vital to saving so many, the blizzard outside, the face of the woman in his vision when he’d been near