“What if we buried them several feet deep? Could a cougar or bear smell through that?” Ryan looked to Thomas, the wildlife expert. Thomas lifted a hand in an “I don’t know” gesture and finished his bar.

“I know a good hole,” Alex managed to say before he broke into gasping laughs.

Brynn’s eyebrows shot up as her jaw dropped. Incredulously, she scanned the men. They all had the same shocked expression. Ryan laughed first, breaking the astonishment. Then the other three joined, even Thomas.

A big portion of the stress of the day evaporated with their laughter.

Alex jerked awake, his shoulder immobile and his feet freezing.

For a moment he was back underground and terror rocketed through his nerves. Then he realized the weight on his shoulder was Brynn’s head as she slept next to him on the floor of the cargo area. He blew out a frazzled breath and commanded his limbs to relax. Heat spread from where she touched him, making him feel secure and safe. The plane rumbled with the snores of sleeping men, not the silence of his snowy grave. He closed his eyes and waited for his heart to slow as he enjoyed the sound. The sounds of the living.

He drank in the sight of Brynn in the indirect light from a headlamp. Last he remembered she’d been sitting in one of the comfy chairs talking quietly to Jim. Alex craned his neck and saw that Jim was stretched out on the other side of Brynn.

Thomas and Ryan were sleeping upright in two of the chairs, heads leaning against the walls of the plane.

Alex wished he’d been awake when she moved next to him. Her mouth was open the slightest bit, breath softly puffing. He felt it touch his neck. Her eyelashes lay still against her cheeks. He could see the faintest movement of her eyes behind her lids.

He’d nearly kissed her last night. When she’d first touched his leg it had been a shock. He hadn’t lied. It’d been a shock that raced up his thigh, stunned his groin, and then nailed him in the chest. And all she’d done was lay her hand on him.

In the gold light from the tiny camp stove, with her kneeling beside him, and the unstable, emotional set of his mind, he’d ached to touch her. The light had bronzed the skin on her face, and her pupils had dilated. He’d felt that if he didn’t touch her he’d explode. And he was damned certain she’d felt it too. He’d been about to tell her that she’d spoken to him underground when Thomas and Jim had walked in and the moment had vanished. He’d never gotten it back.

His hand reached over and traced her cheekbone. He wanted to touch the dense lashes or soft lips, but was afraid he’d tickle her and she’d wake. Then his moment would be gone again. He slid two fingers through the hair that’d come loose from her ponytail. Silky. Just like he’d known it would be.

He silently swore and pulled his hand away.

I have no right. He squeezed his eyes shut.

She was living with someone. But she hadn’t pulled away last night, and behind the initial confusion in her eyes when he reached for her he’d seen…something. And it wasn’t rejection. It was warm.

He wanted her. In a bad way.

Maybe he was just overreacting after nearly dying. Seeking the ultimate affirmation of life, wanting to mark it with a female, show that he was alive. And Brynn was simply the closest woman. Showing up in his death dream didn’t mean squat. Simply because he’d felt something in his dreams didn’t mean it existed in real life.

He gazed back at her face and felt his heart speed up.

Who am I trying to fool?

In forty-eight hours he’d fallen head over frozen heels for Brynn. She was smart and strong and feisty. Life radiated from her and had touched the part of him that had felt dead for so long, slowly bringing him back to life. It was like that allergy drug commercial where the scene is fuzzy until the person pops a pill and suddenly everything is crystal clear. She’d shaken something awake inside him. No wonder he’d fallen hard.

Shit. The first woman to catch his eye and his heart, and she was already taken.

Or was she? She hadn’t uttered a single word about her boyfriend. Don’t most women mention them every other sentence? She hadn’t said she couldn’t wait until she got back home, or talked about what the two of them would do, or said she hoped her boyfriend wasn’t worrying about her. If Alex’s girlfriend was out in this hell, he’d be worried. The only mention he’d heard of her boyfriend was from Ryan. And there’d been an odd tone when Ryan talked about—what was his name?—Liam.

Liam. Alex mouthed the name. He didn’t like the feel of it.

Felt foreign on his tongue.

His jaw tightened. There could be an age issue in Brynn’s mind.

Well, maybe for her. He doubted she’d hit thirty yet and he’d passed forty a few years ago. It didn’t bother him, but she might see him in a more…fatherly light. He cringed, his chest tightening. Ugh. She looked at Jim like that. There was true friendship and caring there, but there was also a respect from Brynn that one gave to their elders.

Did she see Alex like that?

Ryan coughed, paused, and resumed snoring. Startled out of his thoughts of Brynn, Alex studied the sleeping man. Would Ryan be strong enough to hike out? He’d looked like hell the night before. At least Alex felt nearly fully recovered. He’d be able to hike out fine.

His body jerked as he remembered the purpose of his mission. Every muscle tensed. How could he have gone for hours without thinking of the killer?

Darrin Besand. After the avalanche, he had nearly been wiped out of Alex’s mind. Alex had been distracted by Brynn and his newfound interest in doing something with his life. Besand couldn’t wait. He had to find the asshole now. He had to know.