22
Annie
I slept the night through and woke in the morning, stiff and aching from lying on pine boughs and the definite beginnings of cramps twinging in my belly. But I’d never felt better. Sated. Happy—until I rolled to face the warm chest against my back.
Roan slept still, and heat radiated off him like a wood stove.
Fever…
My chest tightened as I pressed my hand against his forehead, and a hissed curse followed from my lips.
He’s burning up.
Eyes stinging, I sat up, glancing around the immediate vicinity. Rock, lichen, brush, and blue sky. No humans. No vehicles, planes, or boats. No emergency room or pharmacy. How far to the Kelly homestead?
“Roan?”
He stirred at my voice, a groan rumbling his chest.
“Can you wake up? Look at me?”
He blinked, a grimace twitching his beard.
