Page 3 of Blaze

I shake my head.“No.I don’t think my right leg is injured at all.I got that gash on my left leg as I slid down the embankment, but when I reached the bottom, I hit this dead tree so hard that it cracked and fell on top of me.I tried to lift it, but it never budged.My right leg is pinned.”

He pulls a pack off his back and sets it next to me before holding something up to my lips.“It’s water.All I have is my Camelback.Can you drink for me?”

I accept the mouthpiece and suck.Ohmygod.Nothing has ever tasted so good in my life.It’s even cold.I’m so thirsty that I drink and drink.

His hand comes to my cheek.“Good girl.Slow down a bit so you don’t get sick.”

I finally release the nozzle, panting from renewed exertion.“Thank you.”

“How long have you been down here, Vicky?”

“Since yesterday afternoon.I tripped, lost my footing, and tumbled down the hill.I used my shirt to wrap the wound.”I lift my head to look at my calf again and wince.My tank top is soaked with dark blood.

My shirt was all I had with me to cover the gash.It was white.Thank goodness I was also wearing a sports bra, otherwise, I suppose I’d be lying here mostly naked now.

“So you’ve been here all night.I’m so sorry.You must have been scared out of your mind.”His voice is calm and kind.He’s not yelling at me for my stupidity either.I appreciate that.I know I’m an idiot, but I don’t need anyone to point that out to me right now.It’s super clear.

“I thought I was going to die here,” I admit, my lips trembling as emotions overwhelm me.

“You’re not going to die, baby.I promise.”He stands.“I’m going to lift this branch off you.”

I want to scream as he easily moves the tree from over the top of me, freeing me.He lifted it like it weighed ten ounces.I couldn’t get it to budge.

Dropping my head back, I sigh.“Guess I need to hit the gym more often.”

He smiles at me.“I don’t think any amount of weightlifting would have helped.You didn’t have the leverage from under the limb.Don’t beat yourself up.”

“Limb?”My voice squeaks.“That’s theentiretree.I plowed into the trunk, which caused it to fall.”

He gives me a crooked smile.“Okay.True.But it’s just a baby tree.”

“Adeadbaby tree,” I argue.I have no idea why I’m being disagreeable.I’m just so mad at myself that I feel like I need to make excuses for my predicament.

Blaze lifts my good leg—the one that was pinned—and carefully bends it.“Are you sure it’s not injured?”

I shake my head.“No.It’s fine.Probably bruised.”I look down to see that a large blue circle has already formed on my thigh.

Blaze gently sets my leg down before opening his pack and holding up a first-aid kit.Not a small one either.A hefty, padded red box with a white plus on it.Who hikes with something that large?

Blaze… What an apt name.He’s on fire.He has thick blond hair, cut tight on the sides, and a trimmed beard and mustache.He’s probably twice my age.I’m in no state to be drooling over a man, but damn.

“Are you with some kind of search-and-rescue team?”

He chuckles, the sound going straight to my pussy.I’m probably feverish, and yet he’s awakening something in me I’ve never felt before.Madness.I need to get a grip before I say something stupid.And did he call mebaby?

“No.I’m with a tour group this morning.Just tagging along.The guide is my cousin’s wife.She gave me her first-aid kit.”

I nod.

He scoots down my body and leans over my leg.“How bad is this cut, Vicky?Looks like you’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“I’m not sure.I don’t think it’s deep, but it bled for a while.I covered it as fast as I could.I haven’t touched it since.”

“Okay.I’m going to see if I can remove your shirt and wrap it in gauze.You just look at the sky.Can you do that for me, Vicky?”

“Yes,” I whisper.I’m holding back tears by a thread.I’m not even sure why.I think it’s the combination of being dehydrated and relieved, in addition to the fact that some sort of god has arrived to rescue me.

What if I’m actually dead instead and this man is anactualgod?I nix that possibility the moment he lifts my shirt off my leg.Wincing from the pain caused by the wound partially tugging open, I grit my teeth.Surely it wouldn’t hurt if I were dead.