M.M. Justus

Tamsin heard him first, through the ominous wailing of the winds through the trees. A sincere “damn,” in a deep, tired, masculine voice, then the sound of his footsteps approaching her. From her vantage point on top of the guard rail, she couldn’t see much, didn’t care if it was Jack the Ripper in the pouring dark.

Water dripped ceaselessly in through the broken windshield, falling on her face, her head, her already chilled body. The windshield, along with most of the front end of her car, had been smashed when a tree limb had gotten in her way as she’d careened to the edge of the cliff. She’d probably been going too fast, she thought, shaking her head to clear it, then stopped abruptly at the jackhammer pounding at her temple. She was always going too fast, but this was the first time she’d actually paid for it with anything more than a speeding ticket.

She ached all over. Her leg throbbed where it was pinned under the steering wheel, and she didn’t have the clarity to be worried about the bump on her head. If it hadn’t been for the seatbelt and the guardrail, she’d probably be down on the rocks below, washing with the waves. The daze she was in left small room for self-concern, and listing the catalog of the mess she was in seemed almost amusing in the first throes of hypothermia.

A flashlight beam, wavering and thin through the rain. More cursing, low and heartfelt. Her would-be rescuer, surveying the damage, she thought bemusedly. The beam swept up into her face. Tamsin blinked, and said the first thing that came to her lips.

“Do you mind? You’re shining that right in my eyes.”

He jumped. Slipped. Grabbed the car to steady himself. Jerked away when it threatened to rock right off the edge of the road.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine – no, of course, I’m not all right!” Great, Tamsin thought wearily. I’m being saved by the master of the obvious. She twisted herself in another failed attempt to reach the door handle.

“I meant, are you going to be able to help me help you get out of there.” The voice held patience and, she thought indignantly, a bit of wry humor underneath the obvious concern. “Do you think anything’s broken?”

“My leg’s stuck. It hurts. I don’t know if it’s broken. If I could get my arm free, I might be able to do something.” She wished she could see her rescuer’s face, then, when the door was wrenched open, and his strong arms reached under her armpits, Tamsin didn’t care in the least if he looked like Quasimodo. The water soaking his shirt was cold, but the skin underneath pumped heat like a furnace. He quickly freed her arms. She immediately slid her hand under the dash and activated the adjustable steering column. Sighed in relief when it worked and the pressure on her leg eased.

He shoved the wheel out of the way, and grasped her again beneath her arms.

“I’m going to pull on you. You sing out if it hurts more than you can stand, but we need to get you out of here. Fast.”

She braced herself. “Okay.”

“Here goes.”

He hauled on her with a strength she didn’t have time to appreciate. Trying to help, she shoved against the crumpled insides of what had once been her car with her good foot. Metal screeched as the underside rubbed against the guard rail, and they both stopped for breath.

When the car shifted ominously once more, her savior put his foot against a rock for purchase and yanked. Tamsin gasped with the pain. Immediately he stopped the pressure, loosening his hold.

“No, go on. Please go on,” she cried, fear of her situation finally beginning to kick in.

“Okay. It’s going to hurt.”

“Not as much as falling on those rocks.”

He smiled grimly, the gleam of it shining in the cold beam of the flashlight he’d propped against a tree. The odd gesture comforted her. Then, as he grasped her one more time, all her strength had to go to surviving the daggers in her leg. He gave a mighty yank. She choked back a scream. One more pull –- and she slid neatly out as if greased.

He stumbled back, holding her awkwardly under her arms. She could feel the bellows of his lungs pumping against her back.

The car rocked, but held steady once more.

Tamsin let her head fall back against his shoulder. She caught her first glimpse of his face, water dripping off his beard, his eyes wide as he stared down at her, just before her world started spinning and she blacked out.

Coming soon