Reilly's Woman Read Online Free PDF Page B

murmured in a low, choked voice, "we could have beaten the storm to Austin."
    "You would be with your brother. I would be with my friends and Grady wouldn't be dead." Leah could feel the vibration of Reilly's low-pitched voice against her ear, unemotional and aloof. "That isn't the way it is. It's best that you accept that."
    Tears slid down her cheeks as she bitterly admitted he was right again. But it didn't make it any easier to accept. Her lashes fluttered down, clinging to the tears on her lower lashes.
    In the night, her troubled and uneasy sleep was interrupted by a rolling roar that seemed to vibrate the ground beneath them. She stirred, her eyes opening in a frowning blink.
    "What was that?" she whispered bewilderedly. She tried to raise herself up on an elbow, but the arm around her tightened and a hand pressed her head against his chest.
    "It's nothing to worry about," Reilly answered quietly. "Go back to sleep."
    Not fully awake and with her muscles stiffly protesting any need for movement, Leah obeyed. It was probably just the thunder anyway, she told herself.  
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    Chapter Three
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    IT WASN'T THUNDER.
    The morning sun was in her eyes, but the light didn't blind Leah to the mound of chipped rock and rubble in front of her. A landslide had completely covered the plane.
    Farther up the mountain slope on a rocky ledge, her gaze noted the black hole of a mine entrance. A fallen timber lay across in the opening, supporting only its own weight. Last night's rain had sent the loose tailings from the mine down the slope.
    Leah remembered Reilly's warning about it. If they had taken shelter in the plane, they would have been trapped inside or smothered by the gravel debris.
    This morning her bones ached from sleeping on the hard surface of the ground and her muscles were cramped from clinging tothe warmth of Reilly's body. Yet somewhere under that mound of rock was the plane, and her discomfort seemed like a very small thing.
    Soberly she watched Reilly Smith carefully working his way over the rubble. At each step, the ground shifted beneath his feet, miniature slides of loose gravel rolling away. Then he stopped, kneeling gingerly to push away the rock.
    A patch of white was revealed and made larger. Using the length of his left arm as a barricade, he held back the gravel that tried to recover the patch. With painstaking slowness he pushed more rock away with his free hand, digging downward along the side of the plane.
    His goal was the baggage compartment in the crumpled nose of the plane. The crash had buckled the door, popping it partly open at the bottom. Leah watched Reilly straining with only one free hand to open it the rest of the way.
    When the last fragment of latch released itself, he quickly lifted it up, using it instead of his arm to hold back the gravel. Reaching inside, he wasted no time in dragging out his suitcase, then Leah's two pieces of luggage.
    Gravel danced around both sides of the door in warning. He shoved the cases away, letting the rolling rocks carry them away from the plane. Leah held her breath as he slowly lowered the door. The trickle of rocks grew steadily louder as the angle lessened.
    Above him, there was an uneasy shifting of rocks, but no fresh slide started when the door was down and immediately covered by slow-moving gravel. Turning, he inched his way down the slope in a half-sitting position to the luggage.
    When he stood on firm ground again, Leah let out the breath she had been holding in a relieved sigh. Reilly picked up all three cases and walked to where she stood a safe distance away.
    "Now we can change out of these clothes." The grooves around his mouth deepened to suggest a smile.  
    "I can hardly wait," agreed Leah definitely. Although she had dried out considerably from her soaking last night, her clothes still felt vaguely damp against her skin.
    "Have you got a pair of jeans in there?" He set her bag and cosmetic case on the ground in front of