There was a small silence. Something deep inside him began to burn. Something dark and dangerous.

Rio reached for her left hand, his thumb sliding over her ring finger to find it bare. He brought her fingers up to insure there wasn’t a tan line proclaiming she’d recently removed a ring. He had no idea why relief swept through him, but it did. “Rachael, try to follow what I’m telling you. It’s important.”

He carr ied her hand to his chest, without realizing he did it, holding it there over his pounding heart. “I need to lance the wound, cauterize it. I’ m sorr y, but it’s the only way to save your leg. I think the bullet hit the radio, but even if it didn’t, I can’t raise anyone in this weather. The second wave of the storm is hitting now and there were three strong weather fronts coming back to back.”

Rachael continued to smile at him. “I don’t know why you’re looking so worried. They haven’t found us and I don’t think they can.”

Rio closed his eyes briefly, fighting for air. He wished her smile were for him, not some unknown man named Elijah. This was going to be hell, and she was so doped up he couldn’t prepare her for what was to come. He had performed the procedure once before and even then it had been unpleasant. He pushed back the hair from her forehead. She was looking at him with far too much trust. “I’m just going to do what has to be done. I’m apologizing ahead of time.”

She could see the reluctance and distaste in his eyes. “It’s all right, Rio, I understand. I do. It had to happen sooner or later. I’m sorry he asked you to take care of it. I can see it bothers you.”

“Take care of what?” he prompted. She was reassuring him, trying to make his job easier.

“I know Elijah wants me dead. I know he sent you. You look so tired and sad. It was wrong of him to ask you.”

Rio swore softly, hunkering down beside her. Her eyes were glazed, dreamy even, but they carried intelligence. She believed he was there to kill her, yet she looked at him as if she felt sorry for him.

“Why does Elijah want you dead?”

She blinked, her breath catching in her throat on a wave of pain. “Does it matter? Just get it over with.”

“You’re just going to let me kill you?” For some reason her apathy made him furious. She was going to lie there and encourage him to take her life? He wanted to shake her.

That same little smile tugged at her mouth. She seemed far away again, slowly turning her head away from him. “Even if you handed me a very large stick I wouldn’t be able to lift it. I’ll have to pass on being that take-forty-seven-kicks-in-the-ribs-and-keep-on-going heroine. I don’t think I can lift my head.”

He leaned closer. “Rachael? You’re with me again.” She sounded like the woman who had bashed him in the head.

“Was I gone?” She closed her eyes. “I wish I hadn’t come back. What’s wrong with me? Where did I go?”

“You’ve been rambling. I have no choice, I have to work on your leg.”

“Then get to it. You’re so tired you’r e going to fall on your face if you don’t get it done.” She made an effort to lift her lashes and study his face beneath heavy lids. “I’m not going to blame you if it hurts.”

Her eyes were clear and in that moment lucid. “I don’t want to lose my leg, so by all means, do whatever is necessary to save it.”

Rio wasn’t going to talk about it any longer. Distaste for the ugly task glimmered in his eyes as he bent over her leg. The wound had to be lanced, thoroughly washed, cauterized and packed with more antibiotics. He had perfor med the surgery once out in the field when a friend had been shot and was bleeding profusely and the chopper couldn’t pick them up immediately. Small beads of sweat dotted his body, then ran into his eyes to blur his vision as he placed the blade of his knife in the flames.

Opening the wound to allow the infection to run out set his stomach churning. She screamed when he poured the burning antiseptic, nearly coming up off the bed. He hesitated only a moment, leaning his weight across her thighs, and taking a deep breath laid the blade of the knife against her flesh. The odor was sickening. He didn’t hurry, not wanting to make any mistakes, careful to cleanse and repair, before splinting her leg to hold it immobile in order to give it a better chance to heal.

He couldn’t look at her as he cleaned the bedding and packed blankets around her leg to hold her still.

She hadn’t moved in a long time, her breathing shallow, her skin clammy. Definitely in shock, Rachael was trembling in reaction. Rio cursed softly. He eased down beside her, stretching out along the bed, drawing her close to him, unable to think of anything else to do.

“Rio?” Rachael didn’t pull away from him, instead burrowed against him like a kitten for comfort.

“Thank you for trying to save my leg. I know it was difficult for you.” Her voice was thin. He barely caught the words.

Rio nuzzled the top of her head with his chin, blew at strands of hair caught in the stubble of several days growth. “Try to relax, I can’t give you any more painkiller for a while. Just let me hold you.” His arms tightened with possession. At the same time something was squeezing his heart like a vise. “I’ll tell you a story.”

Her body belonged with his—fit. He curved around her, thigh to thigh, her buttocks pressed against his groin, her head tucked safely against his throat, and she just fit there as if made for him. Her breasts were full and soft and pushed into his ar ms comfortably. He had lain with her before. Not once, but many times. The memory of her body was etched in his brain, in his nerves and flesh and bone.