Read Online Deadly Race by Margaret Daley - Free Book Online Page A

soft side of her neck and ear. Goosebumps rose on her flesh, chilling her even though the air was hot about them.
    Alarmed not at their near death but at his titillating proximity, Ellie shoved him away as she struggled to sit up. Her body protested the movement, but there was no way she could remain flat on the ground with Slade on top of her, even if he was protecting her.
    Dust still swirled in the clearing made by the plane’s descent, tiny specks of it dancing in the sunlight. The gaping hole in the tree afforded her a view of the bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight. The chorus of insects and birds replaced the sounds of metal hitting dirt. A beautiful day, if you weren’t running for your life , she thought. She shuddered at the near-death experience, which of late was becoming the norm for her.
    “I owe you my life,” she whispered, her gaze trained again on the spot where she had lain.
    “It was nothing.” He remained close to her, amusement in his eyes, while he watched her fan her face as though that would clear the air of the suffocating dust particles.
    “ Nothing! Isn’t that just like a man to say that?” She hoped he thought the quavering sound in her voice was due to their narrow escape from death and not from his disarming presence only inches from her, from the fact that for a few seconds their hearts had beat as one. My goodness, in all her thirty years a man hadn’t gotten to her this fast and easily. “Don’t try and deny the importance of what you did, Slade. You know that means you’re responsible for me. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you.”
    He stared at her, his expression serious. “That’s the least I could do, since you wouldn’t be here in the first place if it weren’t for me. Someone must think I know something important to go to such lengths to shoot down my plane.”
    “Well, technically it wasn’t your plane. Maybe the owner decided to take it back even if it was in pieces.”
    “I hope you’re right. I don’t like the alternative.” His gaze slid over her body. “Are you okay?”
    “Under the circumstances, I’m fine. Of course, it can’t be more than ten o’clock in the morning and I’ve already been strip-searched, held prisoner, shot at, and in a plane crash. Not to mention falling from a tree and nearly being crushed to death. I would have felt a little better if I’d had time this morning to put on some makeup and eaten a good breakfast. Otherwise, what could be wrong?”
    A humorous twinkle sparkled in his eyes as he lifted a hand and brushed her hair from her cheek. “I like your attitude. And I like your earthy look.”
    Her heart had to be beating faster than his ever had. When he laid his palm against her face, all she could think of was the warmth that radiated from the contact, warmth that surpassed the heat in the air. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, wishing they were anywhere but in the middle of a jungle, miles from civilization.
    “This isn’t quite how I pictured my departure from Bella Isla.”
    Ellie forced a throaty laugh, leaning away from his touch. “That’s certainly an understatement. Right about now I should be in a jet heading home, listening to my music, and trying desperately to forget how many miles I’m off the ground. I have a confession to make. I’m scared to death of heights.”
    “Then I suggest that when we start climbing that mountain you don’t look down.”
    “ Mountain! ” In her book a mountain was definitely classified as a high place.
    “That’s the shortest route out of here.”
    “Can’t we wait until someone comes along?”
    “Oh, for their Sunday stroll?” One of his brows arched.
    “No, I mean to rescue us.”
    “Who? The people who shot us down?”
    “Well—” She chewed on her bottom lip, knowing they couldn’t wait but not wanting to go mountain climbing, something she thought mountain goats were better equipped to do than humans, especially one Ellie Winters. That