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              It had been dark for several hours. Jordan was so cold she could barely feel most parts of her body. The ones she could feel, ached from the piercing chill that stung the night air, making it painful to even breathe. While she had done nothing but complain about the claustrophobic atmosphere the woods had provided, she now felt completely exposed and vulnerable as they hiked along the Tug Fork river. There were still plenty of trees on one side of them, but on the other it was nothing but wide open spaces as the river rushed by them in the dead of night, bringing with it sounds that made Jordan want to come crawling out of her own skin. She had always wondered if those cd’s that played water sounds really helped people sleep at night. Now she couldn’t begin to comprehend how that was even possible. There was nothing soothing about any of it. Not the musty way it smelled like fish and algae, and certainly not the way the noise of the moving water seemed to overwhelm the night, somehow dulling Jordan’s senses and making it impossible to detect anything else that might be lurking out in the dark just waiting to pounce on them. She would have given just about anything to hear the distant hum of a highway. At least then she would have been able to feel as though she was still in some way part of civilization and the world that she knew, rather than out here in exile, slowly freezing to death and unable to evade the feeling of being hunted, no matter whose target she was.

             
Sawyer’s fingers rubbed across her bare knuckles. He hadn’t let go of her since they had first started walking. Now as he slid his thumb over the back of her hand and felt her taut skin cracking from the frigid cold, he came to an abrupt stand still.

             
Without saying a word, he took Jordan’s other hand into his as well and began rubbing them in between his own, frequently lifting them to his mouth and blowing his hot breath into her palms until she could feel the circulation coming back to her fingertips as an almost forgotten warmth returned to them.

             
“Thank you.”

             
Sawyer stared into her eyes as though he was trying to convey things he simply couldn’t find the words for.

             
“Don’t thank me. You’d be warm all over right now if it wasn’t for me.” He sighed. Then he took off his leather coat and wrapped it around Jordan’s shoulders.

             
“What are you doing? You want to freeze to death? Put your jacket back on right now!” Jordan attempted to pull the coat from her back, but Sawyer stopped her and in turn pulled it all the way around her, zipping the front all the way up to her chin while her arms were still stuck inside, unable to wiggle their way through the sleeves.

             
“I’ll take it back in a moment, trust me. Just as soon as I get a fire going.”

             
He wasted no time getting to work. Finding wood wasn’t a problem. Finding wood that was dry enough to actually hold a flame was nearly impossible. By the time Sawyer finally managed to build a fire large enough to warm them, his lips had turned blue and his body had started shaking all over.

             
Jordan returned his jacket the second he was willing to receive it.

             
“You look like a freaking ice cube! What were you thinking?”

             
“I don’t know,” Sawyer said as his teeth clattered. “Just seemed like a good opportunity to show off my macho side, you know?” His lips managed to press together in a grin in spite of his shivering.

             
“Macho is out, haven’t you heard? Women are all about equality now.”

             
“Equality is all fine and good, and I have absolutely no doubt you are just as capable as I am, if not more so…but there are some things a man just has to do to
feel
like a man. So if I want to give up my damn coat and get frostbite because of it, let me!”

             
Jordan shook her head.

             
“I don’t suppose there’s anything you could have done to help you
feel
like a man that wouldn’t lead to pneumonia?”

             
“Not that I could think of at the time, no,” said Sawyer. “But since then, I’ve thought of a few different ways.”

             
Jordan had been rubbing the sides of his arms with her hands, trying to generate some sort of heat from the friction. The fire was slowly beginning to do its job as Sawyer slid his hands underneath her coat and around her back, bringing her body up against his. He leaned in and gently brushed her lips with his before leaving a trail of kisses along her cheek and neck, all the way down to her collar bone. Her entire body trembled as shivers ran down her spine. This time they had nothing to do with being cold.             

             
Slowly, Sawyer lowered Jordan toward the ground until they found themselves sitting on the only thing they had to keep them off of the frozen dirt - Jordan’s bag. It wasn’t much, but it provided them with just enough padding to keep the icy earth from draining them of their internal heat. Once seated, Jordan’s legs found their way around Sawyer’s waist as he lifted her into his lap. Jordan could feel her temperature rising rapidly, unsure if it was due to the fire or the fact that her entire body was now wrapped around Sawyer’s as he continued to inhale her with his kiss.  She closed her eyes completely, allowing herself to sink into him, to be vulnerable. When she opened them again she was met with the intensity of his gaze. Never had a man looked at her the way Sawyer devoured her with his eyes, taking in every detail and seeing beyond the surface to find the parts of her no one else had ever seen. Jordan’s first instinct was to draw her lids shut, to put an end to his hunt for her truth out of fear he would wind up finding the one thing she wasn’t prepared to give him; her heart.

              When Jordan finally fell asleep that night, she was curled up against Sawyer’s chest, still straddling him and enjoying the warmth of his embrace. It was strange how easy it was to trust him. How heightened the emotional intimacy between them had become in such a short time. The only thing Jordan could attribute it to was the fact that they had clearly bonded over the traumatic, albeit adventurous, way they had met and then spent the hours that followed.

The second her mind had tried to rationalize her feelings, logic had set in and countered her reasoning with the reality that she and Travis had certainly encountered far more dramatic situations over the years they had been partners and Jordan had never once considered getting so close to his face that she could breathe in his breath or graze his mouth with hers as she spoke. And yet, she had always considered herself closer to Travis than anyone. She trusted him with her life. He had been privy to the personal details; had remembered important events in her life when most people didn’t and had understood her better than anyone. How was it possible that Sawyer, a virtual stranger, had grown closer to her, felt more connected to her, after such a short time and with so little effort when she and Travis had been building their relationship for years?

              Jordan woke up early to the sounds of animals scurrying in the bristle brush around them. The fire that had warmed them through the coldest hours of the night had been reduced to glowing ash just a few feet away. Sawyer had somehow managed to sleep sitting in an upright position without anything to lean up against while keeping Jordan cocooned in the only shelter he had to offer, himself.  When he felt her begin to shift around against his chest, he opened his eyes, immediately reducing them to slits as the morning sun blinded him with her bright rays.

             
“Good morning.” His voice was especially gruff and husky first thing in the morning, sending an unexpected jolt of flutters dashing through the pit of Jordan’s stomach.

             
“Hi there,” she whispered back. She could feel her heart beating like a drum in her throat and wondered if the vibration of the rapid pounding could be heard when she spoke.

             
“I guess we survived.” Sawyer grinned. Jordan lifted her hand, twirling small circles in the air with her index finger, “Yaaaaaay.”

             
She giggled, remembering her ridiculous rant from the day before. Somewhere out there was a troop of nine year old girl scouts having a good laugh at her expense.

             
“As soon as you’re up for it we better get moving again,” said Sawyer. He was craning his neck around trying to get a better idea of their location. Even in the light of day, there were no landmarks to be seen which might indicate that they were even remotely close to civilization.

             
Jordan followed his gaze with her eyes, quickly concluding the same thing he had. They still had a few hours of hiking ahead of them before they could risk scoring a new set of wheels which would allow them to move at a more desirable pace and, of course, do so under more comfortable conditions.

             
Sawyer watched as Jordan’s forehead crinkled up in concentration. Not wanting to let her stew in the overwhelming tasks that lie ahead of them, he leaned in and kissed the crease above her eyes, immediately relaxing her furrowed brow. A small smile formed on her lips.

             
“Let’s do this!”

             
She pushed herself up, using his knees for support. Her body ached with the stiffness that came from not having moved in so long. She couldn’t even imagine how Sawyer had to feel considering his back had been bent and unable to relax for hours, all for her benefit.
Stupid macho side
. The thought had been fueled by annoyance and yet putting it into words had created quite the opposite reaction within. Pure joy flooded her heart and spread through her entire being until it reached her mouth, making it stretch into a wide grin. She tried to hide it by twitching the left corner of her lips, but knew she was unsuccessful when her gaze met his and she saw the gleam of her own eyes reflected in his.

             
She kept quiet as she leaned down and reached for his hand to help him up, but continued to try and subdue the giddy feeling that had bubbled up within her. Jordan was so appalled with her own behavior, she could barely stand herself. If she started to giggle on top of everything else, she was going to have to steal Sawyer’s gun and shoot herself…not to kill, but maybe in the foot or something, just to bring her back to reality and out of la-la-land where common sense and reason were sorely lacking.

             
Sawyer made a face as he stood up, stretching his back to try and relieve the pain. A mistake he realized a little too late when the motion ripped at his wound, sending a severe shooting pain through his shoulder. He quickly brought his arm down to his side and held it still, waiting for the throbbing to stop.

             
“You should sit back down and let me take a look,” said Jordan. She was already trying to guide him back toward her bag to have a seat, but he stopped her.

             
“No, it’s fine. I just pulled it, but the pain’s already going away.”

             
“You should still let me take a look.” Jordan moved her hand toward his shoulder but Sawyer intercepted it with his good arm. He twined his fingers around hers and squeezed them gently.

             
“I’m fine. Really.”

             
Jordan studied his expression carefully before blowing out a loud breath in surrender.

             
“If you say so.”

             
“I do.”  Then he leaned down to pick up the bag they’d spent the night on just to prove his point and winked.

             
They hiked alongside the river for another four hours, chatting about trivial things just to keep their minds occupied. The sun had already melted the morning frost from the trees and was slowly beginning to warm the earth beneath their feet. Jordan felt her face begin to glow from the heat and relished the feeling. A little warmth went a long way in distracting her from the empty pit in her stomach. While they had already scarfed down what was left of the pretzels, it really hadn’t done much to appease the hungry ache in her stomach as her insides had begun to gnaw away at themselves just to keep busy.

             
Out of nowhere, Sawyer grasped Jordan’s arm bringing her to an immediate standstill.

             
“Do you hear that?” he asked, his eyes darting around in search of the source of the sound. It was barely audible, however, there was no denying the humming sounds of an engine.

             
“It’s a car!” Jordan whispered. “It’s coming from over there.” She was pointing through the trees to the right of them. There was no signs of a walkable path or trail anywhere. They would have to make their own, cutting through the heavy brush and brittle branches. Sawyer took the lead, yielding the large duffle bag like a large shield as he used it to push his way through. Jordan was right behind him the entire way, grabbing a hold of his coat tails every so often to keep her balance whenever she stepped down onto uneven ground. She had always known that she was much more comfortable on wheels than on foot, but it wasn’t until recently that she had become aware of just how clumsy she really was. Travis had eluded to it a time or two over the years, but Jordan had always laughed it off. Sure she had tripped from time to time while carrying a gurney to and from the rig, but it wasn’t as though she had ever actually dropped anyone in the process. Now she was starting to wonder how she had managed to avoid that all these years. If Sawyer hadn’t been there to steady her every few steps, she would have found herself lying face down in the massive roots that riddled the ground, multiple times already.