Rocky Mountain Rescue, Elle James [rooftoppers .TXT] 📗

Rocky Mountain Rescue

Brotherhood Protectors Colorado Book #2

Elle James

Twisted Page Inc

Contents

Rocky Mountain Rescue

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Breaking Silence

Chapter 1

About the Author

Also by Elle James

Rocky Mountain Rescue

Brotherhood Protectors Colorado Book #2

New York Times & USA Today

Bestselling Author

ELLE JAMES

Copyright © 2021 by Elle James

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

© date Twisted Page Inc. All rights reserved.

Ebook ISBN-13: 978-1-62695-353-6

Print ISBN-13: 978-1-62695-354-3

Dedicated to my mother and father who helped shape me into the person I am today.

Elle James

Author’s Note

Enjoy other military books by Elle James

Brotherhood Protectors Colorado

SEAL Salvation (#1)

Rocky Mountain Rescue (#2)

Ranger Redemption (#3)

Tactical Takeover (#4)

Shadow Assassin (crossover)

Visit ellejames.com for titles and release dates

For hot cowboys, visit her alter ego Myla Jackson at mylajackson.com

and join Elle James's Newsletter at

https://ellejames.com/contact/

Prologue

Something scratched at her leg.

Then it happened again—pawing, digging, irritating.

She tried to kick her leg to make it stop. However, her legs wouldn’t move, and the digging, scratching and pawing continued. When she attempted to move her arms, she couldn’t. Her arms and legs would barely budge.

The little effort she expended drained her. Every breath she took weighed heavily on her lungs. Dust filled her nostrils. When she tried to open her eyes, everything was dark. She closed them again. It was too much effort to keep them open. Too much effort to breathe or move. Lying there, she wondered if it would be easier to stop breathing, stop moving and simply go to sleep. Forever.

The scratching stopped. The sound of something sniffing near her ear was followed by more pawing. This time on the top of her head. Something caught in her hair and pulled.

She tried to turn her head away and tried to raise her arm and slap away whatever was pawing her. A whining sound accompanied the scratching. She didn’t want to wake. She wanted to stay asleep, but the persistent pawing made her want to slap away whatever bothered her.

When she tried again to move her arm, this time it shifted just a little. Then it was free. She batted at the thing that punished her head with pawing.

Teeth wrapped around her hand and tugged.

A moan rose up her parched throat. She tried to tell the creature to leave her alone, but her mouth wouldn’t open, her eyes wouldn’t open. She willed it away, but it persisted.

Darkness faded into light. Warmth permeated her body, chasing away the chill. She moved her head to the side, and dirt shifted off her face exposing it to what felt like sunlight. When she opened her eyes this time the bright glare of sunrise hit her full on. She closed her eyes again.

Teeth sank into her fingers and pulled hard. The whining continued, and a sharp bark sounded in her ear. This time when she opened her eyes, she saw a long snout and a pair of dark eyes staring down at her. The teeth released her hand and the barking continued. The creature latched onto her wrist and pulled, forcing her to roll over. Once lying on her back, she was able to take a deep breath. Again, the animal released her hand and barked and barked and barked.

With each bark, pain radiated through her head. “Please stop. Please,” she said. “Stoooop.”

It was a dog. The dog ignored her entreaty and continued to bark. Suddenly, it ran away, and silence reigned.

She lay with the sun beating down on her until she couldn’t stand it anymore, and she raised her arm to cover her eyes. She must have fallen asleep again.

Voices woke her in a language she didn’t understand. Her skin burned in the sunlight. Then a shadow fell over her, and she curled into the fetal position, expecting whoever it was to hit or kick her. Instead, someone draped fabric over her body.

More voices spoke in a language she did not understand. Too tired to open her eyes, she lay still, praying they’d go away. Someone lifted her head and poured water into her mouth. She gulped it thirstily. By the gentle strength in her hands and her soft voice, the person had to be a woman. The others had the same kinds of voices. They were all women. One tried to get her to sit up, but she lay back down, closing her eyes to the harshness of the sun. They left her alone.

After a while—how long, she didn’t know—a different voice sounded. Deeper, rougher. “Ma’am?” A hand touched her shoulder.

She whimpered and covered her face with her hand.

The dog was back. Its nose pressed against her cheek, and a long tongue licked the dirt from her face.

“Go on,” the voice said.

The dog quit licking her.

“Ma’am, can you hear me? Do you speak English?” the voice asked.

Finally, a language she understood. “Yes,” she said, her voice more of a crackling sound than anything else.

“We’re going to move you. Ma’am, I’m a medic. Can you tell me your name?”

She blinked her eyes open and looked up into the face of a man.

When the man put his hands on her arms, she tried to fight him, but her arms and legs wouldn’t move or work the way they used to.

“No,” she said, “Nooo.” She waved her arms at him, but they did no good. They were too weak to fight.

“It’s okay, ma’am. I’m only going to move you,” he said, his voice soothing.

“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t hurt me.”

“I’m trying to help you.” He looked over his shoulder. “Hey, Johnson, get over here.”

“Please, don’t hurt me,” she murmured, every deep breath shooting pain through her chest.

The man above her turned to somebody else. “Talk to her, Johnson. Maybe it’ll help