Taking the Heat (Jackson: Girls' Night Out 3)

“The belay devices add enough friction to support most of your weight. I hardly have to work at all, even if your weight falls suddenly. Ready to climb up to me?”

Oh, hell, yes, she was ready for that. She pulled herself back up to the rock face and yelled, “Climbing!”

His l

aughing response echoed down on her.

Ten feet farther up, she looked back and was relieved she could no longer see straight to the ground. And now she was far enough up that the trees were getting small. She could pretend they were bushes. The end was in sight. She was golden.

Gabe’s grin was a distraction she didn’t need, so instead of looking up at him, she carefully watched every move of her hands and feet. The stepping points seemed natural, but she tested each one before she put her weight on it.

Finally, her hands were on the three-foot-deep cliff where Gabe stood. It looked insanely safe after that climb. She pulled herself up and leaned against the rock.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “I did it.”

“I told you you could do it. Not only did you get here, but you were faster than I expected.”

“Really?” Her knees and hands were shaking, but that didn’t matter. She’d done it.

“Yes. And you’re fucking hot in those pants, too.”

She was too afraid to shift close enough to kiss him, but she enjoyed the look he swept down her body. As if he could read her face, he said, “When we get to the top, I’ll kiss you, but I need all my blood in my brain right now.”

She started to smile, but it got caught in a strange grimace. “What do you mean ‘the top’? We’re at the top.”

“Nope, this is the first pitch, but the second pitch is only thirty-five feet. You’ve already climbed sixty feet. You can do it.”

Her eyes swept over the beautiful vista of sky and mountains, then dropped down to those tiny trees. “Thanks, but I’m good with this. Amazing. Really awesome climb.”

“We need to hit the top to rappel down on a different face. It’s a nice straight line to the ground from there.”

Oh, God. She turned in to the rough granite and clung there, letting her forehead rest on the sun-warmed rock. She saw the movement of a tiny spider out of the corner of her eye and didn’t even care. This cliff was her friend. She was safe here. Maybe she could live here. Gabe could climb up every few days and bring her food and water. She could curl up in the little hollow of stone at her feet and sleep at night. It would be beautiful and she’d never have to let go of the granite.

She whispered, “Okay.”

“Feel good?” he asked.

“Yes,” she lied. “Let’s go.”

He showed her how to disengage the anchor once he’d called down, explaining that he was safely attached now and even if he fell, he’d fall only so far. She felt a tiny bit more secure as he headed up to the permanent anchor at the top.

“Thirty-five feet,” she whispered to herself. “No big deal.”

Famous last words. It seemed as if only seconds passed before he called down to her again. She concentrated on disengaging the anchor and checking all her lines, then called up that she was climbing.

Her little cliff was blessed gravity trying to hold her down, but she forced her shaking knee to bend and found a good foothold for her toes. She only had to climb three feet up to get a glimpse of Gabe again.

He was locked in to a short tether at the very top of the rock, feet spread wide for balance and leaning his whole body back as if he were relaxing into a recliner instead of a hundred-foot void. He had complete confidence in the equipment, and she had almost complete confidence in him. Her legs felt a little stronger as she hoisted herself up.

Then the rock turned suddenly smooth. One minute there were a dozen handholds to choose from, and the next there was nothing but a shiny expanse of gray striation climbing six feet above her.

Her gaze flew up to Gabe.

“Take your time,” he said. “You’ll figure it out. Just make your way toward me.”

Figure it out? What was there to figure out? There was nothing for her to hold on to. No purchase at all for her feet. Her ears buzzed, adding a high note to the ragged sound of her breathing. She knew there must be a way to traverse this because Gabe was up above her.

She looked left and then right, wondering if she was supposed to edge sideways before going up, but no, the edges of rock that she held on to didn’t continue much farther than five inches on either side.