Page 39 of Hard Rain

“Come on.”

Axel looked at the wall of rain another second. “You know normal people would stay inside the vehicle right now.”

“Good thing you’re not normal.” Whip shoved the door open and climbed out.

“This is bullshit,” Axel muttered, and followed him anyway.

Freezing water slipped beneath the collar of his jacket and ran down his spine.

Mud swallowed his boots within three steps.

The fucking tree was massive. It blocked the whole damned road.

Way too thick to move. Even for him.

There was no way to drive around it unless they wanted to roll the SUV halfway down the embankment.

Whip swept his flashlight toward the hillside while rainwater streamed off both of them.

“We’re stuck here for a while.”

“Yeah, Genius.”

Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

Axel looked uphill automatically. He needed to get them out of the fucking weather and off of this road, somewhere, anywhere safe.

Dark timber swayed, and thick mud continued sliding downhill. A gust of wind ripped through branches overhead.

Uphill, roots groaned beneath shifting earth.

“Get back inside!”

His words were swallowed by a crack splitting the storm.

“Whip!” he shouted as the ground shifted.

He saw the tree tipping downhill and moved—grabbing Whip hard around the chest and hauling him backward.

Another pine tore loose from the hillside.

Both of them slammed sideways against the SUV.

Axel turned them, putting his own back to the storm and crowding Whip against the SUV.

Mud splashed up his legs as Whip pressed hard against him, chest to chest.

The impact knocked freezing rainwater down the front of Axel’s shirt.

Lightning flashed again.

For one stunned second, he couldn’t move when Whip’s breath hit warm against his mouth.

He fisted the front of Whip’s soaked jacket and kept him close.

Way too fucking close.

Whip went still beneath him, hands locked tight around his neck.