If her crew member hadn’t let go of her, if she’d slipped a little farther or placed her feet wrong, she’d have gone over with him. He couldn’t have handled that. Merely thinking about it made his blood pressure plummet. She mattered to him more than any other woman ever had. He would not lose her. Candace’s body was stiff and moving slow but he ignored her resistance, forcing her steadily forward until they got to the next incline. He was aware she had to be pretty much blind in the darkness without NVGs. He paused long enough to set his hands on either side of hers on the rock, leaning in to cut the wind and make her concentrate on his voice. It was imperative that he keep her focused, keep her moving, not let her succumb to fatigue, despair and grief. And he had to get her away from here before the rest of the guys came back up with the body. When she saw that, it would kill her. If Ryan had to ride her ass like the Lone Ranger all the way up this mountain, so be it.
