Ridge regarded her, staring into her eyes for a moment then he nodded and took her hand, leading her to his four-wheeler. They took off after the others, speeding faster than she’d expected. She gripped him around the waist; her laughter bubbled up as the machine kicked mud all around them.
They flew down a hill where she saw a creek with water running through it.
“Hold on, baby, this is gonna be fun,” Ridge yelled.
Several others soared through the creek, water and mud spraying out each side of their vehicles as they laughed. Her stomach dropped as he hit the Creek; their ride did a little spin before he straightened them out. She held onto him as if her life depended on it, loving the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Never in all her life would she have thought she’d enjoy riding through a creek, getting covered in mud and whatever else being flung through the air. Her hair had to be coated in the stuff, and yet she was laughing and cheering as they headed up the next hill.
“Hey, wanna ride with me so your arms can rest a bit?” a female named Marjo asked, coming to a rocking stop next to Ridge’s ride.
Her ATV was a two-seater with gate-like doors, but it in no way was anyone’s version of a pussy vehicle as Glock had said. She still had no clue what the two muffler things by the windshield were for, but Ridge had said it kept them from getting bogged down if they went into water and shit. Noelle was a little worried until she’d seen the other woman take the thing through everything the other ATVs had done, every bit as recklessly, and come out smiling.
“You want to ride with Marjo?” he asked. Her name was pronounced as Mar and Joe, not to be lax on the Joe part or she’d smack you, Noelle had been informed.
“Yeah, sounds fun. Then can I drive yours?” She blinked innocently back at Ridge. The man was a little possessive of his things, she’d noticed.
The others were gathered in a circle, waiting as Ridge helped her walk over to where Marjo sat waiting. Noelle wasn’t too surprised when Ridge didn’t answer right away, but it still ticked her off a little. Wanting to mess with him, she decided to push him a bit more. “So, is that a yes?”
“Um, well, you see...” he mumbled, turning to stare backward, then down at her.
Noelle stood on the edge of Marjo’s ride. “I’m kidding. I’ll get one of my own, silly leopard.”
They stared at one another, and then he kissed her a bit awkwardly with the helmet on. “I should spank that ass of yours.”
“Oh, that sounds kinky, but I’d prefer you not say such things in my presence. I have delicate ears.” Marjo twitched her ears after speaking.
Noelle pushed Ridge away, or rather tried. “Go on. We can discuss things later. For now, let’s have fun.” She raised her hand in the air and whooped.
“I knew I liked you,” Marjo said, then she too whooped, followed by the rest of the Crew.
For the next couple of hours, she switched, riding with Marjo then Ridge, even hopped on behind Shay, who was crazier than any of them. They were just coming over a hill and heading for another creek when a rumble had Shay spinning the wheel. Her startled yell was Noelle’s only warning something was wrong.
The feel of flying had become normal in the hours she’d been riding, the sounds of ATVs no longer loud as her ears had become accustomed to the sounds. She sailed through the air, the silence deafening. Her heart pounded as she lost hold of the other woman, trees coming at her way too fast. She curled into a ball hoping she wouldn’t hit anything major.
“Umpf,” she groaned, hitting something hard, feeling pain ricochet up her spine. She took solace in the fact she felt pain. Pain meant she wasn’t dead or paralyzed.
Not wanting to move too quickly, she eased up into a sitting position. The action had the breath exploding out of her lungs as she noticed she was on the edge of a cliff. “Shit,” she whispered. The total lack of sound scared her more than the possibility of falling the twenty or so feet to her death. “You’re a witch. You can get yourself out of here.”
Only she couldn’t move her right hand when she tried to lift her arm—it wouldn’t budge. A quick glance down, and she saw the reason, which had her stomach rolling. The skin was torn away from the bone, showing the muscle and fractured part of her arm. Now that she’d recognized the injury, pain began to filter into her body. Goddess, where were Ridge and the others? Why couldn’t she hear them or the vehicles. For that matter, why couldn’t she hear the rustling of the leaves or...anything for that matter?
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on healing her injury. With all the energy she’d been surrounded with earlier, she had a lot to work with. The bone that was protruding through the skin began to move back into place. “Oh, Goddess,” she cried.
Remdezevier had broken her young body many times, trying to find out how her physiology differed from his and other humans’. She hadn’t wanted to heal herself, not in front of him, but after he’d left her with a broken leg and bleeding on the cement floor with orders to heal or die, she’d had no choice.
The lack of noise began to clear. Rustling above her had her hurrying out of fear. Whatever it was that caused them to crash had to be big and scary. She’d heard the fear in the other woman’s voice and known whatever happened, wasn’t minor.
Where was Ridge? Finally, her arm was fixed. Her leg throbbed, but she didn’t think it was broken. Sweat dripped down
