The others had clustered together out of the wind, but upon seeing them, Bree and Jessie started to rush to their sides.
“No, give them space,” Ben barked, holding up a hand. “Stay back. They might be hurt.”
Which was exactly what Easton was worried about.
“River, are you okay?” His hands pushed at her clothing, checking for wounds from her fall. The ice could cut someone like glass, and the cold could keep them from knowing until it was too late.
There was no saving someone with severe blood loss up here.
Following his own advice, Ben gave them space even as he crouched a few feet away, ready to help if Easton needed him.
She gripped his jacket. “I thought you were going to fall.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Easton told her, pulling her into a crushing embrace. He twisted so his body was in between her and the others, safe in the privacy of his arms. If someone was filming her right now, he’d throw that camera right off the cliff.
“What happened?” Holding her closer, Easton closed his eyes, trying to fill his lungs with the air that wouldn’t come. “Why did you tie something to the line?”
“I dropped the handheld,” River admitted. “I unclipped to get it.”
“You unclipped for a camera.”
“Yes.” And she’d almost died in the process.
It didn’t matter how far up they were or how cold the rest of him was. Easton’s blood burned like fire in his veins.
• • •
At Ben’s insistence, Easton let the other guide go back into the Veil and resecure the stakes they’d loosened. No one knew how long it would take, but Ben was quick and competent. Within an hour, he was back.
“Only the section you two fell on was loose.” Ben offered Easton an apologetic look. “Sorry, man. You must be exhausted, but we don’t want to bivouac up here if we don’t have to.”
No, they definitely didn’t want to stay above the Veil without anything other than the gear on their backs.
Rising to his feet, Easton tried very hard not to let his emotions show as he went over to where River sat wedged in between Jessie and Bree. Both looked worried and defensive, but all three had been involved in the utterly brilliant idea of filming the Veil. He’d never been so mad at a client in his life.
“Are you okay?” he asked River quietly.
“Yeah. Easton—”
Cutting her off, Easton lifted his eyes toward the ice canyon. “We need to go back to camp. Sorry, I know it’s tough after what happened. The adrenaline dump will make you feel like crap, but staying out here without cover tonight will be worse.”
“We should talk about this.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’m going to get everyone back to camp safely. Then we can talk. The good news is the wind will be at our back, but the bad news is it makes the descent more dangerous. Most falls happen on the way back through.”
Not adding a pointed “usually” took every ounce of Easton’s self-control. The muscle in his jaw twitched again, and only then did he realize his teeth were grinding together.
“Make sure you hydrate,” he told all three. Easton turned and walked back to the entrance to the Veil. “Ben, you’re on point.”
“Sure, East. Whatever you want.” Ben hesitated, then added quietly, “You’d tell me if you got banged up in there.”
“Banged up but not hurt.” Easton spat on the ground. “So mad at her, I can’t see straight.”
“Unclipping for the camera was a bad call, but any of them would have done it. They’re rabid about this movie, man.”
In that moment, Easton couldn’t have given two craps about their documentary. “Set a strong pace. River might be on the bad side of an adrenaline dump, but she’s a fast climber.”
Ben nodded, eyes flickering beyond Easton’s shoulder. Sure enough, she had followed.
“Umm, I’ll go do…the thing.”
Snorting at Ben’s inability to be subtle if his life depended on it, Easton ignored River.
River was great at many things. Being ignored was not one of those things. She lasted all of three seconds of standing at the corner of his eyeline before stepping directly in front of him. “You really aren’t going to talk to me.”
“Nope.” Not until he knew he wouldn’t start yelling.
“Then fine,” River snapped. “Because I have some things to say to you, Easton Random-Middle-Name Lockett.”
Jaw dropping in sheer astonishment, Easton turned to her, incredulous. “You’re mad at me?”
“Yes.”
River’s voice shook as if she were fighting to hold in the emotions she wore etched into her face, clear as day. “What happened today, that’s on me. And you were amazing. You saved my life, and I am grateful. I’m so grateful, and I’m so impressed by you. I hate that I put you in harm’s way, and I’ll never make that mistake again.”
The words were right, but beneath them was a silent undertone that made Easton’s eyes narrow. “But,” he pressed.
“But I am so angry with you.” Stepping up to him, River raised furious eyes. “You unclipped from the rope too, Easton. You could have fallen. You could have died.”
She was stunning on a bad day. On fire, she was all Easton could see, furious or not. And yes, a smarter man would have backed down, but he wasn’t a smarter man. No, Easton stood nose to nose with her, unwilling to be railroaded.
“Yeah.” A growl escaped his lips. “At least I unclipped for something worth dying for. You did it for a paycheck.”
River opened her mouth, then she clamped it shut. “I know, okay? I know it was wrong to go for the camera. But money is not what this climb is about for me.”
“You want to fight about this?” He stepped back, unwilling to tower over her when they were fighting. “Then we’ll have a nice big blowout down at camp. You can scream at me to your heart’s content. But until we get back down there, I’m still in charge of what’s happening here. Get your gear. We’re leaving.”
Guilt at pulling rank filled him, but the anger still won out. Easton half expected her to slap him or call him an ass. Instead, River’s face went calm, cold, unaffected. The actress face, a blank mask. Never had Easton minded her ability to cover her emotions until that moment, when she used the skill because of him.
“Lead the way,” she said calmly. But when he looked into her eyes, Easton wasn’t surprised to see that he’d hurt her.