by Em Petrova
“I don’t think so, and I’ve been lying here awake. But I’ll go check.” Gently, he untangled his body from hers and walked out into the kitchen. Zack picked up his head.
He squatted before the dog’s bed and rubbed his ear. “You have to go out, Zack?”
He plopped down on the bed as answer.
Broshears patted him one more time before crossing to the refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water, squinting at the bright light, and headed back to Vivian.
He sank to the bed next to her and held out the water.
“Thank you.” She scooted into a sitting position and drank a bit.
When she finished, he drank a little too and then placed the bottle on the nightstand.
He reached for her. Cupping her beautiful face, searching her eyes, all the feelings that had flooded in while she slept poured out in full force.
Her lips popped open on a soft sigh, and he couldn’t hold back.
He crushed his lips to hers. She moaned instantly, summoning some deep-seated need to have her—now. He swept his tongue through her mouth as he palmed her breast through her loose sleeping tee. The nipple pebbled under his touch, and he pinched it, squeezed it and rolled it between his fingers until it strained for him.
Breaking the kiss, his chest heaved for control. But there wouldn’t be any going slow this time. While their airport sex had been frantic fun, and their other encounters hot and steamy, this felt on the verge of madness.
He tore off her nightgown and pressed her down on the pillow. She quivered, and he issued a low growl as he went for her succulent neck. He teased the column with kisses and small bites that made her grip at his shoulders.
When he ground his cock into her, he hardly registered the barrier of their underwear. He already knew how fucking slick she was for him.
He yanked off her panties and blazed a path of kisses down her belly to the V of her thighs. Then, throwing her ankles over his shoulders, he buried his face between her legs.
She bit off a scream as he plunged his tongue into her heated walls and fucked her with a deep thoroughness. She bucked against his face. She came in a minute’s time, and goddamn if his name falling from her lips didn’t drive him to more insanity.
He dropped his boxers, fisted his cock and brought it to her folds. With one of her ankles over his shoulder, he stared down. He stroked his thumb over her lips. Her eyes flickered with desire, and he plunged in.
She sucked his thumb into her mouth at the same time.
With a wild thrust of his hips, he buried his cock inside her and pushed farther, demanding more—that she give herself up to him the way he had abandoned himself to her.
Was this loving? This aching desire to be part of her as no man ever had before? Christ, his chest was about to explode. His balls were heavy, swinging forward with each grinding push inside her.
He released his hold on her leg, and she slid it down to wrap around his hip. He anchored a hand by her shoulder and churned his hips. Their gazes locked and neither looked away.
“Fuck yeah. I know you feel what’s going on, honey.” His voice belonged to some other smitten, love-crazed man.
She latched onto her lower lip with her teeth. Her eyes seemed to beg him.
“What do you want? You want this?” He jerked his cock from her tight heat and lifted her off the mattress. He set her on her feet, lashed an arm across her middle and thrust into her from behind while he worked her clit with his fingertip.
She twisted her head, and he sank his tongue into her open, gasping mouth. She moved with him. Took all of him and more, dammit.
He ripped his mouth free and placed it at her ear. “Feel my cock buried deep in you.”
She issued a ragged moan.
“My cum’s about to fill you. I’ll fill you up until it’s running down your legs, and then I’ll take you again. Because I can’t…get…enough…of you.” He thrust on every word, and on the last she tightened and began to pulse.
Vivian’s mind seemed to burst with colorful lights as she spiraled out of control. Waves of pleasure tore a scream from her, and for the second time, it was Alix’s name. Blasted with dizzy ecstasy, she hung in his tight hold while he emptied his release into her.
Her insides shuddered, clamping down at the feel of his warm jets. His lips at her ear drove her crazy, and his dirty talk…
She gave a final cry and a last contraction on his thick length.
He withdrew. She moaned in displeasure that he’d left her so soon, but he whirled her to face him. He cradled her face and slammed his lips over hers.
They tumbled to the bed with him lying atop her, pinning her with his weight that felt so good. She embraced him and kissed him in return with pent-up fervor she’d been harboring for days. Weeks, even. Maybe months.
The kiss was all-consuming, and she felt her insides melt for Alix all over again. He left her mouth puffy with the evidence of who’d just taken her.
He gentled the kiss, barely brushing her mouth. When she opened her eyes, he must have felt her gaze and opened his too.
“Christ, you’re so beautiful it hurts.” His stare roamed from her hair to the point of her chin and settled on her eyes.
Her heart turned over, and emotions bubbled to the surface. She’d never been in love in her life. Thought she was a time or two but quickly realized it was a fading notion. She knew love for her father, her dog…even her aunt and uncle, both in prison.
Could she love Alix?
Part of her asked why not. He was a good man. And she felt an undeniable bond with him when they were alone. She couldn’t say those words—not right now, when her mind was so scattered after the events of the past few days. She couldn’t trust her feelings quite yet.
Her phone rang again. Alix eyed her as she reached to answer it. She listened to Hunt for a moment, sitting up to ingest what he was telling her. Avalanche. A team on the mountain. She and Hunt would relieve them as soon as the sun came up.
After she hung up, she shook her head.
“What did he want?” Alix asked quietly as if picking up on the news.
“Avalanche. Two hikers caught and declared missing. A team’s already searching, but Hunt and I are going to relieve them…if the hikers aren’t found. He’ll pick up Freedom from the family he stays with and bring him.”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “Tough news.”
“Yes.” Searching for humans wasn’t easy. She prayed that the team on the mountain had already found the hikers. After a short fifteen minutes, chances of getting people out after being buried alive were low.
Alix reached for her again, pressing his lips to her forehead and stroking her hair. The moment stretched between them, and she drew him close, tucking her head beneath his chin. He held her in the wreath of his arms as his breathing slowed. After he drifted to sleep, she lay awake, listening for Zack and trying to calm her racing thoughts.
She needed rest to keep her wits about her tomorrow.
Alix stirred, burrowed his face against her throat and slept on. Tenderness leaked from her heart for the man. Maybe tomorrow, if nothing else blew up in her life, she’d have a free moment to sit down with her thoughts and ask herself a very hard question.
Am I in love with Alix Broshears?
The minute Vivian shifted in his arms, he woke with a start. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to make sense of reality and his dream that hadn’t yet faded from his mind.
She’d been trapped under the snow and he couldn’t get to her. He was going fucking crazy trying to reach her in time.
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the mattress, cradling his head in his hands.
“You okay?” she asked, getting up as if she’d gotten a full night’s sleep and hadn’t tossed and turned—when they were actually sleeping, that was.
He scrubbed at the ache between his eyes. “Yeah, only a headache.”
“Painkillers in the medicine cabinet.”
“Thanks, honey. You
take the bathroom since you have to get ready. I’ll take Zack out.”
She hesitated as if torn between wanting to care for her dog and partner who was down with injuries or if she should get ready to go with Hunt and find the missing hikers.
Broshears rounded the bed and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I’ll take care of Zack. Get ready. Hunt will be here soon.”
As he slipped on his cargo pants and shirt and helped Zack out into the yard to do his business, he looked up at the dark rawness of the Alaskan sky. A single star remained there, winking down at him as if to remind him that he too should remain solitary.
Being alone served him well—he came and went with the Xtreme Ops team. He had no woman to answer to. He knew Lipton and his woman Jenna made it through spells of separation, but it wasn’t fair to ask a woman to wait for him.
While Zack hopped three-leggedly across the snow-covered yard, Broshears checked his phone. A text from Penn had come in while he was asleep, relaying that Billy Christopher was being moved to a more secure prison and maybe even transferred to Anchorage.
He replied to Penn, thanking him for the info, and then scanned through his emails. More requests for interviews. Another book deal, this one from a big-time publisher that would guarantee him double whatever anyone else offered. Did he want that kind of fame? Hell no. The one reason he’d ever talk would be to convey the message that heroic actions didn’t always end up the way people expected.
He sighed, sending a plume of warm breath fogging the icy air. Zack returned to the steps, and Broshears picked him up and carried him in to the kitchen. As he cared for the dog, getting him food, water and pain pills, he listened for Vivian.
The shower had shut off already. As he guessed, she wasn’t one of those women who labored over her appearance. Not that there was any requirement—she was gorgeous without a swipe of makeup or even a hairbrush, in his opinion.
He started the coffeemaker and sat watching Zack gobble his food and slurp his water. Then the dog moved to the bed and curled up again.
Vivian entered the kitchen in layers of clothing, prepared for her mountain trek, and her black hair drawn into a ponytail.
“If Snow White was a bad ass K-9 handler, she’d look just like you,” he said.
She froze and then grinned. “Aren’t you fantastical this morning?”
Maybe he was, dreaming of things that couldn’t be between them.
He twitched his jaw toward the coffeepot. “You got a travel mug?”
“Hunt always buys coffee when we’re going somewhere early.” She stopped at his dark expression. “But I’ll take a travel mug. Thank you, Alix.”
He watched her locate an insulated mug and pour it with two creams and one sugar, exactly as Hunt said.
Hunt would be better for her. Working for the same unit, they’d see each other.
“Alix.”
He looked up.
“What are you thinking to make you growl that way?”
Had he?
“Nothing. Just the headache.”
“Did you find the painkillers?”
“I will after you leave.”
She abandoned her coffee and crossed to stand between his knees. “Will you be okay with Zack today? What if you get called out?”
“Then I’ll find someone reliable to watch him. I promise.”
She slid her arms over his shoulders.
“Vivian…I got word that they’re transferring Billy Christopher to a more secure facility.”
She drew away to meet his gaze. “They must have reason. Do you think Geri told them something?”
“Maybe. It might only be a precaution. They might suspect they’re working together.”
She nodded.
A tap at the front door had her pulling free. “That’s Hunt.”
He trailed after her, opening the door for Hunt while she put on her coat and boots.
They stared each other down.
“Broshears.”
“Cason.” Broshears was well aware that the man took in his disheveled appearance and the fact that he was here so early in the morning—because he never left. Satisfaction washed through him even as he realized Vivian’s safety might also be in Hunt’s hands.
She zipped her coat and grabbed a small bag. “I’m ready.”
Broshears didn’t pull his gaze from Hunt’s. “Watch her back.”
“I will.”
“Thank you.”
Hunt narrowed his eyes as if Broshears was mocking him. When he saw he wasn’t, he gave a nod and left.
Vivian turned to Broshears, head tilted to look at him. “Stop. I told you nothing’s ever happened with Hunt and never will. Trust me.”
He kissed her lips gently. “I do. It’s him I don’t trust.”
“I doubt you even trust your old granny.”
He chuckled. “Go work. Find those hikers.”
Her expression grew grim. “Take care of Zack.”
When she left, he closed the door behind her and started to the kitchen. He’d barely finished pouring himself some coffee when the front door burst open. He rushed into the space to see her run to the bedroom.
He followed at a fast clip. “What’s wrong?”
“Another avalanche. We’re being sent to Hatcher Pass. I’m grabbing some clothes because I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.” She threw items into a duffel at a pace that told him she’d done this more than once before.
Hatcher Pass was about an hour from there.
“Should I come too?” he asked, phone already in hand to call in his teammate Cora to see if she could care for Zack.
She gave a brusque shake of her head. “I’ll be fine. Gotta run!”
He followed her to the door and caught her hand before she hurtled through it on her own mission to save people. It was what they did.
She looked back, face softening at what she saw in his eyes. “I know, Alix. I’ll be home soon.”
But a week passed and she didn’t return.
Chapter Nine
“Ten avalanches and fifteen victims in total.” Hunt shook his head. “What a hell of a week.”
Vivian’s level of exhaustion ranked up there among the most tired she’d ever been in her life. She’d caught a few hours of sleep each day, but nothing close to helping her body recover from all the days on her feet searching for humans.
After Hatcher Pass, she and Hunt were sent to two other mountains. The weather had warmed enough to get Alaskans outside, but the prime conditions for avalanches had caught everyone off guard.
At her feet, Freedom lay in a dead sleep. “Poor boys have worked so hard.” She threw a look at Aries curled up by the fire in the cabin she and Hunt had taken over for the day.
“You should try to rest too.” Hunt set aside a thermos freshly filled with coffee.
“You’re one to talk. You look like shit.”
He chuckled. “I’d say the same for you, but it isn’t true.”
Her stomach gave a little jog. He never complimented her other than to praise her skills on the job. To her knowledge, he never even looked at her like a man who was interested looked at a woman.
The way Alix looks at me.
Best to clear the air.
“Hunt.”
He waved a hand. “Don’t read more into it, Viv. I mean you don’t look like hell despite hours of wading through deep snow with a dog to find people for a week straight.” He laid down on his bunk opposite hers. “Besides, I know you’re with Broshears.”
She analyzed his tone of voice, searching for hard edges or hints of jealousy but heard nothing. “I’m not so sure I’m with Alix. We’re…” She floundered for a word to describe them.
“Lovers?”
Her stomach hollowed out, and she felt a fierce flush climb her cheeks.
Hunt laughed again. “Everybody knows it. We’ve been watching it happen before our eyes for weeks.”
“Watching what happen?”
“Him fall in l
ove with you.” He yawned so big that his jaw cracked.
She jerked, hands clamping on the edge of her bunk. “What?” she choked out.
Hunt stared at her for a long minute. “You didn’t know that?”
“He’s not… Alix isn’t…” She waved a hand through the air but couldn’t catch hold of any words to complete a sentence or thought.
“Vivian, of course he’s in love with you. I’d be too if you ever gave me half a chance, but I know it’s not that way between us.”
“Oh God, Hunt. I’m sorry if I ever hurt you.”
“Shut up, Valentine. You couldn’t hurt a fly.”
She tipped her head, giving him an imploring look.
“You’re one of my best friends and the only partner I ever want to work with.”
“Why’s that?”
“Can you imagine bunking in this small cabin with Graham? The smell of his socks alone would drive me into a snow drift just to get away.”
She started giggling and stretched out on her bunk too. Hunt’s eyes closed quickly and he slept heavy. Even though she was tired to the bone, she couldn’t find rest and respite against her thoughts.
So much revolved through her mind, from the things Hunt said about Alix—and even himself—to how Zack was doing today and finally Geri and her ‘uncle’ Billy.
Out here, she hadn’t received much news from the outside world. Alix texted her daily with updates about Zack, who was bearing weight on his injured leg and his bandages had come off as the burns healed.
She’d missed it all. And that left her with more questions about her lifestyle. She had no time for a relationship. And certainly Alix didn’t have time either. In fact, he’d been called off on a mission—he couldn’t tell her where or doing what—and he’d left Zack with the wife of one of the Xtreme Ops team.
Vivian hated that she wasn’t there for her pet. But she knew Cora from working with her various times, and found the woman capable and generous. She must possess a spine of steel as well, working as a pilot for the Xtreme Ops team and aiding several search and rescue teams throughout Alaska.
If she was honest, she missed more than having Zack by her side. Her discussion with Hunt, even brief, revived all the feelings for Alix she’d been stuffing down to examine when she had less on her mind.