Love at First Light (Lost Harbor, Alaska Book 6)

by Jennifer Bernard

  “What’s in there?” Jessica hung back. It seemed so surreal that she’d gone from sharing recipes with Kelsey to getting arrested by her. Or detained, whatever that meant.

  “It’s our holding cell. And my printer and copier room, but don’t mess with my electronics or you’ll get me even more pissed off. Make yourselves comfy, jailbirds. The Forest Service was none too happy to get a call from me. They won’t be in a good mood when they arrive.”

  She pulled Jessica by the arm, which forced Ethan along after her.

  “Don’t we get to make a call first?” he demanded.

  “Call away. I assume you have your cell phones.”

  The door closed behind them and a lock clicked into place. Jessica looked at Ethan in disbelief. “This can’t be happening.”

  The room held a large copier unit along with stacks of paper and a set of folding chairs propped against the wall. It was tiny and claustrophobic, with only one small window breaking the monotony.

  Ethan stepped toward it, bringing her stumbling after him. From the window they could see flower gardens to the left and a woodshed to the right. The wood shed was more of a wood condominium. It held at least twenty cords of wood, organized by size. Cut logs, rounds, kindling.

  She took a moment to admire it. Could someone so conscientious about their firewood really be a villain? Or did the organized quality of the woodshed indicate a compulsive disorder?

  Past the woodshed, there was a stretch of close-cropped lawn and then an area filled with tall grass already gone to seed. Beyond that, the forest loomed.

  “Second damn arrest in less than a week in Alaska,” Ethan muttered.

  “At least you’re used to it. This is my first arrest ever! It’s not like what I imagined. No mugshot, no fingerprints.”

  “That happens when you get booked. If this goes that far, it’ll happen when we get to an actual police station. Like she said, we haven’t been arrested. Sure feels like it, though.”

  “Wow.” She opened one of the folding chairs and sank onto it, nearly knocking him off balance. “I guess it’s lucky I’m with such an expert on the subject.”

  “Very cute.” He snagged another chair and sat next to her.

  “Why do you think she did this? Was it really because of your gun?”

  “I don’t know. Something sketchy is going on. Did you see her face when you mentioned the drowning?”

  “Ooh, what if she did it? The drowning?”

  He shook his head impatiently. “She would have been pretty young when that happened. Well, seventeen, same age as when the plane crashed. We don’t even know if there was a drowning. It could just be a symbolic dream about S.G. missing her parents or something.”

  “No.” Jessica rubbed her hands down the front of her purple tights. She’d brought them as an extra layer to wear under her hiking gear, then had worn them with a t-shirt and black micro skirt to breakfast. She’d never imagined that she’d get arrested in them. “I checked with the crystal. It was a memory, not a dream.”

  “Oh for fucks sake, lighten up on the crystal talk. We’re in jail.” Ethan snapped at her, making her jump.

  “Why are you yelling at me? And my crystal?”

  “I’m not yelling. I’m just—Grrr.” He plunged his head into his hands, his hair brushing against her cuffed hand. “Can’t believe I’m jail again.”

  “Oh come on, it’s not so bad. Think of it as a…” she glanced around the little room. “Store room. The kind you sneak into when you want some afternoon delight at work.” She added a purr to her voice. “And look, we even have sex toys.” She jingled the cuffs.

  He snorted. Then the snort became a laugh. Then his entire body shook as the laughter came rolling out of him. “Is there no situation that you can’t look on the bright side of?”

  “Probably.” She gave him a crooked smile. She could think of one right off the top of her head—the fact that she’d finally found someone she loved being with, but he wasn’t her soul mate and had no intention of sticking around. That situation just plain sucked and she saw no silver lining. “Don’t test me.”

  After his laughter died down, he went quiet for a while. He seemed to be turning something over in his mind, so she held her tongue too.

  Finally, he spoke in a much more serious voice. “There’s another possibility here. What if Kelsey is working with whoever shot your plane? She could be trying to shield whoever did it and get us out of Lost Souls.”

  She shivered at the thought. “Another message.”

  “Exactly.”

  This whole situation was so surreal. “She seemed so nice at first.”

  “You just think that because she praised your walnut-cinnamon roll recipe.”

  “I do love flattery, especially when it comes to my baking.” She sighed. “I wish I could bribe our way out of here with pastries.”

  He chuckled. “They are pretty much magic. I’ll never forget the first whiff of your scones in my last holding cell.”

  “So you do believe in magic!” She rubbed her shoulder against his. “I knew it.”

  “It was a figure of speech.”

  “No, you meant it. And you believe in my crystal. Don’t bother to deny it,” she teased.

  When he turned his head toward her, his expression snatched her breath away. “No. I believe in you,” he said simply.

  “In...me?” she stammered.

  “Yeah, the woman holding the crystal. You.”

  A smile trembled on her lips. “Even though I made you come to Lost Souls and get thrown in jail again?”

  He snorted. “You wanted to step out of your comfort zone, right?”

  Her smile grew even wider until it filled her face. “Not what I had in mind, but yes, that’s true.”

  He gently traced the rim of her lower lip. “There’s just something about that smile of yours. It’s irresistible.”

  “Really? The mean girls used to tease me because my mouth was so big. I could show you photos of me when I was a kid and half my face was one huge smile.”

  He lowered his head and skimmed his lips across hers. “I hope it didn’t make you stop smiling.”

  Her lips tingled as if he’d dosed her with champagne. “It did at first. Then I saw them tease Maya because her hair was so curly and I realized they were just jerks. That’s when we became best friends, actually. We made a pact to laugh and whisper to each other every time they said something mean to either of us. It drove them crazy.”

  The little finger of his cuffed hand wrapped itself around her little finger. “Pinkie promise that you’ll never hold back on your smile again?”

  She laughed out loud. “That is the first time a man has ever asked me for a pinkie promise.”

  “Blame it on my sister. She would have beat my ass if I ever broke a pinkie promise.”

  “She sounds fierce.”

  “Oh, she is. She’s a badass. Smart, too. She told me Charley wasn’t right for me.”

  She wondered what kind of woman would inspire someone like Ethan to forget his convictions and propose. “Do you miss her? Charley?”

  He snorted. “I’ve barely thought about her. That proves it.”

  “Proves what?”

  “I’m not meant for marriage.”

  Her heart deflated like a punctured balloon. Which was stupid, because he’d been very clear about his stance on marriage and how he saw their relationship. She even agreed. They weren’t right for each other—at least beyond the bedroom. So why did she keep getting her hopes up?

  Maybe she was just a hopeless romantic and should accept that about herself. Team Sex Jessica was no different from Team Romance Jessica. Deal with it, woman.

  She shoved aside her disappointment. “Well, I guess it’s good that you tried. Now you know for sure. Maybe that was the point of the vision. It led you to try something, even though it didn’t work out.”

  He stretched out his legs and absently rubbed the right one. “I never thought of it that way
. I took it literally. Me, a bride, a meadow. Seemed pretty straightforward. But it could have been anything. A scene from a movie or an ad in a magazine. I shouldn’t have taken it seriously and made an important life decision based on it.”

  “How could it be a scene from a movie? Didn’t you see Charley in the vision?”

  “No. I couldn’t see the bride’s face. I just saw our hands.” He lifted their cuffed hands and wriggled his fingers. “We were holding hands and I was a little bit ahead of her so I only caught a glimpse of her dress. Enough to see that it was a wedding dress.”

  She stared at their two hands. His was big-knuckled and calloused, while hers was smaller, with the familiar burn scars. If he hadn’t even seen the bride’s face, how could he possibly know if the vision was false? Maybe he’d proposed to the wrong woman. Had he even considered that possibility?

  “And where were you? What was the setting?”

  “Outdoors. A meadow with tall grass that looked gold in the sunshine. Like a prairie.”

  She slowly rose to her feet and tugged him up behind her. With him on her heels, she stepped to the small window. “Like that?”

  He frowned at the pretty scene outside. Tall grass waving in the breeze, seed heads catching light from the sun. The fireweed was just starting to bloom, adding spikes of vibrant light purple. “Sort of, I suppose.”

  Looking uneasy, he shifted his attention to the window frame. “I wonder if we can climb out of this window.”

  “A jailbreak? Where would we go from here? We have no gear, no supplies.”

  “Good point.” He heaved a sigh and turned away from the window. She followed him back to the folding chairs. “I think this common sense thing is catching on.”

  “You know, I do run a business,” she said wryly. “I’m not completely immune to logic. I just believe there’s more to life. Mystery. Magic. Miracles.”

  “Think you could conjure one right now?”

  “I wish. We could call someone. I wish Maya was back from Anchorage.”

  “Not sure what we’d say anyway.”

  They turned as one so they could sit down together. “There must be a reason we’re here, handcuffed together,” she mused. “Maybe we’re missing something.”

  “We’re here because Kelsey the Extremely Sketchy Manager put us here. That’s it. End of ridiculous story. It’s my fault. I should have hidden my Ruger better. I shouldn’t have let her cuff us. I’m the professional. I’m supposed to be in charge of this thing. I set the parameters.” The longer he spoke, the more wretched he looked. “I let you down. I’m sorry.”

  She couldn’t bear for him to beat himself up like that. Carefully, she maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on his lap, facing him. He tilted his face to look at her, his expression one of bemusement. “What are you doing?”

  “Reminding you of last night.” She squeezed her thighs with his sandwiched between them.

  “Trust me, you don’t need to remind me. But I’ll take it. Any particular reason why?”

  “Because you didn’t let me down. We’re in this together. We made all the decisions together. I pushed you into this whole thing. Without me, you would have gone back to LA days ago. So really, it’s my fault.”

  “That is true,” he said thoughtfully. With his free hand, he stroked the length of her back, kneading the muscles alongside her spine. “It’s your fault I got to stay in a fifteen hundred dollar a night suite. Your fault I had such an incredible time last night. Your fault I haven’t eaten this well in years. Even the crackers you brought were top notch. It’s all your fault, baby.”

  She arched her back like a cat as he worked the tension out of her muscles. If she had to be in jail with someone, Ethan was definitely her pick.

  “Now what are you going to do to make it up to me?” he murmured.

  “Hmmm.” She practically purred under his touch. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I have some ideas. Lean forward. Yeah, like that. Put those pretty breasts right there, right against my chest. Oh yeah.”

  Smiling to herself, she pressed her breasts against him. It was what she wanted anyway. She moved side to side, seeking the abrasion of his clothing through her t-shirt. Her nipples immediately perked into tight peaks.

  With his free hand, he gently pushed her back so he could see for himself. Through her t-shirt, he pinched one nipple, rolling it between his fingers. She bit her lip as sharp pleasure coursed through her, as if it had been lurking inside waiting for a signal. One spark of a match and she was on fire again.

  She closed her eyes and hummed as he toyed with her nipples. Her hips moved on their own, grinding against him. She wanted friction there, too, between her legs. He adjusted his position so one thigh bone pressed against her mound. When she tilted her pelvis, there it was, just the force she needed.

  He groaned as the bulge in his jeans swelled against her. “I had plans for this morning, you know. You were gone when I woke up, but if you’d been there I would have had you spread out like a breakfast buffet. You’d have been hanging onto that headboard for dear life while I ate you out.”

  Heat jolted through her. “Oh yeah?” she managed.

  “Oh. Yeah. I would have kissed your pretty lips. The other ones. I would have put my mouth on your clit and tasted your sweet honey running across my tongue. Captured every little flutter and pulse. I can feel it now, you know. You’re so hot on my thigh. Your mound feels like it’s burning up.”

  “It is.” She rubbed against him, a frantic feeling racing through her. As if an orgasm was out there but she’d never be able to reach it like this, with so many clothes between them.

  “I bet it is. That hot little clit’s in charge right now. It knows what you want. It wants to fuck.” As he spoke each naughty word he tweaked her nipples. Every time he did that a wild flood of sensation carried her deeper and further.

  She gave a strangled moan deep in her throat. She had no idea who could hear them. Probably no one. Only two people here even knew they existed, Kelsey and Ren. Ren wouldn’t question it if he never saw them again.

  Nope, she and Ethan were alone in the world. And she was about to come against his thigh. If she could just get there…

  Then came more hot words flowing into her ear. “If I had my mouth on you right now, you’d be coming so hard you’d forget we’re in jail. I’d be licking every drop of cream off your lips. I’d be tickling that little clit, I’d be putting my fingers inside you, so hot and soft, I’d find all your secret spots that make you scream, I’d—“

  She came with a hard shudder, tight against his thigh. She couldn’t control her body; it kept convulsing again and again. The orgasm went on and on, sweet waves of pleasure gripping and releasing. Ethan kept whispering in her ear. “That’s it, give it to me. Let it go. You’re so hot, so beautiful.”

  She wasn’t even sure if he knew what he was saying. He seemed almost as carried away as she was.

  After the last spasm was wrung from her body, she slumped over him. “Oh my God…” she murmured. “What did you just do to me?”

  “Hopefully something good.” The rough humor in his voice brought her back. Trust Ethan to say something practical at a moment like this.

  “Oh yes.” She spread her hand against the bulge in his jeans. His penis was hard as a rock under there. “But what about you?”

  “Rain check. No condoms. No desire to come in my pants.”

  With one last lingering touch, she drew her hand away. He shifted under her, clearly trying to reduce the pressure on his erection. She extricated herself from his lap and collapsed onto her chair.

  Raincheck. She liked that idea. It meant they’d do this again sometime, though she couldn’t imagine where or when. Their time together was running out. Either they were going to be sent to separate male and female prisons, or he was going to get the hell out of Alaska before he got thrown in jail again.

  A sound from somewhere outside caught their attention. After sharing
a quick glance, they got to their feet and stumbled together toward the window and peered out. A convoy of three four-wheelers was cruising down the road toward the lodge. They could only catch glimpses between the tall spruce trees lining the road.

  “I see Kelsey,” Jessica murmured into Ethan’s throat. They had to crowd together so they could both see.

  “And I don’t see anyone with a badge or a uniform.” His voice sounded grim. “I don’t like this at all.”

  “She said she was picking up some guests. Do they look like guests?”

  “I don’t see a single piece of luggage.”

  Jessica’s imagination was going wild now. “What if that’s them? The bad guys? What if she notified them, threw us in jail and went to pick them up?”

  The four-wheelers disappeared from sight.

  She swallowed hard. “My intuition is screaming at me that we should get out of here.”

  “My common sense is saying the same thing.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Knowing they didn’t have much time until the four-wheelers reached the lodge, Ethan came up with a plan and they set to work. Jessica used the edge of one of her bracelets to slice the old putty that held the window in its frame. When it was cut all the way through, Ethan was able to crack the frame and remove the entire window without breaking the glass and making a racket.

  The hardest part was getting them both out the window while they were still handcuffed together. They set up one of the folding chairs under the window to make it easier to climb out.

  Ethan went first so he could scope out any dangers that might be lurking outside. The logistics were ridiculously uncomfortable. He had to go head first, scooting on his back, with both hands planted on the upper frame to pull himself through. That meant Jessica’s hand stayed above her head, adjusting to his every move so he didn’t yank her shoulder out its socket. Tricky operation, and it took a lot of whispered coordination.

  When his rear was entirely out the window, he used all his upper body strength to lift himself up off the window frame. He was hoping there would be enough room for him to extract his legs next and jump down to the ground. Not even close.