Northern Encounter

by Jennifer Labrecque

  He cupped one of her breasts in his other hand and began to toy with her nipple, setting up the same rhythm as between her thighs.

  “If you don’t stop, I’m going to…”

  “I want you to.”

  “But I thought—”

  “We’re going to do that too.”

  What started out as “okay” became simply a mindless series of “ooohs” as his clever fingers stroked her to an orgasm that took on the hues and colors of the show of lights in the sky.

  9

  MERRILEE WASN’T SURE exactly how long Bull would continue to ignore her. So far, it had been a few days. She wouldn’t have stood for it had there been any malice involved. But this was Bull they were talking about. He wasn’t sulking or punishing her, he was simply thinking, trying to come to terms with what he’d thought and what actually was.

  Jenna, aka Baby Doll, skipped up to the desk. “Morning, Merry. How’s it shaking today?”

  It hovered on the tip of Merrilee’s tongue to tell Jenna that no one referred to her as Merry, but she simply couldn’t take the girl to task. True enough, she more closely resembled a walking talking Barbie doll than any other human being Merrilee had ever encountered, but there was more to Jenna than first met the eye.

  The girl might look plastic, but inside she was genuine plastic. She’d been delighted with the mukluks Merrilee had loaned her yesterday to the point that Merrilee had told her to keep them. You’d have thought she’d awarded Jenna a national treasure.

  And even though, according to Teddy, Jenna had wound up painting her own nails because Curl just couldn’t get it right, Jenna had thought it was all fun and had found Curl’s shop fascinating. Tad certainly didn’t deserve Jenna. And more important, she deserved far better than Tad, as had Merrilee. So with all of that water under the bridge, if Jenna wanted to call her Merry, there really was no harm done.

  “Just fine, Jenna. And how are you this morning?”

  “I’m great! Daddy’s a little under the weather this morning. He asked me to tell you he’d like his breakfast in bed.”

  Merrilee gritted her teeth and reminded herself Tad was a paying customer. “No problem. Would you like your breakfast upstairs as well?”

  “Thanks but no thanks. I’m going to head over to Curl’s. I told him I’d help him out with some stuff to day. No offense, but there’s not an awful lot to see and do in your town and I liked hanging out there yesterday.”

  Merrilee laughed. For a woman like Jenna, who was obviously into shopping and spa visits, “there’s not an awful lot to see and do in your town” was a huge understatement. However, she thought it was cool Jenna had enjoyed being over at Curl’s. “Okey dokey.” Merrilee glanced down at Jenna’s feet. “Good girl, I see you’re wearing proper Alaskan winter foot-wear.”

  Jenna’s broad smile filled her face as she lifted one foot as if modeling the fur and skin boots. “Are you kidding? These are tight.”

  “I thought you said they fit fine.”

  “No, silly. Tight as in I like ’em.”

  “Oh…that tight. Okay.”

  “There’s one other little thing. I didn’t mention to Daddy I was heading over to Curl’s. He’s sort of in a snit this morning. If he asks, will you tell him that’s where I’ve gone?”

  It was all just too odd for words. If Merrilee and Tad had compounded the mistake of getting married with procreating, Jenna was about the same age their kid would’ve been. And it was damn strange to have maternal protective instincts toward her husband’s fiancée. Nonetheless, Merrilee did.

  “Honey, you go on over to Curl’s and have a good time. Don’t worry about Tad. I’ll handle him.”

  “Thanks, Merry.” Jenna threw her arms around Merrilee and gave her an enthusiastic hug. Releasing her new friend, Jenna headed toward the front door. “I don’t care what Daddy says about you, I think you’re the best.”

  “Be careful crossing the street, honey. It’s icy out there,” Merrilee said as Jenna closed the door.

  That did it. That sealed the deal. Maybe before, just to be ornery and thwart Tad, she’d thought about not signing the divorce papers. Now there was no way in Hades she could sign them because as soon as she did, that poor girl would hitch her wagon to Tad’s sorry ass and that just wouldn’t do.

  Someone had to save poor Jenna from making the same mistake Merrilee had at Jenna’s age. And as it stood, that someone was Merrilee.

  It looked as if she was going to be stuck married to Tad Weatherspoon indefinitely.

  CLINT EASED HIS LEGS OVER the edge of the bunk and sat up. Across the small expanse of floor, Tessa lay curled up in her sleeping bag, dead to the world. Actually, her mouth was hanging open and she was gently snoring, her fall of silvery blonde hair draped over the elegant line of her neck. It should’ve been a little off-putting to see her that way but it wasn’t. She looked as gut-wrenchingly sexy as she had last night.

  Last night…big mistake. Make that huge mistake. Not only had it been unprofessional as hell, it was just stupid on his part. But he had to admit, being intimate with her had been so damn good. So, he’d been there and done that and it didn’t need to happen again. He’d write it off to a moment, make that two moments, of weakness.

  He stood, stretching, and avoided looking at her again. Not only did it feel intrusive to watch her as she slept, it really was a subtle form of torture. He so didn’t need to go there with her again, but when he looked at her all he could think about was the softness of her skin, her scent, the sound of her voice crying his name on the end of a soft moan as her orgasm rippled through her.

  What he wanted to do was climb into bed with her and continue where they’d left off last night. He wanted to slip into the sleeping bag with her and see if she really felt as good, tasted as good as she had last night. But that would simply compound his mistake.

  Moving carefully and quietly, he pulled on his socks and boots. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her. Suddenly he was desperate to be out of the room, away from her scent, the soft sound of her breathing, the very temptation of her.

  He didn’t bother to stoke the fire since Dalton would be arriving mid-morning to pick them up. He shrugged into his jacket. Kobuk waited by the door at rapt attention, obviously ready to get out of the cabin as well. Clint signaled the malamute to lie down again.

  He stepped out into the cold morning, then eased the cabin door closed behind him. He didn’t anticipate any trouble while he was out, but just in case, Kobuk needed to stay inside with Tessa. He was as effective at guarding as he was at working a sled.

  Clint set out in the direction of a stand of birch trees. He’d promised to bring bark striplings for his aunt and cousin, both avid weavers. The cold and the exercise should clear his mind. God knows, something needed to.

  BEFORE SHE EVEN OPENED HER eyes, Tessa knew Clint wasn’t in the cabin. She didn’t sense him. In fact, not only did she not sense him there, it was as if she felt his absence.

  She sat up in her sleeping bag, propped on one arm, and looked around. Other than Kobuk by the door, the cabin was empty. Clint’s jacket and boots were gone.

  She wasn’t ready to face the cabin’s chill quite yet. Funny but she really hadn’t noticed the chill last night. She settled back on her bunk, snuggling into her sleeping bag. Ouch. Parts of her she hadn’t used in a long time were sore.

  He wasn’t like any man she’d met before. And sex with him had been unlike any other experience. It was as if she’d found something that had been missing all of the other times. Maybe because there was an intensity to him she’d not found in anyone else. It was as if making love had been a deeper, richer experience than she’d ever had before.

  Angling carefully over the edge of the bunk, she grabbed her camera and hauled it up. Tessa flipped it on and watched the fantastical lights of the aurora borealis dance across the screen. As she watched the footage, her thoughts turned to Clint. She could feel the press of him against her, the slide of his han
ds over her breasts, the brush of his warm breath against her neck as he buried himself deep inside her.

  Her body grew warm and that increasingly familiar warmth blossomed between her thighs. An ache, a need to have him again, filled her with an intense longing. And as surely as she knew her name, she knew when Clint walked back through that door, he would be all business. If he’d wanted to make love again this morning, she wouldn’t have woken up alone in her bunk.

  So, she could sit around and wait for what she wasn’t going to get or she could take care of things herself. Hadn’t she discovered a long time ago that the only person she could really depend on in the end was herself? She might want Clint, but she didn’t need him. And that was an important distinction, she noted, as she slid her hand beneath the sleeping bag to satisfy her want.

  CLINT CLEARED THE TREES and started across the expanse of frozen river to the cabin. The sun would soon make its brief appearance on the horizon, where it would hover for a few hours until it disappeared once again.

  Tessa emerged from behind the cabin, firewood in her arms.

  “Morning,” he said, his voice carrying across the frozen expanse.

  She smiled at him around the load of wood. “Good morning. Out for a morning walk?”

  It wasn’t nearly as awkward as he’d feared it might be, the whole morning-after thing. “I needed to take care of something. What are you doing?”

  “Replacing the firewood.”

  “You haven’t added any to the fire, have you? Dalton will be here to pick us up in an hour or so and the fire needs to be out.”

  “I do have a little bit of sense. There is a brain cell or two in my gray matter,” she said on a teasing note that sounded slightly forced.

  He opened the cabin door for her. “Then why are you hauling in wood?”

  “There was firewood in the cabin when we arrived. I was sure it had to be restocked before we left so I thought I might as well get on it.”

  Her rational notion made perfect sense but inexplicably it annoyed him. She was right. The wood needed to be replenished but she was the guest. “That’s my job.”

  She began to unload the wood, adding it to the stack by the door and he automatically helped as well. “Well, I didn’t have anything else to do so I thought I’d make myself useful.”

  He realized he was being an ass for no good reason. “Thanks then.”

  Glancing around the cabin, he noted all her gear was neatly packed and stacked by her bunk. “Looks like you’ve got everything in order.”

  “I try. I told you from the beginning I could pull my own weight out here.” She unzipped her jacket and pulled it off, tossing it onto the top of her gear.

  “I’m convinced. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

  Her chin came up and her eyes flashed. This was more than just a conversation about restocking fire wood and they both knew it.

  “You’re absolutely right, Clint. I don’t have anything to prove. Not to you. Not to anyone. I brought in firewood because it needed to be done and I wanted to do it. I like the physical activity and I like to be useful. That’s just the way I roll. By the way, I saw one of the wolves again this morning. When I came out, he appeared over there.” She nodded in the direction of the trees on the opposite side of the frozen bank. “We looked at each other a few minutes and then he turned and left.”

  The hair on the back of Clint’s neck stood up. The wolves were usually much more leery of people. “And he just left?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “That’s strange.” His familiarity with the ways of animals and native lore told him it wasn’t as much strange as it was significant, but there was a part of him that didn’t want to acknowledge the implication.

  She stacked the last piece of wood.

  “Well, thank you for restocking the wood supply.” He sounded as if someone had shoved a stick up his ass but it was the best he could manage.

  “You don’t owe me any thanks at all. As I said, I did it because I wanted to do it.”

  Feeling awkward, he knew he’d handled all of this badly but didn’t know what to do at this juncture, so he held out his idea of a peace offering.

  Shrugging out of his jacket, he pulled the bark strips from the inside pocket. “My aunt and cousins are basket weavers.” He held out the thin strips of wood. “I promised them I’d bring some bark back. It’s only found in this area, and they prefer to work with it because it’s thin and deceptively delicate in appearance, but also very flexible and strong.”

  The tension that had been between them lifted and she smiled as she took a strip of the silvery white wood and tested it between her fingers. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” It wasn’t the wood however that seemed so beautiful to him at the moment.

  She turned it over, her head cocked to one side, as if studying the piece. “I bet it makes a beautiful woven piece.”

  Without thinking, simply wanting to see another genuine smile curve her lips and light her eyes, Clint said, “When you check out the beading, you could meet the basket weavers as well.”

  Her smile was as dazzling as the sun when it topped the horizon. “That would be fantastic.”

  Fantastic—right. Next to sleeping with her, taking her to his village would possibly be the most stupid move he’d made in a long time.

  10

  TESSA WAS AMAZED AT how familiar it felt to cross the landing strip and walk into the office once Dalton had them safely back on the ground.

  “How was the fishing camp?” Merrilee said by way of greeting. “Did you get some good footage?”

  Even though Tessa didn’t know her very well, she thought the older woman’s smile looked a bit tense. Of course, having a man on your property whom you’d driven across a continent to get away from would make anyone tense.

  “I got some great footage of wolves, chickadees and the northern lights. I’m very pleased.”

  “That’s good to hear. We like to keep our visitors happy.”

  “I can see why you stayed when you got here. It’s just beautiful.”

  “That it is. but it’s not for everybody, which is a good thing, because if everybody lived here the rest of us probably wouldn’t want to,” Merrilee said, winking like a teenager sharing a joke.

  Tessa laughed. “Clint had some things to take care of and we’re not supposed to head out to the glacier until later this afternoon, so I’m going to explore the town after my shower.”

  “Do you want a guide? I can snag Teddy from next door.”

  “No. I’m fine on my own. Thanks though.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive. I’m used to my own company.”

  “I tell you what. I’ll have a cinnamon roll and a cup of tea ready for you when you come back down. You don’t want to go exploring on an empty stomach.”

  “Sounds like a deal.”

  Forty minutes later Tessa had scarfed down the best cinnamon roll she’d ever tasted and washed it down with a cup of hot tea. Tad had been nursing what looked like a mixed drink at the bar next door. Tessa had caught a glimpse of Mr. Spray-on Tan when Teddy had brought over the cinnamon roll. She hadn’t seen his fiancée next to him but then again, the door had opened and closed fast. Talk about a man who didn’t match either of the two women in his life—past or present. She always thought it was interesting to see couples together. Sometimes they looked as if they were meant to be together and other times you were just left shaking your head wondering why and how that pair had come together.

  “Be careful. There are ice patches out there,” Merrilee called out to Tessa as she headed out the front door, bundled into her parka.

  “Will do.”

  Frigid air whistled down the street and against her skin. She tugged her hood more firmly into place. It was doggone cold, but she found it invigorating.

  Merrilee had armed her with an overview of the town. Good Riddance was essentially one major street, appropriately and in good
southern tradition named Main Street, lined with stores. Driveways ran perpendicular to Main Street, allowing access to the back of the businesses, or to houses behind them.

  She set out for the general store, which catered to the locals as well as stocking a variety of souvenirs for the tourists passing through. Tessa found the day’s light very weird. It wasn’t exactly dark, but neither was it what you’d call light. It was more along the lines of a twilight—a far cry from Tucson’s mostly sunny skies. The difference was neither bad nor good, it was simply different.

  A woman, obviously native, passed by her, holding a small child by the hand. She offered Tessa a shy but friendly nod. “Hello,” Tessa said in return.

  For all she knew, the woman was very likely kin to Nelson and Clint. But then again, perhaps there were different clans and tribes in the area. She’d have to ask. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was a woman in Clint’s life, even though he didn’t strike her as the kind of man to sleep with her if there was a woman in his life. The very idea made her faintly sick. No, she’d just be honest. That wasn’t a sick feeling, it was called jealousy, plain and simple. She had no right to demand anything, but the idea of him making love to someone else with the same tenderness and passion he’d shared with her last night rocked her to the core. And that wasn’t a place she needed to go.

  A bell jangled as she walked through the glass-fronted door of the Good Riddance Dry Goods and Emporium. The store looked as if it had been pulled from a movie set. It was a quintessential turn-of-the-century store with slightly dusty shelves, the scent of fresh peppermint candy mingled with a faint mustiness. There were even a few bolts of fabric stacked on a table in the back.

  A couple who bore a striking resemblance to Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus garbed in blue jeans and motor cycle T-shirts greeted her from behind the counter.

  “Hi, there,” the woman said.

  “What can we do you for?” the man seconded.