by Radclyffe
The rear hatch opened and when she looked back, a shadow moved in the gray mist. Austin. “All right?”
“Fine. Just be another minute.”
After what seemed like fifteen minutes rather than one, Austin tapped on the side window and Gem powered it down. Rainwater blew in, dampening her hair and face. She pushed wet strands away from her face. “How is it?”
“It’s flat all right. We’ve got a new spare and tools. We’re well enough off the road that I think I can change it safely. It’s gonna be messy and will probably take me some time. It’s a mudslide on the shoulder.”
“You think Triple A is out of the question?”
“On a day like this? They’re going to be so busy dealing with fender benders and breakdowns, we could be sitting here for hours. It’s just a flat. I’ve changed plenty.”
“I can’t say I’m an expert at it, but I take direction pretty well. I’ll help.”
Austin’s hair was soaked, lying in thick, dark slashes across her forehead. Her shirt was plastered to her chest, clinging to muscles and the curve of her breasts. Water dripped from her chin and the angles of her jaw. She was gorgeous. Gem swallowed and steadied her voice. “It’ll go faster with me helping.”
“I’m already soaked. Really, there’s no point in both of us—”
“I’m coming.” Gem grasped the handle and pushed open the door an inch. “Let’s get this done.”
“You win.” Austin stepped back and caught Gem around the waist as she jumped out. “Watch your step, okay? The shoulder slopes away right behind us and I can’t tell how far down it goes.”
The rain pelted Gem’s face, an icy blast that startled her with its ferocity. The storm was coming in harder than she’d expected. She gripped Austin’s waistband to steady herself. “I’m good now.”
“Come on.” Austin offered her hand and, for the second time in less than an hour, Gem took it. The action felt as natural as anything she’d ever done, and as rare. She couldn’t remember the last time she had touched anyone with such a feeling of rightness.
Austin led her back along the side of the vehicle. She’d left the hatch up and directed Gem in front of it. “You can duck underneath if the rain gets too bad.”
“Do you have a rain slicker?” Gem asked, zipping her windbreaker.
“In my bag, but I might as well save it at this point. I’m already drenched.”
“You’re going to freeze.”
“Don’t worry,” Austin said. “I’ve been out for a lot longer than this in plenty of worse places.”
Gem wanted to ask what she meant. But she had more important things to do. Like keep them from being hit while they were stopped. She pressed the light icon on her phone. “I only have a half charge.”
“You should save it. I’ll be okay.”
“At least let me hand you tools.”
“Only if you stay out of the road. I don’t want some jackass to come plowing along and hit you.”
Her concern, and her possessive tone, brought heat rushing to Gem’s skin and kindled a slow burn in deeper places. She brushed the damp hair from Austin’s cheek. Her face was hot, her eyes blazing. Gem had the insane urge to kiss her. She swallowed hard. “I’ll be careful.”
But she feared it was already too late for that.
Chapter Five
Austin wrenched off the last lug nut and held it out in Gem’s direction. Water trailed down the middle of her back and pooled in the hollow of her spine. Her pants were sodden. Her shirt adhered to her skin like a cloying lover. She was a mess, but she’d gotten the damn thing off. “Here you go.”
“Got it.”
Gem’s fingers slid over hers, hotter than they should be considering the freezing, driving rain. Maybe she was just imagining the rush of warmth traveling up her chilled extremity from the brief touch. Just like she’d imagined the heat in Gem’s eyes, gleaming in the glow of the taillights a few minutes before. The memory of that heat was enough to cast out the cold as she knelt in the mud, cranking the jack under the big, heavy SUV. Thinking about Gem kept her mind off all kinds of things, things she probably should be spending a lot more time worrying about. Like what was happening out in the ocean on Rig 86, and whether the oil had sheened the ocean surface. If that happened, they’d have to contact the authorities and begin ocean- and shore-containment procedures. She kept expecting her phone to vibrate—Eloise chasing her down, wanting to know where the hell she was. Since she had no way of changing any of that right then, her guilt about wanting to think only of Gem eased a little. Who could blame her for wanting to quell her misery by daydreaming about a beautiful woman who was amazing in every way? Gem’s enthusiasm, her joie de vivre, her humor, and those flashes of heat that came from nowhere and seemed to surprise her as much as Austin were the stuff dreams were made of.
Too bad not all of her secret pleasure was guilt free.
She doubted Gem would look at her the way she did if she knew of her other job, even though it was legitimate and necessary. Yes, she was hired to avoid bad press for the company, but minimizing civilian panic and averting economic instability were essential too. Sure, she was paid to keep a lid on the bad press, but she was also paid to prevent rumor and escalations of doom that could literally destabilize the world. No one wanted stock markets plunging at word of offshore oil leaking and potentially costing billions of dollars when it might not come to pass. When and what news to release to the world wasn’t her call alone, but her technical input was a big part of it, and she was the wall between the press and what was happening behind the scenes. Eloise and her bosses were too smart and too scrupulous to subvert the law, but within the bounds of the law, they protected the company. And why shouldn’t they? Much of the world depended on the oil business too.
“Not that that would matter to Gem,” Austin muttered as she yanked off the wheel and leaned it against the side of the SUV. She doubted Gem would have much sympathy for big corporations. Too many true disasters—pipeline ruptures, well failures, transport ship leaks—had caused countless wildlife deaths and contamination of waters and marshlands and beaches throughout the world to argue that the oil industry hadn’t damaged the environment. She couldn’t argue against those facts. They existed too. She’d known a lot of people like Gem, people devoted to the sanctity of the environment and its inhabitants, who’d made it their life’s work to protect it. She respected the work they did and tried to walk the thin line between protecting her client’s interests and preserving the integrity of nature. She believed her job was necessary, or she wouldn’t do it. The fact that her parents appreciated the risk involved, and approved of her work, never mattered. Much.
She hoisted the muddy wheel and carted it to the back of the SUV. She set it down, leaned in, and pulled out the spare.
“Are you almost done?” Gem asked. “You’ve got to be miserable.”
“Theoretically, this next part should be easy,” Austin said grimly. She dumped the flat into the well in the rear of the SUV. “Let’s hope so.”
Gem gripped her arm. “You’re sure I can’t help you out some?”
“It’s gotten a lot darker,” Austin said. “I could use your light if you don’t mind getting wet. I think you can still stay under cover of the hatch and keep mostly dry.”
“I’ve been wet before,” Gem said. “Wildlife biologist, remember? The birds don’t care if it rains. I won’t melt.”
“Sorry. You’re right. I mean, maybe not about the melting, but I get you’re not a delicate flower.”
Gem laughed. “Definitely not. More like a wildflower.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Gem did look wild and beautiful, with damp blond curls framing her face and her blue eyes alight. Austin traced her finger along the angle of Gem’s jaw where raindrops beaded in a delicate chain and slowly brushed them clear. Gem’s eyes widened again, and that spark of heat flared. An answering fire surged in Austin’s belly. Hell, what was she doing? She turned away and grabbed the spar
e. “Okay, you’re up.”
Gem followed Austin, switched on the light on her phone, and held it down in front of her. Austin knelt on the stony, muddy shoulder and wrestled the spare onto the wheel hub. If that was the easy part, she hated to think how hard getting it off had been. She hated thinking of Austin exposed to the wicked wind and driving rain for so long. She edged a little closer and tried to use her body to shield Austin from the downpour.
“Okay. Hand me the nut.” Austin held out her hand. “Give them all to me—you don’t need to be out here too.”
“I’m good. Wildflower, remember?” Gem dropped the first nut into Austin’s hand and pulled the hood of her windbreaker closer around her face. She was still reasonably dry, although her jeans were soaked from the thigh down, below the bottom of the jacket. Austin’s clothes were so thoroughly soaked she might as well have been standing naked—and that was an image she didn’t want to dwell on. Or actually, she kind of did—which was worse. Traffic had slowed to a trickle, most people probably having given up and pulled off to wait out the storm in roadside motels. The occasional vehicle, usually a pickup truck going too fast, shot by and sluiced water in their direction. Austin didn’t even seem to notice the additional deluge, but Gem wanted to shout after the crazy drivers to smarten up. “I wish I had some way to keep you drier.”
Austin looked up, blinking rain from her eyes. “I’m okay. Really. Almost done.”
A minute or two later, Austin released the jack, pulled it out from under the vehicle, and rose. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Gem hunched under the raised hatch and kept her light on while Austin stored the tools back in the wheel well and closed up the back.
“You need dry clothes,” Gem said.
“I’ll have to change inside.”
“Fine. Get what you need.” When Austin hesitated, Gem said, “I won’t look.”
Austin grinned. “Damn.”
Gem gave her a little shove on the shoulder. “Hurry up. Even your eyelashes are dripping.”
Austin pulled her satchel closer, rummaged inside, and came out with a shirt and jeans. She bundled them up and thrust them under her arm. “Come on, I’ll help you back inside.”
Gem poked her lightly in the center of her chest. “I can make it. Go get in yourself.”
“Stubborn,” Austin muttered, but she closed the hatch and they both headed back to the front.
Gem shed her windbreaker before she climbed in and draped it over the back of her seat so it could drip onto the rear floor. Austin stood outside with her door open. “It’ll be faster to take my clothes off out here, and I won’t get the seat all wet.”
“As long as you’re quick.” Gem swiveled in her seat and peered out the back. “There’s no one coming right now. If someone does, you need to jump inside.”
Austin laughed. “They probably won’t even see me.”
“Oh, they’ll see you,” Gem said. And so would she, because she planned on keeping an eye out behind them, and that meant she’d be looking past Austin toward the road. But it wasn’t as if she was intentionally spying or anything. She just didn’t want anyone seeing Austin naked except her. Her mind stumbled on that thought. Oh, for heaven’s sake, she really did need to get a grip and get back to reality—any number of women had undoubtedly seen Austin naked and likely would again. And she wasn’t going to be one of them. This road trip would end soon enough and she’d be her careful, rational self again. Just the way she liked it. The way she wanted it.
Austin stripped her shirt off over her head without even unbuttoning it, balled it up, and tossed it into the back of the SUV. Whatever she’d had on under it went along for the ride, and she was suddenly, gloriously naked from the waist up. Her teardrop-shaped breasts were neither large nor small, with small, tight nipples beaded in the chill. Damn near perfect—no, check that. Perfect. Her chest and shoulders were subtly muscled, and if she had a tan, it was an all-over one. Gem’s stomach tightened.
Austin glanced in, grinned, and opened her jeans. When she hooked her hands in the waistband, Gem dragged her gaze away. Lord, she must seem like a voyeur. Maybe she was, a teeny bit, because watching Austin undress was definitely enjoyable. She wasn’t cold any longer, that was for sure.
Austin swiveled onto the front seat and shoved down her jeans. Her boots went flying onto the floor on the driver’s side. She was fast, but not so fast Gem couldn’t see her muscular form emerge. She was lean and long, which was no surprise. Her skin blushed red from the reflected dash lights. Her torso was tapered, her hips narrow, and below…Gem carefully didn’t look there. Within seconds it seemed, Austin pulled her jeans up her long legs, lifted her hips, and snugged her pants around her waist. When she raised her arms to tug on her shirt, Gem kept her eyes up, but she’d already seen the long, irregular scar that wrapped around Austin’s torso just below her left breast. Slightly indented, darker than the surrounding skin, the scar was not deforming, but a symbol of something serious nonetheless.
Austin shoved her shirt into her pants and leaned down to pull on her boots. “Thanks for keeping lookout.”
“No problem.”
Austin adjusted her seat, glad to be warm and dry, and glad Gem seemed to have enjoyed watching her change. She wasn’t usually self-conscious or really even aware of how other women perceived her body. She rarely gave it much thought. She kept in shape more because of the nature of her work than anything else, climbing around rigging, hustling from one place to another, and when at home, keeping up the property and stockpiling firewood for the winter. When she was with another woman, her focus was on them, and usually that’s the way they liked it too. She wasn’t above being pleasured, she enjoyed it, but those times her partners were less than reciprocating never really bothered her.
She wondered how Gem saw her and hoped she liked what she saw. That was unlike her, but none of this was really like her. The silence grew, and she thought she knew why. “I was born with a heart defect. That’s what the scar’s from.”
“And the surgery fixed it,” Gem said, her heart beating faster. Of course the problem was fixed, it had to be. Austin was in great shape, and…the idea of Austin being ill, being hurt, was frightening in a way she didn’t want to think about.
“It took a couple of goes. The first time was just a few days after I was born, so they tell me. Then again when I was eleven,” Austin said, her hands loosely clasping the wheel, “but, yeah, all’s good.”
“That must have been really hard.” Gem’s heart hurt imagining Austin’s childhood being shadowed by such a serious illness.
Austin glanced over at her. “Long time ago.”
Gem nodded, hearing the pain but recognizing Austin’s attempt to make light of it. Still, the specter of a young Austin dealing with the fear and discomfort filled her with sympathetic sorrow. Wishing to chase away the shadows, or maybe ease her own sadness, she cupped Austin’s jaw and brushed away a trickle of water trailing down her cheek with her thumb. Austin held so very, very still, Gem was reminded of a wild thing, caught and wary and waiting to be freed or destroyed. Freedom was so very often only a breath away from death. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Austin leaned ever so lightly into her palm, or perhaps she imagined that too. If she did, she didn’t care. She couldn’t pull away. She drew Austin’s face closer and kissed her, and when Austin didn’t move back, she let her lips linger, feeling the coolness of the rain disappear from Austin’s soft lips and heat surge against her mouth. She slid her fingers into Austin’s hair, wrapped them around the back of her neck, and stroked her nape as she stroked her mouth. A soft groan escaped from deep in Austin’s chest, and her lips parted in offering. Gem teased a little inside, tasting her, and traced the warm inner surface of her lower lip with the tip of her tongue.
Austin groaned again and gripped her shoulders, her hands hard and wonderfully demanding. Her tongue met Gem’s, hot and firm, turning the kiss into something deeper,
something hungrier. Gem gripped Austin’s shirt, clinging to her. Her breasts tightened and her blood beat hard in the pit of her stomach. Her breath came faster, her head grew light. She wanted to climb into Austin’s lap and press against her. She wanted to feel her everywhere. She tugged at Austin’s shirt, found hot skin and hard muscles. She groaned.
Austin jerked back. “Gem. God. Traffic. This isn’t safe.”
“I know.” Not safe for more reasons than Gem could count. She braced her palms against Austin’s chest, holding herself away or she’d kiss her again. She gasped in a breath, another, until she felt like she could speak. “Traffic. Right. God, sorry.”
“I hope not.” Austin curved a hand behind Gem’s head and yanked her close. She kissed her hard, hard enough for Gem to open her mouth and take her in again. God, she wanted to be naked, she wanted Austin’s mouth and hands all over. She wanted in a way she hadn’t wanted since before she knew better. She got a hand between them again, stroked the few inches of skin she’d bared on Austin’s stomach. Needing to feel. Needing. Austin’s hips lifted and Gem’s vision blurred. “Okay, we need to stop.”
Austin groaned. “I know. You feel so damn good.”
“We can’t stay here. And we can’t…” Gem gestured to the front of the car and the wheel and the gearshift and the insanity of what they were doing. She laughed, her voice shaking. “And you know. We can’t.”
Austin slumped back, her hands on her thighs. “Yeah. I know. We can’t.” She glanced over, her face stark with hunger. “But I want to.”
Chapter Six
The silence stretched to fill the car, the air as thick as the swirling mist outside. Ordinarily Austin didn’t mind silence. She enjoyed the quiet, letting it give her mind a place to empty and her body to relax. So much, maybe too much, of her life was spent on the move, but she didn’t stop long enough to wonder if that was what she really wanted. She and Gem had shared long stretches of silences throughout the day, and even with the absence of words she’d been attuned to Gem’s presence—her quiet breathing, the companionship and warmth reaching her as if Gem had extended a hand to touch her. This silence was different, a chasm of uncertainty filled with all they hadn’t said. Her head pounded with her own voice and what she imagined Gem was thinking.