Silver Mine
Page 16
“You call if there’s even a hint of trouble.”
The wolverine motioned his agreement.
Chase crawled in beside Shelley and curled himself protectively around her. Passing out in exhaustion wasn’t what he’d originally planned for this evening, but it was the best thing for them both at the moment.
He fell asleep with her warm breath fanning his neck, lips pressed up against his throat as she rooted in closer.
Daylight, or more properly the next day, was going to come a whole lot quicker than either of them wanted.
Chapter Seventeen
Shelley had never felt more grateful for the sight of a rustic log cabin in her life. “You said you’d ordered more pizza.”
Chase chuckled, stepping forward to slip his arm around her waist and escort her toward his home. “For you? One with the works. Anchovies, shrimp, extra-spicy sausage.”
“Oh Lord, stop that. I’m drooling as it is. I can’t stand this kind of teasing.”
He squeezed her. “You did incredibly well out there. And you deserve pizza.”
She nodded briskly, ignoring his compliment. “We all did what we had to.”
Every step her legs went more rubbery, and if she slept for a week, she might get caught up. Unfortunately, that luxury was out of the question. “When do we head back to Whitehorse?”
Chase smiled. “How about I arrange transport?”
Oh Lord. “Really? I don’t have to walk?”
He shook his head. “Maybe not. Don’t get your hopes up too much until I confirm a flight, but if you want to shower, I’ll use the ham radio and make a few calls. We should be able to get a chopper out here so you can take those samples to a lab as soon as possible and get your arm looked at.”
The idea of skimming effortlessly over all the terrain between here and Whitehorse made her whimper with want. “I would kiss you if you can arrange that.”
He laughed. “Motivation. Come on.”
Shelley glanced at the men they walked past with a whole new admiration. For their way of life and just how remote, dangerous and free it truly was. Their courage made her even more determined to find a cure for what could be coming to destroy their world.
The fact they looked at her now with respect instead of suspicion made something inside her very happy. Acceptance had never come easily, and each time it came, it felt more incredible than before.
Delton barely glanced up from where he stood by the kitchen stove. “You two smell like shit, begging your pardon, ma’am.”
“So nice to see you again, Delton,” Shelley responded.
He grunted. “I’ll feed you after you wash off the stink. Won’t be able to keep my food down otherwise.”
Shelley had been avoiding taking a deep breath. She knew what he was taking about.
“Shelley wants pizza,” Chase deadpanned.
Delton whistled. “Whoa now, good thing I love a challenge.”
“Oh stop, I’ll eat anything, Delton, don’t fuss.”
“‘Don’t fuss, don’t fuss’. That’s what you say to old grannies. Who you telling not to fuss?” The old man glared for a moment before dropping one lid and winking.
She was so tired she didn’t know which way was up. So tired if she started giggling she was bound to not be able to stop.
Chase had removed her pack without her even being aware he had undone the straps. Shelley reluctantly reached for it. Lifting the heavy object was the last thing she wanted to do at that moment.
“Don’t worry about your stuff,” Chase soothed her.
“I need to put the samples somewhere safe.”
“Shit, okay, fine. In the bedroom.”
Shelley nodded.
Chase squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll be with you in a second. I need to call Whitehorse.”
She made her way into the back and stood beside the bed with its rustic quilt, the soft pillows. The blinds at the window were still turned upward just as they’d left them. If she didn’t stink as bad as she did, she would bet the scent of their lovemaking lingered in the air.
Had it really been not much more than twenty-four hours?
All that she’d seen and done floated in her brain, jumbled and confusing. Pain and fatigue turned the mental movie into a chaotic rollercoaster of flashing images. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, too dazed to even collapse.
Chase’s arms closed around her. A sign of just how exhausted she was, she hadn’t heard him approach.
“I’ll get you set up. This way.” His voice had that rough, scratchy tone that made her think of sweaty sex. Not good, considering her knees were already on the verge of buckling.
Chase led her into the tiny bathroom in the corner of his cabin. The composting toilet was more convenient than an outhouse, and that’s about all that could be said in its favour. “So surprised you have a shower.”
“Yep. Makes me a greenhorn son of gun, according to Delton and the other men. Shoulda just kept throwing myself in the lake for a bath like they do, but damn if I want to do that all winter when I’ve got to break the ice before I even hop in.”
The thought made her body tighten up. “Shower is good.”
Chase filled the holding tank. “Stay in as long as you want—I’ll keep the tank topped up.”
She was exhausted, stinky and scared to death. It was the least logical thing for her to suggest, but the words spilled out anyway as she grasped his forearm. “Join me.”
Chase cupped her chin in his hand, his thumb rubbing gently on her cheek. “Shelley…”
“Please. We don’t have to fool around, I just want to touch you.” And more than that she couldn’t explain.
He stared at her for a moment then nodded. “I’d be an idiot if I turned down a lady’s request to scrub her back. And I ain’t never been accused of being stupid. I left messages with my contacts, and they’re supposed to call me back about flights. I’d love to join you.”
She slipped out of her clothes and abandoned them on the floor, his mixing in with hers as he stripped as well. There was barely any room in the teeny stall for them both, and only seconds later they were skin to skin under the heated liquid.
She didn’t want sex. Didn’t need him to get her turned on. She honest-to-God just wanted to have him there beside her so she could figure out what the heck was going on, and his warm body was the only rock-solid base she had to center herself on.
“Our bandages?” Chase asked. He had leaned back on the wall and draped her up against him.
“Let them get soaked. We’ll need to put on fresh ones anyway.” She ignored the part inside that dryly commented about how much good her doctoring had done for him up to now.
Chase grabbed soap and slowly ran his hands over her skin. Top to bottom, he worked her over. Removing the dust and the stench of death from her body. Letting the blood and the tears swirl down the tiny drain.
The heat was a little bit of heaven, but it was the touch of his hands that were like ministering angels taking away the pain and refreshing her. He pressed his lips to her temple and stepped out to refill the holding tank.
“Where does the water from the shower go if you don’t have regular plumbing?”
Chase laughed as he stepped back to her side and tucked her against his chest. “Now that’s a strange change of topic.”
“It’s a gift. Minds turned to mush jump from topic to topic with ease.”
She dug her fingers into his chest muscles, smoothing and cleaning him as best she could with the limited space he allowed her.
“Simplest is always the easiest. There’s a funnel under the cabin that leads to a pipe. In the summer the water just flows out and away until it hits the garden patch. In the winter I catch the water in a bucket and drop it in the bush.”
There was a light ringing in her ears. Shelley glanced at her arm, peeking at the cut and the stitches. “I should take up embroidery this winter.”
Chase snorted. “You jumping topics again?”
<
br /> The cut hurt more than it looked like it should. “What?”
He lifted her chin. “And that answers my question. Come on, darling. I’ll get you tucked into bed.”
“It’s only lunchtime,” she protested.
He wrapped a towel around her, careful of her arm. “And you can sleep until supper. I’m pretty damn sure of that.”
She could sleep until supper the day after tomorrow if allowed. “Let me see to your cuts first.”
He nodded. Patted her arm and stuck on the gauze. She was sure she’d reached for the medical kit to care for him, but something wasn’t right anymore and the soft pillow under her cheek was too delightful to fight.
Chase’s warm lips touched hers. That was nice.
“I think you’re the sweetest shifter I’ve ever met, Silver Chase Johnson.”
His chuckle faded away far too quickly.
She was out before he could straighten up from kissing her.
Chase stared for the longest time, the water droplets clinging to him forgotten, ignoring how his body chilled in the air. Definitely ignoring the heat in his arm and shoulder.
Her lashes rested against her cheek. All the tension in her expression was gone, leaving nothing but peace behind, the whisper of a smile around her lips where he’d touched her. So different from the chaos and terror he’d witnessed in her eyes out in the bush. Different than the strength and determination she’d pulled on like armour. He absently dried off, staying in the room and watching her, not wanting to be away any longer than he had to.
Not wanting to say goodbye a second before it had to happen.
“You gonna build a pedestal and swing her up on it?” Delton rumbled softly from the doorway.
“Going to pin your smart ass to the wall if you wake her,” Chase returned.
Delton snorted. “Come on, Silver, I’ll take care of your shoulder. Sleeping Beauty ain’t going anywhere without you for the next ten minutes.”
Chase quickly pulled on some clothes. He drew the blinds open to allow fresh air into the room and closed the door carefully to let her sleep for at least a few hours. Frank and Mark were back at the dining room table, pretty much the same position they’d all been in two days ago, except for the missing liquor bottle.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Frank asked.
Chase motioned Delton over and handed him the first aid kit. “I’m going to get Shelley choppered out of here with her stuff. We’ll wait on alert to see what happens with the bears. Maybe it’ll all be pissing in the wind, and we can go back to enjoying the summer.”
Frank and Mark exchanged glances.
Behind his back, Delton cussed lightly at the sight of Chase’s injury, but he was Yukon enough not to say anything. Probably not much he could say anyway other than damn, that looks like hell.
Mark cleared his throat. “She ain’t going to like that very much.”
“What? Getting a ride out? I already told her I would arrange it. She was pleased as punch.”
“Pleased because she thought you were going with her, I think,” Mark muttered.
“Ten to one she puts up a fight and gets him onto the heli with her,” Frank offered.
“Oh, I ain’t taking that wager. That would be like betting on black flies to bite your ass in the evenings.”
Delton pressed a little harder than necessary and Chase swore. “What’s your problem, old man? Fingers losing their ability to stay steady?”
“What’s yours? Brain not able to figure out what you got happening in front of you? Eyes too dull to see what you got slapping you in the goddamn face?”
Chase looked around the room in disbelief. “What the hell are you guys talking about? You didn’t think she was going stay, did you?”
Three pairs of eyes refused to meet his, bodies wiggling uncomfortable in their chairs, Delton swaying on his feet.
The bear shifter cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind, boss, could you turn down the volume a notch or two? You’re making me want to crawl on my belly, and I always heard it ain’t good for the digestion to crawl less than an hour after eating.”
It was a good sign of how far he’d lost control, that he hadn’t been aware he was sending off shifter power. With them all different kinds of shifters, he couldn’t use the unusual sensation to boss them around, but with his mixed heritage he was strong enough he could make them damn uncomfortable. “Shit. Sorry, boys.”
He collapsed onto the couch, ignoring the smarting from his back as it hit the cushions. He dragged his hands over his scalp before sighing and leaning back to stare at the ceiling. “I don’t want her to go,” he confessed.
“Then don’t let her.” Delton’s instant answer cut and burned.
“She needs medical help right away. Besides, there’s nothing for her here. She’s got a life out there in Whitehorse. A life she’s determined to face.” Chase’s stomach was in knots. He wanted her to stay, once she was healthy, but he couldn’t even guarantee he’d be around for the rest of the summer.
What kind of selfish bastard would ask a woman to stay somewhere that could end up being a deathtrap?
The ham radio sounded and he jumped to his feet. Ignored the other men as he took the call.
“Whitehorse transport transferring you to Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. Go ahead, please.”
The coincidence with his nickname was amusing enough to make his lips twitch. “This is Chase Johnson. I’m up in the bush past Keno, and I’ve got an emergency medical pickup ASAP.”
A somewhat familiar voice carried over the line. “You got landing space, and lat and longitude for me, buddy?”
“Tons of room, and yes. Ready?”
Chase snapped off the cabin’s coordinates and acknowledged them back. “How soon can you get away?”
There was a moment’s pause. “I’m double-checking clearance as we speak, but if everything is a go, I should be able to fuel and be in the air within the next two hours. You’re lucky the bird is parked here in Whitehorse instead of out in Haines Junction.”
Chase did the mental math. “You leave by two, you’ll be landing by four at the latest.”
“You’re good. Yeah, about that. Mark out a perimeter for the set-down point so I’m not in a bog. And what kind of medical am I looking at? Do I need a stretcher on the landing struts or should I bring a paramedic?”
The smooth competency of the pilot eased Chase’s nerves. “She’ll be a walk-on. Ambulatory, carrying medical tests.”
“Shit. She?” A few crashes resounded in the background. “Fuck, you’re in the Keno area. You talking about Shelley Bradley by any chance?”
Crap. “Who am I speaking with?”
“Shaun Stevens. You that dude who took her north?”
Double crap. That was the Takhini Beta. “I am, but—”
“You are so going to get your ass kicked if she’s hurt. What the hell were you thinking taking her out in the bush in the first place?”
Chase wiggled the wires to the receiver and listened to the slight crackle of interference. “Sorry. Breaking up. You got our position?”
“Asshole. Don’t you dare try to pull a fast one. I’m the freaking king of fast ones. You’re playing with the receiver wires.”
Crackle, crackle.
“Chase, you bastard. Just tell me. How bad is she hurt?”
Chase relented. He didn’t need to have a revengeful wolf pack on his back every year when he went to town. “She’s got a couple scratches and she’s exhausted. Had a bad shock, but overall she’s strong. She’ll be fine. She needs to hit her office to do some tests ASAP. Can I trust you to make sure that happens?”
“You aren’t coming with her?”
Chase didn’t even stop to reconsider. “No, but she doesn’t know that.”
“Shit. You’re pulling a double-cross on an injured female wolf? Wear a cup, man.”
It wasn’t a bad idea. “We’ll have the landing pad marked.”
“Whitehorse out.”
And out of his life.
Boo-fucking-hoo for him.
Chapter Eighteen
If things had gone according to plan, Chase would have let Shelley sleep until three. Woken her slowly then fed her before slipping her and the samples onto the helicopter. He would have shut the door and watched her swear at him through the window as the chopper lifted her into the sky and returned her to the safety of Whitehorse.
Then he would have sat down and drank, followed by a shift to whichever of his beasts arrived to tear the fuck out of the forest trails. A few fights, a little violence to finish?
It had all the makings of a lovely Yukon evening.
So of course things went dreadfully wrong.
He couldn’t wait until three. Instead, he stood with his hand on the doorknob at two. He wasn’t going to wake wake her early. Just sit and stare for a while, take deep breaths and try not to think about how creepy it was that he would be perched on the dresser watching a woman sleep.
If he happened to slip into bed with her for one final session of sweet lovemaking, who could blame him?
Opening the door and discovering the bed was empty put a crimp in his plans. Chase peeked in the bathroom, uncertain how she might have gotten past him without him knowing.
No one there.
He returned to the bedroom and took a deep breath. Anger bubbled up faster than he knew how to control.
“Delton,” he roared, stomping to the open window.
“What do you want?” Delton grumbled.
Chase didn’t give a damn if Delton and the others were acting all girlie upset with him for planning to trick Shelley into leaving. “She’s gone and I smell that bastard Jones. Have you seen him lately?”
Delton cursed and spun on his heel, heading for the front door. “You want me to find us a wolf to track them?”
Chase examined the room. There were no signs of a struggle, so Shelley had to have gone willingly.