"Would you like a roommate?" he ventured.
Audra's smile widened. "That depends entirely on how good you are in bed."
Jean swallowed. "Rusty," he admitted.
"Me, too."
They stared at each other for a long moment before Jean broke the silence. "If we're spending the whole winter together, we should take things slow. I mean, you're injured, and I never, ever want to hurt you. Plus, it's been so long that I've probably forgotten how to pleasure a woman properly, if I ever knew."
Audra scrunched up her face. "So maybe we should start with something simple? Like kissing?"
"Kissing is never simple," Jean said, shifting to the seat beside her. "The moment has to be just right, and so much depends on doing the right thing at the right time. First, your lips touch, then they move together until you're sharing each other's very breath. And then – "
Audra laughed. "You talk too much."
"Only when I'm scared or nervous."
"I don't believe a man who could swim across Atlas Cove with two broken legs, among seals and killer whales and all sorts of things, radio for help and then do first aid on himself, is afraid of anything. Let alone some graduate meteorologist with a broken arm."
"The beautiful, talented meteorologist I'm deeply in love with," Jean corrected.
Audra blushed. "You missed intelligent. And besides, how can you know you love me when we've barely even kissed?"
He reached out and pulled her against him, careful not to touch her injured arm. "Oh, I know. When I heard you scream, those penguins could go screw themselves for all I cared. I couldn't lose you."
She lifted her good hand to caress his face before she kissed him. Azorella-coloured eyes regarded him as her tongue invited his out to play. It felt as natural as breathing to kiss her back with as much passion as he could muster. Breathless. Lost. Found. He'd swim the Southern Ocean for this woman. Or just kiss her forever, if that's what she wanted.
"I love you, Audra," he gasped out.
She smiled. "I'm fast falling for you, too, if I haven't already. You're one up on me. I've never fallen in love before and you have."
"What I had with her was nothing...NOTHING...compared to this." Jean waved at them both.
"One kiss."
"More," he insisted, drawing her closer.
Faint music came from beside Audra.
"Damn, that's my phone."
Jean drew back. "Go on, answer it."
"Hello?"
Audra listened for a moment, before she hit the speakerphone button. "Jay, how did you know I'd even answer my phone?"
"Because you're not online, and I saw from your ship's webcam that you're in Fremantle now, so you have phone access again. Good. Because I need your advice."
"Stalker?" Jean mouthed.
Audra shook her head. "Did it occur to you that I might not be online because I'm busy?"
"Of course not," Jay scoffed. "You got injured and needed to be evacuated. Isn't that enough to get you sick leave?"
Audra bit her lip and met Jean's eyes, trying not to laugh. "There are other kinds of busy, Jay."
"Fine. Whatever. Just tell me what to do and you can get back to whatever you were doing."
Audra's breathing became deliberately even. "Be quick, then."
Jay took a noisy breath. "I'm certain of it now. I'm in love with her. And I can't lose her, but I don't know what to do. I helped her with stuff, like you said, but I don't think she even noticed. I invited her to the wedding and she's promised she'll dance with me. But if I tell her how I feel, I might lose her anyway, because she'll tell me to fuck off if she's not interested. What do I do?"
Audra didn't look like she had a ready response for him, so Jean leaned over and said, "Dude, if you really love her and don't want to lose her, do whatever you have to do. If it means carrying her across a beach and fighting off about fifty rogue elephant seals, that's what you got to do."
A long silence, followed by, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Sorry," Audra whispered, then in a normal tone she continued, "You remember my roommate, Jean-Pierre? I'm sure I told you about him. And he's right, you know."
"Your roommate fought off elephant seals for you?" Jay demanded. "He's the guy who picked you up in the video, isn't he?"
"What video?" Audra asked.
Jean cleared his throat. "The one you were taking when you fell."
"Oh." Audra's brow creased. "How did you see it?"
"You streamed it live," Jay said. "It was like a TV show, ending on a cliffhanger, when that guy picked you up and then the feed went dark." He coughed. "I might've panicked a bit there."
Jean snorted. Her rock star friend would have been lost out there. That's why he thanked his lucky stars he'd been the one on Heard Island with Audra. Who knew that cursed island better than a man who'd nearly died there?
"That's how I knew what ship you were on," Jay continued. "I...um. I did what you told me not to. I linked the video on my social media accounts and asked people to find you and tell me you were okay."
One of the biggest rock stars in the world, the uncrowned king of social media, had told the world about Audra. That explained how her video had gone viral.
"You diverted an icebreaker to pick me up?" Audra squeaked. "Jay, I only have a broken arm! Sickbay at any of our bases could handle something so simple."
"I was worried!" Jay protested. "And you're only angry at me about the ship, right? Not the video?"
"What video?"
She didn't know half of the world had seen it, Jean realised, a few seconds before Jay did.
"I should go," Jay said. "Have fun with your roommate." He hung up.
Audra turned to Jean. "Do you know what he did?"
"I do now," he replied, reaching for her phone. He pulled up her video channel and showed the latest one to her. "Everyone at McMurdo had seen it, and Davis. Because your friend shared it, the video went viral."
Audra peered at the screen. "Nine million views?" she whispered. Not even Flavia's videos had been that popular.
"You're famous."
She didn't look happy. "Can I hole up here until we fly out?"
"Absolutely. I'll sleep on the couch, so you can have the bed."
"We could share the bed, you know," Audra said. "I wouldn't mind."
So tempting. He'd been right to call her a seductress, but she did it effortlessly. Almost like she wasn't aware of her appeal. "I screwed up when we first met. Just because I was off my face on morphine isn't an excuse. I owe you better than that," he said. He nodded at her brace. "What if I accidentally bumped you in the middle of the night? I don't want to hurt you."
Her shoulders slumped. "Fair enough. It'll be a while before I'm ready for a goodnight kiss, though. My body still seems to be on Heard Island time."
"I crossed so many time zones to get here, my body doesn't know what time it is. Want to watch a movie or something?"
Audra nodded.
Jean flipped through the hotel's selection of on-demand movies. Two chick flicks, a horror movie from a franchise that had grown tired two movies ago, and an X-Men movie that must have come out while he was in Antarctica. "What about this one?" he asked, hoping against hope that she wouldn't pick one of the chick flicks that Dairine would have insisted on.
"Sure. I haven't seen that one."
Had she even glanced at it? "You like superhero movies?" Jean asked.
"Of course," Audra answered. "They're like romance novels – the bad guy never wins, and there's a happy ending."
Jean shook his head. "Comic books and superhero movies are the complete opposite of romance books."
"Have you ever read one?"
"Of course not!"
Audra smiled. "Well, I like both. Unless you do your research, you don't have enough data to draw conclusions. The chances of you being good in bed are getting slimmer and slimmer if you've never read romance."
Her tone might be teasing, but her words could be all too
true. That hurt. "Maybe I'm terrible in bed, and that's why she left me," Jean said, stabbing the button on the remote control so the movie would start.
They watched in silence, sitting side by side on the sofa, but they may as well have been in different worlds. Jean wasn't sure what to say to bridge the abyss between them, either. Things had been going so well until he'd suggested the movie. Had he picked the wrong one?
"Want to watch another one?" he asked when it finished. "I think I saw – "
Audra covered a yawn with her hand. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Can you help me undress?"
"Ah..." He couldn't say no, could he? It's not like he didn't want to undress her. He'd dreamed about it.
"The medic on the ship helped me dress this morning. She was really helpful. If I was at home, I'd ask my sister, but seeing as I'm here with you..." Audra's eyes begged him. "I figure you've seen me naked before. It's not that big a deal, right?"
No. Yes. Fuck. Those dream tits would be his undoing, and he knew it. "Yeah, I'll help you." Jean followed her into the bedroom, watching her edge her dress up one-handed until the hem revealed a pair of pink cotton panties. He'd have expected something sexier from Audra.
As if she could read his mind, she said, "I didn't have a change of clothes aboard the ship. Only what I was wearing and what they could dig out of the lost property box. All my underwear is back at Davis."
"There should be some in the dryer here," Jean replied, trying to distract himself as he helped her pull the dress over her head. The bra she wore wasn't something out of lost property, he was certain. Her breasts filled out the cups like it was tailor-made for her. He itched to take it off, so he could cup her in his hands and...
Audra turned her back. "Can you unclip my bra, please?"
Jean swallowed. "Sure." He did as he was bid, and held his breath as she slid the straps down her arms. Now she wore nothing but those childish pink panties.
Audra turned to face him again, and Jean forced his gaze to stay on her face. No lower. No matter how much he wanted to...
"I just want to say that those are the most perfect pair of breasts DNA ever gave a woman," Jean blurted out. "I should have said that the first time I saw them."
Audra gave a sad smile. "I've heard that line before. Well, except the DNA bit. That's new."
"Probably because it's true. And any man who's lucky enough to see them who didn't tell you that is an idiot." Still he held her gaze, because to look down was to be utterly, utterly lost.
"I'd like that goodnight kiss now," she said.
FIFTY-SIX
Audra took a deep breath. "And I'd like it with your shirt off, please."
What was she thinking? She'd never taken the lead with a man before. But his admission that he cared about her, even loved her, had made her brave. That and the compliment about her breasts.
Jean nodded, and pulled his shirt off.
Audra feasted her eyes on the muscles that hadn't diminished since the first time she saw them, more than a year ago now. Strong enough to carry her to safety. Caring enough to comfort her when she cried. Gentle enough to pull her close, like now and...
Passion ignited as his lips touched hers, as if their Valentine's kiss had lit a fire that still smouldered under her skin. Her nipples snapped to attention as they made contact with his chest, just as eager as the rest of her for his touch. She wanted. No, she needed...
Audra barely noticed as her back hit the bed, with Jean half on top of her. Warm fingers stroked her breasts, giving her nipples the attention they so desperately craved, as her tongue tickled his, begging for more. His mouth moved south, bestowing a dozen kisses along her throat as he descended on her breasts, to kiss her a hundred times more.
"Oh yes," she moaned, wrapping her arms around him to hold him tighter. "Oh...ow!"
Jean jumped off the bed, his arms raised in surrender. "What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing," she breathed, cradling her injured arm. "It was me. I got so caught up in the moment that I tried to pull you close with both arms, forgetting this one's out of action."
"Well, I'm sorry. Sorry I distracted you so much you forgot you were hurt. You need to take care of that arm so it heals properly." Jean jerked his head toward the living area. "I'll make up a bed on the couch for myself, so I won't be far away if you need me."
"We could still share the bed," Audra said. When Jean opened his mouth to protest, she held up her right hand. "I always sleep on the right side of the bed, with my arm on the edge. The only way you'll bump it while we're sleeping is if you manage to roll over the top of me and hit it just before you fall on the floor."
"We should take it slow," Jean insisted. "This morning, you barely wanted to speak to me. I don't want you to do something you'll regret. Especially when you're under the influence of pain medication. That kind of consent's questionable at best, and – "
"This morning, I had to remind myself every few minutes that you were a married man who wanted to cheat on his wife," Audra interrupted. "And my pain meds wore off while we were at my parents' place. I need to take some more before I go to bed, because this is starting to seriously hurt."
Jean fetched her a glass of water and her box of pills, then sat on the corner of the bed. "I don't want you to think I'm the sort of man who tries to drag a girl into bed with him on the first date."
Audra almost choked. "Too late for that. Besides, we've never actually been on a date. We've lived and worked together for three months, and shared sleeping quarters for most of that time. Normal relationship rules don't apply here, because nothing between us will ever be normal, and I don't want it to be. Sleep with me while we're sharing this hotel room, and tomorrow, I'll take you on a date. I'll take you to an island breeding colony of penguins, the like of which you've never seen before."
Finally, Jean laughed. "You want our first date to include penguins? I think if I wasn't already in love with you, I would've fallen hard the moment you said that. You're the perfect woman. And if you want, I'll sleep with you. But there won't be any sex between us until your arm's completely healed. That I promise you."
That's what you think, Audra thought but didn't say, as Jean snuggled up behind her. He wouldn't last three days before he caved.
FIFTY-SEVEN
Audra sat back and stretched her arms above her head. It had been three months and she'd officially decided Jean was the stubbornest man alive. She'd told him so, too. Not that it changed anything.
Her nightly weather forecasts were as predictable as her evenings:
Dark, well below freezing, with a high chance of a storm, but zero chance of sex.
Slowly but surely, she was getting to him, though. For the last three months since they'd arrived back at Davis, they'd made out like teenagers, exploring and experimenting until he learned to read her body's signals so well she swore he worked magic with his hands and his mouth whenever he touched her. Audra hadn't been shy, either: now she knew his body nearly as well as her own. Well, most of it, anyway. She'd never seen him without his blindingly white boxer briefs. The only exception had been that day at Penguin Island, when he'd traded his briefs for board shorts and ventured into the water with her. It wasn't until they'd waded in waist deep that he'd confessed to his fear of the ocean after swimming across Atlas Cove last year.
A fear he'd sworn to conquer today, and she intended to be there to cheer him on.
As if on cue, her phone rang.
"Are you ready? It's taken the guys half the morning to cut through what turned out to be more than a metre of ice, but the Midwinter Pool is about to open."
"Sure, Bruce. I've got my camera charged and ready to capture every moment," Audra replied. "Heading over from the Met Station now."
She left the computers compiling their data, hoping that when she returned they'd have done most of her work for her on the evening forecast.
The Midwinter Pool was just the beginning of the dark day's celebrations, and she'd agreed to be a part of it.
She found Ali and John standing poolside in their heaviest outdoor gear, with Bruce carefully stirring up the pool surface so it didn't ice over until everyone had taken a dip. Everyone brave or crazy enough to, anyway.
Audra lifted her camera and pointed it at the pool ladder. "It's the Winter Solstice here at Davis Station, so some of our bravest expeditioners have decided to celebrate with a swim. All right, who's first?"
To her surprise, Jean emerged first, wearing the same red board shorts she remembered from Penguin Island, a pair of sneakers and nothing else. At thirty below zero, he had to be cold, but he grinned and winked at her before he slipped the safety rope around himself and climbed down the ladder into the icy pool.
Audra saw him hesitate, but she didn't think anyone else noticed. It might be a dark day, but it was ideal for conquering the demons that had plagued him for so long. Jean met her eyes and nodded once. He knew what she was thinking.
He pushed off into the middle of the pool and ducked under the surface of the freezing water before he emerged again, still grinning.
"It's lovely!" Jean shouted. "You should all take a dip!"
He was shaking as he ascended the ladder, but he could blame that on the air temperature. He staggered off to defrost and Audra found herself filming the next crazy expeditioner.
One by one, her colleagues took the icy plunge until Bruce shouted, "Last call!"
Audra glanced at John. The doctor bit his lip, but he nodded.
Audra passed the camera to Ali, explaining how it worked. Ali held it between her gloves like a piece of precious china.
Audra shucked off her outer gear until she stood in nothing but her bikini and the safety rope. Fuck, but it was cold. She fixed a smile on her face and wrapped her hands around the ladder. How was it possible for the metal to be colder than the air? The water was the warmest part, she told herself, ignoring the ice floating in the pool. Jean had done it, no matter how terrified he was. She was just cold.
Just like a day teaching swimming at the beach, when she'd had to show her class how warm the water was so they'd join her. Audra crouched on the ladder, then pushed off into a starfish float on top of the water.
Maid for the South Pole Page 19