Her hotel phone rang. Saved by the bell. She quickly excused herself to avoid explaining her out-of-the-blue surrender. How could she get out of this trip without looking like she was running scared? She answered the phone, hoping it was Maria, her assistant, her pedicurist—hell, anyone who could give her a reason to jet. Anyone except Wilson Marson.
“This is Nadia speaking.”
“Oh, good! You haven’t left the hotel yet!” Her father’s boomed and Nadia cringed. “Where did you say you lost your cellphone? I’ve been trying to call you since last night. Your assistant reminded me to try the hotel.”
“Uh, we gave our cellphones to the instructor when we got here. It’s part of the training. No technology and all that. Is everything okay?” Tell me the dog is sick. Give me an excuse to come home that doesn’t involve that stupid job.
“No, everything is not okay. Last night, the board of directors was compelled to remove an upper level researcher from the lab, and the vacancy needs to be filled quickly; I told them you would be the perfect candidate.”
Nadia covered her face and shook her head. “Dad, please don’t tell me you had someone fired just to get me to work for you,” she groaned.
“Of course, not,” Wilson said indignantly. “As it turns out, Dr. Calicut is under investigation for plagiarism. This comes at the worst possible time. The optics are terrible. But if I can get you in place soon enough, maybe we can keep things running smoothly. I have a small team ready to bring you up to speed on your job duties. How soon can you fly out?”
“Dad, I didn’t want to get into this with you again, but you know I think we have an ethical responsibility to—”
“Yes, we’ve been over it a thousand times,” he interjected, “and you know we go above and beyond our ethical responsibility to provide clean energy without sacrificing the livelihoods of millions of people. We even go the extra mile by funding research on our impact on the environment.”
“And research has shown that we are drastically impacting the environment,” Nadia fumed.
“C’mon, honey. Gimme a break! Research also shows that we’re past the tipping point as far as the environment goes. The damage was done by others before us, and you needn’t feel guilty for taking your place in the Marson Oil and Gas empire. Besides, if you want to change the world, you have to work from the inside.”
Nadia squeezed her eyes shut. As much as she wanted to run away from her entanglement with Perry and Lincoln, she wanted to run away from her “place in the Marson Oil and Gas empire” even more. She had no idea she was crying angry tears until Perry touched her face. She nearly jumped off the bed.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. Is everything okay? Sounds like a heated conversation,” he whispered.
Nadia dashed her tears. “No, yeah, sorry. Important call. I’ll be right out after this.” He hesitated, studying her closely, but she forced a smile. “Seriously, I’m fine.”
“Does it have anything to do with you saying you can’t do this?” Perry gestured back and forth between them. She bit her bottom lip, wanting to tell him yes—Wilson Marson had everything to do with why she could not get involved with him and Lincoln—but her father’s summons was not the escape route she wanted.
“No, I was, um, talking about breakfast. I couldn’t eat. But I’m definitely still on for the trip.”
Her father cut in, “Who are you talking to, Nadia?”
“Just the…staff.” She gestured for Perry to leave. His expression darkened at her choice of words, but he exited without comment. Returning to the phone call, Nadia let out a slow breath. “Alright, I’ll take the position.”
“Thank you.” The sincerity in her father’s voice touched her, but it also reminded her of the complications ahead. She wanted to make her father proud, but she wanted to be able to live with herself.
Her father was not the heartless one-percenter fueled by greed that his critics believed him to be. He had inherited his role at the helm of the family empire the same way she would eventually inherit hers. That said, the legacy they left behind for future Clarks and the rest of humanity mattered.
Her father teasingly called her a product of her Ivy League education. She was more than that; nothing was ever that simple. Growing up as the daughter of an oil magnate, Nadia knew climate change was bad, but energy was necessary. She also knew she could not avoid her responsibilities forever.
A Marson always rises to the occasion, she thought glumly. She could only stall, and stall she would. “I’ll accept the position on one condition,” she amended. “Let me finish this survival course with Lincoln and Perry. Give me three weeks in nature to clear my head.”
“Lincoln and Perry?”
“My classmate and my instructor.” Nadia blushed.
“I’m not sure I like the idea of you being in the woods with two strange men. You didn’t mention that yesterday when we spoke.”
She rolled her eyes. “Dad, they’re completely harmless, and I’m twenty—”
“I know. You’re not my little girl anymore; you’re a grown woman. You can have your three weeks, but be good out there. Sometimes it’s not what you do. It’s how it looks. After that nasty situation with Jason Stratham, I don’t want you in the tabloids again.”
“Of course. I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. He was right. There was no telling who might be watching and waiting to tear down her good name. This situation would be trickier than she thought.
Lincoln breezed through the lobby in Nadia and Perry’s wake. His neck ached from sleeping on the loveseat, but he ignored it. He did not know why he had accepted Perry’s offer to spend the night, retiring to their separate places and pretending like nothing stirred in the darkness between them. But he had gotten the answer to his inner questions. The kiss said it all.
The kiss made Lincoln want to break away from the trio and get a cab to the nearest airport. The only thing keeping him from leaving was the fact Nadia was not running away. Both Nadia and Perry seemed to have no trouble keeping up appearances. For a seasoned actor like Lincoln, it should not have been difficult, but it was.
His eyes strayed to the flyaway curls at the nape of Nadia’s neck. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail that showed off her angular cheekbones. He studied the snug fit of Perry’s jeans and the way his black t-shirt hugged his muscular torso. Lincoln closed his eyes to keep from staring, but flashbacks of the previous evenings events held him hostage.
Perry stopped walking when they encountered a crowd of people waiting to check out. Lincoln sensed a shift in his mood, from brooding to downright moody. Perry narrowed his eyes and beckoned for Nadia and Lincoln to hang back. “We’ll let them get out of the way, first,” he muttered.
Nodding, Lincoln absently swiped a brochure from a display table nearby. On the front of the glossy piece of paper was a photograph of a burly man wearing supple leather and a dream catcher necklace. The print advertised, “Come discover the secrets to Empowered Survival!” Inside the brochure were images of people swimming tranquilly in hot springs, rock climbing, sitting around campfires.
Lincoln was surprised to see the man on the front of the brochure standing with the group at the front desk. “You know that guy?” He flashed the pamphlet at Perry.
“Yep. Rick Feldman.”
“The competition?”
Perry merely nodded. Lincoln knew a thing or two about competition. Lincoln wished that his own competition, Jasper Kent, would take a hike. But I’m the one headed for a walk in the woods.
The broad-shouldered man in fatigues from Empowered Survival waved. “I think he’s coming over,” Lincoln mumbled. Nadia turned away, partially hiding her face. Several of the people in Rick Feldman’s group turned toward them, and chatter broke out in the crowd.
“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Perry groaned.
Rick approached with a beaming smile and clapped him on the shoulder. “We keep running into each other! Since when do you stay at a fancy hotel like this one, Perry? I hear
d about what happened to Clyde. I figured you’d cancel.” He stuck out a hand for a handshake.
Perry smiled tightly, putting his hands in his pockets. “I’m sure you hoped I would.”
“You know better than that. I’m rooting for you. And, who do we have here? Is this your little class?”
“That is him!” someone behind Rick gasped.
“Oh, my gosh! Lincoln Easley!” another woman shrieked.
“Lincoln! Lincoln!”
Lincoln smiled bashfully and backed away as a surge of people in the lobby rushed toward him. He took perverse pleasure in the dumbfound look on Rick’s face. Served him right for his condescending tone with Perry. Lincoln put up his hands to ward off the more enthusiastic fans as Rick tried to call for order. “Alright, alright! Calm down!” Rick growled at his group.
Perry shook his head and chuckled. “Yeah, Rick. This is my little class. Sometimes less is more.”
“One at a time,” Lincoln stated. “I can only sign autographs one at a time.”
“Need paper?” Perry reached in his pocket and pulled out a thick stack of business cards. Lincoln grinned, taking a pen from the front desk. It was genius. He scribbled his name on back of Perry’s cards while Rick stood aside and scowled. Finally, Perry tapped his watch, and Lincoln nodded. They were on a schedule after all.
“That’s all I can do for today, guys. Don’t forget to check out Vengeance with a Vengeance in theaters now, and tell all your friends you met Lincoln Easley at Survive Anything,” Lincoln announced.
“Well, that was worth the price of admission, thanks.” Perry said quietly as he dragged him away.
Nadia reappeared behind them. “Did you have to make a scene?” she hissed.
Lincoln shrugged self-consciously. “I wasn’t trying to make a scene. I was trying not to be rude. That would have been bad for my image.”
“Yeah, well, I have an image to protect, too,” Nadia complained. “Next time you want to be the center of attention, make sure I’m not around. No one needs to know I’m traveling into the woods with two strange men.”
“Relax. Your reputation is safe with me. Let’s get a move on,” said Perry. They quickly checked out of the hotel and exited the building, marching across the chilly parking lot. Perry climbed into the driver’s seat of his Jeep and paused. “Before we go, I want to formally apologize for last night. It was an egregious lapse of judgement on my part, and I have no excuse for my behavior. I’m sorry.”
“No apology necessary,” Lincoln mumbled.
Perry glanced at him in the rearview mirror, and Lincoln went silent. The instructor continued, “It’s vital that we reestablish the boundary between teacher and student, because I want this three-week course to be as worthwhile as possible —Christ, I don’t even have a script for this.”
“You don’t need a script.” Nadia said from the passenger seat. “Look, I think we’re all on the same page, Perry. Like you said last night, it never happened. It’s in all our best interest to run with that line.”
Perry relaxed. “Good. We have a thirty-minute drive ahead of us. Once we arrive at the cabin, we’ll get settled in and tackle our first objective. There’s a lot to learn in a limited amount of time, and, I stress, there are risks involved. That’s why it’s so necessary to get back to you doing as I say without question or hesitation. We’re not friends here.”
“You know, there is a middle ground. We can be friends and still follow your leadership,” Lincoln suggested.
Perry chuckled dryly. “We’re not friends because I don’t do friends, Lincoln Easley.”
“Last night says different,” Lincoln quipped. Perry smirked and powered on the radio. As he cranked the engine, Lincoln sighed. This was the point of no return. If he abandoned the training course now, Jasper Kent would take the lead in Mitch Trepan’s next film, and Lincoln would never forgive himself. He had to put his desires on the back burner.
Nadia stared out the window with a rapt expression. “It’s otherworldly,” she whispered. Lincoln followed her line of sight to take his mind off the undercurrents swirling around in the truck. The landscape was, indeed, like something from an untouched planet. It was a breathtaking, welcome distraction, and it made him wish he had his phone so that he could at least take some pictures.
Lincoln suddenly had an idea. He dug his sketchbook and pencil colors out of his carry-on bag. His hand flew over the crisp white paper, recreating the world outside. The Blue Ridge Mountains kissed the early morning sky. The peaks were swathed in mist, and the mountains were a deep bluish purple underneath. Bare trees clung to rocky hillsides, evidence of approaching winter.
During his career, Lincoln had been to some of the most exotic places on earth, but he was often oblivious to his surroundings because of the never-ending demands of his vocation. This trip into the woods was a taste of what he had been missing. No lines to practice or blocking to choreograph. No cool, impersonal staff members. No pretenses to keep up.
Lincoln’s eyes darted from the sketchbook to the mountains and he continued drawing. In a place like this, he could be free. Take last night, stripped of any need to perform, he had been himself. He remembered Perry’s hands on him—his kiss, his taste. He remembered the exquisite perfection of Nadia’s body. The silky fires of Perry’s hand on his cock and the burning rapture of Nadia’s sex tightening around him.
He shifted in the backseat to hide his erection and willed himself to stop thinking about the previous evening. Lascivious sex scenes with strangers came with the territory of being a Hollywood actor but Lincoln jealously guarded his personal life. He dated regular girls. He had a few one-night stands. Things occasionally got wild but last night was something else. For one thing, he most certainly had never been with a man.
He had kicked his usual reserved behavior to the curb in favor of letting Nadia take the lead, and she had led them straight to ecstasy. Now, a pact was made to pretend last night never happened. Lincoln wondered how long that would last.
He had a sneaking suspicion none of them were being completely honest about what they expected to occur once they made it to the cabin.
Chapter 6
The winding mountain road was narrow and had hair-pin turns that appeared to dive right off the side. As the Jeep climbed higher, Nadia felt her ears pop. She cringed into the passenger seat, no longer interested in looking out the window. On her side of the vehicle was the stony mountain; on Perry’s side was a steep drop to the wilderness below. “How much farther?” she gulped.
Perry casually drove with one hand, unfazed. “Scared of heights?” he asked with a grin. “Don’t worry. We’re almost there.”
Nadia met his gaze. His mesmerizing blue eyes were steady, calm. She found a smile for him as he anchored her to the earth.
“When we get to basecamp, we’ll go over some safety precautions before I take you into the woods,” Perry explained. “Each core lesson spans one week, with the first one being the hardest, but it does get easier after that. We’ll go out into the woods with nothing but the clothes on our backs and a knife.”
Nadia’s nervousness returned with a vengeance. “Has anyone ever gotten seriously injured out here with you?”
“Not once in the three years I’ve been doing this.”
“You must be really good at what you do.”
Perry chuckled. “I told you not to worry. You’re in good hands.”
Good hands, she thought. Last night those hands had been all over her body. This morning her father had reminded her that—even in the remotest locations—she had to refrain from doing anything scandalous. Perry’s good hands would have to stay in their proper place from now on.
They arrived at the cabin that belonged to Perry’s friend Clyde MacAskill, who was currently laid up at the hospital. Nadia had envisioned a cozy little hut, but the spacious two-story house boasted five bedrooms and a sitting room with a daybed. Every modern amenity was present, even a hot tub.
“Girl’s gotta
have her hot tub.” Nadia beamed as she toured the house.
“Don’t get comfortable. We won’t be here long.” Perry ushered his two students to the kitchen table and pulled a folder from his satchel, handing out papers to each of them.
“What’s this?” Lincoln asked. Under the table, his foot absently stroked hers. His attention was on Perry’s instructions, but the casual touch sent butterflies fluttering through her.
Nadia tried to focus. “I didn’t expect literal classwork,” she said as she scanned the top sheet, which outlined basic safety precautions.
“We’ll get some hands-on experience for the stuff that requires it, but a lot of what I have to teach you is based in critical thinking.” Perry lounged against the kitchen peninsula, a quirky half-smile tugging at his lips in a way that reminded her of what his mouth could do.
Focus, focus, focus, Nadia chanted inwardly. One of the documents was a checklist of items every family should have on stand-by in case of disaster. It included practical things like nutrient-rich nonperishables, first aid kits, tools and weaponry. Her father would be proud of Perry’s attention to detail. Maybe I should propose that he hires him instead of me.
“I also emailed this to you when you signed up for the class. That covers that. Now,” said Perry as he handed them wicked looking hunting knives, “any health issues I need to know about before we make our trek into the woods?”
Nadia considered mentioning she was operating on high arousal, which might complicate her ability to think clearly. She bit back a smile and shook her head in response to his question, though. “I sent you a copy of my history and physical from my primary care physician.”
“Me, too,” said Lincoln. “I’m excited to get going.”
“Then, let’s make it happen. You guys take a guest room and leave your belongings upstairs. Get dressed in your course-approved gear and meet me back here in five minutes.”
“Special request?” Lincoln asked hopefully.
Perry crossed his arms. “We’ll see. What is it?”
Survival for Three: MMF Bisexual Romance Page 6