by Vivian Arend
Focus on the trail. There will be plenty of time to flirt later if I don’t trip and break my neck.
Half an hour later he caught up with her, tugging gently on her hand to get her attention.
“You interested in a little aerial sightseeing? My treat.”
“You serious? When?”
TJ grinned and pulled her against him, hiding her from the others as they disappeared around the corner. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “In about an hour. I’ve arranged for a chopper to pick us up back in the meadow where we stopped for our first snack break this morning.”
His warm breath caressed her neck and a shiver raced over her skin. Holy hell, the man made her horny without even trying.
“So is this like a private event or are we taking any of the others along as well?” She tilted her head to indicate the guy who had tried to hit on her earlier.
“Very private. There’s room for you and me and the pilot. So, you have to do a couple things. Number one.” He kissed her neck and slipped his hand into her hair to nestle her a little closer.
“Number one?” Lordy, was that her voice? That throaty, sexy, fuck-me-in-the-meadow voice?
“Hmm, you can’t tell anyone we’re going.” He nibbled on her earlobe and she moaned. Oh yeah.
“I can do that. I’m real good at keeping secrets.”
“I bet you are. The second thing…” He stroked a hand down her back until he cupped her butt and she was ready to crawl up his body.
“Second…thing. Damn it, TJ, you keep touching me and I won’t remember a word you’ve said.”
“All you need to remember is when the chopper lands, crouch low and come to the door quickly. We want to get away without upsetting the other customers too much, okay?”
“Are you going to get in trouble for this?”
He didn’t answer, just tugged her closer and took her lips. Hokie spit, the guy could kiss. His lips alone started reactions that other lovers had to work up to with a full dinner, dance and a couple of bottles of wine. When he finally broke off, she had to gasp for air. He smiled at her, his thumb brushing her cheek gently.
“Some troubles are completely worth the risk.”
He drew apart and held a finger to his lips. She nodded. It would be nice to be able to get away from the group. She’d flown in choppers, but only for work. Excitement made her shiver.
“Where are we going to go?”
“Fly over a bit of the Kluane National Park. You’ll be able to see Mount Logan before we’ll head over the glacier field and past a couple of beautiful lakes.”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, TJ. This is very considerate. I’m looking forward to spending a little time alone with you.” His eyes flashed dark and he gazed the length of her body before dragging himself away.
“Remember that. Time alone is a good thing.”
TJ listened intently for the sound of the chopper. It was going to all come down to timing. The pilot was a friend of his, and hopefully Shaun had managed to get everything in place.
Now to make sure Keil didn’t interrupt his plans.
The group had spread out like they usually did by this time during a hike. The more eager people had stayed high to do a little extra exploring. Keil had begun the downward journey with the slower-moving crew to give them extra time to make it to the parking lot and the picnic supper being prepared for them.
Pam took a swallow from her water bottle and licked her lips, and his cock jerked to life again. He’d been pretty much hard since two nights ago when she’d stripped in front of him. The memory of her naked torso before she’d pulled on a sleep shirt—the image was as clear as a picture and it haunted him. His mate was exactly what he desired in a woman. He’d had to leave before he was too tempted to shift out of his wolf and crawl all over her. No, this was far better. Time alone. That was the goal, wasn’t it? He heard the faint sound of Shaun’s chopper in the distance grow nearer.
“Come on, let’s head to the edge of the meadow.”
She took his hand and he had to ignore the electric shock that flew through him. He wondered if his touch had the same effect on her as on him. There was no doubt in his mind they would be fabulous together. Not just sex, although, hello, that was looking to be spectacular as well, but she seemed so understanding and he was looking forward to the next week. Finding out what it meant to have someone to lavish all his attention on. All his love.
He needed to pull off one last maneuver.
The volume and wind movement increased as the helicopter hovered overhead and Pam hid her face against his chest. His arm around her shoulders felt so good and natural he knew there must be a big goofy grin on his face. He protected her until the runners settled and the door swung open.
His friend Jared jumped out, flashed a thumbs-up and sprinted to the edge of the field. TJ guided Pam and popped her into the cabin, climbed after her and shut the door firmly. She searched for seatbelts and he reached to help her, then tapped Shaun on the shoulder. When the clamor of the props increased to painful decibels, he grabbed the headsets hanging on the sidewall. After slipping hers on, he showed her the buttons to press to talk.
“You comfy?” He rearranged the daypacks at their feet, leaning closer under the disguise of adjusting her seatbelt.
“Great. Where are we headed?”
Paradise, he hoped. “Look out the left window, there’s Mount Logan. Almost twenty thousand feet or six thousand metres, it’s the tallest in Canada and second tallest in North America.”
She leaned across his body to see out his side window and her hair fell like a curtain across him. Sweet smelling. A combination of jasmine and her own natural scent. The one that made his eyes cross and his pants grow far too tight.
“Gorgeous. Is that the glacier you mentioned?”
He pointed out the other window, wrapped his arm around her and carried on with the tour. Every trip he’d done over the past years came in handy as he managed to answer most of her questions.
The tour also helped time to pass. Once out of Kluane National Park, they dipped around Sheep Mountain, leaving behind the Alaskan highway to head deeper into the bush. Thick forest spread under them, rising and falling in endless green waves. Shaun gestured in the air and TJ’s excitement rose. They were almost there. He squeezed Pam’s fingers. Somehow her hand had found its way into his and he didn’t want to let go.
“You want to land?” he asked her.
She grinned at him. “You mean it?”
Outside the window was the foot of a pristine mountain lake, a field of wild grasses stretching from the shore toward the tree-covered foothills of the mountain. Shaun maneuvered his way to the north where a sparkling brook raced into the lake. He settled the chopper in a small meadow, and TJ cracked open the door, hopped out and reached to help Pam.
Of course, when she lost her balance and landed on top of him he was torn between cursing his bad luck and longing to stay there forever.
Stick to the plan. “It’s noisy here. Let’s move a bit.”
“Is he going to stop the propellers?”
Highly unlikely, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Yet. She laughed as he rolled, bringing her to her feet and running away from the chopper until they could speak without shouting.
“Do we have long enough I can go touch the lake?”
“Sure.” He followed her, and she spun her arms out in a circle, breathing in huge drafts of the air. She looked wild and alive and vital, and he was head over heels in love.
“Race you.” She was off. TJ chased her, catching her before they lost the grass underfoot. He tackled her carefully, twisting as they fell to put her in his arms, resting on top of him. It took a second for the utter shock of having succeeded without breaking bones, his or hers, to fully register.
“Well, hello. Weren’t we here a couple of minutes ago?” Pam teased, resting her elbows on his chest and cradling her chin in her hands.
“I think we we
re almost here. There’s one thing missing.”
He cupped her head and lowered her lips to his. Her taste twined around him and sucked him under, the feel of his mate resting on top of him the best thing he’d ever experienced.
She responded with enthusiasm, exploring with her tongue, kissing him back with as much passion as he wished. She pulled her legs up to straddle him and her warm crotch rested on his groin. A faint movement of her hips and the contact increased. Oh hell, he was going to explode if she wiggled again.
Pam sat upright, the highlights in her hair shining red in the sun’s bright light. She grinned at him. “Well, I seem to have you at my mercy, but we probably need to be going soon, right?”
The loudening flap flap of the propeller blades reached them, and her eyes widened. “What’s he doing?”
She scrambled to the side, and her jaw fell open as the chopper lifted. The air pressure flattened them to the ground as Shaun got away. TJ waved at his friend as the aircraft rose, hovering over the field for a moment before rotating and taking off into the distance.
“What is going on? Stop it…come back.” Pam ran after the helicopter, waving her arms frantically before returning, her beautiful brown eyes wide. “He left us. What is he doing?”
TJ stood and pulled her back into his arms. “Don’t worry, it’s okay. He’ll be back.”
She relaxed. “Well, that’s good. How long do we have before he returns?”
“A week.”
Chapter Five
Pam stared at him. What kind of…? It had to be a joke.
“No, seriously. Does he need to get fuel or something?”
“Nope, he’s got a few other things to do, but he’ll be back for us. Eventually. You want to help me carry our packs to the cabin?” TJ turned to step toward the center of the meadow.
Cabin? She grabbed him by the arm and whipped him back to face her. “You’re shitting me, aren’t you? You really just had us dumped in the bush? Are you insane?”
“Look, it’s going to be fine. Let’s grab our stuff and we can talk about it more once we’re settled.”
She bit her tongue. Seriously, the guy must not be firing on all rockets, but humouring him for a moment was the only solution. She stared around the meadow a little more intently. “Where is everything? The cabin, the food, the bathhouse with the running water and satellite TV?”
“No TV, but I do promise running water. Come on.”
He led her to the spot the helicopter had landed. There, where the grass lay low from the air from the propellers compressing it flat, sat a box and two full-sized backpacks. One of them was her own bright red pack she could have sworn she’d left safely back at the expedition van.
He shouldered his pack and the box, grinned at her and led her toward the trees.
Okay. She was going to kill him, but after she had a roof over her head. She shrugged on her pack and followed behind.
The trail led to a neat log cabin facing the lake. It was tucked in so tight she hadn’t even noticed it earlier, but now she appreciated the setting. Once she got past the part of her that wanted to take TJ apart, this wasn’t a bad place.
He stopped at the bottom of the wide staircase leading up to the sturdy wood door.
“A private getaway just for you. I know I should have checked with you first, but I needed to make things happen pretty quick. I figured asking for forgiveness would be easier than asking permission.”
She stared at him in disbelief. This wasn’t happening. Her heart pounded, blood rushing past her temples so hard her vision blurred. She wasn’t sure if it was from shock or because she was pissed off.
Pissed off. Definitely the one to go with. The man needed to be handled, and she had the touch. Pam calmed her expression and spoke softly.
“So what you’re trying to tell me is you deliberately set this up. The remote cabin, the whole ‘just us by ourselves’ thing?”
He nodded, a twinkle in his eye.
“Ahhh, that’s so…” She stepped closer and patted him on the cheek. “How incredibly…”
With one quick movement she grabbed his ear and twisted, hard. He clutched her hand and dropped to his knees. “Shit, wait.”
She glared daggers at him. “I can’t believe you’re such a schmuck. Who in the hell put you in charge of me? Did you ask? Did you even consider maybe what I signed up for was what I wanted to take part in? Idiot.” An extra twist accompanied her final word and TJ yowled through clenched teeth.
“Arghhh, I have the list of all the things you wanted to try. We’ll make it happen here, only a little more enjoyable because there won’t be crowds around.”
She let go of his ear and stomped across the porch. Unbelievable. “You kidnapped me.”
“Wait, it’s not like that.” He scrambled to his feet, patting all his pockets frantically. “Ah, fuck, I’m screwing this all up. I didn’t say it right. I meant to… I wanted to ask you if you would like to stay here. We can still call the helicopter back. Just…”
TJ tossed the pack off his back and flipped open zippers, obviously looking for something. Pam lowered her pack as well, dropping it against the side of the cabin. She wanted her hands and feet clear if she needed to kick his butt. She assumed a defensive crouch, ready to smack him to the ground if necessary.
He twirled toward her. Something dark thrust her direction and she moved instinctively, the side of her hand cracking his forearm hard enough to bruise. As he cried out, an oblong shape flew from his fingers and slammed into the door. Pieces of black plastic rained down on the porch boards, a set of batteries rolling and spinning back from the wall, finally coming to a stop against her foot.
Fuck.
Pam knelt and picked up the mangled body of the transceiver, snapped wires dangling from the case. One round dial fell to the ground and spun like a top, the echo of the whirl whirl fading until the piece tipped over with a soft plop.
TJ cleared his throat.
She pinned her lips together. Letting out a shriek of laughter right now probably wasn’t the most mature response, but…oh my God. It was a full minute before she could speak.
“That was a satellite phone?” She was proud of how calm she sounded. Not on the verge of hysteria or anything.
“Umm, right. So we could call Shaun back if you didn’t want to stay.”
Pam closed her eyes and counted to ten. Two wrongs didn’t make a right, but it appeared his mistake coupled with hers did make them stranded.
“That was our only phone?”
“Yup.”
His honest answer amused the heck out of her and suddenly most of her bluster drained away. “I’m upset with you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still planning on getting my revenge. But in a kind of twisted way, you bringing me here is sweet. Psycho, but sweet.”
“Twisted and sweet. I’ll take it.” He gave her the most disarming puppy-dog look, and she bit her lip to stop from laughing.
He opened the door and motioned for her to enter first. She grabbed her pack, crunching a couple of pieces of plastic underfoot as she stepped inside. The cabin was bright and cheery, and bigger than she’d expected. The main area held an open sitting room with a mini kitchen on one side and a beautiful stone fireplace on the opposite wall. Two doors opened off the back, and after dropping her pack to the floor, she peeked her head into the first to find a bedroom. Damn, that wasn’t a king-size either, more like a king plus.
“I have to do a couple of things outside. Look around, get settled.” TJ took off quickly and she let out a big breath.
Holy crap, they were stuck here. She should be absolutely furious. How could anyone in this day and age think it was okay to take a person somewhere without permission? Yet as she wandered the cabin, she wasn’t really upset. She had wanted to have an adventure, and signing up for the expedition had been more Maggie’s idea than her own.
It was partly her fault for overreacting on the stairs. Oh God. She laughed at herself, shaking her head as she wandere
d the cabin. This—enforced solitude—was what she truly wanted right now. Add the fact that TJ, Mr. Turns-me-on-without-even-trying, was the one she was staying with? She stared at the monstrous bed again. Okay. She was the one out of her mind, but this could actually be a lot of fun.
Of course she still planned on making him suffer. She should be able to get a few backrubs, maybe even a foot massage, out of him if he felt guilty enough.
She spotted a broom in the corner and took a few passes, but there wasn’t anything underfoot that shouldn’t be there. She checked the cupboards, looked under the bed…no dust, no signs of mice. The cupboards were full with dry goods and snacks. It was the cleanest cabin she’d ever seen. Cleaner than her apartment since Maggie moved out, if she was honest.
Heavy footsteps landed on the porch boards and she hurried out of the bedroom to see TJ shoulder his way into the front room, his arms around a paper bag. He watched her closely and she sighed.
“I’m not going to hit you over the head with the cast-iron frying pan I found, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He grinned. “Good, ’cause we’ll need that for breakfast, and pancakes cook better in undented pans.”
She laughed. “Okay, we’ll talk about the abduction in more detail later. Can I help you put things away?”
The bottom of the paper bag he held gave way, sending the contents to the floor in a cascading avalanche. They both scrambled to catch things but in the end most of it ended up in a heap at their feet. She bent to help gather the scented candles, chocolates, massage oil, extra-large box of condoms… Heat raced over her as she held it up, staring at his bright red face.
“Got plans?”
He swallowed a few times nervously. “Only if you do.”
Oh lordy. She needed to regain a little control, and holding the evidence of what could happen very shortly was not making this any easier. She stepped back. “I think…I need some fresh air.”
“Why don’t you let me clean up and put stuff away? You can go…”