Perrie splayed her fingers over the front of his jeans, tracing the hard ridge of his erection beneath the taut denim. He sucked in a sharp breath and moaned softly, a wordless plea for more. Emboldened, she stroked him, teasing him until he pushed her hand away.
As quickly as she had gained it, she lost her power and he took control. He tugged at her sweater and with a soft oath yanked it over her head. As if a floodgate had been opened, they began to tear at each other's clothes, tossing away the barriers between them with each piece of clothing.
When they were both naked from the waist up, he suddenly stopped. He stared down at her and with a sure hand cupped her breast in his palm. Then, with exquisite patience, he slid down along her body, his lips and hands branding a path as he moved from her shoulder to her breast, to her waist, to her backside.
Desire built inside her with every tender caress and she could think of nothing more than total surrender. And when he knelt in front of her, he finished the job he had begun, undressing her with great patience and restraint, his mouth exploring every inch of newly exposed flesh… her toes, her ankles, the curve of her calf and the soft skin of her inner thigh.
Perrie braced her hands on his shoulders, his muscles bunching and shifting beneath her fingers as he moved. And when she stood naked before him, she felt her pulse quicken and her breath disappear. There was no way to go back now, no thought of escape. For this moment, she belonged to Joe, utterly and entirely, without fear or regret.
He advanced again, across her belly, nibbling and kissing, moving lower and lower until his tongue penetrated the moist core of her desire. Her knees buckled and she cried out his name as wave after wave of pure sensation raced through her body. He eased her back on the bed, drawing his hand along the length of her, from neck to hip, the heat from his fingers marking her skin.
There was no other man for her, now or ever. After this night, she would never again feel this surge of passion or the power of his touch. She would grow old knowing that only one man had seen to the very depths of her soul, had driven all inhibition from her body, and had possessed her in the most intimate way.
With Joe, she had become a woman, not just in name, but in the very heart of her being. Beneath his touch, she came alive, transformed by the pleasure they took in each other. She arched against him, his hair soft between her fingers as his tongue continued to work its magic. Coherent thought slipped from her mind and all that remained was pure pleasure.
With each stroke, the tension in her core grew until she twisted beneath him, aching for her release. Again and again, he brought her close, but then drew her back from the edge with delicious care. Frustrated, she tugged at his hair, pulling him back, impatient with this game he played. "Enough," she said.
A lazy smile curled his mouth and he watched her through half-hooded eyes. "What do you want? Tell me."
"I want you," Perrie said. "Inside of me."
He stood and skimmed his jeans and boxer shorts down over his hips, kicking them off with bare feet. Then he turned and rummaged through his duffel until he found a small foil package.
Biting her lower lip, she held out her hand and he placed the condom in her palm. Raising herself up to sit on the edge of the bed, she gazed at him, taking in the ripe beauty of his body, taut muscle and hard desire, a silken shaft of steel. With trembling fingers, she sheathed him, and then together, they tumbled back onto the soft bed.
He settled his hips between her legs and she closed her eyes and lost herself in the feel of their bodies, skin against skin. Smooth muscle met soft flesh, hard desire probed moist heat, and two bodies slowly became one.
Nothing had prepared her for the power of their coupling. As he drove inside of her, she lost all sense of reality and, instead, spun on a vortex of overwhelming pleasure. The blood burned in her veins and soft, incoherent cries escaped her throat with each thrust. Nerves tingled deep inside of her, and as he moved faster, the tension grew.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, and all at once she felt herself soar toward her release. Her muscles tensed and she stopped breathing, and then it came, surging through her and pooling at the place where they were joined. He cried out at the same time and she dug her nails into his back as he gave himself over to her.
She lost all sense of time. Seconds were marked by heartbeats and minutes by soft gasps for breath. As they drifted back to reality, her thoughts cleared and she felt a warm sense of contentment. This was her reality now. She had loved a man as she had loved no other. Later, in the dark of night, she could think about all that she was going to lose. But for now, she and Joe were together.
She waited for him to say something, but he didn't. He just pulled her into the curve of his body and wrapped his arms around her, so tight that she wondered how he'd ever let her go.
It was as if he were waiting for her to speak, to tell him what she felt. Perrie closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, pretending to sleep in the hopes that she might stave off any passionate declarations. But that was not to be, for a long while later, in the silence of the night, Joe drew her closer.
"I love you, Perrie," he murmured, his warm lips pressed against her shoulder. "And I know you love me."
Hours later, long after Joe had drifted into sleep, Perrie still lay awake. Though morning approached, the room was dark. She slipped out of bed and gathered her clothes, then silently dressed. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't draw her gaze away from him. He looked so sweet, so vulnerable, the sheets twisted through his limbs, his hair mussed.
But this was all a dream. That's what she had to keep reminding herself. For the past two weeks, she'd lived someone else's life, a woman she barely knew. With a man she barely knew. She couldn't change the rest of her life just because she had let herself get lost in a fantasy for a short time.
With all the courage she possessed, Perrie took one last look at Joe, then turned and walked to the door. Everything would be all right. She would be able to put this all behind her once she got back to Seattle.
Chapter Ten
When Joe woke up the next morning, she was gone. He had almost expected her to stay. But then, what had passed between them probably had meant even less to her than he had imagined. Like a fool, he had waited around at the resort until noon, hoping that she would return. But by then she was halfway to Seattle, and he knew the odds were not in his favor.
He'd seen the last of Perrie Kincaid. In a few days she'd be happily back in the midst of Seattle's underworld, chasing wise guys and dodging bullets. Hell, how could he blame her? Muleshoe must have seemed as dull as dust in comparison. Spaghetti feeds, dogsled races, endless cold and snow. There were times when the place drove him a little crazy, too.
He had packed his bags and left for the small airstrip on the west side of Cooper shortly after noon. As soon as he'd gotten up in the air, he'd turned the plane toward Muleshoe. But he'd known there would be no relief at home, for everywhere he'd turned he would see Perrie-in her cabin, with the dogs, trudging through the woods on a pair of old snowshoes. And later, when he finally put an end to this day, when he lay in bed alone, he would see her in different ways, naked in his arms, her body flushed with passion, her eyes filled with need.
The fire snapped, sending a shower of sparks over the hearth and bringing Joe back to the present. He slouched down on the sofa and turned his attention to his flight log. Now that he was back at the lodge, the reminders seemed almost overwhelming. Nothing he did could put her out of his head.
He had been a fool to fall in love with her. In all the time he'd lived in Alaska, he'd never once allowed himself to need a woman. And then Perrie was dropped on his doorstep, and within days he'd fallen, and fallen hard. Yet through it all, he'd ignored one basic fact. She never wanted to be in Alaska. Perrie Kincaid belonged in Seattle.
Odd how the cards fell. Until five years ago, Joe had lived in the same city, had driven on the same streets and dined at the same restaurants. And then he had decided to
change his life, to look for new adventures in the Alaskan wilderness. Only to fall in love with a woman from a life he'd left behind.
"Hey, what are you doing back here? I thought you and Perrie were spending the weekend at the Hot Springs."
Joe twisted on the sofa and saw Tanner standing in the middle of the great room, a power drill in his hand. "Well, things don't always go as planned."
Tanner crossed the room and sat down on the end of the coffee table. "Is she gone?"
Joe nodded.
"You told her about her boss's call?"
A cynical chuckle was all he could manage. "I didn't have to. She left on her own. Hired a pilot within an hour of our arrival at Cooper and then took off the next morning. No goodbyes, no 'see you soon,' nothing."
Tanner sighed and rubbed his palms on his knees. "Hey, buddy, I'm sorry."
The flight log snapped shut and Joe straightened.
"Well, don't be. I should have known better. I mean, it's not like she chose to come up here. She was forced into it."
"And she didn't choose to fall in love with you?"
"She wasn't in love with me," Joe replied, shaking his head. "If she were, she would have stayed."
"Not necessarily. Julia didn't."
"Julia's different. She's not as… difficult."
Tanner laughed. "You don't know the half of it, Brennan."
"There just wasn't much chance for Perrie and me. I should have realized that, but I got caught up in something neither one of us really thought out."
"So, you're just going to let it go?"
Joe considered Tanner's question for a long moment, then nodded once. "Yep." He got up from the sofa and gathered the papers he'd spread around him on the cushions. "I've got to make a run up to Fort Yukon. I think I'll spend the night there."
"What if she calls?" Tanner asked.
"She won't call." Joe grabbed his jacket from the back of the sofa, tucked the flight log under his arm and headed for the door.
When he reached the solitude of the outdoors, he drew a deep breath and looked up at the sky. But against his will, his gaze was drawn to Perrie's cabin. A vision of her flashed in his mind and he pushed it aside with a soft oath. He needed to get back up in the air. Once he was flying, he could clear his thoughts.
But something pulled him toward her cabin and he slowly trudged up the hill, knowing that he'd only revive more memories. He stopped once at the bottom of the steps, then continued to the door and walked inside.
The cabin was just as she'd left it. Julia hadn't known that Perrie wasn't returning, so she hadn't called Edna to clean it. He crossed to the kitchen and picked up a coffee mug, running his fingers over the handle as if he might still feel the warmth of her hand, but it was as cold as the air that filled the room.
He set the cup down, then wandered over to the bed. The pillow still smelled of her shampoo, sweet and fruity. He could almost feel her hair between his fingers, silken strands of fiery auburn. And they'd slept in this bed just two nights ago and-Joe cursed softly. Was it necessary to torture himself? There were plenty of regrets to go around. He didn't have to dredge them up.
"I have to get out of here," he muttered, throwing the pillow back on the bed.
He strode from the cabin and headed toward the shed. As requested, Burdy had loaded five crates of building supplies into the back of the pickup, supplies that had been delivered from Fairbanks by another bush pilot. Joe had planned to fly them up to Fort Yukon after he and Perrie returned from Cooper Hot Springs. But now he could make his delivery early and have an excuse to get away from the lodge.
Hell, maybe he'd just keep flying, hopping from airstrip to airstrip until he managed to purge Perrie Kincaid from his head. He'd go south or east. Maybe he'd find a warm place, an island somewhere, with beautiful women and endless bottles of rum. Or he could fly to a city and lose himself in the midst of crowds, of people and concrete buildings.
Joe jumped in the truck and started the engine, then carefully wove through the trees on the narrow, snow-packed drive. He sped through Muleshoe and headed out of town for the airstrip, ignoring the flood of memories that came with each familiar landmark in town.
The Super Cub was still warm from his trip back from Cooper. He loaded the crates, then glanced at his watch. He had plenty of time to make Fort Yukon before dark.
He steered the Cub out onto the runway and increased the throttle. The plane took off in an instant, lifting up into the air before he'd covered half the airstrip. Joe closed his eyes as he climbed into the sky, the whine of the plane's ascent like a balm to his nerves.
He banked north, the wilderness spreading out in front of him. He could lose himself in Alaska as easily as he could lose himself anywhere else. And if he flew far enough and high enough and long enough, maybe then he'd forget her.
Perrie stared at her computer screen, watching the cursor blink until her eyes began to cross. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. Maybe she should have stayed at home instead of coming in to the office. She'd left Alaska at sunrise and it was now nearly eight in the evening. But she'd been away for so long. The sooner she got back into her daily routine, the sooner she could put the last two weeks behind her.
Besides, she had to finish the brides story. It hung over her like a dark cloud, filled with flashes of memory and rumblings of regret. She couldn't think of her time in Muleshoe without thinking of him-and all they'd shared. And the brides story was part of that.
Him. Maybe if she didn't call him by name, he wouldn't seem so real. Perhaps she could learn to look at Joe Brennan as nothing more than a brief passage in her life, a vague remembrance, part of a story she'd soon put to bed.
But no matter how hard she tried, Joe refused to become anything less man a living, breathing man who intruded on her thoughts again and again. The memories were so vivid and so alive that she could still feel his skin beneath her palms, still taste his mouth against hers, still hear his soft moans in her-
"Kincaid! You're back."
Blinking hard, Perrie snapped herself out of the daydream, almost thankful for the distraction. She straightened in her chair, mentally steeling herself for one of Milt Freeman's rants. Her editor would not be happy to see her, but he'd have to deal with it. There was no way she'd let him send her back to Alaska. She was here and she planned to stay.
Perrie turned to smile at him, but to her surprise, he seemed genuinely happy to see her. Where was the man who demanded that she be banished to the wilderness? Where was the man so set on protecting her? "I am back, Milt."
He patted her on the shoulder. "Ah, Kincaid. I've missed you. I thought you'd be back sooner."
"Well, I would have. But I was stuck in Muleshoe, thanks to you. I tried to leave. Unfortunately, your pal Joe Brennan made sure there was no way out of town."
"Good man, that Brennan. I knew I could trust him with the job."
"He got the job done, all right," she said.
"When I called the other day, Joe's partner said you two were out. So, you and Brennan got along?"
"Yeah, we got along." The last person she wanted to blather on about was Brennan. It was bad enough that her thoughts were filled with him. She didn't need Milt bringing his name up in conversation every-Perrie frowned. "You called the lodge?"
"Yeah. Evening before last. The FBI arrested Riordan and Dearborn. Case against them is solid. I thought you'd be here yesterday so we could get your piece in the Monday morning edition. I had to have Landers write the initial story. By the way, where is all your research? I went through your-"
"They got Riordan and Dearborn? But how could they? I took all my evidence with me."
"They're the FBI, Kincaid. They specialize in catching crooks and they had all kinds of evidence of their own. They've been on to Dearborn longer than you have. And once you were safely out of the way, they could finally do their job."
Perrie frowned. "If you hadn't sent me to Muleshoe, I would have broken that story. I
was…" She paused. "You called the lodge on Saturday evening?"
"Isn't that what I said?"
"What exactly did you tell them?"
"I said it was all right for you to come back. O'Neill said he'd let Brennan or you know right away. I figured you'd have Brennan fly you out the minute you heard. So where the hell were you? And when can I have your story?"
Perrie's mind raced. Joe must have known it was all right for her to go home to Seattle. After they'd returned from the Muleshoe Games, he had stopped at the lodge. Had Tanner given him the message then? And if he had, why hadn't Joe passed it along to her?
A single thought raced through her mind. Had he wanted her to stay? Perrie buried her face in her hands and rubbed her tired eyes again, trying to make some sense of the situation.
Since she'd left Alaska, something had been niggling at her brain, but she hadn't been able to put it into words. Now it suddenly became clear. He hadn't told her that she could leave. And when she had left, he hadn't even tried to stop her. In fact, he'd almost opened the door and let her go. He'd known it was all right for her to return; he'd known since they'd slept together the night before.
"He just wanted to have sex!" she cried, not realizing until too late that she'd spoken out loud.
"Who wanted to have sex?"
Perrie shook her head and waved distractedly at Milt. Brennan had kept the news from her deliberately. She frowned. But then, she'd been the one to show up at his door. Had she stayed in her own room, they never would have made love that night at the resort.
Love. The word rang in Perrie's head. He had said the words while she had pretended to be asleep. I love you, Perrie, and I know you love me. At the time, she'd brushed them off, thinking mat they were empty of meaning outside the bedroom.
But what if Brennan was speaking from his heart? What if he truly loved her? "But if he loved me, why did he let me leave?" she said.
Dodging Cupid's Arrow Page 17