by Doyle, S
Yeah. Still breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the smoke. We’d been tramping around this island for long enough that I’d started having doubts. Not sure what happened that he lost communication, but at least he’d managed to get himself and, no doubt, Olivia to safety.
“Okay, let’s get this rescue underway.”
Zeke had told us about the island’s cabin. Said Ark knew about it, too. Once it was obvious they weren’t on the rig, I had to figure this would have been Ark’s play. On his way back to the shore he must have realized he couldn’t make it through the ice floes. He would have taken the bird in hand, which was the island and the shelter.
“Why the hell didn’t he just stay on the rig?” Eli asked, pushing through the thicket and snow ahead of us. “That would have been a better shelter than this.”
“We’ll know when I ask him,” I told him.
We came to a clearing and I stopped as I spotted the cabin. Just where Zeke said it would be.
“Hey, Angel, hold up,” I told him.
“Why? We’ve got to get them and get back to the shore before nightfall. Temperature’s supposed to drop again.”
I sighed. And heard Jackson grunt behind me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw a rare smile on his lips. Yeah, he knew what I was thinking.
Ark and Olivia. Three nights, four days alone in a cabin. Either one of them was dead or…
“I’m thinking we might need to give them some advance notice. Let them know we’re out here.”
I could see Eli catch on because he started chuckling. This was why I brought only Eli and Jackson on this little rescue trip. I didn’t need anyone making snide comments about Olivia. Eli and Jackson knew the score between those two. They would be respectful of her, maybe even happy for them.
“If I’m thinking what you’re thinking,” Eli said, “then Jackson won the bet. You said before winter. I figured they were going to fight it out until spring.”
Jackson grunted.
“So how do we do this?” Jackson asked. “Do we just call out to them?”
“You think of a better idea?” I asked him.
“No.”
“This is going to be great,” Eli said, rubbing his hands together. Nearly gleeful at the idea of catching Ark literally with his pants down.
I got a little closer to the cabin and cupped my hands over my mouth.
“Yo! Ark! You in there?”
* * *
Ark
“Fuck, fuck.” I had Olivia on her knees, ass high in the air as I was drilling her from behind. “You’re so fucking wet and hot. I was wrong before. I think I can fuck you forever.”
“Harder,” she grunted at me. “All of it, Noah. I want all of it.”
I loved that, too. She liked my edge, wanted that side of me. I slammed into her and she screamed with pleasure. “That’s my girl. That’s my, Liv. God, I love watching you take my cock.”
“Yo! Ark! You in there?”
I froze at the sound. “Fuck, it’s Cal.”
Olivia whimpered. I knew she was close. So close. I couldn’t leave her now.
I leaned over and growled in her ear. “No noise, baby, but you got to get there quick.” I started thrusting inside her hard.
“Yeah, we’re in here! You need to give us a minute…uh, we’re finishing up a game of rummy!” I shouted. “Come for me, Liv,” I growled.
She was whimpering again so I leaned over and put my hand over her mouth. I used my other thumb to stroke her clit. I could feel her tensing around me. One more second and she’d get there.
“This is the slowest rescue in history!”
Angel. The fucking asshole. Ever since he’d hooked up with Shelby, he was nothing but this happy guy all the time. Probably thought this situation was hysterical.
“Shut the fuck up and stay back!”
I felt Liv start squeezing me from the inside, knew she was there, knew I had to leave her, but I didn’t. One last thrust and I was filling her pussy with my cum. I had this primal urge to shout like fucking Tarzan.
“Shit,” I cursed. Only neither one us had time to think about what I’d done. “Hurry.”
We scrambled into our clothes and I could see Olivia pulling up her hair and tucking it under her hat. I pulled on coat and took the jizz filled T-shirt we’d been using and stuffed it in the inside pocket.
When we were dressed and all evidence of our activities was put away, we looked at each other.
“How do I look?” she asked me.
Like she’d been fucked to within an inch of her life and was happy about that.
“Come on.” I reached for her hand then stopped.
No more touching. Not in front of the guys. Why that made me want to rip someone’s head off, I didn’t know.
I stomped to the door and opened it. A hundred feet away stood Eli, Cal and Jackson.
All of them were fucking smiling.
I flipped them the bird. Assholes.
10
Dyson’s Camp
Ark
I closed the door behind me and started down the hallway. Nothing was going to happen with Olivia here at the camp. I knew that. I just needed to see her and make sure she was okay.
I stopped when I saw Cal leaning against the wall that led to the hallway where Olivia’s room was.
“Cal,” I said.
“Ark.”
“You need me for something?” I asked, even though I knew he didn’t.
He knew I would go to her and he wanted to stop it. Because the optics wouldn’t be good. Us being stuck in a cabin for a few days was one thing. Me spending time in her room was another.
But the thought of him stopping me from seeing her made me want to throttle him.
“No, just wanted to remind you of the precarious situation Olivia has here at Dyson’s. We all like and respect her. Want to make sure it stays that way.”
“What makes you think that would change?” I said even though I could feel truth bubbling in my gut. It would be one thing if I was serious about Olivia. If we were in a relationship like Eli and Shelby or Jackson and Kate. The men would respect that. Respect that she was my woman.
If I was just fucking her…
“You going to make me spell it out?” Cal asked.
“No,” I snapped. “This isn’t what you think. I just need to make sure she’s okay.”
“You got ten minutes. And you keep her door open.”
“It isn’t right,” I said. “It’s not right that she has to go through this shit because she’s a woman.”
He came up to me and slapped me on the shoulder. “No, it isn’t. But she’s a smart woman and she knows what being the only woman up here means. Don’t put her in a situation where she has to choose between you and the job.”
I nodded. “I’m leaving with her tomorrow morning to go to Anchorage. Plan to stay a few days if that’s okay.”
“Yep. Rig is under control for now. No fires at the moment. Talked to Frank earlier. The meeting at corporate is set for noon. Want me with you?” Cal asked.
“No, I can handle it. He’s just going to chew me up and spit me out.”
“You did cost him a couple million dollars by blowing his best well,” Cal snorted.
“Or saved him millions by not allowing the rig to blow up,” I pointed out.
“Yeah. Good luck making that argument. In the end, they can’t fire you and they know it. Let them beat you up and scream about profits and try not to swing back so hard. Got it?”
“Got it.” He started to walk past me when I stopped him. “Cal,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “It’s not what you think. Between me and Olivia. It’s…”
Fuck me. I didn’t know what it was. I only knew I needed to see her.
“It’s complicated? Yeah,” he drawled. “Because I wouldn’t know anything about things being complicated with a woman.”
I winced and thought of Vivienne. Vivienne who we had brought to Hope’s Point. Viv
ienne who was currently making a mess of Cal’s life even if she didn’t realize it. Even if I thought maybe that was a good thing for Cal, I wasn’t about to share it with him.
“Ten minutes,” Cal reminded me, then turned the corner and walked away.
I walked to Olivia’s door and knocked. I was surprised by how quickly she opened it. Almost as if she’d been waiting for me to come to her.
Showered, wearing new casual clothes, her dark hair all blown out, she took my breath away.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” She opened the door and took a step back so I could come in.
“Don’t close the door,” I said, stopping her as she began to do just that. She nodded as she understood what I was telling her.
I couldn’t touch her. I couldn’t kiss her. Nothing. Either she was mine. Or she was untouched. She couldn’t be something in between. I knew that and she knew that. At least she did now.
“I wanted to check on you.” I wanted to throw her on the bed and have her again. It had been hours since I had been inside her and it felt like days, months.
She stood as far away from me as she could in the small bedroom. Her arms crossed over her chest. Not defensive, more like she wanted to touch me, too, and knew she couldn’t.
“I’m okay.”
There wasn’t anything else to say. She was safe. She didn’t need me for food, fire or shelter. There was absolutely no reason for me to be in this room.
“I, uh…have your T-shirt.”
She smiled. “I’m going to say you can throw that out.”
Right. Not likely something she would ever wear again.
“Meeting is set with corporate tomorrow,” I told her. Something she probably already knew but it gave me another moment with her.
“Yep. I’ll have your back.”
“Don’t worry about my back. I’ll have the numbers on my side. I had no choice.”
She nodded.
“I’m going to take a few days off. Stay in Anchorage.”
“Oh.” Her eyes got wide and I wish to fuck I knew what she was thinking. “That’s nice.”
Nice? Did she not understand I needed her to invite me to stay with her? Unless she didn’t want that. Unless what had happened at the cabin had been an aberration for her and, now that it was over, she assumed we would go back to normal.
Back to normal?
How the hell were we supposed to do that?
Or maybe she thought I was pushing too hard. Making too many assumptions. Maybe she thought we should do something normal in our relationship for once.
“We could get dinner or something. After the meeting.”
“Yes,” she said quickly. Her hand lifting to her mouth as if she was going to bite down on the pad of her thumb but caught herself before she did. “Dinner. That would be good. I like dinner. Huge fan. Newfound love of rabbit.”
Okay, that was something. She was nervous, like I was nervous. We would go to Anchorage, far away from Dyson eyes and we would have dinner and talk.
Because while I’d never done the serious relationship thing, wasn’t sure I was capable of it, if I was going to try…it couldn’t all be about fucking. Even I knew that.
“Okay,” I said after a moment of awkward silence. “I’ve got to go.”
I turned and started to leave when she stopped me.
“Noah,” she said, rushing up to me. Reaching for my arm, before she caught herself and clasped both hands together. “Uh, I wanted to say thank you. For everything you did out there. I mean…the fire and the rabbit.”
“I made a stupid call and put you in that situation in the first place. Nothing to thank me for, Liv.”
“We made a stupid call,” she corrected me.
“We.” It was crazy, but I really liked the sound of that. “See you tomorrow. We’ll need to get an early start.”
She nodded. “Goodnight, Noah.”
“Night, Liv.”
I forced myself to walk away. Forced myself to close the door behind me with her on the other side. Forced every fucking step away from her to get to my own room.
I laid in bed all night staring at the ceiling, feeling like I was missing a piece of my body.
All or nothing. That’s the only way it could be between me and Olivia. I had never considered what all meant with a woman. My dad had had it all with my mom, until she died. Now he was a ghost of himself. My sister had it all with her husband only he was away from her six months out of the year, which had to suck. I didn’t think either one of those reasons were why I had been gun-shy when it came to relationships. I always figured it was just part of my nature. I wasn’t soft and I was cautious. Always cautious about the people in my life.
Olivia had somehow snuck in under my skin. So no, I didn’t know what all would look like with her.
I only knew the nothing part. That fucking blew.
* * *
Olivia
The knock came early as I expected. Doogie would fly us to Nome and from there we would catch the 10:40 to Anchorage. It was going to get us there in time for the meeting, but it was tight enough I didn’t think I could get changed at my place before being at headquarters by noon.
Which meant Noah was probably not going to be happy with me.
I opened the door and waited for his reaction.
Pencil skirt, slim pumps, silk blouse and suit coat. I was corporate boardroom ready.
He looked me up and down and practically growled at me.
Yep, not happy.
He, on the other hand, was dressed as normal.
“You should wear a tie,” I said in advance of getting any grief from him.
“I don’t do ties,” he said, his eyes still on my legs and shoes.
“Well, corporate likes them. Given that you have to explain the loss of a multi-million-dollar, oil-producing well, you might want to play on their terms.”
“You can do that for me. Now, let’s get out of here before I push you back in that room and rip that prissy, silk blouse off you.”
“It’s not prissy,” I snapped. “It’s professional. And don’t growl at me just because…just because…”
I stopped myself from saying just because he didn’t get laid last night. My level of frustration was no less obvious. Turns out I liked getting fucked by Noah Aikens. A lot.
However, with the rules he’d established last night, I had no idea if it was ever going to happen again.
Except he had suggested dinner and he was staying in Anchorage for a few days. That had to mean something.
Maybe he just wants to let you down easy. You can’t make a scene in a restaurant.
He didn’t press me to finish my statement, probably because he knew what I was going to say. “Let’s go.”
I grabbed my long coat to cover my legs and grabbed the handle of the suitcase I’d packed.
“What’s that?” he asked pointing at it.
“My suitcase,” I said, not sure why he was asking something so obvious. Then it occurred to me he’d never flown with me to Anchorage. “I won’t be back here for at least a month baring any more surprises. So I take all my clothes back to do laundry. I don’t like the detergent you guys use up here.”
He growled like I’d offended him.
“What?” I asked exacerbated.
“Nothing.” He took the suitcase from me and hitched on his shoulder what he’d brought with him as an overnight bag. I didn’t think about fighting him. Not in his surly mood.
“Sleep okay last night?” he asked me.
“Like a baby,” I lied.
What was I supposed to tell him? That after three nights of sleeping in his arms, I was spoiled. That I felt adrift and alone. That there had been no less than five times when I got out of bed with the intention of heading to his room just so I could have his arms around me again.
“You?” I asked.
“Yep. Great.”
Jerk.
* * *
Olivia
&
nbsp; The flight to Anchorage was uneventful, but it was, as I suspected, going to be tight on time.
“I’ll get us a rental,” he said as we made our way through the airport. Which was small by most U.S. city standards, but when you compared it to a stretch of runway in Hope’s Point, it seemed pretty big.
“No need. I have my truck here.” I wiggled the keys I dug out of my purse.
“I’m driving.”
“My truck, my keys, I’m driving.”
“Olivia,” he snarled at me.
“Noah,” I tried to snarl back. “I’m very particular about my seat position. I don’t want you moving it and messing it all up. If my ego could survive all the things you did for me in the cabin, your ego can survive being driven by a woman.”
“Don’t talk about the cabin,” he said.
That hurt. That he wanted to completely shut down the time we’d shared. So much he must have seen in it on my face.
“I just meant…” he said, getting closer to me. “I don’t want to be hard during a damn board meeting and I will be if I think about the cabin.”
Hookay. That was certainly a different reason for not wanting to talk about the cabin. Maybe that time together had affected him like it affected me?
But yesterday with him not wanting me to shut my door, he was basically telling me that I was back to being off-limits. Someone who couldn’t touch him. Someone he couldn’t touch.
There was no other meaning for those actions.
We stood there for a moment, with his face just above mine. Since I was in heels, his lips were within reach. If I stretched a little, we could be kissing again…
“Olivia,” he growled. “Do. Not. Tempt. Me.”
I pulled away. “Right. Of course. We need to go.”
In the end he grumbled about it some more, but he let me drive.
11
Dyson Headquarters
Ark
She was impressive as hell and, not for the first time, I was blown away by her.