He turned and tested the wooden chair by the stove. It held his weight, but a heavier weight settled on her heart. He was the perfect man for her. Other than his unwillingness to love her, that was.
Boy, could she pick them.
There was a sharp crack of a rifle repeating. Gage jumped to his feet and grabbed his gun. Tern’s heart did a back flip. Not now. Not when they were warm and out of the elements.
They waited breathlessly for another shot and another, having decided when they’d left camp to keep to Mac’s warning shot patterns.
They didn’t move for a few minutes, and then Gage struggled into his jacket.
“You’re not going out there.”
“I have to. I know the other shots weren’t fired, but I need to know that they are okay.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, stay. It’s warm and dry in here. The only way in is through the front door. You can take out any threat before they cross the threshold.” He stared at her for a long minute before opening the door and walking through it, closing it behind him.
But how did she know which one of them was the enemy?
She palmed her pistol. She shouldn’t have let Gage go out there alone. There was no one to protect his back. Did the woman who’d lived here have the same thoughts about her man that Tern was having? Had he left, leaving her behind, and then never returned? Had she died of a broken heart? As surely as Tern knew the sun wasn’t setting tonight, she knew that if something happened to Gage, part of her would die too.
There weren’t any windows to peek out of. Just the door. As protection it worked both for and against. No one would get past her, but then she could be trapped with no way out.
Tern heard Nadia’s cry and her heart missed a beat. What the hell had happened now? She inched the door open. Gage and Robert flanked Nadia. Robert had a skinned animal by the feet. Nadia held her hands out in front of her, porcupine quills piercing her palms.
“Oh my,” Tern said, biting back her smile of relief at seeing them. “What happened?”
Robert was the first to answer, as Gage was having trouble speaking past his obvious need to laugh. “Nadia scared off the swans, but tripped on this little guy. She now has a higher respect for our needled friend here.”
While porcupine wasn’t Tern’s favorite animal, it would make a decent stew with the plants she’d already picked. She took the gutted and skinned carcass from Robert. She’d gladly handle the animal. Robert could take care of Nadia.
They entered the cabin, shaking the water from their hair and taking off their jackets, hanging them up to dry. Gage took out his Leatherman from his pocket and handed it to Robert.
“Thanks,” Robert said, the sarcasm coming out clearly in his tone.
“Don’t mention it,” Gage said, joining Tern in the corner of the kitchen. “Tell me you have more chores for me?” he asked under his breath.
Nadia screamed, making them all wince.
“Please,” Gage said, his eyes pleading.
“Water? Doesn’t look like Nadia washed my bowl or got me any water.”
“How the hell was I going to do that when the porcupine attacked me?” Nadia screeched.
Guess they could be heard no matter how low they kept their tones.
“Attacked you, huh?” Robert said. “That’s not how I saw it go down.”
“Well, that’s how this story is going to be retold. Got it?”
“Whatever you say, babe.”
“Don’t ‘babe’ me. That’s such a sexist thing. And an easy cover when you can’t remember who you’re screwing.”
Robert lowered his head toward her. “I said I was sorry for that. It was a slip. That’s all.”
“Right, I’d buy that if you called out your dead wife’s name, but not Tern’s.”
Did they have to revisit this subject?
“Uh…I’ll be back in a few,” Gage said, grabbing another bowl.
“Coward,” Tern muttered, wishing she could go with him. The cabin was way too small with all the baggage suddenly packed into it.
“Genius. Not coward,” Gage said.
She looked with envy at his retreating back.
“I really am sorry,” Robert said, blowing on the skin punctured by the quill he’d just pulled out.
“Yeah, whatever.” Nadia straightened her shoulders and looked away from what Robert was doing.
Tern took out her knife and began butchering the porcupine into small stew bites. She rolled them in flour and salt and pepper—salt and pepper! How’d she missed that the last few days. There wasn’t any oil, but she figured they’d have to do with the fat from the porcupine. She put a pan on the stove and let it heat. When it was hot, she added the porcupine, caramelizing the bits of meat. The sizzle had her stomach waking up. It had kind of shut down over the last few days of not eating much.
“You really need to wash your hands and disinfect them if we can,” Robert said.
“You see any disinfectant?” Nadia flicked a glance around the cabin. “Tell you what, why don’t you run down to the store and pick us up some.”
“You know, Nadia, I’ve apologized. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but being a bitch isn’t endeared you to any of us.”
Robert stood, the legs of the wooden chair strapping on the plank floor. “I’ll be outside.”
Robert shut the door behind him.
“Do you think I’m out of line?” Nadia asked Tern
“I don’t know. If a man did that to me, I’d probably react the same.” She couldn’t imagine how devastated she’d feel if Gage called out another woman’s name when she was with him. If Robert had, she knew she wouldn’t take it as hard, but she’d still be royally pissed.
“Sometimes it’s easy to hate you,” Nadia said.
“What?” Tern faced her.
“You seem to have everything together. Men, career, family.”
“I don’t have it all together, Nadia. Don’t be jealous of me.” Her heart hurt from the statement. “Tell me you don’t really feel that way?”
“It’s just that gathering men seems so easy for you. Look at the great men you’ve had in your life. Well, Robert might have missed the mark there, but Lucky was fun and cool. And Mac. Gage—” she sighed “—being with him, well…yes, I guess sometimes I am jealous.”
“I’ve lost all those men too,” Tern pointed out. There was a hole in her heart for each one of them, though Robert’s hole was more for his daughter than him. “There’s nothing about my relationships to be jealous of.” Especially, Gage’s. Now, if she’d been able to keep him, maybe.
“Sorry, Tern. I’ve just been so angry since Robert called out your name.”
“It doesn’t do you any good to focus on it. You seem to be losing it, Nadia. Somehow you got to keep it together a little longer. We’ll be home soon.”
“Right.” She didn’t sound convinced.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Gage gathered water and set it inside the cabin, then grabbed his bathing supplies from his backpack and headed right back outside.
“Think the coast is clear?” Robert said.
“You’re an ass, Robert.”
“I know.”
“How do you fuck the best friend of the woman you claim to love—right next to her? And then you mess up her name. Yeah, you’re an ass.” Gage shook his head, returning to the pond and stripping his clothes off. He was already wet and cold.
Robert saw what he was doing and did the same.
So much for some alone time.
The pond was clear and about the same temperature as the rain—which was more of a mist than a downpour—but it didn’t have him languishing over his bath. Besides, bathing with another guy gave him the willies.
A good scrubbing had him feeling more civilized and less mountain man. He tossed his soap to Robert, rinsed, and climbed out of the pond.
And found Tern.
At some point during his wash, she must have opened the cabin d
oor. She stood watching him, and the heat of her gaze had any ‘shrinkage’ problem from the cold pond water disappearing in a hurry. She didn’t turn her gaze away, her eyes roaming down every inch of his skin.
Damn, he loved that about her. She wasn’t embarrassed over his nudity, and she’d never been embarrassed over hers when she was with him. He suddenly remembered the morning she’d cooked omelets for breakfast wearing nothing but a dish-towel.
How the hell was he going to live without her as a part of his life?
“Move it, man,” Robert said. “I’m near frozen.”
Gage was anything but cold now. Robert caught Tern watching them and immediately covered himself. “Damn, woman, give a guy some notice.”
Tern ignored him, her attention centered on Gage. For a moment, he wished that this was his cabin and Tern his woman, and Robert and Nadia were anywhere but here.
Tern left the covered roof of the cabin and slowly sauntered toward him, her eyes never leaving his. Robert took one look at her and scowled. “You gotta be shittin’ me.”
“Get,” Gage ground out.
Robert was smart enough to grab his clothes and run for the cabin. Gage heard the door shut behind Robert, and wished he had the strength to turn away from her. Tern had him snared. Some magical power that swam in her rich Athabascan blood had him unable to glance away. She reached a fallen log and deposited a bundle of clothes and toiletries he hadn’t realized she carried.
The rain had finally stopped, but the air had turned foggy, leading a more enchanted flare to the glistening forests.
Tern toed off her shoes, bent and pulled off her socks.
He needed to move. Grab his clothes and follow Robert’s sorry ass into the cabin. But for some reason he no longer wanted to save himself from Tern. Part of him knew he’d been a goner this morning when he’d barely stopped himself from taking her in the cave, right next to Nadia and Robert. No matter how turned on he’d been, he wasn’t participating in an orgy with those two dingbats.
Tern straightened and his heart stuttered as she purposely strode toward him. There was a promise in her eyes that told him he’d better run now or he was hers forever.
A shiver danced over his skin.
Her fingers grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt, slowly pulling it off, leaving her bare from the waist up. He’d removed her bra earlier that morning when helping her dress and he’d tried all damn day to forget that she was bare under her top. Her honeyed breasts tightened with the cold but she didn’t seem to mind. Her nipples hardened to rosy buds, and his mouth watered. She flicked the button open to her cargo pants and dragged down the zipper. In one move, she stripped off her pants along with her underwear.
She was enchanting. She paused to free her hair from her braid, her hair flowing loose around her shoulders, and falling down her back.
He couldn’t move. All he could do was stare.
A few more steps and she reached him. In one fluid movement, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers.
Christ.
On a tortured sound, he clamped his arms around her, yanking her flush against him. Her breasts seared where they pressed against his chest. Her nipples stabbed. His heart pounded with fear and excitement. He needed to push her away, untangle her from around his body and his soul.
He never should have let her touch him.
How did he keep himself from being enslaved by her if he gave in and had her again? He’d be lost, forever hers.
As if knowing the direction of his thoughts, her hand snaked down between them and wrapped around his throbbing shaft. He groaned, thrusting into her tight grip.
Who the hell was he kidding? He was already hers. Had been from the moment he’d first seen her.
He’d done nothing but think of her, dream of her, miss her, wish for her. You name it. His world had consisted of Tern from the moment they’d met. There was nothing worth living without her.
He needed to tell her that.
After this morning, he’d known how deeply he’d hurt her, had hoped it would push her away. But here she was bringing him to climax with just the touch of her hand.
“Tern—”
“Shh.” Her mouth took his again as her hand increased the friction on his shaft until his eyes rolled back in his head.
He grabbed her hand, bringing the blissful motion to an end, and took a moment to drag air into his lungs, but then she squeezed her fist around him.
“God, Tern. Not like this.” He pried open her grip, and then buried his fingers in the heat between her legs. She whimpered, and her knees buckled. He grabbed her close to him again, keeping her from falling. “I need to come inside you. Later, if you want, you can have at me.”
Her startled eyes met his. She licked her lips. “Okay.”
Decision made, he gave in. He loved her, and he was too tired of fighting her, fighting himself, and fighting this.
Slowly he leaned down and gently kissed her, gliding over the softness of her full mouth. Her lips parted and yet he continued to innocently kiss her.
She bit his bottom lip.
Damn, he loved a woman who demanded what she wanted. He anchored his hands in her hair, and dived into the depths of her mouth, tangling with her tongue. She gasped and curved against him. They stood pressed against each other, naked in the damp air, surrounded by the lush Alaskan wilderness. An extreme paradise. They could be Adam and Eve, and he wished for one fleeting moment that they could stay here. Just the two of them. Forever.
He grabbed her ass in his palms and hiked her up, impaling her on his aching shaft. A cry of pleasure escaped Tern, and her head arched back. He refused to move, holding her suspended in his arms. He wanted time to adjust to her heat, her tightness, and give her time to adjust to him as well. As it was, he didn’t know how he remained standing with her wet heat holding him locked and sheltered within her body. He couldn’t resist nuzzling her throat, then traveling down her collarbone, to the sweet fullness of her breasts.
A raven cawed overhead. A slight rustling in the bushes signaled a small animal and reminded him that they weren’t totally alone. He strolled with her, lashed tight against him with his arms, enjoying the movement of each step as it raised and lowered her in a slow friction on his shaft. Soft, mewing sounds came from her throat, and she sank her head into the crook of his shoulder, her nails digging into his back. He wanted to grab her hips and thrust deep inside her. So deep that he left his own mark. Branded her as his woman.
Could he enslave her as she so easily seemed to enslave him?
He sank with her into the middle of the pond, her gasp echoing his. The heat of their bodies could have raised steam off the surface of the placid water. The water afforded them some privacy, not that it mattered, but more importantly it offered buoyancy. And since there wasn’t a bed nearby to fall into, he needed the extra help in order to take her the way his body demanded.
He wanted to hammer into her until his brain exploded, wanted to touch and mark every inch of her gold-dusted skin. She grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, using the lift of the water to piston herself over him. Her legs were a vice around his hips, holding him tight within her, as she took his mouth, her tongue spearing deep, while her body took his.
His hands caressed her breasts, squeezed. He captured a nipple between his fingers and tweaked hard, harder when she cried out and tightened her hands in his hair. Her hips moved faster on him, and he forgot about her beautiful breasts as the focus of his world centered on bringing her climax. He grasped her hips, taking control, bracing his feet farther apart and plunging inside her.
A cry broke free of her lips, and her head fell back, her throat exposed, her dark, raven hair, shot with fire, floating on the agitated surface of the water.
Feelings churned inside him. Tern’s breathing skipped and a long drawn out moan echoed in the stillness as she came, her inner muscles wringing out his own shout of pleasure as he held her tight against him and pulsed dee
p inside her.
Her head fell forward onto his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck. “Now that is the only way I want to bathe from now on.” She purred in his arms and he tightened them around her.
He chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.” He nuzzled her neck, loving how she arched giving him more access. He hadn’t spent a lot of time on the niceties of lovemaking the last few times they’d come together.
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked up from running kisses down Tern’s neck and saw Nadia watching them from the doorway of the cabin. A tremor of unease snaked through him.
He needed to come clean about her too.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“We have company,” Gage muttered.
Tern nestled deeper in his arms, wanting their time to last a little longer. She felt pleasantly buzzed. Gage’s skin was hot and slick along the length of hers, a nice contrast to the cool water brushing where his skin wasn’t touching hers. His hands continued to leisurely travel up and down her back, pausing to squeeze the cheeks of her ass with another small thrust as though he couldn’t help himself. He still lay heavy and hard inside her, causing her inner muscles to contract around him. Her hand dipped to his backside and his shaft pulsed inside her.
“Tern.” He growled, his mouth nibbled on her shoulder, and his hand cupped the underside of her breast. “Nadia’s right over there.”
Slivers of irritation intruded on the moment. While she hadn’t given a thought to Robert and Nadia catching her and Gage devouring each other, now that the haze of passion had cleared somewhat—give them a few minutes and that fog was bound to return—knowing Nadia was purposely watching had anger heating her blood. “Let her watch.” She reached up and kissed him.
Gage groaned and tore his mouth free. “Tern, there’s something I need to tell you about Nadia.”
“I don’t want to talk about her. I don’t want to talk about us. Hell, I don’t want to talk at all.” She pulled his mouth down again. This time he sank into her kiss, his hands getting back with the program of stroking her up and down like a cat. She liked it. Wanted more, wanted so much more loving from him that she couldn’t walk afterward.
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