Erika just hoped he’d taught them enough about survival in these winter conditions.
“It’s possible we could lose contact with the station, so if you don’t hear from us in a while, don’t panic. And no one else rush out into the trails for their own search. Having to find you as well will only make this more difficult,” Reed said, obviously reading the man’s on-edge, eager demeanor properly.
“You expect us to sit around here and wait while our kids are missing?” he said, moving closer to Reed.
Reed’s six-foot frame towered over the other man, but the guy had at least twenty pounds on him.
Erika shot a worried look at Tank, but he was briefing the crew members as several others arrived.
“Yes,” Reed told the father. “I do. You’re more help to us here, answering questions and not giving us all more to worry about. Keep trying their cell phones. Call other friends and family to see if anyone has heard from them. You’re more help to us and your kids by staying put. For now, at least.”
Erika swallowed hard. For now. She knew if the search went on too long and entered a critical time it would be all hands on deck and everyone would quickly become a volunteer, searching the safer regions led by an experienced rescuer.
“But...” the man started.
“Honey, Reed is right,” a small woman said, touching her husband’s arm. “We’ll wait here,” she told Reed.
Reed nodded. “Thank you.” He started to turn toward the group of rescuers but the woman grabbed his hand. “Please, please find our son.”
Erika looked away. It was too hard to watch. She’d had families plead with her in the past, early in her career, to save a loved one and it put a lot of pressure on. She never knew what to say. She couldn’t promise anything and therefore she could rarely offer the comfort they sought. Not having the answers for them had eventually caused her to retreat from dealing with the families. Now, she left that communication to the assisting surgeon or head nurse. Someone better at it than she was.
But Reed hugged the woman quickly and whispered, “I’ll bring him back to you, I promise.”
She swallowed hard. Fear made her chest tighten. She had no idea what to expect once their search began. Was she really ready for this? Reed was right—the injured skier was nothing like a real rescue.
“You have the best of the best heading out there. Try to relax as much as you can and think of anything else that could help the search,” Tank said, taking the woman by the shoulders and leading her back to her husband.
A moment later the search officially began, and eight hours after that, the only thing keeping Erika awake was pure adrenaline. Freezing cold wind whipped through her jacket and pierced her skin like needles. Dampness in the air chilled her to the bone. Despite her thick gloves, her fingers hurt and her toes were numb even in the extra pair of minus forty winter boots Tank had given her at the station. Every minute felt like hours. A shiver ran through her and her blood ran cold. How could anyone survive out here in this weather?
Luckily the teens had been camping. According to their parents, they had packed all the right supplies to keep them warm and safe in unpredictable weather and they had enough food and water to survive days.
Still, the concern on Reed’s face as each hour ticked by with no sign of the kids or their campground made her feel that she was right to be worried. At first, he’d been confident and calm as they’d headed out toward the camping grounds the kids had reserved, but now she could tell he was starting to question the reassurance he’d given the mother.
They’d slowly trekked through the area for hours. They’d walked the trails surrounding the campsites. Talked to other campers in nearby areas. No one had seen the kids that day...or at all that week.
That wasn’t a good sign. The teenagers hadn’t been completely honest with their parents about this trip. Suddenly any predictability they’d had based on the teens’ plans disappeared. They could be anywhere.
Man, she’d never really thought about having kids of her own and she certainly hadn’t been able to identify with the parents back at the station, but obviously her maternal instinct wasn’t completely buried—she wanted to strangle these kids herself...after she hugged them...if they found them.
When. When they found them. She had to stay positive.
Wind howled through the trees, blowing her hair into her face, but she could barely feel the strands brush against her frozen cheeks. Her respect for the search and rescue crew grew exponentially with each passing second. She was a visitor to this way of life. They did it all the time, whenever they were needed.
Reed expertly led the team on the search. He seemed to know every inch of these woods and he was making decisions on the most probable actions of the teens. He was alert and focused and seemed to anticipate the needs of his crew members before they even knew what they needed. He wasn’t letting the stress affect him and yet he was sympathetic and understanding to the crew members whose anxiety was on display. He was nothing short of amazing, and she was just trying to keep it together.
“How are you doing?” he asked. Moments ago, he’d stopped their combing the backwoods trail at a snail’s pace. He poured her a mug of coffee and handed it to her.
“I’m fine,” she lied, taking a sip before handing it to him. The weak, lukewarm, hours-old coffee would do nothing to keep her awake and alert. Where was her intern with her double shot of espresso when she needed him?
She wondered what Darren would think of her in that moment. If he knew she was out there... What would her father think? Unfortunately, she knew the answer to that one.
Reed tossed back the liquid in one gulp and then, opening his backpack, he cracked two new hand-warmer packs against his thigh and handed them to her. “Stuff these inside your boots.”
“Reed, seriously I’m fine.” By now, she wasn’t sure she still had toes anyway. And she didn’t want to hold up the search. As it was, her lack of expertise and skill on these missions might be hindering the team, and that was the last thing she wanted.
“My toes are freezing and my boots are thicker than yours. If you insist on staying out, you need to take care of yourself or you won’t be much use to us.”
He had a point. “Thank you,” she said, taking them.
“You’re welcome,” he said, touching her shoulder briefly before going to check on the others.
Stuffing the packs deep into her boots, instant heat filled the space and circulation returned to her toes, the warmth expanding into her legs, as well. She prayed the missing teens had enough foresight to have these on hand.
Then she thought of Cassie. Her friend led groups out here in the wilderness all the time. She obviously knew how to be prepared and how to handle these elements, but still Erika worried about her. She’d be glad when Cass was home.
In silence, listening for any sound near or in the distance, they continued to comb through the dark, eerie trails. As night had fallen, the temperature had plummeted and the only saving grace was that it was too cold for the forecasted snow to start and hinder the search further.
As she scanned the woodsy areas on the left, she forced herself not to think about the what-ifs in this situation or how worried the parents must be with every new hour that passed.
Instead, she allowed herself to think about the man next to her. The brave, intelligent, sexy man who only appealed to her more and more as she spent time with him, got to know him. She was glad he’d allowed her to come along on the rescue, otherwise she’d be worried to death about him by now.
Was his chosen profession another reason he was still single? She could understand if it was. Being in a relationship with someone as selfless as Reed could make for a lot of sleepless nights. But she understood that drive to sacrifice oneself. While her career wasn’t as dangerous as Reed’s, she understood sacrifice for the greater good.
Their
personalities couldn’t be more different, but they were a lot more alike than either of them would have predicted. Alike in ways that mattered...ways that just might be enough for a relationship to survive.
Relationship? She glanced at him quickly. If she’d ever contemplated having one, it was now. With him. But would she still feel the same when she returned to her life in Anchorage?
A moment later, Reed’s radio sounded with the words everyone had been hoping to hear. “Teenagers located on south side of High Ridge.”
She breathed a sigh of relief along with several other support team members. Reed continued to communicate with Wade, getting the exact coordinates before turning to them. “About a mile south of here. All four are safe. Minor injuries.”
The look of relief on his face tempted her to reach out and touch him, but they had an audience and teens who still needed help.
* * *
THE OUTCOME OF every rescue was always uncertain. Weather conditions, how long the search went on, the preparedness of the people who were lost—all played a role in whether or not it was a success. This time it was, and Reed’s energy shifted from anxious adrenaline to a steady determination to get the teens out of the cold and back to safety as quickly as possible.
His promise to their families had weighed heavy on his shoulders throughout the search. He knew he shouldn’t have, but he’d been unable to leave the station, to leave those parents, without some sort of hope. He knew what it was like to lose someone. To search for someone. To feel that dread and uncertainty, and he’d wanted to offer some reassurance to help ease their minds and hearts.
Now it was the teens who should be nervous. High Ridge was known as the stoner campground and it wasn’t where they’d told their parents they’d be camping. But that was up to them to deal with once they were back. His job was to bring them back safely, not save them from being grounded.
Arriving at the rescue site, he visually assessed the four teens and their surroundings. A tent was up but the fire next to it had burned out a while ago. The dampness in the air making it hard to sustain even a small blaze. A pot still sat on a small portable stove, so at least they’d eaten recently.
Wade and Tyler had them wrapped in thermal blankets and each held a steaming mug of hot water. “Injuries?” he asked.
“A few cuts and bruises but mostly just exhaustion and dehydration. They only had three liters of water and one filter that malfunctioned. No way to melt snow as they dropped some of their gear farther back to lighten their load when the high altitude and added miles started to take their toll,” Wade said.
Discarding essential gear was never the right course of action, but now wasn’t the time for a lecture. Radioing their location in to the station, he requested assistance from three ski patrol units. He wanted them all out together and quickly. “And let the parents know all four are safe,” he said.
“Where are they?” He heard a male voice in the background of Tank’s radio. No doubt the aggressive father.
“The parents want to know where they are,” Tank repeated.
Reed hesitated. “They will be safe soon enough. Tell them to sit tight.” He’d let the kids disclose their location to their parents themselves. Give them a chance to come clean and sort things out. After all, he had no proof the kids were up to no good and he’d give them the benefit of the doubt.
“What can I do?” Erika asked, approaching.
Having her out there with him had been a source of comfort and yet had elevated his anxiety. Taking care of his search crew was number one priority for him...taking care of her soared straight to the top, surpassing everything.
Keeping a level head with her so close had been challenging. He hated that he was putting her safety at risk. It was dark, freezing and she wasn’t dressed properly or trained for long periods in the wild. His protective nature had to be kept in check several times.
He’d been out there to find the teens and he’d needed to focus on that, but now that they were found safe, he was happy she was there. “There are no injuries to treat,” he said, unable to resist the temptation to rub her arms gently. He couldn’t wait to get her back to warmth and the safety of his arms.
“Just put me to work. Whatever you need,” she said, seeming to have caught a second wind as relief flowed over the group. “Should I help Tyler and Wade pack up?”
“Um...” The idea of her working closely with Tyler didn’t appeal to him. He glanced around. One of the teens was off by himself, away from the group. Sitting by a tree, he swayed back and forth, his gaze straight ahead, locked on nothing. Reed could see his body trembling, despite the blanket.
“That kid seems to be going into shock.” It wasn’t uncommon in these situations that fear could take over, even once the lost were found. “Can you sit with him? Maybe just talk to him until the ski patrol units arrive?”
She looked like she’d rather set a bone, but she nodded. “Sure.”
As he continued his contact with the station and directed his crew, he watched her from the corner of his eye...
He’d given her a tough task. She’d admitted that comfort was not in her medical bag and as she sat next to the kid, he saw her hesitate before touching the boy’s shoulder.
Surprisingly, the kid leaned into her...and she wrapped an arm around him. He couldn’t hear what she was saying to him, but within minutes, the boy was responding and the faraway look in his gaze disappeared.
When the boy reached for Erika’s hand, she held his trembling one, Reed’s mouth went slightly dry. She continued to amaze him. He barely recognized her as the woman who’d walked into The Drunk Tank almost a week ago. “You guys okay?” he called out when she glanced his way.
She gave a tired smile and nod in response.
Man, he couldn’t wait to get her home. “The ski patrol are almost here and the van is waiting on Mountainview Road, where the trails meet,” he told the group.
Erika said something to the boy, then stood and approached him. “Are the parents coming?”
“They’ll meet us at the hospital. He okay?” He nodded toward the boy.
“He’s worried he’s going to be kicked off the football team and mess up his chances of a university scholarship. Apparently his dad is coach,” she said, looking to him for answers to save this kid’s butt.
He touched her shoulder. “He’s going to have to face the music, Erika.”
“His biggest concern is disappointing his father,” she said, her expression distraught.
Ah, that’s where the sudden connection had come from. Erika had dealt with a similar fear for years. She hadn’t said it the night before, but he’d sensed a shift in her when he’d mentioned her dad. “Look, kids make mistakes. They don’t always get it right. Let’s hope his dad sees that.”
She nodded, but she bit her lip. No doubt her own experience with a strict father caused her worry for the kid. “I’m going to wait with him.”
Hearing the Ski-Doos in the distance, he nodded, watching her go back to sitting on the ground. She said something to the boy and he smiled. Then she smiled and the stress of the search melted from Reed’s shoulders.
Replaced by the stress of a new challenge, one that was going to be impossible. Not falling in love with Erika Sheraton.
* * *
THE APARTMENT DOOR had barely closed behind them before Reed’s lips were on hers. His hands worked to unzip her coat, sliding it off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. Her own hands were unzipping his ski pants, yanking them down his legs. They stumbled forward into the apartment, tripping on discarded clothes as they removed everything in a frantic abandon.
After reuniting the teens with their parents and debriefing at the station, they’d driven like crazy to his apartment. They’d barely spoken. They didn’t need to. Not tonight.
She struggled for a breath as she kicked off her boots,
her mouth never leaving his. The rescue was over but the adrenaline still pumping through her was providing a new source of energy. She should be exhausted, but right now, sleep could wait. Her body throbbed with desire for him. A need so bad, it scared her.
He broke the connection with her mouth, lifted her in his big arms and carried her into his bedroom. She barely noticed the apartment around her or his bedroom as he placed her on the bed and continued removing clothing. “Too many layers,” he said, lifting her sweater and T-shirt simultaneously. He unclasped her bra and she undid her jeans, wiggling free of them. She couldn’t get naked fast enough.
Standing, he tore off his own T-shirt and jeans and underwear, then climbed back onto the bed, settling between her legs. The only thing between their bodies was the thin fabric of her lacy underwear. Feeling his already erect penis pressed against her pelvis, she moaned. “Jesus, Reed... I’ve been wanting you all day.”
“Believe me, the feeling is mutual. If we hadn’t found those kids so fast, I would have been calling a ten-minute break to take you behind a tree.” He nuzzled against her neck.
He was kidding, but she’d felt the same way. Something about the danger of the situation had only fueled the intensity of her attraction to him and now that the danger was gone, a lingering sense of adrenaline had her vibrating.
His mouth on her neck was driving her insane. His warm breath against her still cool skin was making her tingle. Reaching between their bodies, she wrapped her hand along his thick shaft. She loved how quickly she could turn him on. How fast he was ready for her. She’d never had this effect on anyone before. It gave her a confidence she hadn’t realized she’d been missing.
“Mmm, you’re so soft and warm,” he said, leaving love bites along her collarbone as he massaged her breasts. The feeling of his hands on her body was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Sex had always been just sex. She’d never felt cherished, appreciated, worshipped before, the way she did with Reed. He ran his thumbs over her nipples and an ache ran through her. She tightened her grip around his cock, stroking faster.
An Alaskan Christmas Page 15
