Desire in the Arctic

by Hoff, Stacy

  But time would eventually win out. In eight days, their ordeal would be over. Suddenly he realized if he were lucky, he could be with her after the show.

  Would she feel this way too? He could only hope that her affection for him was more than physical. He knew he wasn’t a personable guy. Could she take it? Would he, unwittingly, drive her away?

  These questions were going to make him crazy if he let them. But he knew one thing for sure—if they didn’t stay together, the way she looked when they made love was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

  “Redd?”

  He frowned. “Sorry if I woke you.”

  “You didn’t. I want to give you a gift.”

  He stared at her in confusion. “A gift?”

  Oh! Her lips, light and fluttery like a bird, descended on his. And then she moved lower down his body, her kisses becoming deeper. The path she followed to his groin, though invisible, was quite clear.

  Until her mouth, usually filled with endless questions, was now filled with him. Her tongue swirled around in ways he never knew possible. The effect was hot, wet, and wonderful. “Ana,” he groaned.

  “Shhh,” she said and gave him a playful wink. Then she leaned back down to give his manhood another long, lasting swirl of her tongue.

  Using every ounce of willpower he had, he leaned forward to gently tug her to him. He pulled her up until she was flat on top of him, their faces nose-to-nose. He kissed her lips and then her collarbone. Until she let out a sweet-sounding giggle.

  “Stopping what you were doing wasn’t easy,” he confessed, “but I don’t want this to be just about me.”

  “Trust me, I was enjoying it, too. And you deserve a gift.”

  “Ana, you are my gift.” The wide smile she gave him tugged his heartstrings. And an area lower down. “Sit on top of me,” he commanded, although in a gentle sounding tone.

  Ana bit her lower lip and hesitated a moment. The light in the cabin was dim, but he could have sworn red streaked her face. After a moment she complied. With an agonizing slowness she positioned herself over, and then down, his length. “Holy—”

  “I told you, you should follow my directions more often.”

  “Damn straight,” she panted.

  He let out a laugh until she moved quickly off of him, and then slowly back down. And then nothing was funny anymore as she repeated the move, speeding up the pace.

  She must be celestial. I’m floating somewhere up in space. The part of him that was left on Earth was rocketing toward his release. Hanging on until he felt her come down from the moon.

  And then he let go . . .

  The next morning, Ana opened the door to try to gauge the time. Since the sun was always up it was impossible to get an accurate idea. The wristwatch Devon had loaned her was lost. Good thing it hadn’t been expensive. In any case, Redd was still sleeping. Given what he went through to get them to safety, he deserved the rest. She went about making breakfast as quietly as possible. She also picked up their dried-out clothes, wearing some of hers and folding his carefully. All the garments were stiff and wrinkled, but wearable. Certainly, they were better than nothing. Sitting around in her underwear wasn’t going to work since they would have to film more today.

  She tossed the cranberries into the pot and boiled them. Then she went to re-fold his shirt. She would have cooked up some fish, too, if there had been any left. In fact, when they were done with these berries they’d be completely out of food. She did her best not to worry about it. Redd had solved all their problems so far. She had to trust he’d fix this one too. All she could do was help out where she could and support him as much as possible.

  It wasn’t as if she was trying to be in a domestic role. Playacting as Redd’s wife, and an old-fashioned one at that. She knew having sex with Redd did not mean they were in a relationship. Maybe they would never see each other after the show wrapped up. If the past dictated her future, Redd would be yet another guy to pat her on the head and wish her well along her way. Leaving her behind after she tried so hard to please. She knew to expect nothing from people. But it was still always downright depressing when the evitable happened. Her optimistic side wanted an alternative outcome, badly. But somehow, whatever she did, people dismissed her and moved on.

  Would Mark dismiss her, too, when she came back from Alaska? Now that her boss had gotten what he wanted from her, would she be tossed away?

  Worse, would Redd do the same? A sharp pain cut through her chest. No, I’m not even going to go there.

  She turned around from the stove to see Redd’s eyelids blink open.

  “Hey,” he greeted her. Giving her a smile, he leaned forward, propping himself up on one elbow.

  “Hey, yourself,” she answered softly, hoping the raw affection she had for him wasn’t apparent in her voice. The less he knew about her deep feelings for him, the better. At least when he dumped her later, she’d have her pride.

  “How long have you been up?” he asked, rubbing his eyes and stubbly cheeks.

  “A while. You slept late.”

  “Little wonder for that. You wore me out,” he said, grinning wickedly. “I’m really hoping you wear me out again today.”

  “Eager, aren’t you?” She shot him a look that was supposed to be stern but knew she failed miserably. When he laughed she gave up the pretense and laughed along with him. Relax, Ana. Redd respects you. “Any other dirty comments you want to make, Mr. Redding, do it now. I’ve got to turn on the camcorder.”

  “Ana,” he said in a warning tone.

  “Don’t be such a sourpuss. Taping this crazy show is something we’ve got to deal with sooner or later.”

  He made a disgusted face. “Fine. Whatever. Let’s get on with it.”

  She tossed him some clothes, waited for him to be decent and then turned the camcorder on. “Hello, all. This morning, I took some of the cranberries we’d saved and mixed it with snow to make cranberry tea. Or cranberry soup. Or whatever you call it when you’ve cooked up nothing but boiled cranberries and water.” She held up the pot to the camera, and then to him. “Want some?”

  “Sure.” He reached for the tin mug he’d used last night and held it up for her to fill. The hot liquid poured out, filling the air with a fruity, acidic scent. “Thanks.”

  “No problem at all.” She watched him hold the cup up to his nostrils and breathe deeply. The poor guy does not know what’s going to hit him. Sadly, she had already sampled some of her “tea” and knew the scent was way better than the taste.

  Given the scrunched up look on Redd’s face when his lips left the cup, he agreed with her assessment. His “Yuck,” confirmed it.

  “At least it’s got Vitamin C,” Ana said in a singsong voice. “Want some more?”

  “No, thanks. I’ll have to force myself to get through this cup.”

  In an attempt to play up to the camera, Ana made an exaggerated pout. “You don’t like my cooking.”

  “No, but I sure as hell like you.”

  Ana’s eyes went saucer round. She immediately went to the camcorder and shut it off. She turned to face him, hands on her hips. “I thought you said you don’t want any personal stuff on tape.”

  “What’s so personal about my saying I like you?”

  “Why mention how you feel about me at all?”

  He frowned. “I thought women liked it when men express their feelings. Especially after sex. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

  Her face felt flush, no doubt color was rising up in her cheeks. “I don’t need you to tell me what you think I need to hear.”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m letting you know how I feel. Why so touchy?”

  “Touchy? I don’t need anyone to placate me.” She tensed up, bracing herself for battle. “I’m sick
of people feeling they need to stroke me because I can’t handle too much. Like I’m some kind of ninny. I don’t want you to be one of those people.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why would you think I am?”

  “Because you’re the one who is trying to placate me with after-sex niceties.”

  He shook his head a few times. Maybe it was an effort to shake off her words. “I don’t need this, Ana. I thought you were the one person who wasn’t going to give me grief.” He swallowed the rest of the cranberry cocktail, got up and reached for his clothes and cold-weather gear. In a second, he was out the door, gun in hand.

  As the cabin door slammed shut, so did her heart.

  See, Redd said to himself, this is why it’s best not to get involved with women. Or anybody. Instead of being able to depend on people to stick around, they vanished. Whether they disappeared physically, like Hailey, or emotionally, like Ana, the end result was the same—false hope and a damaged heart. Who needed it?

  It wasn’t Hailey’s fault she’d left him. But the same could not be said for Ana. One minute, they were having the best sex he’d had in his whole life. The next, she was practically driving him out the door. Even June up here in the Arctic couldn’t go as fast from hot to cold.

  Worse, at least on his end, they’d done so much more than have sex. They’d made love. The way Ana had opened up her body to him made him feel like she had opened up her heart, too. She hadn’t been “putting out,” she had been gifting herself to him. He had been sure of it. She had even said as much. Was he a chump to have believed her?

  Special Ops training included rigorous courses on how to tell if the captured enemy was lying. He had aced those tests because he knew to trust body language and not mere words. People’s physiological reactions were more revealing that anything a person said. He had carefully watched Ana’s body language last night. He had truly believed she cared about him, too. Maybe it was too early for love, but it was pretty damn close in his book. I guess it wasn’t close enough in hers. Good thing he had already retired. The military had no use for an operative who could be so easily fooled.

  Disgusted, Redd tried to distract himself by looking for tracks of an animal he could snare. With any luck, he could catch a snowshoe hare with leftover fishing line. Or perhaps a ptarmigan, the Arctic’s version of a chicken. He almost laughed thinking of the cliché “chicken soup is good for the soul.” If so, he’d need a bucket of the stuff.

  Regardless, he’d make sure he and Ana ate. They’d be surviving this damned twelve-day odyssey if it was the last thing he did. Just because his life was messed up didn’t mean other people had to suffer the same fate. He’d win Teleworld’s money and donate it. And then he’d be sure to lock himself away in a dusty northeast corner of Texas. By himself.

  Chapter 20

  Ana opened the cabin’s doors, letting in the frozen air. The storm seemed to have kicked up again. The swirling snow made it hard to see even a few feet past the threshold. Afraid to let the cabin cool down too much, she reluctantly closed the door. Wherever Redd was, he’d been there for hours. With the weather turning ugly again, she was starting to wonder if something had happened to him.

  She didn’t need Redd around to explain to her the possible dangers. They had already experienced exposure to the cold. And seen tracks of . . . What was the name of the animal again? The one the Marvel comic book character was named after. Oh, right. A wolverine. At least Redd had taken the gun. It made her feel a little better knowing he had a weapon.

  All she had was a canister of pepper spray. She was almost as terrified to use it as the gun. Redd’s warning to be careful when spraying, or she’d wind up immobilizing herself, was one she took heed of. In fact, if Redd didn’t come back soon, she’d push the broken metal cot to the door and barricade herself away from bears. But the cot was probably not strong enough to do much good. Its metal was so rusted they had opted to not to use it to sleep or . . .

  Ana cut off the sexual thoughts she had inadvertently conjured up. All morning, the thought of being in his arms filled her with longing. She had done her best to maintain her anger. Just enough to keep her distance from a guy who obviously thought, like all the others, she was dumb enough to believe his false assurance.

  But Redd had also rescued her. And now he could be in trouble. It was her turn to help her survival partner out. She braced herself for going out in the wild to find him. She reached over to grab her parka, snowshoes and pepper spray. With any luck, she would find Redd quickly because she wouldn’t be coming back to the cabin until she did.

  The freezing snow had finally stopped blowing, allowing Ana to see clearly as she searched for Redd. She had been out so long she no longer felt her fingertips or toes. Worse, though, was the sense of dread she would not find her way back to the cabin. She had left the fire burning in the stove to not only keep the cabin warm for their return, but for the smoke from the roof to serve as a beacon. Only she couldn’t see either the smoke or the way back. Had the fire died out? Had she simply gone too far away from the cabin? Or was she nearby, but dense tree branches prevented her from seeing it? If she hadn’t been wandering around in circles looking for him, maybe she could have taken a shot at following her own tracks. No matter what the reason, finding either the cabin or Redd was becoming doubtful. So was her ability to keep calm.

  Suddenly, glorious hope soared through her. A patch of black hair caught her eye. She squinted. The hair was about knee high. Was Redd down and injured? It was a good thing she came after him. “Redd,” she called out, “I’m over here!” When he didn’t answer, she called again, “Redd, I’m coming for you!”

  She hurried over to him as fast as possible in the wet snow. Only to find that the “him” was an “it.” A knee-high, dark-brown, clawed, weasel-looking creature. Though she had never seen this type of animal, she knew from Redd’s description what it was—a wolverine.

  Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod. This can’t be happening. Redd! Where are you?

  Blood drained from her face. A whole new kind of cold set in her heart. The animal curled its upper lip, baring its teeth. It let out a sound, one she’d never heard before. Whether it was a hiss, a growl, a pissed-off snuffle, she didn’t know. She wasn’t going to stick around to find out what exactly was on its mind. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

  The beast put a clawed foot forward. It arched its back. Its beady black eyes focused on hers in a predatory way.

  I should make noise. Be loud. Maybe it will scare away like a bear. Its face looked a little like a bear, so maybe it would work. But bears didn’t have a long silvery strip crossing horizontally over their shoulders and rump. Here goes nothing. “Go away, you oversized skunk!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “Leave me alone!”

  “Ana?” Redd’s ears picked up. True, they were most likely frostbitten, but he could swear he heard her shouting in the distance. He shook his head. Nah. Couldn’t be. He’d been out in the cold so long he was starting to hear things.

  Or was he? Because, over the noise of the wind picking back up he could swear he heard her screaming something about a skunk. But of course that was crazy.

  He grinned. If Ana had really left the cabin to tangle with a skunk, not having sex with her would be as easy as pie. Then the image of a naked Ana popped up before him, and he knew he was lying. He’d still want to make love to her even if he had to gouge out his own nose with the pocketknife.

  Deep down, he knew it was more than mere physical attraction that drew him to her. The hours alone he’d had out in the woods had frozen his hands but cleared his mind. The reason why he’d been willing to stay out so long was to get her something to eat. Even angry and disappointed with her, he put her comfort above his. He wanted to make her happy. Even when she was acting like a nut. Or interrogating him to death. Or snapping at him for no reason at all. It made no difference wh
at she did. Because he loved her.

  Realization struck him like a bolt of lightning during a thundersnow. I love her. No, it’s more than that. I am in love with her.

  A human, high pitched, blood-curdling scream shattered the frozen stillness in the air. Immediately, he grabbed the gun and ran through the snow as if he were a snowshoe hare himself. “Ana!”

  Moments later he saw her in the distance, in front of an enormous wolverine. One that was arched up on its hindquarters, ready to spring.

  Redd did his best to keep calm and employ his military training. He could try to shoot the beast, but if Ana moved she could get in the way. If he hit her, he would never forgive himself.

  The wolverine crouched down on its back legs. It’s now or never. Stop shaking, damn it! He swallowed hard and lifted the gun. In horrible slow-motion, he saw the beast leap up. Redd took aim and fired the only bullet left.

  Looking into the beady little eyes of the enormous, snarling wolverine, Ana froze. It moved its clawed feet a few fast steps forward before it crouched back on its hindquarters and sprang. In an instant, it grabbed hold of her arm with its teeth.

  At first, Ana saw the blood, but did not feel the pain. It was as if she were watching the attack from up above, a disturbing out-of-body experience. But a second later, the pain set in. A burning, searing sensation shooting through her. Her thoughts swam in a tangled mass.

  From somewhere in the distance, she could have sworn she heard Redd shouting something followed by a loud boom. And then she saw nothing. Because everything went black.