Nova assisted her to her room, while I helped Mr. Lewis collect the mugs and put them in the sink. I offered to do the dishes, but he waved me off, saying, “Gives me something to do while she rests.”
“Mr. Lewis—”
“Stanley. Mr. Lewis was my father,” he said, giving me a genuine smile.
“Stanley, can I get the key to the storage container? Some of Nova’s boxes were put in there, and it’s stuff she’d like to take to the house.”
“Sure. It’s hanging on a hook beside the refrigerator. You can take it now, or come in tomorrow and get it. Just let me know when you want to get her boxes out, and I’ll come help you.”
It hit me in the gut knowing I’d finally gained his respect enough to call him by his first name. What would he think of me if I up and disappeared on Nova when she’d come to rely on me so much?
“Thanks. I’d appreciate the help,” I said.
Once Nova had Noni settled in, we headed back to the house as the sky darkened.
Nova held her hands in front of the vent and rubbed them together. “She stayed up longer today than she has in a while. Maybe she’ll sleep in for once.”
“Is that wishful thinking on your part?” I asked.
She chuckled. “Maybe. I couldn’t tell you the last time I slept in. Probably when I was a teenager, or the times I was sick. The rest of the time, I was on Noni’s schedule. At night, once she’s settled, I’d take an hour or two to read, or watch a movie. Or at least try to. More often than not, I’d fall asleep half way through them.”
“We could watch a movie tonight since it’s still early,” I said, looking forward to finding a reason to cuddle with Nova on the couch.
“Nope,” she said, shutting me down.
“No movie… plan on turning in early?” I asked.
“Nope, I plan on filling that big tub I’ve been eyeballing for the past two days up with steaming hot water and submerging up to my neck,” she said, sighing with something like longing. “I may not get out until Christmas.”
“Oh, and am I going to be bringing you three square meals a day on one of those trays that hook over the sides of the tub?” I asked.
“Yes, please,” she said, giving me a smile that curled my own lips in response.
Two hours later, Nova was still in the bathtub. And I had to pee so bad it I couldn’t sit still. I’d contemplated ducking outside, but couldn’t bring myself to subject that kind of cold to such a sensitive area.
It was either freeze my balls off, or bust in on Nova and hope she’d forgive me.
I tapped on the door. “Nova?”
“Hmmm?” She sounded half asleep.
I cracked the door, seeing she’d turned out the lights and had a candle going. The scent of lavender hung in the air and wrapped around me.
“Gotta use the bathroom. I’d hold it, but…”
She chuckled softly. “But I took over your bathroom. Sorry, but nothing short of this tub falling over on its side could get me out of it.”
As soon as I made it to the toilet, Nova pulled the drain and water gurgled its escape. I wasn’t sure if it was to cover the sound I was making, or if it was to make room for more hot water. I appreciated it nonetheless.
The bathtub was set into the corner so Nova’s back was to me. The water rippled in tiny movements, reflected by candlelight. Her hair looked coated in gold. The slope of her shoulders and the length of her arms silver. She sighed, and then leaned forward toward the hot water tap as I forced myself to leave and stop gawking at her.
“Eli?”
I had to clear my throat twice before I could answer. “Yeah?”
“I think I’m in love with your tub,” she said, turning to look at me over her shoulder.
“Lucky tub,” I said, unable to call the blurted words back.
She smiled softly, scooted forward, and said, “It’s big enough for the both of us.”
There was this pause in my pulse. I felt my heart actually stop. When it resumed, my legs had carried me over to the side of the tub. I squatted, putting my face level with hers.
Her arms were crossed and resting on top of her knees, her chin propped on her arms. She lifted her head, daring me to take her up on the offer.
“It’s plenty big enough for the both of us, but not big enough for me to do the things I’ve dreamed of doing to you. You offer me the tub, but I’ll be a gentleman and offer you my bed.” Her skin had a healthy glow already from the hot water, but her face flushed as if I’d touched her intimately.
I backed away. When I made it to the bathroom door, I gave her one last heated look and then closed it, leaving her to choose what she wanted.
The hallway was at least thirty degrees cooler than the bathroom, and it felt wonderful on my overheated skin. I could have stripped down naked and still felt fevered after Nova’s offer and then my own.
I shut all the lights off, walked into my room, and turned on the TV. The soft glow of light was enough to see by as I undressed and then slid between the covers. She’d either choose to take my offer, or she wouldn’t. The decision was hers even though everything inside of me was kicking and screaming for me to get my ass back to that bathtub and haul her naked body against my own.
Grabbing the remote up, I changed the channel to one of the music stations and turned over, setting it back on my nightstand.
The next thing I knew, Nova was running down the hallway. I started to sit up, but she made it to the side of the bed, dropped the towel, and then dove under the covers, bringing her naked body up against my side. She was shivering so hard she vibrated the entire bed.
I yelped when her skin connected with mine. “Jesus, Nova, you’re like a block of ice!”
“It’s g-good f-f-for your p-pores,” she said, body jerking against mine.
I pulled back. “What is?”
“Th-the c-cold,” she answered, butting her head under my chin. Her frozen breasts pushed against me like twin popsicles.
“Did you go outside?” I asked, ready to shake her if she said yes.
“Polar Bear Club,” Nova said as if that explained everything.
“Those crazy people who sit in saunas and then jump in frozen bodies of water?” Was she crazy?
She laughed.
“Please tell me you didn’t go outside naked,” I said, rubbing my hands up and down her back with brisk movements to help warm her.
“You should try it. Really gets your b-blood g-going,” she said, teeth chattering.
I rolled her over, pinning her to the mattress.
She hummed in response. “This works, too.”
My forehead bumped against hers. “You’re making it hard for me to take my time.”
She moved her legs from under mine and wrapped them around my waist. “Good thing I’m impatient, too.”
There wasn’t a single thought after that. She’d broken me down to something that was more animal than man. Scent, touch… those were the only working senses, and they damn near drove me wild.
When I came to my senses, Nova’s face was inches from my own. Her hand was tucked under her chin. The glow from the TV cast a shadow over her face. When I moved to turn it off, Nova’s eyes fluttered open, gaze resting softly on me. Her hand moved to touch my face. Using her fingertips, she traced the line of my jaw and down my neck, resting on the pulse before continuing a lazy path from shoulder to chest, then lower.
I sucked in a sharp breath when her hand glided over my hip and down my leg, only to journey back up again and stop where I ached the most. I’d never experienced anything like that in my life. Never thought something as simple as a touch could put me so far over the edge. Experiencing it with Nova proved I’d been right all along. She was the one for me.
We reached for each other again in the night, and some time before dawn. And as she drifted off in my arms, completely sated, I told her how I felt, knowing my words would follow her into her dreams.
Chapter 10
Nova
Noni wouldn’t be up for at least another hour or so, I judged by the lack of lighting around the bedroom curtain. We had nothing pressing to get to. Maybe if I wiggled enough, he’d wake up and…
“Do you need to go to the bathroom?” he asked, nipping my shoulder. “Or are you trying to get away so you can go roll around in the snow again?”
I snorted, keeping the truth to myself. I hadn’t gone anywhere near the snow. I’d opened the bathroom window and stood in front of it dripping wet, hoping the frigid air would put out the fire consuming me.
It hadn’t helped. If anything, the icy blast made me crave the heat of his touch even more. I’d bolted from the bathroom, run down the hallway, and jumped into bed with him. Living with Noni had taught me a lot, but the biggest lesson was the knowledge that life was short.
And then it hit me. The window was still open. The heat had probably worked itself to death all night trying to keep the house warm. “Bathroom!”
It was freezing. Ice formed on the windowsill and the floor, and the window didn’t want to close.
“Damn… damn… damn it,” I muttered.
“Need some help?”
The sound of his voice startled me and I pitched sideways, slipping on a small patch of ice on the linoleum floor right into the tub. There was thin layer of slush on top of the water. I broke through it when I fell and shot up with a gasp, body numbing almost instantly.
Eli had me out of the water and tucked back under the covers in a matter of seconds. By the sound of it, he got the window closed next while I shivered hard enough that my teeth clicked.
He was back in bed beside me, body pressed to mine, and we trembled like two ice cubes in a glass.
“It would have been easier if you’d have just went out and rolled around in the snow,” Eli said once the hard chills had settled into tremors.
I felt like an absolute fool. It was one thing to get caught up in a moment, but it was quite another to be dumb enough to leave the window open all night. “You must think I’m a complete idiot.”
I felt his chest move on a silent laugh. “You’re not the first one to leave a window open. Won’t be the last either.”
“Not in Alaska.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, you learn early on not to be so foolish. Something as silly as leaving a window open could screw up so many things. You saw the bathroom. A pipe could have burst. The heat could have went out because it was overcompensating to keep the house warm. Any number of things could happen. And they’re never cheap to fix,” I explained, wanting to kick myself all over again.
His shoulders bunched and relaxed, but then he pulled me closer. Getting both arms around my back and not missing a beat, he changed the subject. “Jared and Murphy will be here in a few days.”
“Oh?” Could he hear all the questions packed into that one little word?
He sighed. “There’s more.”
Moving from his chest, I settled on my stomach beside him, elbows propping my arms up so that my chin rested in my palms. I forced myself to smile as I said, “I’m listening.”
He rolled onto his side, propping his own head up. “Ace and Aiden have been sent out already. The medic team is on standby.”
“And you’re part of the medic team,” I said, feeling a lump form in my throat. I swallowed it down, forcing myself to deal with the situation like an adult. Even though it felt like he was slipping away right before my very eyes.
“And I’m part of the medic team,” he echoed.
“Is this a long-term thing?” Would they pull him from Nome and reassign him?
“I have no idea how long I’ll be gone, but I will be back, Nova,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I won’t leave you again.”
Tears gathered on my bottom lashes. “Is it always like this with Cole Enterprise?”
“For the most part, yes. But it’s never permanent. Agents get sent out into the field a whole lot more often than the medics do. We’re on standby a lot, and sometimes we get moved into location if there’s need for us to be close at hand. Every mission is different,” he explained.
“And your friends, do you see them all that often?” I asked, wondering if the lives of agents and medics allowed them to cross paths often.
“I see them a whole lot more now than I would have if we’d gone our separate ways after graduation. We’re all based out of Chicago, which was Jared’s parent’s main location the whole time we were growing up. Now that we’re there, they’ve moved to the one in Scotland,” he said, shifting to get out of bed.
I watched him strut around the room naked as he gathered his clothes. “You said that you were here to look at property. Is that why they wanted you to come and offer me a job, so I’d fill a medic position once the facility was built?”
“I honestly don’t know. They never said. Plus, they wouldn’t place you just anywhere while you trained.” He pulled a long-sleeved Henley on and then a pair of thick joggers.
“And, hypothetically speaking, where would I train?” I asked, sitting up and gathering the comforter close.
“Chicago,” he said, crooking his finger at me.
“No way, it’s cold,” I said, refusing to give up the pocket of warmth surrounding me.
“Have it your way then.” He lunged for me, rolled me up like a burrito inside the quilt, and then slung me over his shoulder. He dropped me on the bed in my room and then left me there to fight my way free of the comforter.
“A little help?”
He shook his head. “Good cardio. Now, get dressed and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“Eli!” I called his name, but he didn’t come back.
I managed to wiggle free without too much effort and then darted around the room, pulling clothes on so as to not lose any body heat before looking for him.
Eli was in the kitchen, cracking eggs into a bowl. I elbowed him out of the way of the coffee pot, shrieking when his hand latched onto my backside and hauled me against him.
He nipped at my lips, then kissed them gently. “Good morning, Nova.”
I turned into a mushy pile of feelings and kissed him back. “Morning.”
“Did you see the look on the cashier’s face when she saw us?” I asked, giggling when Eli mimicked it almost perfectly.
“I thought she was going to kick us out,” Eli said, pulling out of the parking spot.
“She wouldn’t have kicked us out. Although she might have been worried that we’d wipe out the rest of the supplies to last the rest of Nome for the winter,” I said jokingly.
“I never thought about that. Do you think it could happen? I hate to be responsible for someone going without,” he said as a look of concern etched his brow.
Eli really was one of a kind. How many people considered the needs of others the way he did? Not many, I thought. I’d witnessed so much selfishness in my own lifetime. It was what made Alaska so refreshing. Besides the smaller population, it was also a different way of life. Homesteaders lived off the land and worked together as a community, if they were close enough to. I’d always wanted to live further inland and away from the port city of Nome.
“Have you thought about looking further inland for a facility site?” I asked, catching Eli in his own thoughts.
He shook his head. “I thought about it, but logistics wise it makes more sense to be closer to the coast. Especially in the winter.”
There were a lot of valid points to his thought process, but he failed to understand that, like any small town, when a big company came in and purchased land, the people would demand to know who was purchasing it, and what they were purchasing it for. Small towns didn’t stay small otherwise.
I repeated that thought to Eli.
“As far as the people of Nome are concerned, it will look like a storage facility for a clothing manufacturer out of Norway,” he said as we unloaded the back of the truck and carried the last of the bags inside.
“Really?” That was pretty ingenious.
Eli took the folded paper bag from my hand and stacked it with the others. “And said facility will donate clothing and other winter gear to the local churches under the guise that the merchandise doesn’t meet their quality control standards.”
“Will it create jobs?” I asked once we were back inside the truck and headed to Stanley’s.
“A few, but there will be a pretty intense screening process before anyone is hired. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” he said, changing the subject.
“Does it seem like we spend just as much time in this truck as we do out of it?” I asked, turning the conversation again.
He chuckled as we came to a stop at the four-way stop sign and waved to a couple pulling a snow sled between them. Smack in the middle of the groceries was a small child bundled up to the eyes in a snowsuit, plus a quilt. At the sound of the truck, its fur-outlined face turned just enough so that I saw the ski goggles he, or she, wore. They were too big for such a small face. The plastic was fogged, making it impossible to see out of, but they protected the delicate skin of someone so young, and kept the bitter wind from taking their breath away.
“We could always take turns pulling each other around on one of those,” he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the couple’s direction.
I rolled my eyes. “That would be a sight.”
“Nova, Stanley was just telling me that our neighbor’s house caught fire. We’ll need to go and check on the house to see if there’s any damage,” Noni said as soon as I walked into the living room.
She was sitting in Stanley’s recliner with a throw blanket over her lap. Beside her sat a steaming cup and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich.
It never got easier no matter how much I braced myself for it. “Eli and I just came from checking out the house, Noni. Looks like you’ll have to get used to Stanley’s company for a while.”
Under Northern Lights (The Six Series Book 6) Page 8
