She put on her seatbelt while Cub walked around the pickup, getting in and doing the same. He started the engine and backed the truck out of the parking space, while playing with the knobs on the stereo. “Uh, something else you might need to know before we go any further.” He slid her a glance, and she couldn’t wait to see what else this man had to reveal. “I’m an Enya fan.”
Soft strains of Enya started to play.
She couldn’t help herself and laughed. “Now that I didn’t see coming.”
Nor did she see the vehicle slide through the red light at the intersection until it was too late.
Cub swore, swinging his arm out to help brace her in her seat, as he yanked the steering wheel so that his side of the truck took the brunt of the impact as the other vehicle broadsided them. The crash jolted them sideways. Metal screeched, glass shattered, and rubber burned as the black ice on the road, combined with the momentum of the other vehicle, skidded them off into the ditch. The top-heavy truck lifted onto two wheels and rolled.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Gemma lay there, stunned, fighting to breathe passed the impact of the airbag. As it slowly deflated, and the resulting powder settled, the light caught the glitter of glass everywhere. Enya continued to sing her soothing song, but there was nothing soothing about the situation. It took her a moment to realize what had happened.
Cub.
Gemma tried to see him, but could barely move, pinned in place by her seatbelt. Her side of the truck lay on the icy, snow-laden ground. She took stock of herself. Nothing seemed broken or bleeding, but she’d be sore.
“Cub?”
No answer. Gemma struggled to free her seatbelt, and then climb to her knees on the passenger door to reach him. Cub hung awkwardly to the side in his seatbelt, his eyes closed, blood seeping from a cut on his forehead.
“Cub.” Panic laced her voice. She wanted to shake him awake, but was afraid to touch him in case of a spinal injury. Carefully, she felt for a pulse in his wrist, letting out a huge breath of relief when she found one strong and steady. The car that had T-boned them had followed them over into the ditch and now squatted on top of Cub’s door. The front wheel had broken through the window, and cold air whistled through the interlocked vehicles.
“Hang tight!” a stranger yelled from the front of the truck. “Help is on the way.”
Gemma reached out with shaking fingers and shut off the stereo, silencing Enya, and bringing in the other sounds of the accident. Spitting and hissing from the engines of both vehicles, the heavenly sound of Cub’s even breathing, and then the welcome sirens of emergency vehicles as they rushed to the scene.
“Come on, Cub, wake up.” She didn’t like that he was still unconscious.
An Alaskan Trooper struggled to reach them through the snow. “Ma’am, can you give me your condition?”
“I-I think I’m okay, but Cub isn’t.”
“Cub? Cub Iverson?”
“Y-yes, he works for Search and Rescue.” Fairbanks wasn’t that big of a town when you boiled it down, and Troopers and Search and Rescue were an even smaller group.
“Hold on, we’ll have you out of there soon.” He handed her blankets through the broken windshield.
She carefully wrapped them around Cub first and then bundled up in the other. While she wasn’t cold at the moment, mainly because of the adrenaline coursing through her body, the shock of the accident would hit her and she’d be freezing. Hypothermia was a serious threat.
The rest was a blur of activity as the emergency crews worked together and helped her out of the truck, working carefully to cut Cub free as he didn’t slide through the broken windshield like she had. He had still failed to regain consciousness when they loaded him in the ambulance and headed to Fairbanks Memorial.
“Come on, Cub,” she prayed inside the ambulance as the EMTs checked his vitals and hooked him up to an IV. She couldn’t lose another man she cared about. She continued to pray as they raced over icy roads toward the hospital.
They rushed Cub into the ER, ushering her toward another part of the emergency room, to be checked over.
As she suspected, other than bruises and powder burns from the airbag, there wasn’t anything wrong with her. With his quick thinking and reflexes, Cub had saved her life, or at the very least, saved her some serious injuries. Everyone, nurses, doctors, EMTs, and troopers all commented on how lucky she was.
Lucky.
She couldn’t help thinking that if she were truly lucky, she’d be with Lucky right now. Despair over Cub’s condition and her own, settled over her as she sat in the waiting room for an update on Cub.
How could she have thoughts like that when Cub was probably in there fighting for his life?
After the troopers had taken her statement of the accident, she’d called and reassured Siri and Rosie that she was okay. Siri wasn’t concerned as she’d already “felt” that Gemma was fine. Rosie told her to keep them posted on Cub’s condition.
Dr. Macalister, announced by his name tag, entered the waiting room wearing green scrubs and the classic white lab coat. He looked to be in his fifties, trim, of average height, with auburn hair, split heavily with silver. He also sported a pierced ear where a diamond winked.
Gemma stood, surprised when the action made her dizzy.
“Careful, there, Ms. Star,” he said, grabbing her arm to steady her. “Take your time standing. You’ve suffered an ordeal that will be feeling itself physically for a few days now.”
“Call me, Gemma. How’s Cub?”
“Here, let’s take a seat.” He steered her back to the chair she’d been planted in and took the one beside her. “He’s actually doing great. Strong man, your Mr. Iverson.”
She didn’t correct him. As soon as they realized she wasn’t a family member, or significant other, the information train would stop.
“As far as we can tell, there isn’t anything wrong with him. He’ll be bruised and sore when he wakes up. Head injuries are tricky things. His CAT scan came back normal. Minimal swelling, so we expect him to wake soon.”
“Can I see him?”
“What the fuck, man.” Lucky pushed at Cub’s unmovable chest. “Get back there. She’s crying at your bedside.”
“It isn’t me she wants.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” He’d sacrificed everything. “I gave her up for you. So that you could be together. So she wouldn’t be alone. Now move your sorry ass.”
Cub took in the view around him, obviously stunned by the beauty. Lucky was tired of people enthralled with this place. “I want to stay here.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Gemma wasn’t losing two men she cared about. “No way. There is nothing wrong with you.”
“Yes, there is. My heart belongs with my wife. I thought I could move on and hopefully share a life with Gemma.” Cub shook his head. “But not now. Not with this chance to be with the one woman who I’ve always loved.” Cub looked around like she’d appear at any moment.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Lucky muttered. A softening in his heart lessened his anger. This man was as lovesick as he was. “You’re in Limbo, dude. You’re wife isn’t here. She’s on the other side of here, and if you choose to enter that place, there will be no going back.” He was still here because he couldn’t make that final choice. He’d done his best to keep his distance from Gemma. It tortured him as she cried his name, sobbed until her body could no longer weep. The only thing keeping him from saying the hell with it all was this man. Cub-fucking-Iverson. He was supposed to be the white knight. He’d proved he had the right stuff, the way he’d saved Gemma from being hurt in the accident. But what was this shit? “How could you want any other woman besides Gemma?”
“Gemma is wonderful, and without this opportunity I was going to give romancing her my best shot. But as much as you care for Gemma, I care for my wife.”
“You’re choosing to die. You get that, right?”
Cub met his eyes, and all Lu
cky could see was hard resolution. “I want to be with my wife. Take my body, and be with Gemma.”
“Whoa? What?” It was like the very fabric of the Universe held still. “What are you saying?”
“She’s coming for me.” A smile lit Cub up from the inside. “I can feel her.” His very spirit began to glow a golden hue. “I don’t have long. And my body will be wasted if you don’t take it.”
“I can’t do that,” Lucky whispered, though he so badly wanted to. Didn’t even know it was an option. Maybe it wasn’t an option. Were they messing with things that would backfire in a really bad way? A fire and brimstone kind of way?
“No, Lucky,” Hansen said, appearing from wherever he’d taken himself off to, giving a nod as way of introduction to Cub.
Lucky’s heart sank. He knew that he couldn’t be that lucky. Another chance at life, another chance at loving Gemma.
“You don’t understand,” Hansen said. “Your self-sacrifice the other day has presented this avenue to you.”
“What kind of game is this?”
“No game. A test, if you will. You’ve proven yourself worthy of another life.”
“Wait a damn minute. What if this dingbat hadn’t come along?”
“Eventually, if you hadn’t moved on, there might have been another willing to give up his body to you.”
Lucky looked Cub up and down, taking in his well-toned physique. Hell, he’d won the jackpot. Though it would take some getting used to being that tall. “Do you hit your head a lot?”
“No, but you probably will.”
“There isn’t a lot of time,” Hansen said. “The longer a soul is away from the body, the faster it starts to deteriorate.”
“How do you know all this?” Lucky turned on Hansen, looking at him as though for the first time. This was Hansen, his carefree buddy, right?
“Go,” Cub said. “Just do me a favor and don’t tattoo my body or anything.”
“He can’t come back and push me out?” Lucky asked Hansen, since he seemed to have all the answers.
“No. Once the agreement has been made, there is no going back.”
Lucky regarded Cub again. Filled with emotion that brought tears to his eyes, he reached out and enveloped Cub in a bear hug. “Thanks, man.”
“The only thanks I need is to know that Gemma will receive the love and care she deserves.”
“Count on it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
They’d sent her home.
Kicked her out of Cub’s room and told her she couldn’t return until visiting hours in the morning. There had been no change in his condition. The nurses and doctors had reassured her that Cub would probably be okay even though he hadn’t woken. Head injures were tricky. She was so sick and tired of hearing that.
Once home, she’d taken a few Advil and a long hot shower for the aches and pains that were making themselves felt. She slipped into her pajamas and went to crawl into bed when there was a knock at her door.
She glanced at the clock. It was after two in the morning.
Another more insistent knock sounded. Maybe it was the trooper who’d driven her home. Did they have more questions? The other driver was still touch and go, but that had more do to with the illegal drugs in his system than the car accident. She peeped through the window and gasped, yanking open the door.
“Cub!”
Soft brown eyes met hers, instead of Cub’s striking blue ones, along with the widest smile she’d even seen Cub sport. “No, call me Lucky.” He scooped up in his strong arms and spun her around.
She hugged him back, so glad that he was okay. “How—why? Wait! What?”
He set her on her feet, but kept her within the tight circle of his arms. “It took me a while too. I still don’t understand it all, but I’m just supremely honored, and humbled, and fucking grateful.”
“Why did the doctors release you? How did you get here? And why didn’t someone call me to let me know you had woken up?”
A frown appeared on his forehead, where a small bandage covered the stitches he’d received, and for a moment, he resembled Lucky so much that her breath caught.
“Gemma, I’m Lucky.”
“I know you’re lucky. We were both lucky. But I don’t understand the hospital—”
“No, babe, look at me. See me.”
He’d called her babe.
Suddenly the room spun, and she kissed the carpet.
“Come on, babe. That’s it. Come back to me.” Lucky’s voice purred over her, and Gemma reached out with her arms to hold him tight against her.
“I’ve missed you.” She buried her face in his neck, refusing to open her eyes in case he disappeared on her. “Don’t ever leave me again.”
“You are stuck with me, Gemma. Forever and always. Before God and country, say you’ll be mine.” He kissed her, and everything inside her caught fire as though solar flares were exploding within her. Her body arched into his, and her hands raked through his hair.
His much shorter hair. She stiffened, confused.
“Open your eyes, Gemma, and look at me.”
“No,” she whimpered.
“Please. There is a lot to explain. A lot to celebrate. Come on, babe. I’m not going anywhere.”
Slowly she opened her eyes. She lay in her bed, the light low, but the man above her, holding her was Cub, wasn’t he? He looked like Cub, but he also looked like Lucky. Had she completely lost it?
“Right now, I sure as hell miss not being able to read your mind.”
She stared. Blue eyes to brown. That cocky grin instead of Cub’s bashful one.
Quickly he filled her in on the meeting in Limbo and Cub’s choice. And Lucky’s fortune. Hers too.
Silence followed his hasty explanation. Then Lucky caressed her face with the back of his fingers. “Are you okay with this?”
“I’m not dreaming, am I?”
He shook his head, his expression stoic as if bracing himself for her next words.
“And Cub is truly happy?”
“Grinning like an idiot.”
“And there are no give backs?”
“I double-checked.”
She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs tight around him. He laughed rolling over the bed with her. Joy filled the room, followed by hard, quick kisses.
“Damn, but I love you.”
“Oh, Lucky, I love you. So, so much.”
“Now don’t do that. I’m not good with tears. It killed me when you cried over me.”
“You were there?”
“I couldn’t leave you. I hurt with you. Each tear that fell from your eyes, there was an equal one falling from mine.”
“Wait. Your eyes.” She pulled back. “How will we explain the changes? There are bound to be questions. You aren’t Cub, but you look like him. People will expect him.”
“Head injuries. They change people. Especially their personalities. Besides, I’m not worried about other people. Are you going to be okay with the new bod?” he asked, half jokingly. “Good thing the man had the same level of hotness I did. But I gotta grow out the hair. I look like a damn boy scout.”
Gemma smoothed her hands through his hair, over his face, tracing his brows. He looked more and more like Lucky as she gazed at him. Lucky’s expressions, his inflections came in how he looked and talked. “I see you, Lucky Leroy Morgan. It’s you who I love. Though I must admit, I did not find Cub’s body unattractive.”
“That’s a bit convoluted.”
“You didn’t want me to come out and say I thought Cub looked like a Norse god, did you?”
“I do, don’t I?” That cocky smile was back in place.
“What about the eye color? Cub’s eyes were blue. Not just blue, but a stunning blue.”
“That will be one for science to try and explain. Or I can wear contacts.”
“You know Tern is going to flip. There will be no keeping the truth from her.”
“Tern will take it in stride.
It’s your mother who I’m worried about.”
“Oh, holy balls.”
THE END
BEARING ALL
CHAPTER ONE
She’d been sent to kill him, and this time she wasn’t going to fail.
Donned in head-to-toe white winter gear, blending seamlessly with her surroundings, Kate “No Mercy” Mercer lay on her stomach in the snow and viewed the terrain through white binoculars. She’d been casing the area for days, freezing her ass off.
The Edge of Reason Lodge came by its name naturally. Built on the edge of the Kenai Peninsula in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, the lodge perched on an imposing mountain with a jagged ice-encrusted beach at its feet. The deep, frigid waters of the finger fjord split off from the bay with no outlet, creating a natural defense for the lodge against invasion. There would be no surprise attacks as the only way in was by boat or float plane. He’d see her coming. Which is why Kate had chosen to drop in behind Sadie Mountain and trek in from there. A person would have to be crazy to attempt it. Luckily she was way past crazy.
She’d served in Afghanistan and had thought nothing of conquering the Kenai Mountains. She should have thought again. Hiking the glacier-pocked, steep terrain mid-winter had been a bitch. All of it added more motivation to take down Sergei Lavinsky, code name The Bear.
Kate had to give it to Sergei, the man was pretty damn smart for holing up here in the middle of nowhere.
But she’d still found him.
It appeared all of the lodge’s occupants were gone, presumably for the holiday. Probably somewhere warmer would be her vote.
Leaving Sergei alone.
All she needed to do now was wait for the perfect opening to move in. It was the day before Christmas Eve. By tomorrow night she planned to be somewhere more hospitable herself.
The temperature dropped fast as the winter solstice sun slid behind the snow-laden peaks. The view was breathtaking, that is if she could tear her eyes away from Sergei, who was currently chopping wood, wearing snug jeans, snow boots, and only a half-buttoned flannel shirt. His sable-black hair swung around his shoulders with each powerful plunge of the ax into the logs. She didn’t know why he was chopping wood when there were rows and rows of ready firewood alongside the lodge under the cover of a lean-to. It was almost as if he were teasing her, though she knew there was no way he was aware of her presence. This was the closest she’d dared venture toward the lodge, keeping to the tree line high above the large log structure.
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