“In all the years Rae and I have been in business, I’ve never been more proud of a group than I am of this one. This climb was a challenge from start to finish. It was trying. It was difficult. But it was also a pleasure. One of the most rewarding expeditions I’ve ever had the honor of being a part of. I was able to watch you grow. I was able to watch you become a team. And I am honored to be the person who was able to lead you to the summit.” She met each person’s eye, acknowledging their individual contributions one by one. She saved Olivia for last. “All the credit goes to you. Thank you for making this trip such a success.”
“Hear, hear!” Peter called out, prompting a round of cheers.
“I’m not going to make the chopper ride with you,” Sam said, a hint of what sounded like sadness in her voice. “I figure you’ve seen enough of me the past few weeks to last a lifetime, but I’m leaving you in excellent hands. Rae will take over from here. Thanks again for choosing The View from the Top.”
Marie-Eve led the cheers as Sam stepped aside and let Rae take center stage.
“We shall be flying in a military-issue helicopter. That’s your clue not to expect a great deal of creature comforts. We’ll be flying safely, but we won’t be flying in style.” Safety goggles protected Rae’s eyes, but her face was exposed to the elements. She turned away as the descending helicopter kicked up snow, dirt, and debris that pinged off her helmet’s durable but lightweight polycarbonate shell. “Bundle up and strap yourselves in,” she said after the chopper landed. “We’ll be in Kat before you know it.”
The group formed an orderly line and began to file inside the Russian-made helicopter. Olivia claimed a seat and looked out one of the porthole windows. Sam, Jimmy, Lhakpa, and Pasang were breaking down the remaining tents in BC and loading the heavy canvas shelters. When they were done, Lhakpa and Pasang climbed into the back of the truck, squeezing between neatly stacked piles of furniture, supplies, and equipment.
Sam and Jimmy stood at the rear of the truck, inspecting the load. Then they secured the lift gate and prepared to depart. Before she climbed into the passenger’s seat, Sam turned and met Olivia’s eye. Olivia gave a tentative wave as the chopper began to rise into the air. Sam doffed her cap and held it aloft like a baseball player saluting the crowd. She remained that way until the chopper banked sharply and Olivia lost sight of her.
Olivia turned away from the window feeling at odds with her warring emotions. Why did she feel such disappointment when, just a day ago, she was literally on top of the world? When she got to Kathmandu, she would finally receive the notoriety and attention she had sought at the outset of the trip. Now that both were in reach, she realized neither were what she truly wanted. What she wanted was Sam. To sit with her on a sal stump talking about whatever came to mind or, better yet, to lay with her in comfortable silence under a canopy of stars not saying anything at all.
As expected, Annapurna I had given her the adventure of a lifetime. She had met every challenge the mountain had thrown at her, but in her rush to reach the summit and establish her legacy, she had failed to meet the one challenge that mattered most.
Instead of challenging herself to explore her feelings for Sam, she had chosen to ignore them. By doing so, she had denied herself a chance at something that meant more than anything she had ever accomplished.
She had turned down a chance at love.
People waited all their lives for a chance at something this good. She couldn’t let hers pass her by.
Chapter Eighteen
Sam maneuvered her scooter through traffic. On Kathmandu’s narrow, congested streets, a car was often more of a hindrance than a convenience. Her scooter allowed her to squeeze through most traffic snarls and avoid time-consuming delays. When she couldn’t find clear stretches of road, she detoured over sidewalks or down back alleys.
She lived on New Road. The thoroughfare was the busiest in Nepal. Restaurants and shops lined both sides of the street. Vehicles of all varieties clogged all four lanes. She made it home from the warehouse on the edge of town in a little over sixty minutes. Not bad for rush hour.
She climbed off her scooter with a sense of relief. The climb was over, the truck and the supplies were in storage, and her clients had scattered. Now it was time to relax. She locked her scooter in the rack in front of her building and stepped onto the sidewalk.
She lived above Naan, the bustling restaurant where she had hoped to treat Olivia to dinner. Through the restaurant’s wide front window, she could see platters of food being taken to eager patrons. The fragrant smells of rogan josh and pork vindaloo made her mouth water, but the siren call of a hot shower was too powerful to ignore. She placed a to-go order, paid in advance, and instructed the courier to leave the food outside her door if she didn’t respond to his knock.
A narrow stairway to the left of the restaurant’s entrance led to an apartment two floors above. Her place.
She climbed the stairs and unlocked the door. Closing the door behind her, she dropped her backpack in the foyer and hung her coat on the rack. The walls were painted a relaxing sky blue. A navy blue plaid couch and a matching armchair were positioned in front of a tiny television set not much bigger than a microwave. She kept meaning to buy a bigger set, but she wasn’t home often enough to enjoy it so she didn’t see the point. She tossed her keys on the sturdy teak coffee table and took off her boots.
The small living room led to a cramped but neatly organized galley kitchen. A double sink and laminate-topped counter were on one side of the kitchen, a refrigerator and gas stove on the other. Glass-front cabinets lined both walls. Copper-bottomed pots and pans hung on a graffiti-covered pegboard, providing an imaginative bent to what could have been a humdrum display. The pegboard had been Pasang’s idea, but she had come to love it as much as he had when he’d helped pick it out and asked some of his friends to decorate it for her.
Her dining area consisted of a curvy wrought iron bistro table and two café-style chairs of similar design. She thought the setup would have looked right at home on a Paris street. The only things missing were a view of the Eiffel Tower and the sound of accordion music playing in the background.
Sam paused to straighten the framed photo of her favorite fishing hole hanging above the couch, then headed to the bathroom. She undressed on the way, leaving discarded articles of clothing in her wake.
She stepped in the shower and turned on the spray. She sighed in satisfaction as hot water cascaded over her body, loosening the knots and soothing her assorted aches.
“God, it’s good to be home.”
Several long minutes later, she rinsed shampoo out of her hair, turned off the water, and reached for a towel. She slowly dried off and stepped out of the shower. Her hair, so thick it took forever to air dry, dripped water down her bare back as she stood naked on the cold tile floor.
She put on some sweats and a long-sleeved T-shirt and peeked outside her door, where her food was waiting. She set the main course on the kitchen counter, placed dessert in the refrigerator, and returned to the living room, where she lit a cigar and sorted through the mail that had accumulated while she was away. She was almost done when someone knocked on her door. She clenched her cigar between her teeth and padded barefoot to the door. The neighborhood kids loved hearing about her climbs, but they usually gave her a day or two to recover before they pestered her for stories.
“You guys are starting early this time, aren’t you?” she asked in Nepali.
She opened the door expecting to be besieged by a sea of eager faces. Instead, she was confronted by only one.
Olivia stood in the doorway, a six-pack tucked under her arm. “How about that beer?” she asked cheerily. “Gorkha’s your brand, isn’t it?”
For a second, Sam thought she was hallucinating again. But the woman standing in her doorway—and on the threshold of her heart—was no dream. More like a dream come true.
“If you don’t have any Schell’s, Gorkha will do.”
Ol
ivia grinned. “I’ll be sure to pick up some Schell’s the next time I’m in Minnesota. In the meantime, may I come in?”
“Of course.” With a start, Sam realized she was still blocking Olivia’s way. She moved to one side and ushered Olivia into her apartment. “May I take your coat?” she asked, finding her manners.
“Yes, please.”
Olivia shrugged off her parka and Sam hung it on the rack. She extinguished her cigar and put the six-pack in the refrigerator while Olivia looked around her apartment.
“I thought you had interviews lined up,” she said, popping the caps on two of the bottles.
“Change of plans,” Olivia said after Sam returned to the living room. She accepted the proffered beer and sat on the couch. “Or, more accurately, a change in priorities.”
“Yeah?” Wary of being rejected again, Sam tried not to read too much into Olivia’s unexpected appearance on her doorstep. “How did that work out for you?”
Olivia took a sip of her beer and nodded appreciatively. “I asked myself what was most important to me. Lo and behold, you came out on top.”
Sam’s heart skittered in her chest. “Call me stupid, but I need you to spell it out for me.” She draped her arm across the back of the couch. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying yes.”
“To?”
Olivia set her bottle of beer on the coffee table and rested her hand on Sam’s arm. “Every question you’ve ever asked me. Every question you will ever ask me.”
“Every question? That could be dangerous.”
“I don’t care. When the chopper took off today, I realized I didn’t come to Nepal to climb Annapurna I. I came here to meet you. Now that I have, I don’t ever want to leave you.”
Olivia cupped Sam’s cheek in her palm. Sam felt grounded by her touch, even as Olivia’s words made her soul take flight.
Sam leaned forward until her lips met Olivia’s in a kiss so tender it brought tears to her eyes.
“I hope you don’t mind if I put you to the test,” she said.
“How so?”
Sam’s omnipresent Twins cap was surprisingly absent, revealing a thick shock of short salt-and-pepper hair. Olivia ran her hands through the unruly tresses.
“I want to know if you really will say yes to everything.”
Olivia smiled as Sam turned her toward her and placed one of her legs on either side of her body.
“There are limits to everything, you know.”
“I know.”
She felt herself grow hard as Sam scooted her closer and cupped her ass in the palms of her hands. She wrapped her arms around Sam’s neck as Sam drew her into her lap.
“What’s your first question?”
“Do you want to be with me?”
“Yes.”
Olivia tried not to gasp when Sam’s hands worked their way inside her many layers of clothes and slid against her bare skin.
“Are you sure?”
Sam tilted her face toward hers. Olivia drew Sam’s breath into her mouth then claimed her lips in a kiss.
“Yes.”
Sam’s full lips curled into a smile. “Are you hungry?”
Olivia slipped her hands under Sam’s T-shirt and cradled her firm breasts in her hands. “Yes.”
Sam moaned and her hips rose to meet Olivia’s. “Do you like Indian food?”
“Yes.” Olivia brushed her thumbs over Sam’s nipples until the sensitive flesh turned rock hard. Sam’s blue eyes turned almost black.
“I’ve got some food in the kitchen, but it might not be enough for two. Would you like to see a menu?”
“Yes.”
Olivia raised her arms as Sam pulled her Henley over her head. Her silk undershirt quickly followed. Then Sam’s long-sleeved T-shirt joined the growing pile.
Sam lay back on the couch and slowly ran her hands up Olivia’s windsuit-covered thighs. Olivia hooked her thumbs in the waistband of Sam’s sweats and slowly slid them over the curve of her ass.
“Now I have some questions for you,” Olivia said as her fingers explored the patch of dark hair at the apex of Sam’s thighs. “The restaurant downstairs. Is it where you were planning to take me for dinner?” Sam squirmed beneath her, making her feel like a cowboy riding a bucking bronco.
“Yes.”
Olivia brushed her lips against the side of Sam’s neck. She skimmed Sam’s cheek and came to a stop next to her ear. She caressed the lobe with her tongue and slowly drew it into her mouth. She was rewarded with a hiss of pleasure. “And I assume they do takeout?”
“Yes.” Sam nodded fervently. “There’s a menu in the kitchen. I already know what I want. How about you?”
“Yes.”
“So dinner can wait?”
Olivia smiled down at her. “Yes.”
Smiling, Sam sat up and slowly traced the outline of Olivia’s mouth with her tongue. Olivia groaned deep in her throat and pressed her body’s full length against Sam’s. Sam opened her mouth and allowed Olivia’s probing tongue inside. Olivia’s tongue danced against hers, tentatively at first then with purpose.
Olivia slipped a hand between their bodies and cupped Sam’s breast. She teased the hardened nipple with her thumb. Sam kneaded Olivia’s hip. She placed her leg between Olivia’s. Olivia rode her thigh, the muscles in her hips flexing against Sam’s hand.
“If that’s the appetizer,” she said when her rapid breathing finally slowed, “I can’t imagine how good the main course is going to be.”
Sam twined her fingers through Olivia’s hair. “Wait until you see dessert. Follow me.”
Sam grabbed a container out of the refrigerator, took Olivia’s hand, and led her to the bedroom. Olivia had to talk herself out of turning the trip into a race. Continuing to follow Sam’s lead, she sat cross-legged on the bed. Sam sat in front of her. Sam opened the small container in her hands. Olivia peered inside. The dish smelled sweet yet spicy. Rice, coconut milk, and sugar infused with cardamom. Slivered almonds and golden raisins were sprinkled on top.
“Kheer is a dish vital to Indian culture,” Sam said. “No ceremony, feast, or celebration is complete without it. In some parts of the country, tradition says a wedding isn’t fully blessed unless kheer is served at the reception.”
She dipped her fingers into the rice pudding and held them out. Olivia slowly licked her fingers clean. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Sam offered her another serving. “One step at a time,” she said with an inscrutable smile.
Olivia licked her lips. “What’s step one?”
Sam took some kheer for herself. “We’re taking it right now.” She placed the container on the nightstand and moved to step two.
She unhooked Olivia’s bra and slid it down her arms. Then she kissed Olivia’s shoulders and worked her way down to Olivia’s breasts. Olivia arched her back when Sam’s mouth closed around her nipple. Sam flicked it with the tip of her tongue. Rolled it between her teeth. Then she moved to Olivia’s other breast and gave it the same treatment.
Moaning, Olivia lay back on the bed and pulled Sam down on top of her.
As her hands and mouth continued to touch and tease, Sam grabbed the waistband of Olivia’s pants and pushed them past her knees, then tugged them off. She reached inside Olivia’s gray boy shorts. Her fingers raked through the tight curls.
Olivia panted in anticipation. The touch she had been expecting took her breath away. Sam’s finger stroked the length of her clit and circled the tip. Olivia gasped when Sam dipped a finger inside—and whined when she quickly withdrew.
Sam pulled off Olivia’s underwear and tossed them over her shoulder. Her eyes slowly traveled up Olivia’s body.
Olivia lay naked on the bed, her body and soul exposed for Sam’s thorough inspection.
“You’re amazing,” Sam whispered.
“Not half as much as you are.”
Sam trailed her fingers up the inside of Olivia’s calves. When she reached Olivia
’s knees, she replaced her fingers of her right hand with her tongue.
The muscles in Olivia’s thighs quivered. Her legs parted almost of their own accord. Sam’s mouth closed around her center. Sam’s tongue teased her clit.
“Ah, fuck.” She pressed her head against the pillow as her hips rose to meet Sam’s mouth.
Sam quickly brought her to the brink. Olivia gritted her teeth to hold the end at bay. She didn’t want her first time with Sam to come to an end so soon. But the need for Sam to take her—to claim her—was just too strong.
“I need you inside me.”
Sam slipped one finger inside her before adding another. Her legs held Olivia’s apart. The rough fabric of the bedspread contrasted with the softness of her touch. She kissed Olivia, her tongue filling her mouth.
Olivia moved against Sam’s fingers. White heat formed in her center and spread throughout her body. “Yes,” she hissed. “Right there.”
Sam kissed her hungrily. As if she wanted to taste her pleasure. Olivia made sure she got her fill. Sam’s thumb massaged her clit while her fingers plumbed her depths. Olivia dug her heels into the mattress.
“God, Sam.”
She screamed in release as her body came apart.
Sam waited for her to come down, then gently withdrew her fingers. “Are you okay?” She stroked Olivia’s hair. “Did I hurt you?” Her voice was filled with so much tenderness the sound melted Olivia’s heart.
“You were perfect. You made me feel like there was no one else in the world. Like no one else mattered. Now it’s my turn to return the favor.”
Olivia slid her nails over the contours of Sam’s rippled stomach. Sam shuddered against her, then raised herself to her knees.
Olivia sat up in bed. She ran her hands over Sam’s strong shoulders and down her chest. She cupped Sam’s firm breasts in her hands. Sam’s nipples were light brown and rock hard. Olivia reverently kissed one then the other.
Moving lower, she circled Sam’s navel with her tongue and nipped at the skin. She could smell the sweet scent of Sam’s arousal.
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