Christmas on the Last Frontier (Last Frontier Lodge #1)

by J. H. Croix

  She could hardly think. Her core drew tight, liquid heat drenching her. His lips closed over a nipple, and she cried out, arching into his touch, desperate for more. He alternated sucking, stroking and nipping before he pulled away, his smoky gaze searing through her. She pushed him back and tore at the buttons of his jeans, curling her hand around his hard shaft. He murmured her name, his voice low and taut. She freed him from the confines of his jeans, stroking the velvet length of his cock. He captured her lips in a kiss again, his tongue sweeping in deeply, his hand curling around her neck to pull her closer. She tore her lips away and shoved him back against the door, taking him in her mouth. She took him all the way in, the head of his cock bumping against the back of her throat as she swiftly stroked up and down, glorying in the husky groans that tore from him.

  Suddenly, he moved, lifting her up and tearing at her jeans. In spite of the cramped space, she somehow got her jeans off. Gage growled his approval when he cupped his hand over her panties and stroked her through the wet silk. Not bothering with those, he shifted and effortlessly lifted her onto his lap. No matter how many times he held her in his arms, she marveled at his raw strength. When her knees fell to either side of his hips and she rested against the heated length of his arousal, he groaned. She shoved her hands under his shirt, pushing it up to feel some of his skin. A ragged breath broke from him when she pressed her hips down on him. Pleasure spiked at the feel of him against her core, dripping with need. He shoved her panties out of the way, dragging his fingers through her folds.

  Her forehead fell to his, their breath mingling as he drove his fingers into her. She was so close to the edge, she could hardly stand it. Pressure gathered and gathered as he stroked into her with his fingers. He adjusted his hips when he pulled his fingers away, the tip of his cock resting at her entrance. He held still and whispered her name. She dragged her eyes open to find his waiting. The world had narrowed to this moment and nothing else. In the falling darkness on a deserted snowy road, the rush of intimacy between them flared. Gage held her eyes in his smoky gray gaze as he sheathed himself inside of her. He began to move incrementally, rocking his hips into her. He cupped the back of her head, threading his hand into her hair. Sensation unfurled through her, tremors of pleasure building and building until her climax crashed over her. As she shuddered around him, clenching him in her channel, his head fell back, her name coming out in a ragged cry as he pulsed into her.

  Her head dropped into the curve of his neck as she tried to catch her breath. His hand loosened in her curls and slid down her spine. Only when she heard the bump of his hand on the steering wheel did she remember where they were. His hand stroked in slow circles on her back. She eventually lifted her head and looked around. Gage had left the truck running and heat blew across them. It was almost dark outside, the snow bright in the gloaming. Marley turned to Gage. He rolled his head to the side, his mouth curling at one corner.

  Her chest tightened. Emotion washed over her, the intimacy between them so deep, she didn’t know how to comprehend it. He held her eyes and reached a hand up to tuck a curl behind her ears.

  “I think we might be late.” His words were gruff.

  Marley felt a warm swell inside and giggled. “We’re definitely late.”

  Gage met hers eyes, his smile all she wanted. “Right. I suppose we should get going.”

  They slowly untangled themselves and put themselves back together. When Gage stopped before turning back on the highway, Marley pulled the visor down and glanced at herself in the mirror. “Oh no. My hair’s a mess,” she commented and started running her fingers through it, a feeble attempt to tidy it.

  He put his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “You look beautiful. Stop worrying.”

  She turned to him, about to argue, and then saw the look in his eyes. He held her in his gaze—desire and something else in its depths.

  “Okay,” she said softly. She leaned back in the seat and curled her hand over his.

  Not much later, he crested the hill where the highway rose up before dipping down into Homer. The lights of the town glittered ahead. Homer sat at the end of the road, literally. The highway ended at the end of the Homer Spit, the longest ‘spit’ in the world. A spit was a small, narrow peninsula of land. The Homer Spit was four and a half miles long and was the longest road into ocean waters in the world. Marley had always loved visiting the spit. It felt like driving on a land bridge into the ocean. Homer’s airport was the closest sizable airport to Diamond Creek, a mere hour away. Diamond Creek had what was referred to as a ‘puddle jumper’ airport, primarily serving small planes that flew in rural areas of Alaska. Homer had an airport that could accommodate full-size commercial airliners, so it was the common destination for people coming to Diamond Creek from out of state.

  When Gage drove down the hill into town, Marley directed him to the airport. As they drove through the small town, she glanced over at him. “We should visit here in the daytime.”

  He nodded and squeezed her leg. “I’ve heard it’s a great place to fish. Do they have a ski lodge here?”

  She giggled, realizing he was sizing up potential competition. “Nope, no ski lodge. Lots of art galleries, shopping and fishing. We can come in the summer.”

  As the words left her mouth, she realized she was unconsciously assuming they’d be together next summer. Gage’s quick affirmative reply startled her and curled around her heart. Thrumming in the aftermath of their earlier encounter, her anxiety at meeting his sisters was forgotten.

  Moments later, he pulled up at the airport. They walked inside, a blast of heat hitting them when they walked through the automatic doors. Marley’s eyes were adjusting to the light when there was a squeal. She turned to find Gage surrounded by two women, both hugging him at once. After the flurry of welcome, Gage stepped back. His gray eyes were bright. Marley knew without a doubt he was happy to see his sisters. One stood tall, close to Gage’s height, with glossy straight brown hair that hung halfway down her back. The other was petite and curvy with long chocolate brown hair brightened with blonde streaks. The women turned at once to look at Marley. She felt as if she were under a microscope.

  Gage stepped back to Marley’s side, sliding his arm around her waist. “This is Marley. He paused and glanced down at her. “She’s my girlfriend. Thought you two might want to meet her.”

  In unison, both women arched a brow. The only word to describe their shared expression was startled. They looked at Marley and back to Gage. The shorter woman smiled slowly before rushing at Marley and hugging her. “Oh my God! This is the best!” She turned to Gage. “How come you didn’t say anything?” Her eyes filled with tears as she stepped back. Her eyes were a softer shade of gray than Gage’s, almost silvery. She held a hand out, which seemed silly after her rapturous hug, but Marley reached for her hand and shook it.

  “I’m Jessa. I didn’t mean to seem crazy, but Gage has never brought anyone to meet us, so you must mean a lot to him. Nice to meet you. You look super nice,” she said warmly.

  “Uh, okay. Nice to meet you too,” Marley replied. Her mind spun to hear she was the first woman Gage had introduced to his family. Her heart leapt at the possible implications of that, a warm flush spiraling through her.

  The other sister angled her head to the side, her blue eyes bouncing between them. Her gaze was curious, but certainly not quite as warm as Jessa’s. She took a quick stride to Marley and held her hand out. “Becca,” she said firmly when Marley shook her hand. “As Jessa mentioned, Gage isn’t much for introducing us to anyone. I take it you do mean a lot to him, so you’d better be good to him.” She slanted her eyes to Gage. “Gage’s tendency to be insanely private isn’t particularly helpful.”

  Anxiety swirled inside Marley. She couldn’t help it, but she wanted Gage’s sisters to like her. Becca was intimidating to say the least. She met Becca’s eyes and tried to smile. Gage’s arm tightened around her waist. “Ease up, Becca.” He glanced down at Marley. “Becca’s kin
d of a badass. She’s a public prosecutor and spends so much time facing the seedy side of the world, she isn’t the most optimistic person. But she has a heart of gold, she just doesn’t let everyone see it.”

  Marley nodded. Becca’s eyes softened, and she cuffed Gage on the shoulder. She glanced back to Marley. “Gage means a lot to us. I can be kind of protective.”

  Marley nodded again, feeling silly at this point. Jessa grinned and clasped her hands together. “This is so perfect! You came back to Alaska and fell in love.”

  Gage chuckled. Marley couldn’t help but notice he didn’t bother to correct Jessa. Conversation moved on to getting their bags. After a flurry of activity, they were piled in Gage’s truck. Marley insisted on riding in one of the small seats in the back with Jessa because Becca’s tall form would be cramped in the tiny space. Though Gage had started to argue the point, Marley ignored him.

  Chapter 18

  “It’s about damn time is all I have to say!” Jessa declared with a lift of her wine glass before she downed its remainder.

  Becca grinned and shook her head. “Good thing you don’t have to drive anywhere tonight,” she commented wryly. “You are such a lightweight.”

  Jessa shrugged and turned her smile on Marley. “I mean it. I pretty much gave up on Gage ever getting involved with anyone. It’s obvious he adores you. So there,” she said firmly.

  They were seated at a corner booth in the lodge restaurant. It was late afternoon, so the restaurant wasn’t filled at the moment. Business had been so good, Delia had begun to keep the restaurant open for dinners every night. Gage was busy helping Don repair the snowmobile, which had gotten cranky this afternoon and refused to start. Given that opening day was quite close, they needed the snowmobile for quick travel on the slopes. Gage and Don shared the tendency to want to fix anything and everything, so he’d dropped a quick kiss on Marley’s cheek and promised her he’d be up to meet them for dinner once he and Don were done.

  Jessa and Becca had settled in at the lodge and quickly made themselves helpful in the few days they’d been there. Marley felt a lingering self-consciousness with Becca who remained reserved though she appeared to be reserved with most everyone, so at least Marley wasn’t getting special treatment. Jessa, on the other hand, was a font of warmth. When Jessa came across Marley in the hall on her way out, she’d tucked her hand in Marley’s elbow and dragged her into an early happy hour with Becca.

  Marley met Jessa’s silver gaze and couldn’t hide her blush. “Well, I wouldn’t know if he adored me, but he’s pretty awesome.”

  Jessa nodded emphatically and refilled their wineglasses. She turned to Becca. “Why are you so uptight about this?”

  Becca’s expression was difficult to read. Marley sensed Becca was uncomfortable with Gage’s relationship with her, and she wanted to know why. Becca glanced between Jessa and Marley before she sighed. “I don’t mean to come across like that.” She turned to Marley, her gaze softening. “Gage is a really good guy, but he’s never been interested in relationships. Part of that was because of his time in the military, but I also thought it was because it didn’t come easy to him. He’s been through a lot the last few years. It’s big that he’s seeing anyone. He’s always been the one to be strong for anyone who needed him. I’m happy he’s found someone, but I’m pretty protective of him. I don’t want to see him get hurt. So if I seem uptight, it’s just because I’m not sure what he means to you. For what it’s worth, I don’t know what he’s said to you, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that he loves you.”

  Becca’s words hit Marley right in the heart, almost taking her breath away. Her mind spun. The idea that Gage might love her blew open the door she’d been barely holding closed in front of her heart. The idea of love danced at the edges of her thoughts whenever Gage passed through her mind, which was most of the time. But she hadn’t dared to allow herself to ponder it much. Because she still hadn’t wrapped her brain around the fact that she was falling hard and fast for Gage, she was perpetually trying to scramble for purchase so she could think things through. She felt so out of her depth with Gage. To hear Becca bluntly state that she believed Gage loved her brought hot tears to her eyes.

  Marley took a gulp of air, finally looking up to meet Becca’s eyes. Becca seemed to see something there. She took a slow breath and nodded thoughtfully. “Well then, I guess I don’t need to worry about Gage.”

  Jessa bumped her shoulder against Becca. “I told you she loved him. I could tell when we were at the airport.” Jessa grinned at Marley. “I did tell her, but Becca’s not very romantic. She told me I was being ridiculous.”

  Becca rolled her eyes. She held Marley’s gaze, her eyes assessing. “I’m guessing Gage hasn’t mentioned he loves you?”

  Marley shook her head, her heart pounding and her throat tight. She was fraught with hope and overwhelmed with her feelings. Questions tumbled through her mind, wondering what Becca meant when she said Gage had been through a lot.

  Becca tilted her head. “He’s not the most expressive guy around. Give him time.”

  Marley somehow regained the ability to speak. “What do you mean when you say Gage has been through a lot?”

  Becca eyed her and even Jessa’s expression sobered. After a long silence, Becca spoke. “His best friend died while they were on a mission in Iraq. He barely talks about it. He can’t really because pretty much everything he did as a Navy SEAL was classified, but Matt’s death hit him hard.”

  Jessa reached across the table and grabbed one of Marley’s hands, squeezing it in hers. “Gage might be the strong, silent type, but he cares a lot. He’s always been there for all of us. After Matt died, he got even more serious. He used to date here and there, but as far as we knew, he hasn’t dated anyone for the last few years. I didn’t see a spark in him until he started talking about moving up here after Gram died. He hadn’t known she still owned the lodge.” Jessa released Marley’s hand and glanced at Becca. “That’s why Becca’s been worried about him. I know you don’t know us that well, but it’s obvious to me he means a lot to you. I’m so happy he found you,” she said softly.

  Marley’s throat tightened again. To consider what it must have been like for Gage to lose his best friend like that tore at her. As his sisters said, he wasn’t the most expressive guy. While Marley may have had her uncertainties about how he felt about her, she didn’t doubt he cared deeply about those who mattered to him. She cleared her throat. “I appreciate you letting me know a little about him. It helps me understand him,” she said softly. She turned to Becca. “I can promise you he means a lot to me. This whole thing with him kind of took me off guard, and I’m not so good at the relationship thing…”

  Marley paused when Ginger arrived at their table. She bluntly interrupted Marley. “You mean you haven’t dated in almost a decade.”

  Marley flushed and glared at Ginger. “We were having a serious conversation.” Marley turned to Becca and Jessa and gestured to Ginger. “This is my friend, Ginger. She’s kind of nosy.”

  Ginger pulled her jacket off and sat down beside Marley, giving her a side hug. After a few moments of greetings and ordering food, Ginger zoomed back to the conversation she’d interrupted. “So, what this about you not being good at relationships? You seem to be doing just fine with Gage.”

  Marley flushed while Jessa grinned. “We were just telling Marley how happy we are about her and Gage.”

  Ginger glanced between them. “Join the club. I keep telling Marley to relax and accept the fact that Gage totally has the hots for her.”

  Marley’s face was so hot, she thought she might melt. Right then, Gage walked into the restaurant from the kitchen. He slowly made his way across the room. His jeans hung low on his hips, his fitted cotton shirt lifting to reveal a flash of his rock-hard abs when he paused to straighten a chair at an empty table. He caught her eyes when he got closer to their table. Heat swirled in her center, butterflies massing in her belly. She
couldn’t have looked away from his smoky gray gaze if her life depended on it.

  “In case you were wondering how they felt about each other. I swear, one of these days they’re going to go up in flames in front of everyone,” Ginger commented wryly.

  Jessa giggled, and even Becca chuckled. Marley fought her blush, but she knew it was hopeless. As Gage reached the table, Ginger quickly stood and grabbed a chair from a nearby table. She gestured for Gage to take her now empty seat beside Marley. Gage grinned at her and slid into the booth beside Marley. Ginger tugged her chair to the end of the booth.

  Gage stretched his arm across the back of the booth, his hand resting at the base of Marley’s neck. A shiver ran through her at the subtle touch. She glanced up at Gage. “How’d the repairs go?”

  Gage glanced down, his eyes banked with heat, his thumb lightly caressing her neck. “We got it running again. I’ll be buying another snowmobile though. We could use more than one around here. This one’s hanging in there, but it’s probably thirty years old.”

  Conversation moved on with Ginger peppering Gage with questions about the lodge. At one point, Becca nodded approvingly at Gage. “Gotta say, Gage. I wasn’t so sure how you’d manage to get this place up and running this year, but you’ve pulled it off.”

  Gage simply nodded, an excellent example of his tendency to be reserved. Marley knew this had been an old childhood dream, and he was on the cusp of making it come true. All he offered was a nod. Marley pondered the glimpse of Gage she’d learned from his sisters and rolled the word love around in her mind like a pebble in hand. Her feelings for him frightened her, mostly because he’d come to mean so much, so quickly. Her heart was all in, and her body was a magnet when it came to him. All he had to do was be near, and she spun to him, unable to hold back. To hear Becca state so bluntly that it was obvious Gage loved her…well, that had blown the hinges off of her heart.