by Doyle, S
The call ended and I put the receiver on the hook. Ark had made his decision and I knew it was final.
Another one bites the dust.
I swiveled in my chair and found the picture of us on the shelf.
“Can you believe this, Sarah? Hell, a month ago Ark would have said he hated Olivia.”
I huffed. No matter how many times I spoke to her over the years, she never answered me.
Because she was dead, and I was still alive.
“Am I?” I asked the empty office. There were times in the past few months I sure as hell felt alive. It was like a limb waking up after being asleep for so long. All tingles and spikey needles. A pleasurable sort of pain.
But the limb was no longer numb. There was all this feeling in it. So much I couldn’t ignore it.
“I’ve got to tell the guys what Ark did, Sarah. They’ll want to talk about it. Probably over a few beers so we’ll head into town. Get our usual table at Bud’s.”
No response.
“She might be there.”
Still no response. I sighed.
“Yeah, I know, I know. Nothing to say about that. Because you’re dead. And I’m not.”
I got out of my chair and left my office. Turning off the light so I could no longer see Sarah or Emily.
“I’m not dead,” I muttered.
19
EEI (Earth Energy International) Sea Rig 8
Twenty miles off the coast of Scotland
Six weeks later
Olivia
The helicopter ride was bumpy. I had been told to prepare for it as the winds this far north were always pretty choppy.
“This your first time out to a rig at sea?” Cody, one of my new co-workers, asked. The question came over my headset as it was the only way to communicate it what amounted to a loud wind tunnel inside the chopper.
I shook my head. “No, I spent time on a rig in the North Sea.”
I swallowed as I felt the pain well up. As it did every time I thought of Alaska. Or more accurately, Noah. I told myself I would give it two solid months to grieve. To hurt. To cry.
My first real heartbreak deserved a period of mourning.
After that, I wouldn’t think of him anymore. I would try to accept one of the offers I’d received since moving to Scotland to go out on an actual date. I would forget about Noah and his lovemaking and everything about him…in two weeks.
That seemed impossible, but so did earning the position of VP of operations at one of the largest energy companies on the planet. Apparently EEI had their eyes on me for some time.
So when they made the big offer, it only made sense to take it.
Or did it?
Or had I blown the one chance at love I would ever have? Two weeks. He hadn’t called or spoken to me. For two weeks!
What was I supposed to think? What was I supposed to do when the job I’d been working toward my entire career finally fell into my lap?
You should have told him you were leaving.
“I should have told him,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Cody asked.
“Sorry,” I said more clearly into the mouth piece. “I was just talking to myself.”
“No worries. I have to say when I heard we had stolen you away from Dyson I was pretty pleased. We’re real glad to have you on the team.”
“Thanks.” I tried to sound enthusiastic. “I’m excited about this new project.”
The Sea Rig 8 was an exploratory operation. Far bigger than what Dyson had in the North Sea. The job of this rig was to search for viable wells, tap them, cap them and move on while the production rig would follow it. My job was to make sure that happened with no impact to the environment.
Capping wells was not a simple prospect, and nothing was going to be tapped until I was assured that the process was foolproof. EEI targeted me specifically because of my watchdog attitude. I was here to hold the entire company accountable and I would.
I tried to imagine how I could trust the engineers on this crew like I’d trusted Noah.
I swallowed the lump in my throat knowing that I would have to try.
The chopper landed on one of the large pads the rig had space for. Sea Rig 8 dwarfed the Dyson rig and I thought maybe that was a good thing. A contrast so different I would be forced to focus on this operation, this place, which would keep me from questioning my decision to leave.
Had he even gotten the letter? Had he read it and thought good riddance? Or worse, had some new renter found the letter and wondered about the pathetic woman, no, coward who had left it.
Did it matter? It had been two months since I’d spoken to Noah. I hadn’t blocked his number. I couldn’t make myself do it. But after that one angry voice message, there had been nothing.
Not a call, not a text.
No, if he at all regretted me leaving, he would have told me. He would have tried to reach out. He would have done something to let me know he felt anything for me!
I unbuckled myself from the seat and popped open the door. I was in heavy, winter gear, but the blast of cold, wet air that hit me as soon as I stepped onto the rig was a shock.
I hadn’t felt this kind of cold since—
Since I’d shoved Noah’s bare foot under my coat.
Two more weeks, I told myself. Two more weeks and I would never think of him again.
Liar
Cody came around and waved me over to the steps that would take us down to the control room.
“Cold enough for you?” he asked when I was in range.
“I’ve felt worse,” I told him.
“Yeah, you Alaska folks should know the drill. Can’t believe we were lucky enough to snag both of you. Dyson must be kicking their own ass right about now.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as we took one flight, then another flight of steps to the main level where control was located.
“You didn’t hear? No, you probably wouldn’t have back in corporate. Development of Sea 8 was backed up. The executives were worried we didn’t have the right talent on the job. Then out of nowhere we had a dream land in our lap. He came to us, can you believe it?”
“Who are you talking about?”
Cody opened the door the control room and stepped inside before he answered me. I followed him and heard my answer before I saw him.
“What the hell kind of operation is that?”
“Now, Ark, calm down.”
“Calm down? The muckety-mucks told me to make them something that would find oil. This oversize, floating tin can couldn’t find a meteor if it got hit by it!”
I froze. This wasn’t happening. I wasn’t here, about as far away from Alaska as a person could be, watching as Ark reamed out a man, who I imagined was the Rig Chief.
“Can you believe it?” Cody said to me over his shoulder. “Noah Aikens. And he came to us.”
“That’s why you’re here,” the older man told Ark. “To help us fix it.”
“Fix it? More like redesign the whole damn thing. I want all engineers reporting to me, and I want the specs of this tin can from its initial design to current.”
“You got it, Ark.”
The older man turned in our direction sensing our presence. “Great, you’re both here. Come meet our new head engineer.”
Noah turned in my direction and snarled as soon as he saw me. “You,” he said, pointing to me. “Outside now!”
“Ark!” The older man shouted after Noah as he charged towards me. “What the hell are you doing? That’s Olivia Sampson. She’s our new VP of operations.”
“Yeah, well, she’s also my fucking girlfriend. Stay out of it.”
It was like I was in some kind of crazy dream. Noah was here, snarling at me as if I had done something wrong. When, instead, I should have been shouting at him and demanding that he get off my rig.
“What are you doing here?” I finally managed to say as he reached me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the control center. “You shouldn’t b
e here.”
I had no choice but to follow him outside, down a walkway to another set of doors that took us through the galley and beyond where the barracks were located. There were some men lingering around the area, but they must have seen Noah’s face and they immediately moved out.
Then he opened one of the doors to the private quarters, which I assumed was his given his comfort level at practically shoving me inside. He slammed the door behind him then advanced on me until I bumped into the single bunk and fell back on to it.
“What are you doing here?” I asked again my anger finally overtaking my shock.
“Oh no, you don’t get to ask the questions.” He pulled the heavy wool sweater over his head even as he started kicking his boots off. “Get naked now!”
“I will not! Not until you tell me why you are here.”
“Olivia,” he growled. “Do not fight me on this. I haven’t been inside you in two fucking months. Naked. Now.”
A wave of anger and desire hit me at the same time. Noah was here. Noah was pushing his pants down his legs. Noah’s thick, beautiful cock was hard and right there. Not half a world away. I scrambled off the bed and dropped to my knees in front of him.
There was no hesitation. No foreplay. I simply took him inside my mouth sucking him as deep as I could even as his hands gripped either side of my head. His heat, his taste. I never thought I would have it again. Never imagined hearing his gut-wrenching moans above me.
I pushed against him, taking him deeper than I thought I could, deeper than was comfortable but it didn’t matter. I wanted to swallow him whole. Noah was here. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know why, I only knew the pain that had been swirling around my heart for weeks was gone.
All the crazy fire I normally felt around Noah was back. I didn’t realize how alive it made me feel. How dead inside I had been without him.
“Enough,” Noah groaned, pulling away from me. “I’m not going to last and I’m coming inside you.”
I scrambled onto the bed pulling my sweater over my head, while Noah knelt next to the bed pulling off my boots. I pushed up my tank top up and over my head even as he started stripping me of my jeans.
The second I was naked I felt him cover me. I spread my legs welcoming him between them.
“Noah!” I said, arching my back, begging him to take me.
“No, I need to work you up first. You’re not ready for me,” he said, shaking his head as if he was trying establish some semblance of control. I didn’t want that. I wanted him as wild and as out of control as he’d been the first time we’d done this. And I definitely didn’t need foreplay. I was wet the second I heard his voice.
I reached between us and found his cock, urging him closer to my pussy. “Please. I need you inside me. I’m ready.”
“Fuck,” he muttered then slid inside me, both of us groaning as our bodies connected.
I could feel the tears coming even as Noah started to pump deep and heavy inside me.
“Noah,” I cried into his neck.
“Fuck, Olivia,” he groaned barely holding his weight off me with his forearms so he could fuck me into the bed. I was surrounded by him. The feel of his hairy chest abrading my breasts, his heavy thighs between my legs, his bare cock so deep inside me I felt filled to the point of bursting.
And then I did burst from the inside out, wrapping myself around him and squeezing him with my whole body in a way that made my orgasm last and last. Until he was snapping his hips against me, grunting into my neck and I knew he was with me. With me in a way that made me think he would never leave me again.
He let his full weight drop on me and it was like this warm, delicious mass pressing me into the bed. I relished this moment. When Noah Aikens was made weak by me.
Eventually he turned us so we were on our sides and grabbed the blanket that was folded at the end of the bed to cover us. I felt tucked into a cocoon I never wanted to leave.
But as soon as our breathing evened out and the blissful feeling started to mellow, there were all the questions that needed to be asked and answered.
“Noah…” I didn’t even know where to start.
“Hmm, do we have to do this?” he said, nuzzling my neck. “Let’s pretend we already talked it all out and this is where we are.”
Yeah, no. “That would be nice if I knew where we were.”
“Here. In Scotland. Together.”
“You’re telling me you actually left Dyson to come to EEI?”
“I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let me on their rig if I wasn’t an official employee.”
I slapped his shoulder. “Noah! You’re being intentionally vague. I need answers. If I remember correctly, I told you I loved you and you stopped speaking to me. Now you just show up here and I’m supposed to understand why?”
He winced.
“Did you get my letter?” I asked him.
That instantly made him angry. “Yes, I got your fucking letter. How you thought you were going to end us with something as weak as that I have no clue.”
I sat up on my elbow. “Noah! I didn’t end us. You did. You didn’t talk to me for two weeks! Not a single word. How else was I supposed to interpret that silence? Other than you didn’t feel the same way.”
“I was working shit out,” he grumbled. “I told you I’m not good at this stuff. You knew that. You needed to give me more time to get to where I needed to be. Instead you took the first offer that came along.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. I couldn’t deny it. Part of taking this job was following my career path, but another part was that it would get me out of Alaska fast.
“I didn’t know how you felt. About anything,” I insisted.
He winced again. “I should have told you. I should have called you. But it…well, it freaked me the fuck out. I’ve never been in love before, okay?”
I reached for his face. “You’re in love with me?”
“Hello? Am I not fucking here?”
“Noah,” I said softly. “I need the words.”
“Yes, I’m in love with you,” he said as if it hurt a little to say it. “Now your turn.”
I smiled. “I already told you!”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly, tugging on a lock of my hair. “Well, I want to hear it again.”
“I love you.”
Wow, that was so much easier to do when you actually knew the other person felt the same way.
“It was the same for me, too. All that stuff you said about when it happened. Definitely long before the cabin. I kept telling myself you pissed me the hell off, but I also lived for those moments when you came to town to piss me the hell off. I didn’t know how to process it, or label it or deal with it. When you said you loved me...I shut down. Because, in my head, that was something that happened on TV and the movies and shit. Not something that would happen to me. Because loving someone, being loved that’s…big shit.”
I cupped his face. “I was scared, too. That’s why I ran. Why I didn’t tell you about the job. It seemed easier to pretend like us didn’t really happen. Like it would be easier to get over the hurt. But a minute didn’t go by where I wondered if I’d messed up the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He snorted and pulled me down against his chest. “Well, I’m here now. So you’re stuck with me.”
That’s when the ramifications of everything he’d done suddenly hit me and I sat up again. “But what about Hope’s Point and Cal and the guys? They were your best friends. And your dad and your sister are still in Alaska…”
This time he cupped my face. “They’re not going anywhere. I assume you’ll be okay with visiting them from time to time.”
“But it was your career,” I insisted.
He shook his head. “No. Being an engineer is my career. Designing the best drilling rigs on the planet is my career. You though, you’re on a mission. To change the culture and save the planet. You made a nice jump with this move, babe. I figure you’ll need to make a few mo
re to get to where you want to be. As long as the caveat is that I go where you go, I think we’ll be okay.”
I beamed. “You would do that? You would follow me wherever I go.”
“Babe, hello! I’m here, aren’t I?”
It was starting to settle in, the reality of Noah Aikens here with me. I leaned down and kissed him, then kissed him again just because I could.
Then I settled against his chest and thought I never wanted to be anywhere without him again.
“Don’t get comfortable,” he mumbled. “I’ve got to go back and figure out what bastardization of engineering this tin can really is.”
Yes, no worries about putting a caveat in my contract that any energy company who took me on would also have to take on Noah. Just the best ever at what he did.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, getting up. “Not exactly what happens the first time I show up on a rig.”
He slapped my bare ass. “I don’t know about that. This was pretty much what I wanted to do to you when you showed up on my rig for the first time, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hardee, har. Let me up.”
Peeling away from him, I glanced around his small quarters and found what I was looking for. He had a washcloth hanging next to his sink. I turned the water on and used the cloth to clean between my legs. Then it occurred to me he was probably freaking out again for not wearing a condom.
“Hey,” I said, not looking at him as I searched for my panties. “You don’t have to worry about sweating it out again. I finally did what I should have done years ago and got on birth control.”
“Shit,” I heard him mutter behind me.
I wiggled into my found panties and snapped into my bra. I turned toward him and he was standing in his boxer briefs, his jeans in his hands, looking mouthwateringly delicious. I’d just had him and already I couldn’t wait until tonight when we could come back here to his quarters and do it again.
Because there would be no sneaking around from this point forward. If any of the men thought I was fair game because I was sleeping with Noah, then they would have to go through him. I was certain that wasn’t going to happen. And because, technically, I was his boss, it’s not like anyone could accuse me of sleeping my way to the top.
