High Seduction

by Vivian Arend

  Jason paused after filling Erin’s cup and leaned in to speak softly. “Tim’s right. Matt knows he’s loaded, and I like how I live when I work for him. It’s all good.”

  Erin laughed as Jason pulled back to his formal distance. “I like you.”

  He tipped his head and retreated from the room with a smile.

  * * *

  Tim took his time prepping his coffee, watching Erin out of the corner of his eye. She sipped her juice, then pulled her phone from her pocket, glancing at Tim as if daring him to say something. He just smiled and grabbed a couple of pastries from the table, before eyeing the covered plates resting in front of Matt.

  She’d said she was fine with last night. Given him the go-ahead to keep things rolling, which was incredible. But part of accepting responsibility for their bedroom games meant being in tune with what she wasn’t saying. The subtle or not-so-subtle hints that she was giving off.

  If her words said she was okay but her body screamed for them to stop, he’d call off his plans in an instant. Nothing was worth hurting her, and the last thing he wanted was a repeat of years earlier when she’d taken off without explaining the true reasons why.

  Matt closed his computer and put it aside, turning with a satisfied sigh to the table. “And that’s done for the day. No more work to deal with for a week.”

  A muttered curse escaped Erin. She glanced up, frustration in her eyes.

  Shit. That didn’t look good. “Trouble?”

  “You were right.” She slouched back in her chair. “I shouldn’t have checked my e-mail.”

  “Something wrong?” Matt asked.

  Erin made a face. “Not wrong, but our holiday time here is cut short. They need the chopper in Calgary by tonight. We have to leave.”

  “Seriously?”

  She nodded.

  It was Matt’s turn to make a rude noise. “Can I admit I’m disappointed? I was looking forward to your company for a few more days.” He cleared his throat and damn near flushed. “And I mean that without any ulterior motives.”

  “Of course not,” Tim reassured him. “You’ve been a great host and . . .” It was a wild idea, but why not? “Why don’t you come with us?”

  Matt and Erin both straightened.

  “If we’re just making a delivery, why not?” he reasoned. “We still don’t have to report for work for a couple of days. And there’s more than enough room for Matt to join us even with the rest of the team.”

  “No team,” Erin added, eyes on her phone. “It looks like it’s just you and me.”

  “That’s crazy.” Didn’t anyone know how to relax anymore? “Did everyone else sprout wings and fly home without us?”

  His sarcasm pulled a reluctant laugh from her. “Check your e-mail. There have been a whole slew of updates from everyone since we left them at the airport. Tripp and Anders actually went home yesterday morning to spend their time off in Banff.”

  “That makes sense.” Tim spoke down the table toward Matt, who had rested his elbows on the table and was listening intently. “Tripp’s boyfriend isn’t out here. He’d want to be with him,” he explained.

  Matt nodded.

  Erin was still scrolling through e-mails. “Get this, though. Devon found out there’s a training session being offered by the coast guard next week, and somehow convinced Marcus it was vital for him and Alisha to stay and take part.”

  Amusement hit instantly. “Poor Alisha. Does this mean she has to use a scuba suit in the Pacific at this time of year?”

  “Probably. Devon I expect that kind of insanity from, but Alisha is into tropical temperatures.” Erin shuddered. “She’s going to freeze.”

  “They’re in love—that’s more than enough to keep her warm.”

  Their gazes met, and for a second hope stirred in the dark, beautiful depths before Erin jerked herself away, as if hiding from him.

  Some things they weren’t ready to even think about—he got that, but her quick denial seemed harsh.

  He focused back on their current dilemma. “Then that makes it even easier to fit Matt in.”

  Erin glanced at his friend. “Would you be interested in flying with us? Like Tim said, there’s no reason you couldn’t come along. It’s about a four-hour trip, and I can guarantee some great views. You’d have to find a way home, though.”

  Matt waved a hand. “If you’re headed to Calgary, I can take advantage of the opportunity and book meetings for next week. I would love a semiprivate tour of the glaciers.”

  “Then we’re settled,” Tim said. “Erin, you want to set up a liftoff time with the authorities?”

  She nodded, far more relaxed than a moment ago. “Two hours from now? Three?”

  “Three. No need to rush out of here, and the trip is short enough we’ll still be flying in the light even if we leave later.” Tim gestured toward the hot plates in front of Matt. “You planning on sharing any of that?”

  Their host smiled happily and held out his hand. “Let me load your plate for you.”

  “One second.” Erin typed quickly, then smiled as she put the phone down on the table. “Done. I’ve requested a leisurely departure time just after lunch. I’ll check back after breakfast to confirm we’re a go.”

  They played pass the plate, Erin handing off to Matt then returning it on the way back.

  Matt held her plate for an extra moment. “Sausage? Bacon? Your choice.”

  “Anything is fine,” Erin answered.

  “You didn’t ask my preferences,” Tim pointed out, waving a sausage-loaded fork in the air.

  Matt snorted. “Your plate is full. That’s what you’d ask for. I know you too well, my friend. Only Erin is a new guest, and she needs to ask for what pleases her most.”

  He turned his attention on her, no trace of teasing as he waited.

  Erin eyed the food. “Extra bacon, please.”

  “Ahh, an excellent choice.” Matt loaded her plate with bacon and scrambled eggs. “And after we eat, I’ll make arrangements for Jason to drive us to the airfield.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Tim, you need to do anything to prep for leaving?”

  “Nothing more than stick my dirty clothes back in my bag.”

  Matt turned to face them both, his expression gone serious. “And finally, I figure I should ask. Is there an elephant in the room who’s also going along for the ride?”

  Tim appreciated his friend all the more in that moment for bringing up a potential issue before it became a real issue. He knew from past adventures with Matt that a bit of voyeurism wasn’t a problem for him. Erin had given him the same assurance this morning.

  Matt and Erin hadn’t yet spoken about what happened last night, though.

  A burst of laughter escaped Erin as she glanced at Tim. “Well now, that’s one way of asking.”

  The small edge of concern that had still hovered was wiped clear by her obvious amusement. If she was teasing about being watched during sex, things really were fine. “We should tell him it’s a pet. And it’s about this high”—Tim held out a hand at shoulder height—“and bright purple.”

  “With polka dots,” Erin added.

  Matt dug into his breakfast. “If it can pack light, I’ve got a carry-on for it. Otherwise, it has to stay home without us.”

  Erin eyed Tim, then rose to her feet, crossing the short distance to Matt’s side.

  He stood as well, wiping his mouth on a napkin. “Yes?”

  She shrugged. “Just wanted to say an official good morning.”

  Erin wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Matt’s brows shot skyward, but he returned her embrace, looking over her shoulder to Tim for a sign that what was going on was kosher by him. Tim nodded at his friend, allowing his approval to show in his expression and voice.

  “There’s your answer,” Tim assured him. “No pachyderms traveling with us today.”

  Matt guided Erin back to her seat before resuming his own. “That’s good because th
ere really isn’t room in the limo for more than four people anyway.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Jason drove them to the airport, pulling to a stop outside the transport building. He smiled sincerely as he passed them their bags. “Come for a longer visit next time.”

  “We’ll take you up on that,” Erin promised, not at all certain how or when, but sincere in the hope she’d get to return.

  The whirl of prep for flight began. Tim let her take care of the technical details while he guided Matt to the chopper. He showed his friend around, how to use the headsets and harnesses, went over emergency procedures.

  Once Matt was comfortably settled, Tim returned to see if she needed anything.

  Erin motioned to the hangar. “There are a couple of boxes in the office that we’re transporting. You can grab them and lash them down in storage. Other than that, I’m nearly ready.”

  He nodded, then paused at her side, kneeling to kiss her.

  Hard. One hand thrust into the hair at the back of her head, fingers tightening. He tugged her lips higher so he could reach her better, and a rush of sexual endorphins floated through her bloodstream.

  There was a marked contrast between the intense concentration she’d been using to prep for flight and the total lack of brain cells she was currently engaging. Intense and exciting in two completely different ways.

  He backed off and left her gasping for air. “Dammit, you make my head spin,” she complained.

  “I’m still on holidays,” he joked before heading off to load the supplies she’d mentioned.

  The chopper rose smoothly under her control, the incredible break in the weather continuing as she took them in a direct line off Vancouver Island, headed for the shortest route home.

  The terrain changed moment by moment, the icy waters of the Pacific under them dotted with numerous islands, everything from places large enough for a single-family dwelling to those with tiny communities, their only access off and on by boat.

  A buzz broke in over her headset. “You need me to do anything?” Tim asked.

  “Not right now.”

  “Good. Then Matt and I will play tourist. I haven’t seen the view this clear in years.” Tim adjusted his angle to join Matt in staring out the window, forehead resting against the glass as he gazed downward.

  Matt clicked on the line. “It is a great view. You know how seldom I get to see clear skies on the coast?”

  “Best part of living in Banff,” Erin teased. “No coastal weather. I don’t miss the grey skies all winter long.”

  “The never-ending winter winds that sweep the east coast drive me insane,” Tim confessed. “Erin, you know this—if it’s not tied down or fastened to the Rock, there’d be nothing left in Newfoundland after a long hard winter with the winds licking over the Wreckhouse flats.”

  She shuddered involuntarily, remembering all too clearly even after her years away. “God, it chills to the bone, doesn’t it?”

  They all fell silent for a short while, admiring the sunshine glinting off the wave-painted surface of the water. From this height each indentation appeared to be lit from within, turning the entire ocean into a sparkling, multifaceted diamond. It was glorious, and mesmerizing, and she nearly hated to exchange the water for the shoreline, rising over the trees and heading through the passes that provided the straightest route while avoiding the major cities.

  A world of shimmering silver was exchanged for the purest white of upper-range snow. Here among the peaks there was no one to disturb the virgin white. Rare even was the thin line of an animal track marring the endless fields of snow as they headed higher and broke through the teeth of the Selkirk Range.

  “Amazing.” Tim reached over and clicked her radio to a different line, not the one they’d been talking on with Matt. “It’s a piece of heaven, love, and I’m so grateful for the chance to see it with you.”

  With one sentence he melted her. She took a deep breath and refocused on the instrument panel to stop from blurting out anything that was too soon to be saying.

  But she was thinking it. Hard. It would be too easy to completely fall in love with her scoundrel if he kept on being so damn fascinating.

  Too much baggage was involved to be thinking that seriously. So much they still needed to discuss.

  They topped the next ridge, entering a sea of mountaintops, and Erin gloated in the glory that was her job. “So beautiful.”

  Black snow-free peaks jutted skyward, breaking the pristine landscape with sharp slashes of dark against the light. Erin adjusted altitude to follow the level of the glacier field below them, the earth racing past in a rush of wild magnificence.

  “Makes me want to leap out and make some tracks,” Tim shared. “Leave behind a sign that we’ve been here.”

  Matt shook his head. “It would only last for a few hours. The wind would have the slopes buffed and polished before you even reached the bottom.”

  “I’d know I’d been there.”

  Tim twisted to catch her attention, brilliant blue eyes as beautiful and compelling as the scenery below them.

  She smiled back. “You do leave an impact wherever you go.”

  She’d planned a flight path that took them north of Whistler, heading in a near-straight line toward home. Tim fell silent, and she just enjoyed being with him. At one point he leaned in the opposite direction so he could lay a hand on her thigh, his gaze still fixed out the window in fascination.

  They’d been in the air more than two hours, the huge chopper easily eating up the distance. Another hour and a bit and they’d be landing. Drop off the chopper, find a rental car, then they could discuss the next thing.

  Their holiday break was needed in more ways than one. For the first time in a long while, Erin could honestly say she was on her way to being truly relaxed.

  They closed in on the secondary pass, a narrow passage between the towering cliffs. Erin increased their altitude slightly so as not to get caught by an updraft off the opposite side of the mountain. The shadow of the chopper followed them on the snow below, a dark silhouette growing larger and smaller as the terrain changed.

  They broke over the ridge, and the world changed.

  “Holy shit, what’s that?” Tim pointed to the south.

  “Tracks. What makes tracks that big?” Matt asked.

  The ground was exposed in a near-straight line running northwest to southeast, the snow shoved aside like an enormous shovel had been dragged over the surface.

  Tim stabbed a finger at the window. “There. Broken landing gear?”

  Erin headed for the cliff Tim indicated, the situation far too similar to recent memory. “Damn, looks like a plane crash. Think it went over the edge?”

  “Possibly. I’ll get our gear ready.” He unbuckled and headed into the back.

  “Hey, slow up, buddy. We have some decisions to make first.”

  Tim stopped dead in his tracks, reversing direction and planting his butt in his chair. “You’re right. Sorry for jumping the gun. Matt—you okay with us stopping?”

  “Of course. My God, there are people down there. I’ll stay out of your way, or help if you tell me what to do.”

  “Good man,” Tim said. He turned to Erin. “Anything on the radio?”

  “I’m not picking up anything.”

  She manoeuvred them toward the thick line marring the pristine snow. Tim leaned against the glass, a set of binoculars in his hand as he scoured the ground.

  Erin double-checked instruments and made a few notes in the log. “I’ve got our location. We spot anything, and I’ll call it in.”

  “Still want to go down and— There, over to the right more.”

  It wasn’t a cliff crash, but it wasn’t good. Whoever had been piloting the plane had managed to land it before the entire level of the glacier surface dropped a good twenty feet, leaving the plane at an impossible angle, not just for takeoff. Most of the body was still intact, and as they buzzed, a flash of bright orange appeared in the doorway
.

  “We’ve got survivors,” Tim announced.

  Erin checked the site. “Not a lot of room to land, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go down a line without a winch man.”

  “Land on the upper slope and we climb down?” Tim was itching to get moving, she could tell.

  “If we have snowshoes. Otherwise at this elevation you try a step forward, and you could be up to your neck.”

  Tim was already headed to the back. “I’m sure we have a bag of them in the gear section. We brought all that stuff when we came out, remember?”

  Erin hovered, wanting to turn them toward the landing spot. “Give Matt your binocs. I need the numbers off her to call them in.”

  Tim did as she’d asked, then moved out of sight behind Matt, equipment being shifted.

  “What do you need?” Matt asked.

  She explained, then waited as he called out the plane’s identifiers, jotting the information down before prepping for the next step. “I’ll have us down in a minute. Once we’re on the ground, Tim’s in charge. I haven’t run a rescue for years.”

  “Matt will be staying at the chopper,” Tim announced.

  “No problem.”

  Matt’s quick agreement was the only acceptable response, but Erin couldn’t help but worry.

  This was no longer a relaxing sightseeing trip. Things had gone real bad, real fast, and she only hoped they got better just as quickly.

  * * *

  Tim threw gear bags into rows based on what he thought might be needed. He pulled out spare gloves and a thick coat for Matt and Erin as well as himself. In the background, Erin was on the radio, giving information to the authorities in the hopes they could identify the downed plane.

  This was something totally new they were headed into, not only because Matt was along and Erin rarely went on the ground portion of a rescue. Those issues were bad enough, but the sheer isolation added a ton of risk as well. Any mistakes were amplified tenfold simply because they were so far away from additional backup.