That was the crux right there. Her interest probably had everything to do with him being her Denali. A nearly impossible peak to summit. She needed to give up on Denali and find another peak. Yet when she tried to muster enthusiasm for Nate or Dev, she didn’t feel it. The spark wasn’t there.
While the brief look in Brad’s eyes for that one moment tonight had nearly set her panties on fire.
She took a deep breath as she counted the money in the till and filled out the envelope. It was time to move on.
She stuffed the drop envelope with the bills and reconciled register tape, then dropped the bundle in the floor safe that was on a timer and couldn’t be opened by anyone but Charlie. It might be an old bar, but it had new tricks.
There was a soft tap at the front door, and she jolted. Behind-the-line staff had left twenty minutes ago. She was alone in the building.
Tamarack was reasonably safe, but still, there was a reason Charlie had installed the floor safe four years ago, once the Raptor compound started bringing in more business.
She approached the front door, walking softly so her steps didn’t make a sound. She waited by the thick wood door, wishing Charlie had installed a peephole.
The knock came again, followed by, “Jenna, it’s Brad. Are you still here?”
Her whole body flooded with adrenaline, excitement, and, as always, lust. She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and unlocked the bolt on the door. She opened it just wide enough to see his face. “What’s up?”
He stood in the late-evening light. It was eleven p.m., and the sun wouldn’t set for another forty-five minutes. It wouldn’t get truly dark tonight, or any night for the next few months. Civil and nautical twilight would last until the sun rose around three thirty. “I hate to ask this,” he said. “I know you’ve had a long day already, but…there wasn’t room for me in Isabel’s truck. Can I get a ride back to the compound?”
Chapter 3
How was it possible that she looked even more beautiful at the end of a long shift—tired and rumpled—than she had at the beginning? But there she was, backlit by the dim closing lights of the bar, the silhouette of her features shadowy and alluring. But then, she was beautiful in the bright light of day too.
Brad had wasted fifteen minutes trying to come up with another solution when Isabel very obviously booted him from the back of her pickup truck, because she was a rule follower and didn’t risk the wrath of Tamarack’s only police officer, Alaska State Trooper Paul Westover.
Except that was bull—everyone rode in the back of pickup trucks around here if there was a need—and Isabel’s suggestion that he ask Jenna for a ride was seconded by Hawk and Dev so fast, he had to reevaluate his skills at deception.
Everyone in town knew Jenna had it bad for him, and he’d always figured he’d done a good job of pretending to be oblivious.
Of course he had. He’d been a Green Beret. He knew how to blend with the locals. How to strategize. No one could see through his façade. Quiet professional through and through. Some might even say stoic. When it came to his operative manner, he had it down.
He shook the suspicion away. Nah. Hawk liked Jenna and was just trying to help her get what she wanted. Dev had picked up on that. Neither man had a clue that Brad was as obsessed with her as she was with him.
And if he believed that, he also should have responded to the emails he’d received from that Nigerian prince…
So Hawk knew. And Isabel. But did Jenna?
His gaze met hers, and that place in his stomach twisted at the ache in her green eyes.
He didn’t want to want her. Didn’t want to hurt her.
In a matter of weeks, he’d be leaving Tamarack forever, and everyone knew Jenna would never leave this tiny, yet somehow vast, scrap of earth.
He couldn’t take her with him, so he shouldn’t stir this pot. Only a dick would mess with her feelings that way.
But damn, she was sexy and sweet, and she wanted him in a way that could go to a man’s head. It certainly had his.
What would it be like to be wrapped in her adoration? Her body? Her passion?
The way she cocked her head and slowly smiled set his heart to racing. No woman had ever done that to him with just a look before. “How many people did you call for a ride before you realized you had no choice but to ask me?”
“Three?”
“Are you asking me if it was three?” She tapped her teeth with the tip of her index finger. “Let’s see, you thought about calling Godfrey—after all, he was the one who was supposed to drive you all home—but discarded it. Fully half of Falcon team was with you tonight, so, the other half was probably on duty, and you couldn’t call them, or you didn’t want them to know you’d had a party without them. Oh! I know! You called Ethan Quinault. Or maybe Mothman. I’d bet you thought about calling Godfrey—but only called two, Ethan and Mothman.”
Damn, she was adorable. And way too smart for his own good. He cleared his throat. “For the record, the other five on Falcon couldn’t join us tonight because they’d been on for forty-eight, setting up Chase’s test—which was an insane thirty-hour exercise, and I’m amazed Chase was still standing tonight, but adrenaline will do that for you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “So you’re saying I’m right.”
“I’m saying it’s scary how right you are.”
“Are you afraid of me, Brad?”
He held her gaze and answered her truthfully, for maybe the first time ever. “Terrified.”
Her slow smile only scared him more. “Okay, then. Yes. I’ll give you a ride. I just need to grab my things.”
He stepped inside and closed the door. She locked it behind him, then went to the bar and grabbed her purse and coat.
“If you have more to do to close up, I can wait.”
“Nah. I just finished.” She nodded toward the kitchen. “We need to go out the back.” A moment later, they were stepping outside, and she locked the door behind them.
Gray evening light lit the streets as the clock inched toward midnight. This would be his fourth summer in Alaska, and he was used to the endless dark of winter and light of summer…sort of.
Winter offered its own light, with the greens and reds of the aurora borealis and the glow of the snow, but summer was a different kind of spectacle, with monotonous daytime. They were a few weeks out from the solstice and below the Arctic Circle. Technically, the sun did set here. Tonight, it would stay below the horizon for nearly four hours, but still, even if he stayed up all night staring at a cloudless sky, he wouldn’t spot a single star or planet. It was just too bright, with the sun only dipping low enough for nautical twilight, never full dark.
He kind of loved it, but still, the rhythm of it all could feel uncanny at times for a guy from Montana. He knew mountains. Knew big sky, wildlife, and snow. Even bears. But endless days and endless nights…they were like science fiction. Yet here he was, on Earth in the here and now, and after three years, it was all too real.
Jenna pulled her jacket tight around her as she led him down the street. He realized he didn’t even know where she lived, just that it was within walking distance to the roadhouse. But what did that even mean? Walking distance could be a block or could be a mile.
In the end, it turned out walking distance meant four blocks. Long, winding, muddy blocks, because it was Alaska, but still, less than five minutes from the heart of town.
Her house was a small cabin with a carport that housed two cars, a hybrid and a beefy SUV. “You live alone?” he asked.
“No. With my dad.”
He remembered then that she was her father’s primary caretaker. He’d seen the elder O’Donnell in town—the man was a fixture in the community, and his poor health was well known. Brad searched for something to say. “How’s he doing? Healthwise, I mean.”
“He’s doing fair for a man with a chronic illness who refuses to see a specialist.” She hit a button on her key, and the lights on the smaller vehicle
flashed. In a world where everyone drove a four-wheel drive of some kind, she had an older-model hybrid. He supposed it made sense—the SUV beside it was more robust and could get her to Fairbanks in winter when she needed to do a full grocery run—but still, the rebelliousness of her car made him smile.
For a woman who loved Tamarack with all her heart, her car was the least Alaskan thing about her.
This opinion was confirmed when he slid into the passenger seat. The entire dashboard was covered in owls. Like, there had to be more than a hundred. Plastic, vinyl, knit, cloth, rock, and even…sugar? Painted like Day of the Dead skulls, but owls. There were dozens of the raptors, each with two staring eyes, sometimes googly, sometimes reflective, sometimes crossed. So many eyes, staring at him in the gray light of almost sunset.
“So, you, uh, like owls?”
This elicited a sharp, hard laugh. “I do, actually. How did you guess?”
“Just a gut feeling, really.”
“Don’t let anyone tell you you’re off your game. Your investigative instincts are pure.”
“I mean, I know this is true, but…also, why all the owls?”
Her laugh this time came out soft and easy. “You tell people you like owls, and people give you owls. I have to put them all somewhere.”
He couldn’t help but smile, looking at the plethora of birds that decorated her dash. “Are there more owls in your bedroom?”
“What are you doing speculating about my bedroom, Fraser?”
“Honest question. I just want to know how many eyes are in there.”
“Enough to keep things interesting.”
He remembered how it felt to have her eyes rake him at the car wash last week, and he was damn certain being alone with her in her bedroom—owls or not—would be plenty interesting.
He shifted in the passenger seat. If she drove fast, they’d get to the compound in fifteen minutes. Not soon enough. He’d never been alone with Jenna this long. He’d always made sure of it.
Damn Hawk and Isabel. They’d set him up for this.
She drove down the two-lane road that wound between the forest and hills, the silence in the car quickly became awkward as he thought about that moment when she’d said, “Fraser, Johnston, Godfrey,” and he’d known instantly what game she was playing.
He wouldn’t mention it. Nope. No way. Shouldn’t even think about it. He cleared his throat. “So, how long have you been collecting owls?”
With his peripheral vision, he caught her smile. “I don’t collect them so much as they come to me. People see owls, and they think of me. It’s kind of sweet, and I love the artistry.” She slowed as they passed a moose snacking on leaves by the side of the road. “But to answer your question, since I was a kid. I love hiking in the woods and hearing them call, seeing them perched as they’re looking for prey. Owls make me happy.”
It was such a simple statement, yet it said a lot about her, about her love for Tamarack. That she could find joy here, even though the town was small and remote and it was a two-hour-plus drive to the nearest full-service grocery store.
“There’s a great horned owl nest with three nestlings on Raptor land. I could take you to it.”
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Really? Won’t you get in trouble for that?”
“Nah. It’s not in the fenced area and far outside of where we run training ops—we can’t do anything in the area because it’s protected. It used to be an eagle’s nest, but this winter, it was taken over by a mated pair of owls.”
“Great horned owls do that—make use of other raptors’ nests.”
“Do you want to see it?”
“I’d love to.”
“Stay on the highway, then—pass the main gate and keep going. The road into the woods is about a mile past the turn to the gate.”
“You mean, right now?”
He shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Plenty of light and…” He let out a small laugh, his gaze on the birds on the dashboard. “I’m something of a night owl anyway. Plus, I’ve got tomorrow off. How about you? You working the lunch shift?”
“No. Evening.” She took her gaze off the road and met his briefly. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.” He absolutely wanted to see her face when she spotted the nestlings. Owls made her happy. He wanted to be part of that.
It took another fifteen minutes to get to the point where they had to leave her car and hike in. Fortunately, the road was well maintained, and her car could handle it even with the low clearance.
It was after midnight by the time they were getting out of the car. “I’ve got supplies in the back.” She walked around the hatchback and raised it, revealing a small daypack, extra clothes, hiking boots, water bottles, first aid kit, and blankets. She sat on the bumper and changed out of her soft sneakers for the rugged day hikers. She then donned a fleece sweatshirt and pulled her jacket on again.
“The wind is really whipping up. You going to be warm enough?” she asked him as she plucked a pair of small binoculars from the pack and slipped them into her jacket pocket, then stuffed a blanket and water bottle inside the main compartment.
“I’ll be fine. My coat is lined with wool, and the nest isn’t far.” He slung her pack on his back, and they entered the woods.
Even with the thin canopy, there was no need for flashlights to see their path on the uneven ground. Like the road, the trail was maintained and wide enough for them to walk side by side. He resisted the urge to take her hand in his, even though it tugged at him like it was the most natural thing in the world to be hiking after midnight with Jenna O’Donnell, the most beautiful woman within a thousand miles. Scratch that. Anywhere. Ever.
The path narrowed, and instead of dropping behind, he moved closer to her side, getting a whiff of her shampoo even as his senses should be overwhelmed with the scent of damp earth and leaves. The mossy ground was soft beneath their feet, and they barely made a sound as they walked.
The wind brought a repeated hooting call, and Jenna stopped with a gasp, her hand grabbing his. And just that easy, they were holding hands as she looked up at him with sheer pleasure on her face. “That’s him. That’s the male territorial hoot.”
The sound was followed by another, higher-pitched trill.
“And that’s her.”
The male hooted again, and she pulled on his hand, her excitement making her take the lead. He held on, picking up his pace as they hurried down the path. She came to an abrupt stop as they reached the clearing, and momentum had his body bumping into hers. He released her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from pitching forward.
She settled against him and, like holding hands, having her in his arms like this felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Where is it?” she asked as she pulled the binoculars from her pocket and held them to her eyes.
He released her waist with one hand and placed it over hers on the binocs, gently redirecting her line of sight to the big nest high in a tree on the far side of the meadow.
She gasped. “Oh my God! I see the owlets. They’re so perfect. Probably six to eight weeks old already.”
Brad released her hand and settled his arm around her again.
“Mom’s in the nest with the owlets. Dad must be out hunting.” She lowered the binocs and tilted her head back to gaze up at him. “Do you want to look?”
No. What he wanted was to kiss her as he held her just like this. To bury his face in her neck. He wore jeans and a stiff tin-cloth coat, but even so, with her rear pressed to his front as it was, she was bound to notice his growing erection. He saw the moment she registered his arousal. She let out a soft gasp, and her eyes went hot. She pressed back, rubbing against him even as his arms tightened, holding her in this exquisite position.
“Earlier tonight, you named me, Johnston, and Godfrey. We can make the first come true right now. But that’s all it would be. A fuck.”
“Why? Why can’t it be more than
that?”
“Because I’m leaving Tamarack. For good.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. Soon. I’ve been sitting on a job offer, but I’m not ready to take it yet.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve got a few things I need to finish here first. I can’t really share the details.” He slipped his hands under her coat and the fleece top. Just her cotton shirt separated his hands from the warm skin of her belly. He ran his hands over the button-down flannel, his fingers stopping on her lower ribs. He wanted to cup her breasts and grind into her, but wouldn’t, not without a clear indication she was fine with him being Mr. Right Now.
“No one knows I plan to leave. Not Hawk, not Godfrey, and definitely not Nicole Markwell.”
“So why are you telling me?”
“Because I don’t want to hurt you, Jenna.”
She held his gaze for a long moment, then finally, she licked her lips and said, “Kiss me.”
Chapter 4
Brad’s lips brushed over hers, a soft caress that lit her whole body on fire. She’d slipped the binoculars back in her pocket the moment she’d felt his erection, and now she turned in his arms without breaking the kiss, wrapped her arms around his neck, and opened her mouth under his.
His tongue swept inside, turning the fire that had roared through her at the first touch of his mouth into fireworks.
Brad Fraser was kissing her. And grinding against her. And holding her. And it was every bit as hot as her fantasies. Even better, really, as if that were possible.
His fingers threaded through her hair as he held her face to his, as if he couldn’t bear for her to break the kiss before he was done taking her mouth. There was a wild possessiveness to the kiss, a hunger she never would have guessed at given his cool response to her in public.
He probably just hasn’t had sex in a long time. Raptor had strict rules about trainers not fraternizing with the trainees. The men and women who came to the compound were there to learn, and in some cases, they would advance based on the evaluations provided by Falcon team, putting the men on the team in a position of power that could be exploited.
Danger and Desire: A Romantic Suspense Anthology Page 13
