Alaskan Adventure (Destination: Desire) (4 page)

“Right. Yes. Got it. I-I’ll go do that.” Unclipping the walkie-talkie at his belt, the guide scurried from the cave.

Gabe swept his gaze over the rest of the group. They all looked shell-shocked and a bit panicky. “Why don’t you all go outside and wait with him for help? I’ll shout if we need anything.”

Sheer relief crossed a few faces, and they hurried to obey the voice of command. Likely they were grateful to be given
something
to do.

Anne knelt beside him. “Hey, Bridget.”

The other woman’s smile was thin, a trickle of sweat sliding down one temple. “Man, I had to fall on my ass in front of the cute one.”

“The Cute One, huh?” Gabe examined the rocks, trying to find the best way to get her leg free without causing more pain or, worse, further injury. “That’s way better than what Anne calls me.”

Bridget started breathing shallowly, in through her nose, out through her mouth. “What does Anne call you?”

“Camper Guru,” Gabe and Anne said together.

The supine woman snorted. “That’s not nice, Anne.”

“Nice is a four-letter word.” The redhead flapped a dismissive hand. Her tone was light, but he saw the worry in her gaze.

“Yeah, don’t go dropping the four-letter n-bomb or your mom will wash your mouth out with soap.” Gabe flashed a grin at Bridget before he moved around to the other side of the boulders. He was guessing the larger of the rocks had moved during the fall, and its tip rested against the smaller rock. The gap in between was where Bridget’s leg lay. She was lucky her limb hadn’t been crushed, and the way the big rock quivered when he touched it said that its position was precarious at best. They needed to move Bridget now, or crushing was still a serious possibility. But there was a clear path between the boulders, they’d just needed to slide her out. Without tipping the big rock. Fan-fucking-tastic.

“My mom is dead,” Bridget replied, pain pinching her features tight.

Gabe reached out and unlaced her tennis shoe, loosening it as wide as possible before he slipped it off her foot and handed it to Anne. He kept up the light banter with Bridget, trying to keep her distracted. “Well,
my
mom’s on the cruise with us, and she’d be happy to wash people’s mouths out as a mom-stand-in.”

Anne nodded. “She’d do it too. Peggy’s
nice
like that.”

Bridget managed another weak smile. “The two of you are like watching a gag reel.”

“You’re welcome,” Gabe and Anne chorused.

He met Anne’s gaze and jerked his head for her to come around to his side of the boulders. He spoke in her ear, little more than a whisper, “The top rock is going to fall, and there’s no good way to push it without risking her. I’m going to pull her out. Can you watch the rock and her foot from this side and help me maneuver?”

She nodded, her brows drawn together in concentration.

“Thank you. You’re amazing.” And she was. Totally steady and unsqueamish so far. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and then returned to the injured woman. “All right, Ms. Bridget. We seem to be in a rock-and-hard place situation, so we’re gonna slide you free and get you out of this drippy cave before we all turned into drowned rats.”

“Am I going to be okay?” she whispered.

“Absolutely,” he replied firmly. Whether she would or wouldn’t be was beside the point. Right now, he needed her calm and as confident as possible that everything would be just fine. “Okay, we’re going to do this slow and easy. Ready, Anne?”

“Ready.”

He slipped his forearm under Bridget’s torso, lifting her slightly. She wrapped one arm around his neck, and set her free hand on the ground. “I can help you scoot me.”

“Excellent. You’re doing a fantastic job. Here goes the Drowned Rat Brigade.” She laughed, just as he’d intended her to, and then he began moving her before she could think about it too much. The anticipation of pain only made it worse in the end.

He inched her little by little, and had to roll her slightly to get her foot through the gap. Her breathing turned heavy, low whimpers and sobs occasionally breaking out, but overall, the woman was a trooper. When her leg finally made it out, Anne came around and pushed the big rock away so it couldn’t tip in their direction.

“Thanks,” he said, nodding as calmly as he could. Only now did he feel the cold sweat that stuck his shirt to his back, the mud sliming his arms and legs, the icy drips of water from the ceiling. There seemed to be more of it coming down in this spot, which was probably the catalyst for the fall in the first place. He drew in a steadying breath. “Right, then. Let’s get you bundled up in a blanket, toss you on a stretcher, and get the hell out of this hole in the wall.”

Bridget swiped a hand over her damp eyes, then lifted her chin. “Toss me anywhere, Camper Guru, and you’ll be a dead man.”

“Now look what you’ve done.” He poked a finger at Anne. “You’re a terrible influence.”

Both women chuckled, thankfully. Now he just needed to get them down this mountain in one piece.

It took another two hours to hike Bridget down those eleven million steps and get her loaded in a waiting ambulance, which took her into town. Her husband was also waiting for them, and Gabe’s parents had volunteered to watch their kids while they went to the medical center.

For Anne, the experience was…eye-opening. Gabe had managed to corral the three other tourists in their group, get the USFS guide’s ass in gear, and deftly handle Bridget’s injuries. He joked with her, kept her distracted, but he did exactly what he should to deal with a case like this. He was rock solid, unruffled, in control, and that kept everyone else calm.

Anne was impressed, and she wasn’t a woman who impressed easily. She did her best to help him, carried the other end of the stretcher and kept up the light tone he used with Bridget, but he didn’t
need
her there. Without her, he’d have had the Forestry Service guide carry the stretcher and he’d have been just fine. Not that Anne felt superfluous, but it was actually kind of nice not to have to be the one who projected the calm, in-charge, take-control attitude for others. She did it all the time for her students, for her sisters, for her mother.

Combine that with the first kiss that all other first kisses would now be judged by, and her determination to keep him at arm’s reach seemed futile. If she were brutally honest with herself, she’d admit it had been a losing battle since the moment she met him, but today had been a serious turning point. Maybe he was a vagabond, but he wasn’t an irresponsible drama king who expected others to take care of everything. Watching him handle this crisis had shifted her view of him in a way that couldn’t be reversed.

Bridget’s husband went with her in the ambulance and Gabe took the tour group back to the cruise ship. The captain met them when they came aboard. Gabe had to fill out paperwork over the incident, and since Anne had been involved in the rescue, the captain wanted her statement of what had happened as well. Another forty-five minutes were blown on that fun.

Gabe dragged a hand down his face as they stepped out of the captain’s office into the hall. “If we hurry, we can catch the tail end of lunch.”

Her stomach rumbled an emphatic agreement with that suggestion, and she slapped a hand over it. “I need to wash my hands at least—though I really need a shower—but I’d rather be fed and kind of grubby than clean and starving. Or will they let me take it back to my cabin?”

“I could probably talk the kitchen staff into it, just this once.”

She patted his shoulder. “Such a useful man.”

His expression was comically startled. From the compliment or from her touching him? Then he blinked and turned to lead the way to the restroom. Anne scrubbed down as best she could, but the dining room closed for a few hours between lunch and dinner and she wanted food. Now. Exiting the bathroom, she ran into Gabe on her way to the dining room. Once there, they found a subdued trio of young teens sitting with Peggy and Vince. They stood up the moment Gabe and Anne entered, looks of worry on their faces.

Despite the fact that he had to be as sweaty, dirty and tired as Anne was, he sat down with the kids and explained what had happened, reassuring them that their mom would be okay. He didn’t get into any gory details or get overly technical with the medical jargon, but he didn’t lie to them either.

Again, Anne was impressed. Other passengers gathered around to hear about the drama, and soon they had a large audience. While everyone was still asking questions, Anne rose and quietly fetched a tray with two cups of coffee—black, the way both Gabe and she preferred it—and a couple of ham sandwiches and bowls of chicken noodle soup. She brought the laden tray back to the table and slid Gabe’s portions in front of him. He cast her a quick smile and dug in.

People turned to Anne and started asking her questions too, and she and Gabe managed to eat in fits and starts. She was more than ready to escape when she sucked down her last bit of coffee. Gabe seemed willing to stick it out and stay as long as everyone wanted him, but to hell with that. She stood up and grabbed the arm of his jacket, tugging him to his feet.

“Okay, folks. Gabe and I need a shower like whoa and damn. We’ll see you all at dinner.” She slanted a glance at his parents. “Let me know if you need anything in the meantime.”

“We’ll be fine,” Vince replied easily. He patted Bridget’s youngest boy on the shoulder reassuringly. Peggy nodded her agreement and shooed them away.

“Later, all!” Keeping her grip on Gabe’s sleeve, she pulled him out of the dining room and down the hall. It wasn’t until they’d reached her cabin door that she realized Gabe wasn’t supposed to shower in her room.

Unless she wanted him to.

That thought floated through her mind, a temptation she didn’t think she could resist. Not anymore; not after what she’d seen of him today. Not after that kiss. She wanted him, and maybe this wasn’t going to be the kind of happily-ever-after relationship her friends had found, but she was a practical soul. Sometimes you took what you could get and enjoyed it for all it was worth. She grinned. Gabe was a pretty damn good consolation prize, especially if their naked chemistry was as good as the fully clothed version. She was guessing it was even better.

“Anne?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.

She blinked back to the present and met his green gaze squarely. “Do you want to come in?”

One side of his mouth quirked upward. “You know I do. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure, Warren.”

A full-blown grin flashed across his face. “Good, because it would have sucked ass if you backed out of that offer.”

After using her cardkey to unlock the door, she grabbed the front of his jacket and hauled him into her cabin. His rich laughter warmed her insides, and then she shoved him back against the closed door.

She pressed herself into the muscular planes of his big body, making them both groan. Her nipples tightened, and goose bumps shivered down her limbs. Ah, yeah. Chemistry. “Let’s try this again without the drippy cave and hard hat.”

His hands framed her hips, pulling her tight into the swelling length of his erection. “Yes, please.”

A chuckle trickled out of her as she brushed her mouth over his. It was like an electric current flowed from his skin to hers. A little tingle coursed down her body and heat followed in its wake. Very nice. She flicked her tongue out to slide along the seam of his lips. They parted for her, and she plunged into his mouth. Gabe and she fought for control of the kiss, nipping, biting and sucking. The stubble on his chin rasped across her face, but it just added to the sensations rolling over her. Fire built within her, higher and hotter until she wanted to sob. The taste of him was perfect, and she pushed closer, wanting more contact but frustrated by the bulky layers of clothes they wore. She fumbled with the zipper on his jacket and wrenched it down. A quick tug and she had his thermal shirt free of his pants. Then her hands were on his bare skin.

He felt even better than he tasted, hot satin stretched taut over steely strength. She stroked over the hard slab of his abs, up to his well-defined pecs, and then circled his nipples. A shudder wracked him, and his fingers shifted to dig into her ass. His leg inserted between hers, and the muscles in his thigh flexed against her pussy, rubbing over her clit. Her body throbbed and she felt a rush of moisture flood her sex.
Oh God. Oh. God.
He shoved his fingers into her hair, bending her head back so he could deepen the kiss. It was wild, both of them breathing raggedly, their bodies grinding together.

She felt flakes of mud crack off her cheek and neck as they moved, and the sensual spell broke. She slowed down and pulled her mouth away from his. As much as she wanted to use him as her personal jungle gym, it was a bit gross to consider wallowing on her clean bed this way. “I hate to say this, but I really do need a shower. I’m disgusting.”

He grimaced, glancing down at his mud-splattered clothes. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I don’t want to stop, but…do we really want to call housekeeping and explain why they need to come change your sheets?”

She snorted. “Mud and bodily fluids—it’s how all the popular kids relax these days.”

Eyes narrowing in consideration, he tilted his head. “Showers on this ship aren’t built to fit both of us.”

He was right, she realized. The stall barely fit her alone, and Gabe wasn’t a small man. She arched her hips into his, and felt his erection jerk. Nope, not small
anywhere
. “That’s too bad, really.”

“I disagree.” He gave her a little push toward the bathroom door. “I am seriously going to enjoy watching you get all naked and soapy.”

She made a wickedly pleased hum in the back of her throat. “I’ll be sure to make the show worth your while.”

Putting extra sway in her hips as she moved, she grinned when he issued a tortured groan. She stripped out of her clothes, feeling the burn of his gaze as surely as if it were a physical touch. Liquid heat poured through her, and her inner muscles clenched in anticipation. It took all her willpower not to say to hell with the filth and jump him. Instead, she flipped on the knob and stepped under the hot spray. He filled the doorway of the bathroom, his arms crossed over his brawny chest as he watched her. The open door let the steam out into the bedroom, so they could see through the glass fairly clearly, see how they affected each other.