Authors: D Jordan Redhawk
Chibee, Himitsu and Montana began barking, looking behind them. Lainey stood to see an approaching sled. She recognized Roman Spencer's team and smiled at him as neared.
"Looks like it's just us," he said when he was within hearing distance.
"Your dad already ahead?"
"Yeah. He left a couple of hours ago." His team pulled past. "See you in McGrath."
Lainey waved and watched his team flow into the descent ahead of her.
So, Georgio, Waters and Owens were all ahead now, hoping to pass Scotch. Lainey sent encouraging thoughts to her friend. Roman disappeared from view, and her trash talkers became silent. She realized her dogs were staring at her, tails wagging.
"You want to catch him?" she asked.
Chibee yipped in excitement, and Jonah jerked the sled as he tried to dislodge the snow hook on his own.
Lainey laughed and gathered her things. Minutes later, she called, "Let's go!" and her team rushed forward to show Roman's team who was better.
She arrived in McGrath two minutes before Roman, a smug grin on her face. They leapfrogged the last twenty miles, breaking the boredom, though Lainey had kept her dogs from going full tilt. Even though she was headed for a twenty-four hour break, she did not want to give her team the idea that they were here to race other dogs. They would exhaust themselves long before they ever reached Nome. Instead, she ran them hard enough to overtake Roman, and then kept at a steady pace until he returned the favor.
"Six oh four PM," the checker said. "You staying?"
"Yeah, I'm taking my twenty-four here."
"Okay." The checker called a volunteer over. "She's taking a twenty-four. Put her in the back forty."
Lainey grinned. "The back forty?"
The checker winked. "It's the rear of the parking area. Less excitement there, give the dogs a chance to rest without all the interruption of comings and goings."
She nodded. "Oh, good. Thanks." Lainey let the volunteer guide her team to her final resting spot for the night. It was further away from the checkpoint building, which held the diesel powered boiler for hot water, but Lainey was willing to make the trek if it meant getting decent sleep. She thanked her guide and barely got down to the business of getting her dogs comfortable when a pair of veterinarians arrived for the mandatory exams.
"Helen!"
The Fuller matriarch gave Lainey a hug. "Welcome to McGrath."
Lainey produced her dog notes, and Helen passed them to her companion. "I'll stay out of this one, since the dogs belong to our kennel." She turned her full attention on Lainey. "Well? Have you officially caught the Iditarod bug or still slogging through for the magazine?"
"At this point, I would love to do this every year."
"Completely smitten, I see." Helen laughed, her arm over Lainey's shoulders. "You're missing a dog. I know you dropped one, but not why."
Lainey sobered and explained Tecumseh's injury.
"You did the right thing. He would rather have stayed with the team, but something like that can have all sorts of complications."
The other vet finished his inspection and handed Lainey's note back to her. "All is good. You're going a great job with dog care, though one has abrasions on her paws."
Lainey rolled her eyes. "Heldig. I've been meaning to super glue her booties on."
He grinned. "You know about it, then. Good. If it gets much worse, she'll have to be dropped, but I think she's got some miles to go before that point."
"Thanks."
Helen gave her another hug. "You take care of these guys. When you're done, head over to the checkpoint. Don will take you to a place you can get some decent rest and a shower."
Lainey raised her eyebrows, but agreed. As they left, she glanced around the teams parked near her, presumably all on their mandatory twenty-four hour layover. Only one musher was with his dogs; all the others were resting on their own. Where were they all?
Roman pulled up nearby, disrupting her thoughts. She grinned impudently at him. He shook his head in amusement before turning to the vets waiting for his paperwork.
In high spirits, Lainey went through the line, distributing straw and releasing harnesses. She fed her dogs with the chow from their cooler, gave them a second watering from hers, and made certain they were comfortably ensconced in their nests. Once that was finished, she got her child's sled out and trekked to the checkpoint.
It took two trips to gather her food drops and more hot water. The water was a blessing; all she needed to do was toss the ingredients into the cooler and close it. By the time she returned for another feeding, the chow would be ready to go. When getting her drops, she also located her new sled. It was the same as the one she had now, though without the wear and tear of the trail. She left it in place, not needing it until she was ready to leave.
Finally the chores were complete. With nothing further to drive her on, her energy faltered. She stared at her sled for a full minute before finally gathering some fresh socks and underwear. Helen mentioned a shower, so she also retrieved another t-shirt and sweater. It occurred to her that she had not been properly clean in days, and a whole set of itches and discomfort settled on her. Lips curled in distaste at her grunginess, Lainey also gathered her sleeping bag. She had no idea where Howry was going to take her, so she had best be prepared.
Back at the checkpoint, she found Howry waiting beside a snow machine.
"Hey, stranger, how goes it?"
"Great." Lainey yawned, her jaw creaking with the effort.
Howry laughed. "Come on, let's get you into a shower and bed."
Lainey climbed onto the back of the vehicle, clutching her belongings. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"A friend of the Fullers. The villagers open their doors to mushers every year, giving them someplace other than their sleds to catch some shut eye." He started the machine and pulled away from the checkpoint.
She looked over her shoulder at her dogs, a pang of dread arcing through her chest. Maybe she should stay with them? Before she could make the decision, Howry drove away and her team was lost from view.
A few moments later, they pulled into the yard of a modest home. Dogs barked a welcome, a small kennel of six animals. There were a couple of trucks and two more snow machines parked there, too.
Howry shut off the engine. "Come on." He escorted Lainey up the steps to the front door.
The warmth of the interior did exactly what she expected, her nose suddenly clogging as if she had a head cold. Her cheeks and forehead burned with the heat, and her eyes felt hot and dry. A crowd in the living room came forward to welcome her. It was a colorful mess of people, and Lainey's dazed mind plodded along at a lethargic rate as she was invited further inside. She barely caught the names of the three who lived here, hardly noted Thom and Rye grinning, or Strauss pushing a plate of food at her.
Lainey's automatic pilot was fully on. She was divested of her outer clothes, and sat on the couch with a TV tray of caribou venison and pasta for dinner. Her responses to their comments and questions were somnambulate and somewhere deep inside she was embarrassed over her inability to concentrate and at least be polite. When it appeared she was going to topple into her plate, she was packed up and marched off to a dark bedroom, deposited inside, and the door closed behind her.
She wavered in the center of the room, squinting as her eyes adjusted. A clock near the bed indicated it was not even eight at night. She blinked. Someone else was in the room. She could hear them breathing. Lainey shuffled forward, peering at the bed. Her expression relaxed as she saw a familiar mop of tawny hair. Scotch.
Shucking her clothes, Lainey retained her underwear and bra. She felt immensely better without the extra apparel, and climbed gently into the bed. Scotch sensed her presence but did not wake, rolling over to drape her arm over Lainey's waist.
She sighed, and fully relaxed for the first time in days. As much as she wanted to enjoy this intimate experience, her mind shut down and sleep overtook her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
IN LAINEY'S DREAMS, Scotch massaged her breasts with firm strokes, her lips and teeth creating a fiery path from Lainey's collar bone to her jaw line. Their legs entwined, Lainey's belly twisting in arousal as they moved against one another, a constant shifting as they enjoyed the sheer beauty of skin upon skin. She groaned at a particularly vicious bite at the juncture of her throat, and clutched the woman in her arms. Her hands roamed along a muscular back to a tight ass, and she squeezed.
The gasp in her ear drifted into a moan as she squirmed, her thigh coming into contact with Scotch's panty clad clit. Despite her enjoyment, she frowned to herself. For a dream, this certainly felt realistic, especially when her dream Scotch rolled onto her to grind their hips together. The weight was delicious, and Lainey's hands went to those nicely rounded hips and butt, caressing what she had only seen from a distance.
Scotch continued a languid rocking, her warm breath coming in pants as she returned to tasting Lainey's ear. Groggily, Lainey thought it amazing that she could feel hot dampness against her thigh where Scotch rubbed. God, when was the last time she had had a dream this detailed? She arched when Scotch pinched her nipple through her bra.
Bra?
As Scotch's lips left her ear, unerringly moving across Lainey's sweaty brow and toward her lips, Lainey came fully awake. This was no dream. Her eyes popped open in surprise.
Scotch's body undulated over hers, and the rush of lust that assailed Lainey nearly made her swoon. Had she been standing she surely would have fallen down. A long neck was just within reach, and looking further along, she had an excellent view of breasts begging for attention. Her nose twitched with the smell of their combined excitement and another, more earthy odor. It was vaguely familiar and her dazed mind sputtered along in an attempt to name what it was. Scotch's lips edged closer, kissing the bridge of her nose, angling down. Lainey licked her lips in anticipation, tasting what could only be described as a cat box in her mouth.
Reality slammed into her, fully waking her. That odd aroma was hers - unwashed for days on end. And her mouth was a literal sewer. She had not done more than pop breath mints since Sunday's restart in Wasilla.
"Ugh!" Lainey turned her face away, pushing Scotch aside so she could sit up.
"What?"
Lainey swung her legs from the bed and shook her head, her body demanding to return to its previous activity, hygiene be damned. She glanced over her shoulder to see Scotch's concern. "I need a shower. I need to brush my teeth for a week." A confused and slightly hurt expression crossed the woman's face, and Lainey turned abruptly toward her. "No! I meant I'm a mess! Not that you're a turn off." Her eyes ran across more skin than she had ever been allowed to see before, and her body once more demanded satisfaction. "You're definitely not a turn off."
Scotch's smile was slow and sexy, doing nothing for Lainey's restraint. "You're no slouch in that department either, Miss Hughes." She ran her fingers from Lainey's shoulder to her hand.
The feather light touch caused Lainey to shiver, though she was over warm, both from desire and being indoors after days on the trail. "You're a cruel woman."
"I hear it's one of my redeeming qualities."
Lainey laughed and took her hand. "Not at this moment."
Scotch shrugged. "You win some, you lose some." She squeezed Lainey's hand. "There's a bathroom right across the hall, with a shower kit for you to use. Why don't you catch a shower, we'll have some breakfast, and go check on the dogs."
She sighed at the return to business as usual. "I can't wait to get you in Nome," she said.
"We'll see who gets who," Scotch answered, her grin turning mischievous. She released Lainey's hand. "Go on, get cleaned up. Molly said she has the fixings for French toast in the kitchen. I'll get breakfast started."
Lainey realized it was still quite dark and the house held an elusive stillness that was associated the wee hours. The digital clock said it was three AM, which meant she had slept seven hours straight. "Okay," she said, standing. She stretched and groaned at the pleasurable pain of her muscles.
"And you call me cruel," Scotch said.
Smirking, Lainey located the clothes she came in with and her clean things. "Paybacks, you know."
Scotch murmured wry agreement as they got dressed. Before they left the room, she stood before Lainey and kissed her on the forehead. "When your teeth are brushed, I'm going to get that kiss. That's a promise."
Lainey hugged her. "I'm glad you have a reputation for keeping your promises."
They broke apart, and Scotch led her to the bathroom, leaving her at the door with a slightly regretful air. Lainey sighed, resigned, and stepped inside. She switched on the light and stared wide eyed at her reflection. Her dark hair, always a bit unruly, stuck up in clumps of greasy tangles. The skin of her face and hands were wind burned and reddened, in stark contrast to her forearms, which held little of her summer tan.
She blushed. Scotch had seen her like this! How totally . . . disgusting! It was worse than the fetidness of her breath. This was a physical manifestation of her grubby feeling. "Ugh," she muttered, setting her clothes on the counter. A bath towel and washcloth were folded there with a toothbrush still in its plastic wrap. Sticking out of a glass jar were a variety of combs, brushes, and odds and ends, and another of cotton swabs. Lainey gave herself one more distasteful once over, and went to the shower. It took some adjusting as she tested the water. Turning the knob to what she thought was a normal temperature resulted in blistering heat. She fiddled for some time before her cold acclimated skin allowed her to step in.
The shower was magnificent. Lainey felt days of strain and grime sluicing down the drain. Her hair particularly nasty, she washed it three times before she was satisfied. Her body still throbbed with want and she wished Scotch would forget breakfast and join her. Regretfully, she did not. Not one to deny herself, Lainey leaned against the wall under the spray of warm water, and brought herself to quick climax. She gasped at the strength of her orgasm, almost losing her balance, as the sensation rolled over her. God, what would it be like with the real thing?