Naked Edge (16 page)

Skylar palms my cheeks and turns my face towards hers. “Stop over thinking everything and just kiss me.”

I chuckle quietly. “How is it possible that you still know me so well?”

“Because what’s in there,” she taps my forehead then presses a hand over my heart, “can’t change what’s in here. You’re still the same sweet boy I fell in love with.”

If only that were true. I roll her onto her back then kiss her so she can’t see the pain in my eyes.
 

She hooks a heel behind my knee and squirms her way beneath me.
 

“Slow down, babe. We’ve got all night.”

“I’ve waited so long for this.”

I feel like I’ve waited my whole damn life for this. But I’m not going to let her rush it. I kiss a trail down her throat, across the swell of her breast.

She arches her back and tangles her fingers in my hair, trying to guide my mouth to her nipple.
 

I’d like to tease her a little longer, work her up a bit, but when she whimpers and whispers, “please,” I can’t do anything but obey.
 

I could suck on her breasts all afternoon, but her scent is calling to me, urging me lower. I’ve had more blow jobs than I can count, but I’ve never gone down on anyone. I’ve never wanted to. I want to now. Desperately. I release her nipple and kiss a trail down the center of her body, pausing to dip my tongue into her belly button.

She trembles.

I move lower. My heart pounds so wildly I’m afraid it’s going to burst.
 

“What are you doing?” Skylar’s body tenses as she tries to sit up.

I gently push her back down onto the bed then kiss her through the lace of her panties.
 

She bucks her hips, smashing into my face.

I pin her legs to the mattress with the weight of my body and do it again.

“Oh, god, Rowdy!”
 

I hook my thumbs in the bands of lace holding her panties in place and lift my chest. “Can I take these off?”

She nods and lifts her hips.

I slide them down her long, tanned legs then drop them on the floor beside the bed. She’s bare except for a neatly trimmed landing strip of mahogany curls. I glance up and find her watching me with hooded eyes. Her chest rises and falls with each shallow, rapid breath. I maintain eye contact as I taste her for the first time.
 

Skylar’s getting close again. I don’t want this to end, but I want her satisfied even more. My ‘red alert’ ringtone blares out of my phone. Skylar jumps, but I don’t even pause. She goes limp under me.

“You better get that.” She recognizes the BMR ringtone.

I groan, making her twitch. I don’t have to go on every call. There’re over sixty volunteers in our organization but I’ll feel like a douche if I don’t at least find out what the emergency is. I grab my phone and read the text. My frown turns into a grin. “It’s just a pick off.”

“You’re not going?”

I shake my head. “Most of the group is off work by now. There’ll be plenty of responders and the caller was very specific about the climber’s location. It’s just a grab and go. Besides, I’m sort of busy.”

Skylar returns my smile then sinks back into the pillow.

Bang, bang, bang.
Sky and I both flinch.
 

“Rowdy, open up!” It’s Anna. She sounds frantic.

“What’s wrong?”

“Didn’t you get the call?”

“I’m not going.”

Bang.
Anna pounds the door again. “You have to!”

“Goddammit, Anna. It’s just a pick off. You and Wade could do it your sleep.”

“I need a ride.”

What the fuck? “Then ask Wade.”

“He left already.”

Skylar sits up. “It’s okay. I’ll go with you. And when you’re done, we can come back and finish this.”
 

“You wanna spend the night?”

Skylar grins. “It’ll be just like when we were kids.”

“No, it won’t.” I grab her and pull her against me. “It’ll be so much better.”

Anna continues to bang on the door as we get dressed.
 

“Knock it off, Anna. We’re coming.”
I wish.
I glance over my shoulder to be sure Skylar is ready before opening the door.

Anna pushes past me and glares at Skylar. “What’s
she
doing here?”

“What the fuck is your problem?”

“It’s bad enough you don’t have time for your real friends anymore, but now you’re letting her interfere with your duty.”

A twinge of guilt needles me. The only thing that normally keeps me from responding to a call is alcohol. Or exhaustion. I take Skylar’s hand. “Do you need to grab anything from Boone’s house?”

“She can’t go with us on a call.” Anna wrinkles her nose, as if the idea itself smells bad.

“Knock it off, Anna.”

“She’s not a member of the team.”

“She’s a trainee.”

“I am?” Skylar arches her eyebrows.

I grin at her and grab my keys. “You are tonight.”

Anna’s face darkens. “Has she filled out the paperwork? Passed her physical?”

I’m usually extremely patient with Anna, more so than anyone else, but she’s seriously starting to piss me off. “She’s only observing tonight.”

“Doesn’t matter. No one is allowed to go on missions until they’re authorized.”

“I’m not going without her.”

“But…” Anna’s mouth falls open. “You have to.”

“No. I don’t.” I slide my arm around Skylar’s back, cupping the dip of her waist. Her body is rigid. Every muscle tense. I pull her against me and smile when she relaxes.
 

Anna presses her lips into a thin, hard line. She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Fine. I guess she can come.”

I kiss Skylar’s neck, just below her ear and whisper, “Over and over again.”

She grins and blushes.

There’s no way Anna heard me, but she glares at me as if she did.

I dig my phone out before getting into Old Blue. The protective silicone case makes it stick to everything. Pulling it out and putting it back in is a real chore. I have to cock my hip and straighten my leg to pry it loose. Something I can’t do sitting down. I wait for Anna to get in and shut the door, then call Boone. He answers on the first ring.

“Hey, Skylar. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to let you know I’m spending the night with Rowdy so don’t wait up for me.”

He sighs into the phone.
“Seems like things are moving sort of fast. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“We have a lot of history together so, no, we aren’t moving too fast. And yes, I’m definitely ready for this.”

“Why are you repeating everything I say? Is Anna there?”

“Anna, Rowdy and I are on our way to Eldo to pick off a stranded climber. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Be careful about antagonizing Anna. She fights dirty.”

“Sounds like you have experience with that. Care to fill me in?”

“Just be careful, okay?”

“Me? Careful? You know I’m an adrenaline junkie.”

Anna doesn’t even wait for me to end the call before she leans across me and starts yelling at Rowdy. “Did you hear her? She’s got no business going with us. She’s a hazard to herself and everyone else.”

Rowdy slams on the brakes then pulls off the road. “Goddammit, Anna, Skylar isn’t going to hurt me again. She left because her mom’s boyfriend went into witness protection. She didn’t have a choice. We’re together again and nothing’s going to change that so you better get used to it.”

If I weren’t so thrilled about Rowdy’s declaration, I’d be pissed off at him for telling Anna about WITSEC. But nothing can dim the joy I feel from hearing him say we’re together and we’re going to stay that way.

“But…” Anna’s face goes from crimson to chalky white. Her chin trembles. She sounds like a little girl. “I don’t like her.”

“You don’t have to like her, but if you want to stay friends with me, you have to be nice. I won’t tolerate anyone abusing my girl.”

Anna turns her face to the window. She swipes at her cheeks every few seconds. I actually feel sorry for her. Maybe once she gets used to the idea that Rowdy and I are a package deal, we can be friends. I glance at her reflection in the glass. She glares at me with pure hatred.

Rowdy starts humming some tune I don’t recognize.
 

“Is that a song you wrote?”

“Yeah.” He slides his hand a little higher up my leg. Nothing indecent, but it’s enough to elicit a snort of disgust from Anna.
 

I want to ask Rowdy if the song is one he wrote for me, but I don’t want to rub salt in Anna’s wounds. I feel bad for calling Boone instead of texting him, now. I’d like to believe my only motivation was to get Anna to accept the fact that Rowdy and I are together. But I’d be lying. I wanted to hurt her. I don’t like what that says about me. We’ll never be friends, but I don’t have to be a vindictive bitch.

~***~

We’re among the first to arrive at the parking lot where everyone is meeting. Rowdy introduces me to an older guy, Mike Haskell, and tells him I’m thinking about joining BMR.

Mike frowns as he shakes my hand. “You can’t participate in the rescue, understand?”

“Yes, sir.”
 

“And stay out of the way.”

Anna smirks at me. I refuse to let her bait me. Her grin fades when Mike assigns her to group four and puts Wade in charge.

She pushes her lower lip out in a pout. “I want to be in group one.”
 

No surprise there. Rowdy’s in charge of that one.
 

The wrinkles around Mike’s eyes deepen. “Maybe you should sit this one out.”

Anna’s lips part into an ‘O’ but she recovers quickly. “Fine. I’ll go with Wade.”
 

I hang out near the BMR van so I can eavesdrop on the radio chatter. Everyone expects this rescue to be quick and easy. Someone mentions heading to The Dark Horse afterwards. I recognize Rowdy’s voice through the static.

“Base, this is Rowdy. We’re unable to acquire a visual of the victim.”

Mike scowls. “What’s your location?”

“Kloof Alcove. No one is on Half and Half.”

“Check nearby routes.”

“We did. We also interviewed several climbers. No one is aware of anyone requiring assistance.”

Mike sighs. “Check out West Redgarden Wall.”

The excited chatter dies out. Mike recalls everyone to base. Wade’s group is one of the first to return.
 

Mike rubs the back of his neck as he talks to Wade. “I’m ninety-nine percent certain this is a prank call.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Several things. The woman that called in the report hung up immediately after relaying the information. Emergency services location technology put her in the town of Eldorado Springs, not inside the park when she made the call. She didn’t answer when dispatch called back. There’s no voice mail and no name or address associated with the number.”

Wade says, “Sounds like she used a burner phone.”
 

Anna continues to glare at me as she leans against the van, arms crossed over her chest. But at least she’s quiet.

“I hate wasting resources on a false alarm, but we need to keep searching until we’re sure.” Mike shifts his gaze from Wade to me. “Do you want to help with the ground search?”

“She’s not a member!” Anna’s outburst draws everyone’s attention.

You don’t have to be a member to participate in a ground search and she knows it. “I’d love to help.”
 

“She’s a liability.” Anna continues to talk about me as if I’m not standing right in front of her. “She had to be rescued off The Bastille last month.”

“I’m well aware of Skylar’s mountaineering abilities as well as her tendency to push the envelope.”

My cheeks heat up as I realize Rowdy must have been talking about me to Mike.
 

“She has asthma.”

I take a slow, deep breath to calm my temper as well as demonstrate my breathing ability. “It’s under control and I have an inhaler. And I promise I’ll follow Wade’s instructions to the letter.”

“See that you do.”
 

Anna mutters to herself as we follow Wade up the West Ridge Trail. I’m starting to feel less pity for her.
 

We search for hours, talking to everyone we meet. No one’s seen or heard about a stranded climber. It’s getting dark.
 

Anna jogs up to Wade then taps his shoulder. “Hey, I need to make a pit stop.”

Wade nods. “Take Skylar.”

I have to pee so bad my kidneys hurt but I didn’t say anything because Anna and I are the only women in the group and BMR is a stickler for rules. The ‘no one goes alone’ rule means there’s no getting out of it. I wait for the main group to disappear around a corner then step off the trail.

Anna grabs my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To find a bush?”

“The ranger’s station is less than half a mile from here.”

“That’s a huge waste of time.”

“I need to do more than just pee so I’m going to the ranger station where there’s toilet paper.”

“TMI.”
 

She rolls her eyes. “I suppose you never shit.”

My bathroom habits are none of her business. I grit my teeth. “Fine, we can go to the ranger’s station.”
 

The tension builds as we hike. After about five minutes, Anna breaks the angry silence. “We need to talk.”

“About what?”
 

“About how you’re ruining Rowdy’s life.”

Aw crap, here we go again. “I’m not ruining his life. He’s happy.”

“His drinking’s out of control, he’s neglecting his duties and all he wants to do is spend time with you. You’re an addiction.”

“He doesn’t drink any more than the rest of the guys. He’s not neglecting his duties and I’m just as addicted to him as he is to me. It’s not a problem.”

“If you care about him at all, you’ll leave him alone.”

A couple of hikers pause on the trail.

“Can we talk about this later?”
 

Anna ignores me and talks louder. “You didn’t see him after you left. He was devastated. If I hadn’t been there to pick up the pieces, he would have killed himself.”