The Stranger (20 page)

“I know,” she said.

“Let me know if it’s too much.”

“It isn’t.”

“You want more?” I jostled more of me in her body. “How’s that?”

She groaned. “I want all of you.”

She wanted all of me, the lust, the greed, the need; the scars, the baggage, the bitterness I carried in my soul, and the crammed seed stored in my body. She wanted me.

I plunged all the way and watched her eyes widening, matching her sex’s delicious expansion. I moved in and out of her, relishing every inch of her body, every extraordinary sensation surging through my body. Firmly connected, my cock transmitted pleasure to every part of me. I wanted to stay in her forever, to stretch the moment, to build on that connection until there was no boundary between her body and mine. Her reaction drove me to insanity. She rolled her hips and urged me into a stern pace that had both of us smarting with pleasure.

I lowered my lips and suckled her nipples, first one, then the other. My tongue slid over her flesh, testing her nipples’ phenomenal texture, stretching them with my lips, raking them gently with my teeth, pressing them against my palate.

A surge of pleasure tested my endurance. My body had suffered enough restraint for a lifetime. I held back, but only barely. My eyes met hers. There was a reflective quality to her gaze, power that ruled my emotions.

“Are you awake?”

“I’m awake,” she whispered. “Dreaming, but awake.”

“Summer, look at me.” I encased her face in my hands. “Can I come in you?”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes!”

Jesus. I could hardly hold back.

“When I do,” I said, “I want you to come with me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Soon after we’re done,” I said, “I’m going to need you again and I’m going to have to have you as much as I need to, in order to get through this.”

“You can have me,” she whispered. “You can have me as much as you want to.”

I kissed her. “I don’t think you understand.”

“Erickson?” She lifted her head from the cushion. “I understand. Got that? Now stop trying to hold back and fuck me, because I need you and I need you now.”

I laughed and flattened over my irreverent vixen until she started to cry out and I started to come. As she required, I gave her a powerful orgasm, all the seed in my body and much more. I gave her my soul.

Chapter Fifteen

I woke up to the sun shining through the cabin’s curtains and the sound of a vehicle motoring in the distance. Seth curled around me, breathing softly on my ear. I felt good, a little sore around the middle, and pleasantly tender elsewhere, but whole, hale and completely satisfied. So this was what living and loving was all about.

The fire crackled in the hearth, the blankets were strewn all over the floor, and the kitchen looked like it had been looted. The couch smelled exactly like me; like lust, sex, and Seth. I remembered the last few hours of my life, the pleasure I’d discovered in Seth’s arms. My entire body flushed with the memories.

“Seth?” I shifted around and, laying my head on his shoulder, shook him gently. “I think someone’s coming.”

“I hear them.” He didn’t open his eyes but he shoved a hand into the couch’s cushions, dug out an impressive black gun and settled it on his flat belly. “I’ll shoot any fool who attempts to come through that door.”

“Please, don’t shoot anybody.” I kissed the lines radiating from the corners of his eyes, the space between his brows and the corners of his mouth, which turned up in appreciation. I drew little lines on his chest, rising and falling beneath my hand with powerful breaths, and traced the seams of his scars with my fingertips. He was such a beautiful man. And now, he was mine.

“Seth?” I kissed his ear. “It might be time to get up.”

“Hmm,” he mumbled. “Can I get some more butterfly kisses?”

I trailed more kisses along the line of his stubble-covered jaw and down his neck. “Come on, Seth. Get up.”

“I can’t get up.” He tightened his grasp around my waist and pressed me against his side. “I don’t think my legs will hold me. I’m drained dry. You did me in last night.”

“
I
did
you
in?” I laughed. “You had nothing to do with the debauchery?”

He opened one eye and smiled. “That giggle of yours is just what I wanted to hear this morning. I’d wake up to you laughing any day. Morning, beautiful.”

He lowered his face to mine and kissed me. Good thing I was lying down, because my knees, like the rest of me, liquefied on the spot. The contact wiped all the thoughts from my mind. How could he have this mind-altering effect on me?

He cupped my ass with his hand and, turning on his side, pressed his growing erection against my underbelly.

“Oh, my,” I said. “For a man who’s been drained dry, you seem rather full today.”

“And you’re about to have a busy morning.” He kissed me some more.

The door rattled with a forceful set of knocks. “Seth, Summer!” Anya’s voice came from the outside. “Open the door!”

Seth swore a string of obscenities. “Why is it that people are set on disrupting my life?”

“Maybe it’s because we’re in someone else’s home?” I clambered down from the couch and rushed to get my panties, which Seth had hung to dry on the antlers mounted above the mantle like a flag on a pole. I had to jump up several times before I got a hold on them.

Seth crossed his hands behind his head and watched me, grinning. “Christ, you’re beautiful.”

“Right,” I said, slipping on my panties. “I’m a mess, that’s what I am.”

“You’re the sexiest mess alive.”

“Come on.” I picked up Seth’s underwear from the ground and tossed it his way. “Get dressed.”

“If we didn’t have to catch a son of a bitch, I’d never open that door.” He groaned and sat up on the couch. “All I want is a few hours of peace and quiet alone with you. Is that too much to ask?”

“The hours you got.” I clasped on my bra and shoved my legs into my jeans. “The peace and quiet? Not so much.”

The banging on the door drowned his laughter.

“Open up,” Anya shouted. “Right now!”

“Just a minute,” I yelled. “We’ll be right out.”

I took in the mess we’d made in the cabin while Seth got dressed. Anya wasn’t going to be happy. I picked up the water bottles from the floor, put the tea mugs in the sink, and cleaned up most of the glass from the broken frames. I dashed around in an effort to straighten the rest of the place. Seth caught me as I hurried past him.

“Got you.” He kissed me, a knee-weakening experience that left me longing for more. “Are you officially dating me now?”

“No, silly.” I kissed the tip of his nose. “We went straight to the fucking part.”

His smile widened. “I’m good with that.”

“That’s because you’re an overachiever.”

“You’re no slouch,” he said. “So that we’re clear, I’m claiming an exclusive.”

“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” I planted a kiss on his lips. “And so that you’re clear, I don’t share what’s mine.”

God, I loved the way he laughed! I craved that sound as the background music for my life. Unfortunately, Anya’s patience was at an end and life lurked beyond the doors, along with the man who’d tried to kill my mother and me.

“Open up right now!”

I headed for the door. “Ready to rejoin the human race?”

He let out a blustery sigh. “If we must.”

I lifted the bar and opened the door. Anya stepped in, nose sniffing the air, eyes scanning the place as if she knew exactly what we’d been doing inside for hours on end.

“Smells like a brothel in here,” she said. “You two owe me a bottle of Febreze.”

“I’ll send you a case.” Seth greeted two of Anya’s sons, who lingered by the door. “I owe you a new window too.”

Anya set her hands on her hips. “Now why would you be so careless to break my window?”

“I didn’t break it,” Seth said. “Neither did Summer, so don’t look at her like that. It’s a long story. I’ll send someone to fix the window today. And so that you know, as soon as I get on the radio, you’ll have the state troopers all over this place. So make sure there’s nothing around here that can get you into trouble.” Before Anya had time to ask more questions, he added, “How much for that couch?”

Anya frowned. “Why would you want that old thing?”

“How about two thousand bucks?”

“Sold!”

“Boys?” Seth said to Anya’s sons. “Mind helping me carry the thing out?”

“What are you doing?” I said.

He winked at me. “We’ll talk about it later.”

The “boys,” grown men by any account, helped Seth carry the old couch outside. They parked it next to the helicopter on a pile of new snow. I put on my coat, gloves and knit hat and followed them outside. All of us set out to clear the snow from the helicopter. Together, we dug it out. I’d never realized how strenuous shoveling snow could be. I was out of breath after three shovelfuls.

Once the snow was cleared, Seth climbed into the helicopter, got on the radio and notified the Alaska state troopers of what had happened last night. Anya and her sons listened to the story, trading startled looks. The tale sounded implausible, like something out of a movie. I still had trouble believing that it had happened to me.

When Seth was done talking with the police, he and the other men rigged a hoist to the couch. Anya padded over to me, eyes wide with concern.

“That was some awful business,” she said. “Are you all right?”

“I was cold last night, but I’m good now.”

“Are you sure?” she said. “You seem unsettled to me.”

“I’m fine.” I stared at my hands.

“You saw something, didn’t you?” She lifted my chin with a finger and studied my face with her shrewd little eyes. “Something that puzzled you.”

“I read some of your Athabaskan tales before I fell asleep.” I shrugged. “Some of the stories probably messed with my mind.”

“Oh, my.” Anya stared. “You did see something, something your mind can’t accept but your heart wants to embrace.”

“A bear.” The words just blurted out. “A bear led me to safety. How could it be?”

“The Athabaskans believed that in the beginning all animals were men,” Anya said. “They thought animals could speak and shift shapes, and we were all one together with nature. The bear must be your clan animal. You are of the bear
yega
.”

So much to digest in one great gulp. “What’s a yega?”

“A yega is the outer spirit,” Anya said. “It’s like a picture of the self, like your shadow. Death came for you last night, but you were strong and so was your yega. The bear spirit offers powerful protection. You survived.”

A shiver fringed my spine. The hair on the back of my head stood up. Was it even remotely possible that what Anya believed was true?

“The bear spoke to me,” I said. “It used my mother’s voice, and my father’s. It even talked like...him.” I motioned with my head to where Seth stood.

“It’s you, silly, your shadow soul,” Anya said. “It knew you. It knew your heart.”

“This is so...confusing.”

“Matters of the spirit are often confusing.” Anya patted my shoulder kindly. “But you’re strong, like your shadow soul. You’ll be all right.”

Seth called out. “Ready to go?”

“I’ll be right there.” I waved at him and returned my attention to Anya. “Sorry about the mess.”

“No worries,” Anya said. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

“Me too.” The smile on my face felt crooked.

I started toward the helicopter, but stopped when I remembered something else.

“Anya?” I said. “The bear talked about eating my liver. Is there any significance to a shadow soul eating one’s liver?”

The web on Anya’s forehead deepened. “If I recall right, in the old days, one’s animal protector was charged with avenging one’s injury and death. If you killed someone, you could prevent revenge from an opponent’s yega by eating a part from the dead person, usually the liver. But that’s just talk, you know. Go on. The golden-eyed eagle boy is waiting for you.”

“Who?” I said.

Anya sighed. “Seth. Standing right over there by the helicopter? Remember Seth?”

“Is the golden eagle his shadow soul?”

“How should I know?” Anya said. “I’m a shaman, not a witch. Ask him. And do try to be happy.”

“I’ll try.” It was a pledge to myself. “Thanks for your patience, Anya.”

“Patience, pfft.” She waved her hands in the air as she waddled to her cabin. “You’ve got little of that and I’ve got none.”

I made my way to the helicopter, considering everything I’d learned. Shadow souls. Bear spirits. Eagles. My mother, murdered? And the final, unavoidable truth: someone really wanted to kill me.

Talk about a freaking mess.

Seth was inspecting the aircraft, a model of efficient movement and elegance in motion. I remembered last night and went liquid inside. He helped me to climb up into the helicopter and strapped me in himself. Every time we made eye contact, I flushed. I had to suppress an urge to go for his mouth. I could tell he wanted me too. I’d fallen hard for this guy and I had no idea of what came next.

Seth powered up the helicopter and talking over the radio, maneuvered the tricky takeoff. I put on my headset and watched the couch take to the air below us.

“This is crazy,” I said. “Why on earth would you want that old thing?”

The look he gave me curled my toes. “Do you really have to ask?”

* * *

By noon, two Alaskan state troopers arrived at Seth’s place to take my statement. The senior officer was a grizzled veteran wearing a skeptical frown. Stocky, square, and thickset, he reminded me of a Pug. The other officer was fair, younger, and excitable, more like a Golden Retriever. He gaped at Seth and the house as if he stared at God in the flesh and heaven in this world. Seth sat next to me and held my hand, while the officers asked questions. I told them everything the man had said, everything I could remember.

“I’m sure it was the same man that was caught by the security camera at the rest stop,” I said as I finished my story.

“His name is George Peterson,” Officer Pug said. “We have information that suggests he’s done murder for hires before in the lower forty-eight.”

I looked at Seth. “Did you know about this?”

“I found out this morning, when I talked to Spider, my chief of cyber security. It took us quite some time to figure out who he was, but we caught a break late yesterday and we finally matched the face to the name.”

“Oh.” I was slightly miffed. “You should’ve told me.”

“We’re looking into Peterson’s bank accounts as we speak,” the trooper said. “We hope the money trail will help us find out who hired him and why. What makes you believe there’s a connection between the attack last night and your mother’s death years ago?”

Seth answered for me. “Her mother drowned.”

Evidently, dreams and visions were not something he wanted to share with the troopers.

“Peterson tried to drown Summer in a similar way,” Seth added. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“We’ll look into it,” the trooper said.

“Can we tell her now?” If Officer Golden Retriever had had a tail, it would be wagging.

“Tell me what?”

“The troopers have some news that might be unsettling to you.”

I stared at Seth. “Unsettling?”

“I don’t want you to get upset.”

“I can handle it.” Did he think I was an idiot? “Just tell me whatever the hell it is you have to tell me.”

“They found George Peterson in the woods by the lake,” Seth said. “He’s dead.”

“Oh, my God.” I squeaked. “Did I kill him?”

“One of your bullets hit him in the leg,” Officer Pug said in a solemn tone. “The wound slowed him down, but it was a bear that killed him.”

“The bear?”

“It must sound strange to someone from the outside,” Officer Golden Retriever said. “But this is Alaska.”

“Wait.” My mind was stuck. “Did you just say that the bear killed him?”

“The coroner hasn’t completed the autopsy yet,” the other trooper said, “but the evidence suggests that a bear attacked George Peterson as he tried to reach a rented hydroplane he’d anchored a couple of miles away from the Golov homestead. The man was alive when he met the bear.”

Not a single word made it through my strangled throat.

“Breathe.” Seth squeezed my hand. “Come on, take a breath.”

I tried, but the air felt too heavy to inhale.

“It explains why Peterson didn’t return to finish the job,” the younger trooper said. “The bear didn’t feed much on the corpse, except for the liver. He only ate the man’s liver...”