chapter 10
LARS STOOD IN the aftermath of what qualified as the best sex of his life and tried to regain his breathing and his sanity.
“Mirror Lake is definitely my favorite place now.”
Delphi rested her head against his chest and shoulder, her ragged breath warm against his skin. “I knew when you said you wanted to show me something...”
He chuckled. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant.”
“I don’t know that I believe that, but I’m not complaining.”
He laughed, smoothing his fingers over the ridge of her shoulder blade to the indentation of her spine. “No complaints is good. In fact, it was incredible. I could swear the earth moved under my feet.”
“I’m flattered—”
What the hell? There it was again, stronger, more intense.
“Delphi,” he cut her off. “It just happened again. The ground shifted. And the water is warmer. That means seismic activity. We need to get the hell out of here.”
She didn’t panic as they headed toward the shore. In fact, her face reflected more curiosity than alarm. “Seismic activity?”
“Yeah. The lake is fed by a hot spring.”
He saw the moment it clicked for her in her expression. “Which is tied into volcanic activity,” she said. “So when the ground shakes and there’s a surge in the lake temperature, you know something is going on with the magma below.”
“Yep, you got it.”
They climbed out of the lake and toweled off. Quickly, efficiently, they pulled on their clothes without further discussion. Lars shoved their two wet swimsuits into Delphi’s pack and the towels into his. The hike back to the truck was short and easy.
Lars looked at her as he turned the ignition. “You okay?”
She looked calm but the hand she ran through her short hair was slightly unsteady. “Fine.”
Lars leaned over and planted a swift hard kiss on her mouth. “It’s probably not a big deal, but just in case, we need to let people know.”
“Right.” He fully appreciated her calmness. Obviously, she’d been trained for emergency situations. He wasn’t so good with women prone to histrionics. “It seems that exploding things are following you.”
Lars drove down the potholed trail to the main road, a smile curving his mouth at her dark humor. “A bomb is one thing but I don’t want to tangle with an earthquake or a volcano.”
“Me either. I hate to sound stupid but I never really thought about why there would be a hot springs there.”
“That makes two of us.” His headlights picked up gleaming eyes in the dark ahead of them, and then they were gone. Probably a wolf. “I bet most of the people who swim in the lake haven’t given it much thought either.”
As they got closer to town, buildings replaced the towering evergreens. Nothing seemed amiss. He pulled up in front of the airstrip bed-and-breakfast. “Here you go.”
“You aren’t coming in?”
Lars shook his head. “I’m going over to Bull and Merrilee’s. I know it’s late but they need to know what just happened. Better safe than sorry. I thought you might not want to go since you’ve got an early morning ahead of you.”
It was her turn to shake her head. “I’m revved up right now. I’ll go. If I don’t, I’ll just be wondering all night what’s going on.”
He grinned. He liked that she hadn’t freaked out. She obviously had a sense of adventure. He backed out and headed to Bull’s. “All right, then.”
They pulled up in front of the hardware store. While the store was dark, a light glowed on the second floor. Lars parked the truck and said to Delphi as they climbed out, “This way.” He led her along the side of the building. “They live above the store. They’ve got outside access as well as stairs inside.”
“I noticed that at the restaurant next door to the B&B,” she said as they mounted the stairs.
“Most of the business owners live above their shops.” When they reached the top landing, Lars rapped on the wood door. In a minute or so, the light was switched on and Bull opened the door.
“Is there something wrong over at the bed-and-breakfast?” Bull cut straight to the chase.
“Everything’s fine there but there’s something we thought we should pass along,” Lars said.
“Come on in.” Bull stood aside and Lars ushered Delphi in ahead of him.
It was difficult to believe he’d been sitting at the kitchen table less than six hours ago. A lot had happened. Maybe some things had changed. Whichever way he looked at it, it felt more like a lifetime ago.
* * *
DELPHI GLANCED AROUND while Lars recounted the rumbling ground and temperature surge. The kitchen, while not overly large, was comfortable. Cast-iron cookware hung from hooks on one wall, and in the middle hung an assortment of wooden utensils, much like a display of functional art.
The kitchen table was a clean design and since Bull owned the lumber shop downstairs, she suspected he’d made the table himself. Instead of backed chairs, each seat was an individual bench with buttock indentions.
And the whole time, all she could think about was Lars’s knee against hers and his scent on her skin.
Lars wrapped it up. It had only taken him a minute or so to brief Merrilee and Bull about what he’d experienced at the lake. Merrilee spoke up. “The activity has increased in the last year but it’s being monitored. So far, they’ve told us it’s not anything to be concerned about. I’ll check in with them in the morning. If there’s an alert status, the department will contact me here at home.”
Lars nodded matter-of-factly. “Good deal.” He stood and Delphi followed suit. “We’ll let you guys get back to bed.”
“Stop in anytime, especially if you’ve got a concern,” Bull said. Delphi had noticed he was a fairly quiet man. Not shy, simply quiet. It was an important distinction. He watched, processed and was very much self-contained. It struck her suddenly that for all his forwardness and joviality, Lars was a bit similar. While he was much more verbose than Bull, he also observed, processed and possessed more than a measure of self-containment. Delphi knew without a doubt that the discussion they’d had concerning his mother was a rare event for Lars.
She and Lars walked toward the door. He looked at Delphi. “Feel like walking back to the bed-and-breakfast?”
“Of course.” She was invigorated and full of energy in a way she hadn’t been in a long, long time.
Lars nodded and said to Bull, “We’ll leave the truck here and walk back. Thanks for letting me use it.”
“Sure. Anytime.”
They made their way down the stairs and stopped by the truck to pick up their backpacks. The town enveloped them in its silence. When they’d both shrugged into their backpacks, Liam slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side as they began walking in the direction of the B&B.
A thrill shot through her at the weight of his arm around her, the heat of being held against his solid side. The feeling of being protected—almost cherished—floated through her, like the fleet passing of a wraith on the periphery of one’s vision, vanishing equally quickly.
“It’s been quite the day, hasn’t it?” Liam broke the quiet between them.
The wedding and reception, the lake, sex, the mini-quake... Yeah, it had definitely been quite a day. “That’s an understatement.”
On a whim she wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head in the crook of his shoulder. The darkness was different here than back home. Despite the absence of streetlights, the evening’s veil held no menace. It was a place out of time. No cars cruised down the street. No radios or TVs blared behind closed doors. There was only the sifting of the wind through the evergreens and the hum of mosquitoes. An owl hooted in the distance. A sense of safety enveloped her.
Her words flowed out of her feelings. “Doesn’t it feel peaceful here?”
“Yeah. It’s great. But I’m so conditioned to noise and activity that it takes some getting used to. I’m generally on alert.”
An internal sigh rippled through her. She didn’t want to think about Lars being any place except in Good Riddance. She didn’t want to picture him in battle gear, in danger. She pushed aside the thought. “It’s good for the soul.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
They strolled along, a quiet harmony flowing between them. Their sexual energy was definitely part of that flow.
They covered the remaining distance in silence. A sudden exhaustion swept through Delphi. It had been quite a day.
“Tired?” Lars asked. It was funny how he picked up on her mood shift. She hadn’t said anything.
She laughed, a bit disconcerted that he’d tapped into her feelings. “Exhausted. It just hit me.”
“I’m not surprised. It’s the aftermath of all that adrenaline.”
“My feet and legs have turned to bricks.”
“Do you want me to carry you?”
He was serious. She almost laughed, but she was too tired to laugh...and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. It was actually very gallant of him to suggest it. And she needed the energy to tackle the stairs leading to the bedrooms above. “That’s sweet but I’m fine.”
Exhaustion weighted her, tugged at her, but she put one foot in front of the other until she gained the upper floor landing. A heavy snoring resonated through the hall from one of the two rooms at the top of the stairs. She didn’t know who the other guests were but one of them was sleeping well.
“Need me to tuck you in?” Lars whispered.
She smiled in the dark hallway and whispered back, mindful of the late hour and the other guests, “I have to take a shower first. Lake water.”
“Gotcha.” They stopped outside of her bedroom door. Lars’s hand was warm against the small of her back. “Go in and get your stuff together and I’ll hook you up in the bathroom.”
Jet lag, tension, excitement, sex—it had all caught up with her. She seriously felt as if she could just drop on the spot. There wasn’t an ounce of hanky-panky left in her right now. “Lars, I’m too tired.”
“Delphi, I don’t think I’d be much good anyway. I’m pretty tired myself. I’m just going to start the water for you. It takes a couple of minutes for it to actually get hot. Get your things together and I’ll let you know when the shower’s warm.”
She was pretty much too tired to even think but that sounded right enough. “Okay. Thanks.”
She went into her room and in no time had clean panties and her nightie and robe. She weaved on her feet as she glanced at the clock. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be switching back and forth in her head, but with the time difference it was 5:00 a.m. back home. She’d just sit on the edge of the bed, just at the bottom until Lars knocked.
That wonderful, sexy, arrogant, sweet marine....
* * *
LARS TAPPED AT Delphi’s door. The water was finally warm. Dead silence on the other side. He tapped again. Nothing.
He eased open the door. “Delphi?”
She was fast asleep on the end of the bed. He called her name again. “Delphi...”
She didn’t budge. The water was still running. He’d hop in and shower and then try to wake her again. She’d either be refreshed from her nap or she was down for the count. He was fairly certain it was the latter.
He dropped by his room and grabbed clean underwear, sweats and a T-shirt. Back in the bathroom, he stripped and stepped under the stream of warm water.
It had been an incredible day with Delphi. Not just the sex—although that had been damn good—but the whole thing. They’d danced, laughed and flirted. It had been just what he needed.
Used to efficient, fast showers, he was finished after a few minutes. When he was done, he returned to Delphi’s room. The bedside lamp threw a soft light over her features. She was so cautious when she was awake. He stood for a moment studying her as she slept. He brushed aside a shadow of guilt at watching her in an unguarded state.
Her mouth gaped slightly open. Her lashes cast faint shadows on her lightly freckled cheeks. She looked soft and sweet in sleep.
He trailed his finger over her cheek. Her soft skin bore a fine dusting of baby down along her jawline. She murmured softly, turning her face into his touch.
He had fully intended to try to wake her, but she was hard and fast asleep. He couldn’t just leave her like this. If she woke up as he was putting her to bed and wanted to shower, then so be it. Lars turned back the covers on one side.
Working methodically, but carefully, he undressed her and put her in the nightie he found on the bed next to her. He transferred her to the turned-down side of the bed and tucked the covers around her.
He flipped off the bedside light, plunging the room into darkness. Pausing, he stood momentarily stilled by indecision. He could go next door to his own bed or he could climb in with her. There was a fifty-fifty chance she’d be pissed when she woke up and found him in her bed, but, dammit, he spent plenty of nights alone in bed and he’d be a fool not to enjoy the pleasure of her warmth while he could. Better to ask forgiveness tomorrow morning than wait for permission.
Shucking his sweatpants, he climbed into the other side of the bed. He wrapped his arm around her and she rolled into him, snuggling. With a quiet satisfaction, Lars closed his eyes.
* * *
DIRK STARED AT the blinking cursor on the computer screen. Done. He’d dawdled around and done everything else he could possibly think of since he’d gotten back to his room. He’d even shined his boots. But this couldn’t be put off any longer. Merrilee would corner him tomorrow and harass his ass to make sure he’d actually sent the damn invitation. He should’ve just kept his big mouth shut. Now he was stuck.
Finally he’d plopped down and typed out the invitation he and Merrilee, mostly Merrilee, had put together. Now all that was left to do was to press the send button.
He ran his hand over his head. Shit. As long as he didn’t send it, she couldn’t say no.
Natalie, I hope things are good with you and your family. The weather is really nice in Alaska now. There’s a lot of fishing and hiking and other fun things to do. Plus it’s really pretty, if you like wildflowers and mountains and nature, which I think you do. There is also a nice spa here you might like, too. It is a great time to come if you haven’t already made vacation plans. So, do you think you’d like to come out for a visit? Your friend, Dirk.
Merrilee had said he had to flat out ask her if she wanted to visit. Damnation. And she’d told him to take out the part he’d written about the kind of fish that were biting and instead mention the spa. Spas just weren’t on his radar, but Merrilee knew the kind of things a woman would like.
He shook his head. He had to send the damn thing before the next morning so he might as well get it over with. He took a deep breath, stabbed the button with his finger and exhaled as it zipped through the internet.
He pulled off his jeans—he never could email Natalie when he was sitting around in his boxers; it just didn’t seem right—and pulled off his socks.
Dirk walked back over to the laptop to close it down and his heart started thumping hard and fast. Natalie had emailed him back. He stood there in indecision. If she’d said yes, he’d be too excited and wound up to sleep. If she said no, well, he’d be pretty wrecked. And if he didn’t open it and find out one way or another, the wondering would gnaw at him all night. Any way it turned out, he was screwed.
He opened the file. He read it twice, then once again for good measure. Natalie was coming. Here. To see him.
Holy hell.