Snow Wolf (2 page)

Amy nibbled her lip and stared at
the side of the bright yellow tent. She listened to him breathe behind her. She
couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not but knew that she wouldn’t. It wasn’t
cold inside of the sleeping bag, if fact it was a little too warm. She wasn’t
sure if that was her hormones working overtime, or if it was because she kept
her coat and snow pants on. Her head was damp and so were her feet inside of
her insulated socks. The night wore on slowly and she wondered if she could
wiggle out of the coat and pants so that she could get some rest.

Amy unzipped the coat slowly hoping
she would not disturb him. She was a guest in his tent even though he’d let her
pack plunge to the depths of hell back there. She blew out a relieved breath
when cool air hit her chest. It may be zero outside but it was easily ninety
degrees inside of the coat. “You should take that thing off or you’ll never get
any rest.” Amy whipped her head around and he was propped up on one elbow
watching her. “You should lose the pants too.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Her
lips pursed tightly.

“I’d like to get some rest but
you’re oozing bad mojo over there and I can’t.”

“What?! You’ve been sleeping just
fine.”

“Not a wink sweetheart.” Amy sat up
and tore the coat off then shoved it in the space between his pack and the wall
of the tent. “Before you put on a big show with those pants, I’m going to go
outside for a minute. Care to join me?” Her face scrunched up in confusion.
“Gotta pee.” He whispered and grabbed his boots. Amy got her boots and shoved
her feet in them then reached for her jacket. Liam pulled his coat on and
crawled out backward into the snow. “Come on.” He stuck his hand back inside.
Amy crawled out without his assistance. He shrugged and walked in the direction
of the way they’d come.

Amy found a secluded spot between
two large rocks and thought it ridiculous that her last team had a tent just
for this. She’d roughed it before but she preferred a zipped tent with a privy.
Her skin prickled in the icy air when she squatted. She had to be quick or
risked frost bite. Her skin was still damp because she’d gotten so warm and the
wicking properties of the underclothes were no longer working.

Letting her bladder go was a relief
she hadn’t realized that she needed until he’d said it. She planned to ditch
the coat and the pants once she was inside the sleeping bag. It was too hot to
sleep in them. “Done?” Liam popped around the corner and she squealed. “It’s
dark, don’t panic and it’s not like I haven’t seen one before.”

“You haven’t seen mine and it’s not
for your viewing.” She jerked her pants up and followed him back to the tent.
“How did you find me?”

“Footprints.” He pointed down.

“You can see them but not my naked
backside?” He only grunted and held the tent flap aside for her when they got
back to it. The wind howled and she wondered if he had staked the tent properly
or if they would blow away like Dorothy.  Amy shrugged out of her coat and
stuffed it back into the space between the pack and the tent. Liam put his
boots up and pulled his coat and pants off. Amy nibbled her lip.

“Go on, get out of them so we can
sleep.” She inhaled deeply and thought it over. Liam reached over and unsnapped
them then jerked them down.

“Hey!” Her hands scrambled for
them.

“Lose the pride Garrett. It won’t
do you any favors out here.” Liam folded and stashed them with the pack. “Get
in the bag.” He ordered her and her brow furrowed but she complied. His tone
sent a thrill through her but she didn’t understand why. He zipped the bag and
got comfortable. “There’s enough room for you to move around. You don’t have to
lay stiff as a board and you don’t have to stick your nose in the corner over
there.”

Liam crossed his arms over his head
and closed his eyes. Amy wiggled around until she found a comfortable position
and fell asleep almost instantly.

***

She felt warm as she came awake, warm,
and comfortable. Amy opened her eyes and found herself face to face with his
massive chest. Her hands rested against him and his arm was casually draped across
her hip. She felt his erection against her belly and looked down at how close
and intimate their bodies were. “That’s all for you.” He whispered. Amy gasped
and snapped her eyes up to his face. He smiled softly. She nibbled her bottom
lip. Liam took her hand and moved it down over his chest and belly to the hard
length of him. She watched its decent and didn’t resist.

Krista was right. She was too
damned old to be a virgin. If he was going to put it in her hand, she was going
to explore it. Amy touched it gently with her fingertips and found that it was
harder than she expected. She heard his sharp intake of breath and pulled her
hand away. He chuckled. She moved away with flushed cheeks and reached for her
pants. “Anytime that you change your mind sweetheart, you just let me know.”

Amy didn’t say anything back to
him. She was so embarrassed right then that her tongue refused to work. She was
absolutely mortified. Her cheeks were on fire and she shoved her feet into her
boots then her arms into her coat. He chuckled again as she crawled from the
tent. She needed to go and she needed to get away from him. God, how could she
just touch him like that? What did he think would happen anyway? She was
completely at his mercy out here without her pack or a tent to retreat to from
him. It wasn’t like there was a Holiday Inn around the corner.

She found her way back to the
secluded rocks that she’d decided was the bathroom. She’d lost her shovel when
the pack fell into the crevasse, so eventually she would have to borrow his.
Jim was going die a long slow agonizing death when they returned to
civilization. Amy tugged her pants up and suddenly he was in front of her.
“Don’t you knock?” She hissed.

“As soon as you get a door, I
absolutely will sweetheart. Come on, we have things to do, and here.” He handed
her another ration bar and her goggles. She shoved it into her pocket and
followed him. It was bitterly cold and the wind had picked up since the
snowfall last night. They hadn’t accumulated much only a few inches but there
would be more coming.

Amy followed him over the snowy
trail for several minutes to the glacier. It was breathtaking. Blue and white ice
was everywhere. It looked as though a lake was moving down the mountain and was
caught in an instant freeze. There were what looked like waves and drifts. This
wasn’t her first glacier, she’d spent time at the pole but it was the
prettiest. The frozen lake was vast and squeezed between two mountains, caught
in their grip and frozen in time.

“This was recently discovered. They
aren’t sure yet how old this is or how many cubic feet it is, we’re here to
find out.” Liam pulled the devices that would measure from his pack. The idea
was that you set up a tripod on one side, pointing it at another on the other
side and it would calculate distance. Amy’s research at the pole was all about
time and the environment. They took samples of ice and studied the layers. Her
equipment was comprised of a hollow tube and a map to mark off where she’d
been. The real fun was in the lab where it was semi warm. His lab, the glacier
was not so warm. “Take this one across the way there and line them up
sweetheart.”

“Amy.” His eyebrows furrowed when
he looked up at her. “My name is Amy.”

“Sorry. Take this over there and
line them up Amy. You’ll need to adjust the degree for linear measures.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not a student or
an intern. I know how to do this.” Amy took the piece that he’d handed her and
started across the ice. Did she know how to do this? In theory not in practice
since this was her first time. She stepped carefully avoiding cracks and jagged
points. Jerking her hood up against the wind, she didn’t see the fracture ahead
of her. When she stepped on the edge, the ice gave way and she dropped for the
second time in two days. Amy grabbed for the side but missed and fell. She
landed on her bottom in an icy void about four feet deep. She’d never seen so
many damned holes in ice. What kind of glacier was this anyway? It was nothing
like the pole. Nice solid flat smooth ice.

“You okay?” Liam looked down from
the side at her. She pushed to her feet and stood up. He put his hand out and
she took it to let him pull her out. There was no room for pride here, he was
right about that. He pulled her up flush against his chest. “Be careful, Jim
will charge me a lot more than fifty grand for not returning you.”

“What does that mean?” Amy recoiled.

“Just that if I don’t bring you
back he’ll be pissed.” Liam checked the device in his hand.

“No fifty grand, what does that
mean?” Amy waited.

“Fifty thousand dollars.” She
quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know but it sounded like
you paid that for me to come here.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“I did.” He started walking to the
side where she was to set up the laser. “I financed this trip and in order for
you to come along, I had to rent you from them, fifty grand.”

“You financed this expedition?” She
walked quickly keeping up with him.

“Yes, didn’t he tell you that?”
Liam’s brows scrunched together low over his nose. He looked serious now and
she liked that look. Her insides clenched but she ignored them.

“No. He told me that you got to
pick your team because it’s in your contract and that it wasn’t in mine so I
had to do what he said.” He grunted. “I told him that I didn’t like being
manipulated and that I was looking for another job when we got back.” He
squatted and looked back across the ice at the laser then got up and kept
walking to the other side. Amy followed. “Why did you want me here?” She was
studying him and he found that he enjoyed it. He stopped and let her stare into
his face.

“I wanted you here for your
reputation, your intelligence, and knowledge of the ice, of course. An intern
could not offer me the insights that you can.” He turned and squatted again to
look back then adjusted his course. Amy followed squinting into the glare of
sunrise. If she’d been at sea level, the sun would’ve been glaring at her an
hour ago but where they were, it had to work its way over the side of the
mountain. The wind gusted and Amy turned her head away from it. “Hand me the
laser sweetheart.”

“Amy.” She answered.

“Amy, hand me the laser.” He
grinned at her pursed lips. She gave it over and looked back across the ice at
the other instrument.

“You’re off.” He glanced up at her.
“You’re off.” She plucked it from his hand and walked several feet south of
him. “You’re measurements will be skewed if you aren’t at the correct angle. You’re
measuring width.  You should know that.” The wind gusted again and she braced
herself against it then set the small tripod up on the device. It was state of
the art; she had to give him credit for that.

“See, a grad student wouldn’t know
that.” He squatted down beside her. He reached to push the numbered buttons on
the side then turned the top to reflect the other laser. “Presto.” Liam pulled
a smart phone from his pocket and touched the screen. “Cool, it worked.” He
pulled the laser from the ice and started walking up the hill. “Can you get the
other and head up that side?” Amy nodded and crossed the ice again, more
carefully this time stepping around any voids that she could fall into again.
She picked up the small device and started up the hill. Amy looked across to
where he was and saw him watching her.

The memory of his hardness against
her palm haunted her. Why had she let go? There could’ve been more. No. She was
here to work. Screw Krista and her virgin crap.

Amy lined her laser up with his
four more times moving up the mountain each time until they reached the top
where it began. She sat on a rock while he tapped figures into his phone and
opened the ration bar that he’d given her earlier. She bit into the lemony clay.
Well, it was meant to keep her alive. She hoped it worked. “Come on. We’re done
for today.”

“Why? It’s early. What else are we
going to do out here anyway?” Amy looked around. It wasn’t like it was massive.
She chewed her bar.

“How is that one?” She looked down
at it.

“It tastes like the other one.” He
chuckled. “They’re all the same aren’t they?” He nodded and went back to his
phone. “Are we measuring depth?”

“No, but I do want core samples for
later.”

“You should take some from that
void. You’ll get deeper.”

“I’d like deeper.” Her cheeks
burned. She wondered if Krista’s dirty mind was wearing off on her. “You’re the
expert, if you say to measure from the void then that’s what we’ll do, but
tomorrow. I’m cold and I want to look at these readings. His breath was white
puff and she noticed that his cheeks were red. She wasn’t sure if the redness
was from the wind or the sun glare. It was easy to get sunburn from the glare
on the ice.

The day was cold of course but not
as cold as it was at the pole. She kept her hat on, her hood up and her eyes
protected by big tinted goggles. As protected as she was though, she had to
admit it was cold. She wouldn’t fight him on returning to the tent but she
would try to get more done in hopes of getting off this mountain and away from
him. Krista did not need more dirty thoughts to taunt her with. 

Amy pulled her boots off once
they’d gotten back to the tent and stretched out. She looked over at the phone
he held in his palm. He tapped the numbers on the screen and saved it to a
file. “Are you getting reception up here?” She asked staring at the screen.

“Nah, but it has an app that
records all of the data and later I can upload.” She nodded and wriggled out of
her coat. “Tell me about what you’re working on right now.” He said.

“Nothing really. I was helping Dr.
Donnellson with her calculations. I’m between projects. Jim was still making a
decision on whether or not I could take a team back to the pole but I don’t
think they want to pursue my research. It doesn’t matter.” She shrugged. “I
wish there was some way to get my pack, I brought a book to read.”

“Oh yeah, what is your brilliant
mind reading this week?” He was on a different screen now and tapping away.

“Nothing.” He grunted.

“Trashy novel huh?” Amy blushed and
he chuckled. “I didn’t guess that. I’ve seen you on the park bench by the
fountain in the afternoons. It’s a dead giveaway when the guy on the front is
shirtless and holding a voluptuous blonde.” He continued to tap the screen his
lips pressed thin now.

“They aren’t all blonde.” She
muttered.

“No, but they’re all shirtless. You
just finished the third this month. No boyfriend?” She harrumphed and he
chuckled again. “No boyfriend. Duly noted. Reading is your hobby, any other
hobbies?” She shook her head. “Don’t be angry because I noticed you
sweetheart.”

“Amy.” He smirked but didn’t look
at her.

“Don’t be angry because I noticed
what you were doing Amy. In fact, you should be pleased.” Amy rolled her eyes.

“I should be pleased that you’re
spying on me?” She lifted her chin. Why was he spying or noticing her anyway.
She wasn’t his typical female. They were all sticks with boobs. Could he be
interested in her even a little?

“You should be pleased. A man not
only noticed that you were reading, but what you were reading. Most wouldn’t
bother. Also, that a man noticed that you eat lunch alone on a bench. I wanted
to join you several times but you always give me these sideways glances. I get
the feeling that you just want me to go away, so I do.” He gazed at her now
with one eyebrow lifted. “Am I right?”

“No.” She turned her head and
looked at the seam of her pants. He turned and put the smart phone away. She
heard the wrapper of a ration bar crinkle. “More clay?” She asked and turned
back around. It was a candy bar. “Where did you get that?” It was her favorite
chocolate, nougat, nut, and caramel concoction.

“I’ve seen you eating these too.”
He took a big bite then offered it to her. Amy snatched it away and took a huge
bite. “Don’t be shy sweetheart.”

“You’re not getting this back.” She
said around the mouthful of frozen candy. She moaned and fell back on the
sleeping bag. “Thank you.” She sighed as her eyes slid closed.

“I have more.” He murmured against
her ear when she’d swallowed and she shivered. “If you want them.” Her eyes
fluttered open and he was so close. Still on her chocolate high, she fisted his
collar, dragged him closer then kissed him. “Mmm you taste sweet.” He smiled
down at her. Her brow knitted.

“Sorry, that was out of line.” She
said suddenly mortified at what she’d done. That was so unlike her. Amy was
usually very introverted but he had chocolate and if nothing else could bring
her out of her shell, chocolate could.

“I’m not complaining.” He said
quietly and lay back on his bag with his hands behind his head.

“I know you have lady friends and I
don’t poach, so sorry.”

“I have a lot of lady friends,
nothing serious. Yet.” He grinned at her. “So no worries. You can kiss me
anytime.” Amy turned away from him and finished his frozen candy bar.

“Let’s go get the core samples now
then we’ll be finished with that. Maybe we can wrap this up in a few days
instead of a week.” Amy looked at him expectantly.

“You need to rest.” He glanced down
at her and she noticed how pretty his eyes were. Of course she thought he was
handsome, she had since the first moment she saw him and her girl parts
clenched. His eyes were really spectacular up close. She’d noticed before that
they were gray with a navy blue ring around the iris, who wouldn’t notice that.
They were unique but the gray in them was not just one shade of gray but many
and around the pupil there were flecks of amber and gold. His eyes reminded her
of the wolves on nature shows. They always stood so proud and looked right into
the camera, never seeming like they were scared.

“I don’t need to rest. I’m fine, in
fact I am quite bored.” She crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t like
the way he watched her. 

“We were out there ten hours
sweet…Amy. It’s time to rest. He reached into his pack and pulled out a book
then handed it to her. There was a gray wolf on the front of it. “Read for
awhile.” Ironic, she thought.

“I have no interest in wolves.” Amy
played coy.

“It’s not about wolves, well mostly
it’s not. Read a chapter, if you don’t like it then you can quit.”

“Fine.” She muttered and rolled
onto her belly. Anything was better than staring at the top of the tent. She
opened the book and was fascinated by the end of the page. She wondered what he
was doing with paranormal romance. She’d read about vampires, fairies, and bear
shifters but never wolves. Krista got her started on them when she spent time
in the hospital. Amy would read while Krista rested, the chemotherapy wore her
out and she was sometimes too weak to hold the book up. She was in complete
remission now but Amy never gave up on the romance novels. As educated as she
was, she knew nothing about romance. She flipped the pages quickly absorbing
the words. Amy was lost in the story and when she finally looked up he was
watching her. “Okay, it’s not so bad.” He nodded and closed his eyes.

Amy was half way through the book
with him sleeping soundly beside her before she was tired enough to call it
quits for the night. She thought about a few mouthfuls of the lemon bar but
decided against it and snuggled deeper into the bag instead. His arms were
instantly around her and he was tucked against her back. She wondered if he was
really asleep and tried to wiggle away but his grip tightened on her. Instead
of fighting him she let his warmth envelop her and closed her eyes.