Vivian Arend - Wolf Tracks

Oh boy.

Pam gathered her wits as best she could and scrambled to her feet. He aimed her in the right direction, and she shook her head as she hit the trail. Okay, he was fine enough looking, but she must have some kind of altitude fever. She watched him out of the corner of her eye until he caught her.

Focus on the trail. There will be plenty of time to flirt later if I don’t trip and break my neck.

Half an hour later he caught up with her, tugging gently on her hand to get her attention.

“You interested in a little aerial sightseeing? My treat.”

“You serious? When?”

TJ grinned and pulled her against him, hiding her from the others as they disappeared around the corner. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “In about an hour. I’ve arranged for a chopper to pick us up back in the meadow where we stopped for our first snack break this morning.”

His warm breath caressed her neck and a shiver raced over her skin. Holy hell, the man made her horny without even trying.

“So is this like a private event or are we taking any of the others along as well?” She tilted her head to indicate the guy who had tried to hit on her earlier.

“Very private. There’s room for you and me and the pilot. So, you have to do a couple things. Number one.” He kissed her neck and slipped his hand into her hair to nestle her a little closer.

“Number one?” Lordy, was that her voice? That throaty, sexy, fuck-me-in-the-meadow voice?

“Hmm, you can’t tell anyone we’re going.” He nibbled on her earlobe and she moaned. Oh yeah.

“I can do that. I’m real good at keeping secrets.”

“I bet you are. The second thing…” He stroked a hand down her back until he cupped her butt and she was ready to crawl up his body.

“Second…thing. Damn it, TJ, you keep touching me and I won’t remember a word you’ve said.”

“All you need to remember is when the chopper lands, crouch low and come to the door quickly. We want to get away without upsetting the other customers too much, okay?”

“Are you going to get in trouble for this?”

He didn’t answer, just tugged her closer and took her lips. Hokie spit, the guy could kiss. His lips alone started reactions that other lovers had to work up to with a full dinner, dance and a couple of bottles of wine. When he finally broke off, she had to gasp for air. He smiled at her, his thumb brushing her cheek gently.

“Some troubles are completely worth the risk.”

He drew apart and held a finger to his lips. She nodded. It would be nice to be able to get away from the group. She’d flown in choppers, but only for work. Excitement made her shiver.

“Where are we going to go?”

“Fly over a bit of the Kluane National Park. You’ll be able to see Mount Logan before we’ll head over the glacier field and past a couple of beautiful lakes.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, TJ. This is very considerate. I’m looking forward to spending a little time alone with you.” His eyes flashed dark and he gazed the length of her body before dragging himself away.

“Remember that. Time alone is a good thing.”

TJ listened intently for the sound of the chopper. It was going to all come down to timing. The pilot was a friend of his, and hopefully Shaun had managed to get everything in place.

Now to make sure Keil didn’t interrupt his plans.

The group had spread out like they usually did by this time during a hike. The more eager people had stayed high to do a little extra exploring. Keil had begun the downward journey with the slower-moving crew to give them extra time to make it to the parking lot and the picnic supper being prepared for them.

Pam took a swallow from her water bottle and licked her lips, and his cock jerked to life again. He’d been pretty much hard since two nights ago when she’d stripped in front of him. The memory of her naked torso before she’d pulled on a sleep shirt—the image was as clear as a picture and it haunted him. His mate was exactly what he desired in a woman. He’d had to leave before he was too tempted to shift out of his wolf and crawl all over her. No, this was far better. Time alone. That was the goal, wasn’t it? He heard the faint sound of Shaun’s chopper in the distance grow nearer.

“Come on, let’s head to the edge of the meadow.”

She took his hand and he had to ignore the electric shock that flew through him. He wondered if his touch had the same effect on her as on him. There was no doubt in his mind they would be fabulous together. Not just sex, although, hello, that was looking to be spectacular as well, but she seemed so understanding and he was looking forward to the next week. Finding out what it meant to have someone to lavish all his attention on. All his love.

He needed to pull off one last maneuver.

The volume and wind movement increased as the helicopter hovered overhead and Pam hid her face against his chest. His arm around her shoulders felt so good and natural he knew there must be a big goofy grin on his face. He protected her until the runners settled and the door swung open.

His friend Jared jumped out, flashed a thumbs-up and sprinted to the edge of the field. TJ guided Pam and popped her into the cabin, climbed after her and shut the door firmly. She searched for seatbelts and he reached to help her, then tapped Shaun on the shoulder. When the clamor of the props increased to painful decibels, he grabbed the headsets hanging on the sidewall. After slipping hers on, he showed her the buttons to press to talk.

“You comfy?” He rearranged the daypacks at their feet, leaning closer under the disguise of adjusting her seatbelt.

“Great. Where are we headed?”

Paradise, he hoped. “Look out the left window, there’s Mount Logan. Almost twenty thousand feet or six thousand metres, it’s the tallest in Canada and second tallest in North America.”

She leaned across his body to see out his side window and her hair fell like a curtain across him. Sweet smelling. A combination of jasmine and her own natural scent. The one that made his eyes cross and his pants grow far too tight.

“Gorgeous. Is that the glacier you mentioned?”

He pointed out the other window, wrapped his arm around her and carried on with the tour. Every trip he’d done over the past years came in handy as he managed to answer most of her questions.

The tour also helped time to pass. Once out of Kluane National Park, they dipped around Sheep Mountain, leaving behind the Alaskan highway to head deeper into the bush. Thick forest spread under them, rising and falling in endless green waves. Shaun gestured in the air and TJ’s excitement rose. They were almost there. He squeezed Pam’s fingers. Somehow her hand had found its way into his and he didn’t want to let go.

“You want to land?” he asked her.

She grinned at him. “You mean it?”

Outside the window was the foot of a pristine mountain lake, a field of wild grasses stretching from the shore toward the tree-covered foothills of the mountain. Shaun maneuvered his way to the north where a sparkling brook raced into the lake. He settled the chopper in a small meadow, and TJ cracked open the door, hopped out and reached to help Pam.

Of course, when she lost her balance and landed on top of him he was torn between cursing his bad luck and longing to stay there forever.

Stick to the plan . “It’s noisy here. Let’s move a bit.”

“Is he going to stop the propellers?”

Highly unlikely, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Yet. She laughed as he rolled, bringing her to her feet and running away from the chopper until they could speak without shouting.

“Do we have long enough I can go touch the lake?”