The meteorologist, Missy’s working partner in the project, detained them. Tad had flown the man for hours the day before and discovered Dan was anal when it came to details. Today he not only fussed with last-minute changes, he wasn’t feeling well, disappearing every ten minutes on a bathroom run.
“Missy, can we get started and at least put the first of the relays into place?” Tad suggested, chomping at the bit to get moving. “Then we can contact Dan and let him do his thing with the base unit at camp. It’s going to require at least twenty minutes to get to the first drop spot before you can even turn anything on to start linking the receivers.”
It was the first time he’d seen Missy since he and Keil spoke on Saturday. She looked breathtaking as usual, but he imagined there was a little something extra in her smile when she responded to him. Heat flared between them, and he forced himself to turn away before he did something too wolfish—like pounce on her in public.
By the time they were in the air wearing headsets so they could communicate, he thought he’d worked out what he wanted to say. It needed to be something tender and sweet, yet let her know he was interested in her not only for FirstMate reasons but because he really liked her as a person. It wasn’t just about sex, even though she was hot enough to cause spring thaw to set in early—
“Tad?” Missy’s smooth voice came through the speakers fuzzy with static. His cock still stood up and paid attention.
“Yes?”
“When we’re done today would you like me to come back to your apartment or do you want to get a hotel room? Because all my stuff is at the camp and I don’t think we should have sex there.”
It took a couple of seconds for Tad to level the plane. Blunt-speaking wolves. Got him every time.
“I brought along a change of clothes in my duffle bag so we can go straight to wherever you want.”
“Missy!” Tad adjusted his pants to regain a little blood flow.
She snickered and he turned a sheepish smile in her direction. Her eyes sparkled with desire as she held out her hand and he clasped it, his thumb rubbing across her knuckles in a gentle caress.
So soft. So right.
A faint hint of her scent surprised him, either perfume or her natural fragrance, as it filled his nostrils and sent his body into overdrive. Tad scrambled through some quick calculations while there was still blood in his brain. Twelve relays to set up at fifteen minutes each. Adding flight time, landing and storage for the plane, driving and sprinting up the stairs, they could be at his place by two p.m. at the latest.
All ready for some Afternoon Delight.
“I did change the frequency over, Dan.” Missy held her head in one hand while she spoke into the radio. “If you’re not receiving the feedback you missed something at your end.”
Tad paced behind her in the snow, his collar turned up against the icy wind. It was after three and there was often a breeze on the glacier by this time of day. Another reason he’d hoped to be safe at home before now.
“I know it’s not a problem on my end… No, I won’t turn it off and recalibrate because that would require another twenty minutes and it wouldn’t fix the problem… Dan?” Missy dropped the phone. “He’s throwing up again. I don’t believe this!”
Over the day Dan had turned a simple exercise into a new form of hell. Of course, Tad was a trifle biased since he had hoped to be strolling through paradise right about now. The other man fumbled and upset every weather relay Missy tried to arrange. Between running a fever and running to the bathroom, he had helped link together only seven of the twenty needed relays.
It would be dark in a short time and Tad dreaded the idea of spending the night on the glacier in his plane. “Missy, we’ve got to stop. Tell whomever you can reach we’re coming in. Dan’s too sick to finish and we’re heading into the danger zone.”
Missy nodded and relayed the message to base camp. Their response made her eyes grow wide with concern. As she tucked away the phone and gathered her things, passing Tad the extra packages to store back in the cargo hold, she shared the news. “We can’t do any more today anyway. They’ve returned Dan to his tent. He’s unconscious.”
Back on board Tad examined the flight line. The wind direction had changed enough that the new direction for takeoff wasn’t going to be pleasant. “Umm, you might like to close your eyes. The plane will be a little tight to the trees before we get airborne.”
Missy nodded and put on her headset. “I trust you.”
Tad swallowed. Holy crap, now his chest was as tight as his throat. The way Missy put herself into his hands so quickly and faithfully was humbling.
He made it off the glacier with inches to spare. The relentless wind swept ice particles over the body of his plane like harsh sandpaper. Both hands fought to control the little craft and all was going well until a series of bright orange warning lights flashed on the instrument panel. The foul weather was screwing with the wing flaps.
Oh. Shit.
Even worse was the red engine light that blazed a second later.
The sun was sinking, frightening yet beautiful, through the haze of the blowing snow. Tad knew where he was. He’d double and triple checked his maps while he’d waited for Missy to finish each relay.
They weren’t going to make it back to Haines Junction in this weather with the plane in trouble. They might be able to make it to Keil’s mountain retreat—with a little luck. He glanced at Missy, who watched him with confidence.
Hell, forget the luck. For her, he’d pull off a miracle.
Tad guided Missy through the deep snow toward the cabin as the wind howled around them.
“Will we have to break in?” She had to shout to be heard.
“Nope. I know the secret code. I’ve flown Keil and his clients here many times, and they shared their tricks.” He pulled them past the front door to the large side window where a combination lock hung on the hasp. “Four-letter combo. TJ set it, I bet.” He dialed in H-E-L-P and pulled.
Nothing.
Tad tried O-P-E-N, then S-A-V-E. He cursed into the wind.
“What should it be set for?” Missy asked, tucked in tight against his side. She tried to contain her shivers. The temperature was dropping fast and her teeth chattered. As glad as she was that Tad had landed them safely, it was far colder than she was used to. She was tempted to shift to her wolf and curl up in a ball to get warm.
“Keil uses the three-tumbler lock and sets it to SOS or nine-one-one for emergencies. TJ likes to use the four-tumbler lock and he tends to get fancy. What would you say if you needed to get in the cabin and had no key?”
“I’d probably swear.” She stuck her hands farther into her armpits and hopped on the spot.
Tad gave her cheek a quick you’re-a-genius kiss and warmth shot through her. He had the lock off in a moment, the window open, and he lifted her in. Tad crawled through behind her and pulled the window shut. The relative silence echoed in her ears.
“What was the word?”
Tad directed her toward the airtight stove. “S-H-I-T. That boy needs to grow up.” He grabbed a blanket out of a sealed Rubbermaid tote and wrapped it around her shoulders. He stared at her for a second, his cold fingers soft against her cheek before he covered her more thoroughly. “Sit here and I’ll get the fire started. We’ll have everything we need in a minute. Keil is nothing if not prepared.”
Missy watched, huddled under the blanket, as Tad lit the stove and hustled around the kitchen area pulling things from inside sealed boxes. Tea, sugar, canned spaghetti sauce and dry pasta all appeared on the sideboard. By the time the stove radiated heat into the main space of the cabin, there was melted snow for boiling the pasta and the rich aroma of tomato sauce filled the air.
Such smooth movements for an untriggered wolf. There was a kind of innate grace in most shifters, a carryover from their wolf form. Tad had yet to turn into his wolf, but Missy could imagine him. She bet he would be pale silver, as light as she was, even though his human form was dark in skin and hair. He was going to be beautiful. Just like his human.