Wild Men of Alaska 04 - Wild Men of Alaska - Four Book Bundle

IX

    “I still think predators are going to be a problem,” Wren said as she struggled to stay on her feet against the wind’s impressive attempts to knock her off them. Even though she now lived in Anchorage, she was by no means a city girl. This was Alaska. Predators outnumbered people.
    She was cold and hungry and wet and now exhausted after dragging Jim’s dead body across the tundra. And her head pounded like a son of a bitch.
    “That’s why we moved him so far from the plane,” Skip explained as though he was speaking to someone slow on the uptake. He struggled alongside her, having a tougher time against the wind as he was a bigger target and unable to put his arms out for balance. She’d zipped his jacket up with his arm tucked into his body. With the brace, it wouldn’t fit through the sleeve.
    “We should have tossed his body over the bank.” It would have been a hell of a lot faster as the bank was twenty yards from the buried nose of the plane. She had no idea why she was pecking at him about this. It was done. The body was covered and secure and probably a hell of a lot warmer than she was right now. Blasted icy rain.
    “It’s Jim. His family is going to want his body for burial, and the ocean would have taken him. I couldn’t do that to a friend.”
    “You had no problem tossing me in jail, and I was more than a friend. Or so I thought since we were banging each other.”
    He stopped cold and glared at her. Pain bracketed his face. “What the hell is your problem? Are you spoiling for a fight?”
    Hell, yes. Someone needed to pay for how miserable she felt. Skip owed her for a lot of things. Crash landing the airplane and putting her in this situation was just the latest of many.
    Besides, she didn’t want to get into that plane with him, be alone with him all night, just the two of them needing to keep warm.
    Jim had been there before. Dead or not, he’d still been there between them, putting a damper on what could happen. Now that they’d moved Jim clear across the tundra what was going to keep her from doing something stupid?
    She remembered all too well what could happen when she was alone with Skip for any length of time. That’s how she’d lost her virginity at sixteen. Not to mention her heart. She’d still like to have that back. Her heart, not her virginity. She’d been glad to lose that thing.
    The icy rain suddenly turned to shards of icy snow and started to slice at their exposed skin.
    “Can we at least fight inside the damn plane?” Skip spit the words through his chattering teeth. “I’m freezing my balls off out here.”
    Maybe they should stay out here a little longer.
    She doubted he’d be in an amorous mood if he lost his balls. But then again she was assuming a lot. He hadn’t made a move on her. What if the attraction was one-sided? Could it be just her who was still attracted? Maybe he’d moved on. No, she would have heard. The little village of Egegik had a healthy gossip line.
    “Do you even remember where you crashed the plane?” She glanced around trying hard to see through the thick, and getting thicker, onslaught of sleet.
    “Of course, I remember where I crash—” He huffed a frustrated sigh and trudged forward bent into the wind. “I’d forgotten how much of a pain in the ass you could be.”
    Hey, now that’s something she hadn’t thought of. Skip could keep his balls, and they could get out of this storm, all she had to do was be a bitch. Yeah, surprise. She was up for that.
    “And here I’d thought I’d left you with a lasting impression,” she said.
    He stopped again and turned toward her. “You’re pulling out all the stops, aren’t you?” His eyes narrowed, either because of the biting wind or because he was really angry with her remembering that last impression. “I’ll have to show you the scar you left me.”
    Scar? She thought she’d only left him with a scratch. It wasn’t like she’d meant to hurt him. She’d only wanted to get him to release her. Wasn’t her fault he’d underestimated how high she was or the lengths she’d go to be free of him in that state. She hadn’t even known until she’d awoken, hung over but sober, and listened to the list of charges against her at her arraignment.
    The memory silenced her inner bitch.
    What else would happen to him because of her? He already had a broken arm. Granted, she hadn’t done that, but she was nagging him when he obviously hurt. They were both wet and