Breaking the Ice (25 page)

*

The cabin was still dark and quiet when Karla roused, though she sensed it wasn’t too early because she felt well rested. Her feet throbbed dully, but mostly her bladder was extremely full. As much as she hated to disturb Bryson, she didn’t have an alternative. “Bryson? Hey, you awake? Bryson?”

“Yeah,” came the sleepy reply from the loft. “Yeah, I’m here. You okay?”

“Sorry to get you up, but I need your help. I have to pee like there’s no tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure. Be right down.”

Bryson’s feet hit the floorboards of the loft, followed by a muffled groan. Karla craned her neck and saw a soft light flickering from above. Bryson appeared with the kerosene lamp and slowly descended the ladder.

“I bet you’re sore as hell, aren’t you?” she asked as Bryson came over to her with the light.

“I’ll live.” She smiled down at her. “Can you wait long enough for me to turn on some lights and throw a couple of logs on the fire?”

“If you’re Speedy Gonzalez about it, yes.”

Bryson hurried outside to crank on the generator, then bustled about turning on lights and stoking up the woodstove. She was wearing a pair of old navy sweatpants and a thick fleece turtleneck the same color, and her dark hair was so full of static from the dry crisp air it was sticking up in all directions.

“Do you have another pair of sweats I could borrow?” Karla asked. “I didn’t pack any, and they’d be a lot easier to get on and off than my jeans.”

“Sure.” Bryson headed back up the ladder and returned with a thick pair of emerald-green sweatpants. While Karla pulled them gingerly over her swollen feet, Bryson put water on to boil.

“Ready.” She turned to dangle her feet over the side of the bed. The sweatpants were a pretty good fit at the waist, but the excess length pooled around her ankles and over the bandages.

Bryson came over and smiled at the fit before picking her up. Karla put her arms around Bryson’s neck, and as she did, Bryson stiffened.

“You all right? Your back okay to do this?” She tried to see if Bryson was in pain, but she averted her gaze.

“No, I’m fine.” Bryson strode off in the direction of the screen, carrying her as though nothing was wrong. But her voice was strained and she responded almost too quickly. Something was going on. She set Karla down on the honeypot and withdrew. The pottery mugs clinked as she set about making coffee.

“Ready for a ride back,” she called, and Bryson materialized almost at once.

“What would you like for breakfast?” Bryson asked as she set her back on the futon bed. “I’ve got cereal, pancakes, or eggs with some reindeer sausage and toast.”

“A full-service establishment, I see.” Bryson smiled. “Cereal is fine, don’t go to any bother. And I’m good to wait a while until my stomach wakes up, but coffee sounds heavenly.”

“Coming right up.” Bryson poured two mugs and handed one to Karla, then took hers to the futon chair beside the bed so they could chat.

“Tell me the truth,” Karla insisted.

Bryson nearly choked on her coffee, and a look of surprised panic crossed her features. “Say what?” she asked, wiping at her chin.

“Tell me the truth. You’re so sore you can barely move, though you’re doing your best to hide it. Am I right?”

The corners of Bryson’s mouth twitched upward in a smile. “Maybe a little.” The look of relief that crossed her face was unmistakable, and Karla wondered what Bryson wasn’t saying. What did she think she was referring to?

“Looks like we both need to just relax and heal. You know, you can stretch out here with me. You’d be more comfortable, I’m sure.” She patted the pillow beside her invitingly. Maybe she couldn’t snuggle up to Bryson the way she wanted to, but having the object of her fascination within reach would sure distract her. “We can read, play a game, whatever you like.” Bryson’s expression was unreadable, but the fierce reddening of her face and cheeks was obvious. She’d struck a nerve. Her heart began to beat wildly. Was Bryson thinking, hoping for, the same thing she was? Maybe she wasn’t misreading her interest at all.

“I’m okay,” Bryson finally replied, and got to her feet to fetch them more coffee. “But thanks. You just stretch out and be comfy. Can I get you something to read? What type of book do you like?”

What a perfect opening, she thought. “As a matter of fact, I had a good look at your library the last time I was here and noticed we like a lot of the same authors.”

“Oh?” Bryson set down their mugs and walked over to her bookshelves.

“That’s what I was referring to that day when I said we had a lot in common.”

“I remember. Lars came in just then. I kept meaning to ask you about that. Yeah, I’m a pretty voracious reader. So, what’ll it be? Mystery? Sci-fi?”

Karla couldn’t keep from smiling, but she was nervous, too, about how Bryson would react. “Anything on one of those eight shelves to your far right is fine. Though I’ve already read most of Radclyffe’s books, and Ann Bannon’s.”

Bryson froze. The quick succession of emotions that crossed her face in that unguarded moment was almost comical. Surprise and disbelief, then pleased realization hit home. “Oh?” It came out as a squeak, confirming Karla’s suspicions.

“That surprise you?”

“Uh, yeah, have to admit it does. I had no idea.” Bryson started to jam her hands in her pockets and seemed chagrined to discover her sweatpants didn’t have any. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest in a transparent effort to appear unaffected.

Karla laughed. This awkward and shy Bryson, with her wayward hair and disheveled sweats, was adorable. “I kind of gathered that, from your reaction.”

“Reaction?” Bryson repeated, as a new flush of scarlet rose to her cheeks.

“Come over here, will you?”

Bryson looked uncertain, as though she’d just been asked to walk through a room full of snakes. But she shook off her inertia and slowly crossed to stand beside the futon bed, biting her lip.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What do you want to know?” Her voice was soft and husky, like she knew exactly what was coming next.

“Are you…
interested
in me? And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m asking.”

Bryson stared deeply into her eyes for a long moment before she answered, as though wanting to know if Karla would welcome a
yes.

“And if I am?”

Excitement fluttered low in Karla’s abdomen. “If you are, then I suspect we’ll get a lot closer in the next few days.”

Bryson’s face lit up with a huge smile and she visibly relaxed. She stepped closer and placed her hand against Karla’s cheek, then slowly bent to kiss her. It wasn’t a
real
kiss, not the long, lingering heat she’d been imagining their first kiss might be. Bryson’s lips touched hers firmly but briefly, a kiss that said
oh, yeah,
I’m most definitely interested.
A tease of things to come.

Then she withdrew a step, but her face lost none of the joy and longing that had flared when Karla confirmed their mutual attraction. “I better break out the ibuprofen and a good hot breakfast, then,” Bryson said playfully. “And hope for some fast healing. Because neither of us is in any shape right now to…” She let her gaze travel the length of Karla’s body, outlined beneath the comforter, with open admiration. “Let’s just say I don’t want to be too hampered by frostbitten feet, aching backs, and growling stomachs.”

They grinned at each other for several more seconds before Bryson retreated to the kitchen to cook breakfast, humming to herself.

The prospect of living out some of her recent daydreams about Bryson was thrilling, but daunting. It had been more than four years since she’d slept with anyone besides Abby, and until this moment being intimate with Bryson had been abstract. A twitch of doubt threatened to deflate her euphoria. Bryson had apparently been with a lot of women. She didn’t want to disappoint her.

But as quickly as the thoughts arose, she pushed them aside. Seize the moment and enjoy it while you can, she told herself. No more looking into the future, and no more living in the past.

Bryson wanted to give Karla the most romantic day of her life, one she would look back on often with longing and joy. When she was seeing a woman, she usually took flowers on a first date and planned a nice evening. And she especially wanted to favorably impress Karla.

Amazing how a few words made her walk on air. Her body hadn’t ached this badly since she’d wrenched it building her cabin. It hurt just to straighten completely. But she felt absolutely
fabulous,
knowing Karla was as interested as she was in
them.

She’d gone a little overboard with breakfast, using her most precious stores with abandon and cooking enough for three or four people. Fresh scrambled eggs accompanied reindeer sausage, homemade sourdough toast, and blueberry preserves. An elderly client who flew often from her Fairbanks retirement center to Bettles to visit her grandchildren had given her the bread and jam.

“Not ideal conditions for a first date,” Bryson said as she carried the plates to the futon. “I’d like to take you to a nice restaurant, maybe go dancing.”

Karla smiled and patted the space next to her on the bed. “Aside from our disabilities, I can’t imagine a more perfect way to spend some time with you. No distractions. No interruptions. Beautiful setting.”

Bryson sat beside her on the bed, her back cushioned with pillows. “I’m so glad you’re here. How are the feet?”

“Ibuprofen and giddy delight make for a potent pain-killing combination.”

“Giddy delight?” The description warmed her from within, because it was exactly the way she felt, too.

“I’ve had so much on my mind it took me a while to realize what was going on,” Karla said. “How attracted I am to you, and how much I want to get to know you better.”

“I have to admit I didn’t get the best first impression of you, not that I was so charming myself,” Bryson admitted with a smile, and they both laughed at the memory. “But once I got to know you, that changed pretty fast. And boy, especially these last few days since our walk up the mountain, I’ve been thinking about you a
lot.
But I don’t think I’d have ever volunteered that info.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t suspect you’re gay. And you were dealing with so much else in your life.” She didn’t mention the other reason. Karla was a woman she could fall head-over-heels for and have a hard time forgetting. But as much as she feared a broken heart, she dreaded more that they might never know where their feelings might take them.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about you since our hike, too. Bryson, you’ve been more help to me with everything than I could ever begin to tell you. Getting away and meeting you and Maggie have been exactly what I needed to sort things out.” Karla finished her toast and set her plate aside with a contented sigh. “Great breakfast. You know, I could get used to being spoiled like this.”

“You deserve to be, especially after all you’ve done for Maggie and Lars.” Bryson carried their plates to the kitchen and returned with a carafe of coffee.

Karla frowned. “I hope I’m ambulatory before Maggie’s released. She’ll need a few weeks to heal completely from the C-section.”

“Well, if you’re still not fully recovered by the time she brings the baby home, I’ll just have to move in, too, and take care of both of you, since Lars is worthless in the kitchen.”

“Hmm. That offer is almost enough to make me
not
want to get back on my feet.” Karla lay gingerly down on her side facing Bryson, propped up on one elbow.

Bryson moved just as slowly in mirroring her actions. As she shifted her weight, a muscle spasm in her back made her wince.

“Quite a pair, the two of us.” Karla laughed. “Gimpy and Gimpier.”

She laughed, too. “I know, right? Right now I’m completely incapable of doing just about everything I’ve imagined doing with you. The spirit is sooo willing, as they say, but the flesh has definitely seen better days.”

“Oh?” Karla’s tone turned flirty. “I want to hear all about these things you’ve imagined. Let me know what I’m in for.”

“Much rather play that by ear.” She trailed her fingers over Karla’s shoulder and down her arm. “Although I can tell you that stripping off your clothes—very slowly—and exploring every inch of your body is definitely at the top of my list.”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that.”

“And you’ll notice I said
just
about everything is impossible.” She inched closer until their bodies were nearly touching, slipped her fingertips into Karla’s palm, and Karla’s fingers closed around them. “If I don’t kiss you right now,” Bryson said, “I won’t be able to think straight.”

“Thinking is the last thing I want you to do.” Karla moistened her lips in invitation.

They met halfway in a soft brush of lips, a glancing, tentative joining. Then again, they pressed their mouths against each other just as sweetly. Karla was as patient as Bryson, and apparently equally determined to make every moment of this kiss last.

The tip of Karla’s tongue emerged to stroke Bryson’s lower lip, then she playfully nipped the same spot. The slow seduction was stoking a fire of arousal within her, and each pass of Karla’s tongue fanned the flames higher.