High Impact (25 page)

“Oh, that’s a given.” Emery’s hand curled tighter around hers. “I’ve barely been able to resist since the other night.”

“You know, I considered telling you we should just remain friends.”

Emery’s smile faded. “Why?”

“Because, Emery, even though I know this can only be fleeting, I’m not sure how successfully I can keep from getting emotionally involved. I’m finding you way too damn irresistible. And you make me feel so…well, like
this.
” She could tell from the strength of the pull between them and the look in Emery’s eyes that Emery had to be feeling much of the same euphoria she floated on right now.

“And if you did get emotionally involved…” Emery searched her face. “It would hurt more when I left, if we’d been intimate?”

Pasha nodded.

“But you said you
considered
telling me we should just be friends.”

“Yup. I thought about it.” Pasha glanced down at their enjoined hands, epicenter of the tremors of happiness pouring into them. She envisioned kissing Emery, and more—of what it might be like to feel how the thrill of their mouths upon each other and their naked bodies entangled in passion would enhance this very tangible current. How could she ever have imagined she could resist? “I realized very quickly that I don’t want to pass up this opportunity. I’ll happily embrace whatever I can have with you, as long as it lasts.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Pasha, or have you regret getting involved with me for any reason. But I’m happy that’s your decision. It’d be awfully tough to try to keep my distance.”

“Would it now?”

Emery squeezed her hand. “I didn’t tell you, but I had a talk with Geneva the other night.”

“You did?”

Emery nodded and stared into her eyes. “I told her I couldn’t date her. That I’d become very interested in you, and that’s where I wanted to focus my time and attention while I’m here.”

“I see.” Pasha couldn’t stop grinning.
She wants me, and me alone
. “You know…when we just talked about kissing, you said you were having a hard time resisting.”

Emery chuckled. “That’s an understatement.”

“So…exactly
why
have you been resisting?”

Emery put her hand gently against Pasha’s cheek. “Because there’s a time and a place for everything.” She drew closer, her gaze fixed on Pasha’s mouth. “Mostly, I didn’t want to be interrupted.”

And then Emery kissed her, a soft, sensuous kiss that began tentatively, lips brushing hers in discovery and exploration. Pasha’s heartbeat accelerated as a surge of warmth coursed through her veins, her senses so painfully heightened she could hear the rhythmic whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of blood in her ears.

Emery teased her, tracing the tip of her tongue lightly along Pasha’s lower lip, withdrawing slightly whenever Pasha opened her mouth in an effort to deepen the kiss. Tormenting her to new heights of delicious but maddening anticipation, until finally Emery claimed her with a deep, fierce unleashing of passion that Pasha returned with equal intensity.

Time stood still, and she almost forgot even the spectacular magnitude of their surroundings. Immersed in their kiss, body and mind and soul, the power of their connection, a heady rush, blotted everything else from her consciousness.

Minutes later they separated, both breathing hard, but remained with their faces close together, foreheads touching. In the heat of the moment, she’d ended up with Emery’s arms around her waist and she with her hands laced around Emery’s neck, but she didn’t remember how or when it happened.

“Jesus, Pasha,” Emery managed, which was more than Pasha could accomplish. “I wish I could put into words how you make me feel.”

Desire fogged Pasha’s brain, and her heart took a long while to calm. “At least you can form words,” she finally replied. “Amazing.”

They pulled back to look at each other. “I just feel this incredible sense of serenity,” Emery said, “in addition, of course, to wanting you like crazy mad.”

Pasha nodded. “I know just what you mean.” She glanced at her watch, heartsick to discover they needed to head back, right away. “But we’ve got to go. Skeeter should be getting back soon.”

Emery sighed. “I don’t suppose we can make it happen on the trip, can we?”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Pasha smiled. “We’ve got free time built in, and you’ll have a two-person tent alone.”

Emery got to her feet. “Then let’s get going,” she said, offering her hand. “The sooner we get there, the sooner I can seduce you.”

Pasha put her hand in Emery’s and nearly wept with joy at the strong current that soared between them as Emery’s aura blazed gold.

They held hands all the way back, and just before they reached the final curve before town, Pasha pulled Emery to her and kissed her again, a short but passionate cementing of their intention to follow wherever this took them.

The bliss that had kept Pasha’s head in the clouds dissipated when they reached the runway and she spotted the Cessna in the distance. Her feeling of unease returned, even more powerful now.

For the first time since her accident, Emery felt like her old self. No, even better—conscious of none of the numerous pins, rods, screws, and other artificial implants that cobbled her body together and with so much energy she could scale Mount McKinley, the one Alaskan adventure she’d considered but finally rejected as beyond her capabilities.

Most amazing, though, a serene exhilaration calmed her lifelong restlessness. Even once she’d started seeing the world as she wanted, she’d experienced an underlying expectancy that remained unfulfilled. But right now, she felt absolutely content and happy.

She followed Pasha into the hangar to help carry gear as the green-and-white Cessna taxied down the runway toward them. Toni, Ruth, and Dita already stood there, and to Emery’s surprise, so did Karla, off to one side. She obviously didn’t intend to see them off, because her medical bag and a large first-aid kit lay at her feet and she looked serious.

As they neared, Pasha asked, “What’s going on?”

“I’m hitching a ride,” Karla said. “I have an emergency up in Kaktovik, a little girl with a high fever. Your put-in spot’s right on the way and Skeeter’s got room.”

“Oh, I hope she’s okay.” Pasha glanced over at the others, who had already grabbed armfuls of gear from the pile by the door. “I’m getting a kind of…odd sensation, like something’s wrong,” she told Emery and Karla in a low voice. “Maybe that’s why.”

“If you’re sensing it’s serious, let’s get going.” Karla grabbed her kit and bag. “I’ll come back to help you load the rest.”

“Save me the seat beside you,” Pasha told Emery as they started toward the plane carrying supplies.

“With pleasure,” she replied. Once they’d stacked all the gear by the plane, Emery settled into the left-side seat behind Skeeter’s. Toni and Ruth sat behind her, and Karla climbed into the co-pilot’s seat. While they’d moved the gear, Skeeter had removed a second row of seats farther back to accommodate it.

Emery glanced out the window, anxious to get underway. Skeeter stood sucking on a cigarette as he looked over the plane’s exterior, and Pasha hugged Dita good-bye. Pasha certainly had a round, well-proportioned ass and lean legs. When Pasha turned toward the plane, she caught Emery staring and smiled, but her smile was forced; she seemed worried.

Karla seemed troubled, too. She stared straight ahead out the windshield, her jaw firmly set and her brow furrowed. Toni and Ruth chatted, laughing about something and unaware of the apparent severity of Karla’s medical mission.

Pasha climbed in beside her, and as Dita secured the passenger door, Skeeter took his seat in the cockpit.

“Welcome aboard, ladies. Make sure your seat belt’s securely fastened, please.” He turned in his seat. “You know where the doors are: the two in the rear and these two to the cockpit seats. We won’t be flying high enough to need oxygen, and yes, you can use your seat cushion as a floatation device in the unlikely event we have to ditch in water. In addition to your cargo, I have a survival duffel in the back and a fire extinguisher under my seat. Questions?”

“How far to the drop-off point?” Toni asked.

“Roughly two hundred miles. It’ll take us about ninety minutes.” Skeeter stretched the headset over his black wool cap and started the engine. “The wind’s picked up this morning, by the way, so we might go through some turbulence. I’ll try to steer clear of it.” After completing his preflight checklist, he turned the Cessna toward the runway and radioed the FAA station.

Emery was looking out the forward windshield over Skeeter’s shoulder as they took off, so she jumped when Pasha suddenly grasped her hand, sending a jolt through her.

Pasha’s expression had darkened further. She was obviously finding it difficult to conceal her concern.

Leaning over so the others wouldn’t hear, Emery asked in a low voice, “Everything all right?”

“I don’t know,” Pasha whispered. “I don’t like what I’m feeling.”

“Is it the sick girl or something else?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t want to alarm the others, but I usually don’t get these kinds of feelings of danger or dread unless they affect me personally. And they’re getting stronger by the minute.”

“Do you think you should say something?” Emery whispered.

“What? That my stomach’s in knots and I don’t know why? I can’t jeopardize the trip without good reason.”

Emery glanced forward. They gained elevation as they neared the Brooks Range, and the plane shook as it soared through a level of rough air, but within seconds things smoothed out. She heard the click of shutters behind her. Toni and Ruth busily took pictures through the windows while pointing out objects of interest below to each other. Karla and Skeeter were calculating when she would arrive in Kaktovik.

“And now?” Emery asked Pasha.

Pasha shrugged. She still looked worried and didn’t stop squeezing Emery’s hand, but she stared out her window and said nothing more.

In no time they flew above the snow-cloaked peaks, following a wide green river valley far below. Nothing but spectacular mountains as far as she could see. Another burst of turbulence shook the plane and they dropped several feet. Pasha inhaled sharply and Ruth gasped.

Emery’s pulse quickened. Given the perfectly clear sky, the threat’s invisibility made it even more unnerving. Skeeter gained altitude to put greater separation between the plane and the mountains, but they remained in rough air for several more minutes before finally leveling out.

“Sorry about that,” Skeeter called back. “Everyone doing okay?”

“Beginning to wish I hadn’t had that reindeer stew,” Ruth said. “Really feeling kind of queasy.”

“You’ll find airsick bags in the pocket behind my seat, Emery. Will you pass one back?” Skeeter asked.

She let go of Pasha’s hand to fish one out for Ruth.

“Anything I’d give you now probably won’t help much.” Karla unhooked her seat belt and turned around in her seat. “We’d be getting there about the time it started working.”

“I’ll be okay as long as we don’t go through much more of that,” Ruth replied.

Karla stared out one of the left rear windows with a puzzled expression. “Skeeter, what’s going on behind us?” Emery followed her gaze, as did Toni and Skeeter.

A plume of smoky haze covered a wide swath of the sky behind them, rolling toward them fairly fast. Skeeter cursed under his breath and flipped on the radio. As he spoke, he increased the throttle and the propeller roared louder. “E1329D Cessna to BTT. BTT, come back?” He listened for several seconds, then repeated the call.

As he dialed in a new frequency, Karla asked, “No one there?”

“Jim only subs for me at the FAA station when a flight’s due in. He doesn’t hang out there otherwise like I do. I’ll try listening in on some other frequencies, see if I can locate some chatter.” He went quiet and turned the dial a couple more times before he apparently hit a significant channel.

No one said anything. Emery glanced back at the haze, which seemed to be gaining on them despite their increased speed. As she straightened, the plane began to descend sharply toward the valley far below.

“That’s volcanic ash,” Skeeter told them. He tried to appear confident and collected, but Emery could hear the tension in his voice. “Mount Wrangell erupted just about the time we took off. Everything’s grounded between there and here, and we’ve got to set down as fast as we can.”

She looked at Pasha, who trembled all over, her face pasty white. Emery took her hand. The usual calm serenity she felt when touching Pasha had become a distraught uncertainty. Her own mouth dried.

“Are we in trouble?” Karla asked, undisguised fear in her voice as she refastened her seat belt.

Ruth retched, then vomited into her airsick bag. Emery tried to take shallow breaths as her own stomach recoiled in response to the sudden stench.

“God, sorry, everybody.” Ruth moaned.

They hit the same layer of turbulence that had made her sick in the first place, and Emery gripped the edge of her seat with her free hand as the plane vibrated and bounced. Fearful of what she’d see, she reluctantly looked back again as they neared the tops of the highest mountains.