Nerd Gone Wild (41 page)

“I’m a combination PI and bodyguard.” And didn’t he feel stupid telling her that. She might have been impressed before today.

She leaned her chin on her hand. “Not a geek.”

“Yeah, I’m obviously still a geek, too, in spite of how I’ve tried to outlive that label.”

“So you’re a reformed geek.”

“Right. That’s why I was so perfect for what your grandmother wanted. The geeky side of me could handle the details of the estate. The PI and bodyguard persona could look out for your safety. At least that was the idea.”

She slapped her hand down on the table. “Will you stop? I don’t know how you found out that Vivian was a fake, but you did find out, and then you came to the rescue.”

“I was almost too late.” The scene would figure in his nightmares for many months to come. “And if Ernie hadn’t decided to shoot himself something for dinner—”

“If you hadn’t organized the troops, Ernie wouldn’t have been there. Nobody would have been there. I’d be underneath ten feet of snow, and Vivian would be on her way to South America, or wherever she planned to hide out until Kurt got his mitts on the Jarrett fortune.” She put her hand over his. “I owe you, Mitch. And although I wish you hadn’t lied like a rug, I—”

“About that.” Since she’d started the touching stuff, he decided he was safe to hold her hand in both of his. “I should have told you everything from the very first.”

“No, not from the first.” She looked into his eyes. “I would have thrown a fit. But you should have told me before we had sex.”

“Yes.”

“But then we might not have had sex.”

He sighed. “And that’s why I didn’t tell you. You complain about lack of moral fiber in your one remaining relative. If I’d had any moral fiber, I would have told you why I was in Alaska that night, before the poker game.”

“Do you regret not telling me?”

He gazed at her and remembered the way she’d shuffled those cards, how her breasts had danced with each movement, how wet she’d been when he’d ripped away her panties. He’d promised himself there would be no more lies between them. “No,” he said. “God help me, I don’t regret it.”

She stood and held out her hand. “Then how about once more for old times’ sake?”

S
o their brief affair was about to end. Mitch had said he was leaving the job—essentially leaving Ally. She accepted that, but she knew this had been more than just a job to him, and she wanted to give him a going-away present. Besides, after nearly dying today, she needed some solid evidence that she was still very much alive.

Once they were in her room, she didn’t play games. She was more than ready for hot, glorious sex with a guy who knew his way around that subject. She started stripping off her clothes when she noticed that he was standing there, watching her.

Maybe he was thinking that this would be their last roll in the hay. She’d thought that, too, but she didn’t care to dwell on it, and didn’t want him to, either. No point in getting morose. It might dampen the mood, and she wanted the mood to be sizzling.

“Hey, Carruthers, last one in bed’s a rotten egg.”

“I was just thinking…”

“Uh-huh. Exactly what I was afraid of. No thinking. Action.”

“Ally—”

“We’ll talk about our goodbyes later,” she said gently. “Afterward. Right now I need to live in the moment.”

He nodded and started taking off his clothes. He even managed to find a condom he’d thrown on top of her dresser the night before. Seeing Mitch naked, aroused, and in possession of a condom was enough to make Ally’s day.

“You left that out for Betsy to see when she cleaned the room?” Ally glanced at the foil envelope he tossed onto the pillow before climbing in next to her. Betsy must have loved finding that piece of evidence.

“Your room,” he said, gathering her into his arms with a smile. “Your responsibility. I had enough troubles hiding all my James Bond stuff.”

“Speaking of James Bond stuff.” She cupped his face in both hands. “You put a bug under my bed.”

“Yes, ma’am, but I took it out again before anything interesting happened on that bed.” He stroked her hip.

“Something interesting could have happened before you showed up, mister.”

“Oh, yeah?”

The more she thought about it, the more the concept of him bugging her bed turned her on. “Yeah. What if I’d decided to masturbate that first night? Would you have listened?”

“I had to keep track of your actions, didn’t I?”

“So you would have listened.” She was on fire for him, and yet all he’d done was lazily stroke her hip while they talked about his surveillance equipment. His other piece of equipment, the deep probe attached to his body, pressed against her thigh. He might find the topic of masturbation of interest, too, judging from the condition of that piece of equipment.

“Of course I would have listened.” He slowly dipped his head and teased her nipple with his tongue.

Such a whisper of stimulation, and yet she’d begun to tremble in anticipation of a climax. “And then what?” She arched her back, lifting her breasts higher, inviting more. He continued with soft licks, applying no real pressure. He was driving her nuts. “Would listening have aroused you?”

“Yes.” His breath was hot against her breast.

“What would you have done?”

He licked a circle around her nipple. “Ally, are you getting kinky on me?”

“Who’s kinky? You were planning to listen to me masturbate.”

“Only if you actually did it. There was no reason to think you would.”

“But did it cross your mind?”

“Maybe.” He nipped her lightly.

“It did!” Her breathing grew shallow as she quivered in his arms. “Sex was on your mind, even then, wasn’t it?”

“Guess so.” He took her nipple into his mouth and played with it a while.

“What would you have done if I had? Tell me.”

“Oh, I dunno. Turned up the volume on my recorder?”

She groaned, moving her hips restlessly, wanting him to place his hand, the one stroking her hip, several inches to the left.

“Do you want to know if I would have masturbated, too?” he asked softly.

Thinking of that nearly gave her a climax on the spot. “Uh-huh.”

“The answer is yes.” He lifted his head from her breast and feathered a kiss over her lips. “Yes, I would have masturbated, and wished I could walk through the door between us and replace your hand with mine, like this.” At long last, he touched her.

And she exploded with embarrassing speed, crying out wildly, her hips thrashing as he stroked her with his knowing fingers.

“I love how you come apart so fast.”

She gasped and trembled in his arms. “You… talked me… into coming.”

“You talked yourself into it. You’re the most exciting woman I’ve ever known.” His kiss was deep and thorough, submerging her once again in lush sensuality.

She loved hearing that she was a standout in his experience with women. Maybe he wouldn’t forget her right away. Maybe she’d stay on his mind for weeks or months. She wouldn’t mind being a permanent memory, but that might be too much to ask. Now that she realized who he really was, she could imagine him with plenty of affairs.

But she wouldn’t think about that now. This was her time. As she opened her mouth to receive his tongue, she drew it in, letting him know what she needed more than anything else, even more than another orgasm.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Yeah, me, too.” He picked up the foil packet from the pillow, tore it open and took out the condom. “Last one of the vending-machine variety.”

“Uh-oh. And us with a long Alaskan night ahead of us.” She was prepared to raid Betsy’s medicine cabinet. Betsy knew what was going on, anyway.

He put on the condom. “Notice I didn’t say we were out.”

“We’re not?”

“There’s a little pile on the dresser, right next to where I found this one.”

“Oh.” Heat rushed through her as she imagined using that little pile all through the night. “Compliments of the management?”

“Looks like.” He moved between her thighs.

“Any objection to using that supply?” If he had any, she’d find a way to overrule him.

“No objection.” He angled his hips and thrust deep. “A guy can only stand on principle for so long before he cracks.”

“Glad to hear it.” She cupped his firm butt and looked up into his eyes. They’d turned that warm, liquid brown again. Lust was there, certainly, but she glimpsed something more, something he might not want to admit.

She wouldn’t push him. He wouldn’t want to get tangled up with a woman who planned to make her mark in the wilds of Alaska. She’d settle for this and be grateful for one more night of Mitch’s brand of outstanding sex.

He eased back and thrust forward again. “At least this time I didn’t have to beat you at poker to get you naked.”

“You didn’t beat me.” She lifted her hips and matched his rhythm. “I lost on purpose.”

“Mm.” He picked up the pace, making the bedsprings squeak in a steady tempo. “I’ll bet you shuffled that way on purpose, too.”

“Nope.” The squeaking grew louder as they bounced against the mattress. “That move was unplanned.”

“I like this game the best.” His breathing changed, becoming rough.

She gripped him tighter and gulped in air. Oh, this was going to be very good. “What… game is it?”

“It’s called ‘making Ally come’.”

“Then deal me in.”

And he did. She went off like a rocket, and he followed right after, shuddering and moaning in her arms.

In the end, they used most of the condoms and staged another refrigerator raid so they wouldn’t have to leave the lodge for food. Betsy didn’t come home at all during the night. Ally suspected she’d decided to leave the lodge to the two of them, which was fine with Ally.

Eventually, toward dawn, they slept. As light filtered through the frosty window the next morning, Ally woke up with a start to find Mitch no longer in bed with her. But she heard him moving around in his room.

Pulling the sheet off the bed, she wrapped it around herself and went over to see what he was up to. She found him completely dressed in his nerd clothes. His suitcase was packed.

She’d expected this moment, although she hadn’t thought he’d leave quite so abruptly. Maybe abrupt was better, but it sure was hitting her hard. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Um, yeah. I need to visit my contact in Anchorage, Pete Showalter. I went downstairs a few minutes ago and called Rudy to give me a ride to the Fairbanks airport.”

“I must have been out. I didn’t even hear you get up.”

“You had a rough time yesterday.”

“So… this is it?”

“No, no. I’m planning to stop by tomorrow. Rudy’s going to drive me to the airport and check on Lurleen. He called her and the boyfriend’s gone. If all works out well, he’ll stay overnight and pick me up again tomorrow, so I can come back and tell everybody a proper goodbye. So this isn’t goodbye for us, either.”

“It feels like it.”

His gaze was troubled. “I know. Ally, I can’t figure out how to make this easier on us. Would you rather I didn’t come back tomorrow? I could fly out of Anchorage.”

“No! Please come back again before you leave for good. Please.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. That will give me twenty-four hours to get used to the idea that you’ll be gone,”

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “It won’t be easy for either of us. I suppose last night didn’t help.”

“I suppose it didn’t, but I don’t care. I wouldn’t trade last night for anything.”

“Me, either.” He crossed to her and cradled her in his arms. “You have big things ahead of you, Ally. You have plenty of good people around to help, too. The lawyers and tax people your grandmother hired are excellent. And Porcupine is the right spot to launch your career. You chose well.”

She tried to imagine Porcupine without Mitch. As much as he’d complained about being here, he’d become an integral part of her image of the town. But he didn’t want to stay, and she wouldn’t try to keep him.

“And you’ll go on to bigger and better things in L.A.” She rubbed her hands along the arms of his ugly jacket. “Any more nerd assignments?”