Under the Northern Lights(51)
Chapter Eighteen
Placing my toe into the tub was like stepping into a vat of lava, but in a good way. It soothed every ache, eased every scrap of residual fear, made life seem glorious again. The feeling amplified in intensity as I lowered the rest of my body into the water. Nirvana.
As I was laying my head back on the rim, getting as comfortable as I could and letting the stresses of the day melt off me, I heard the door slowly creaking open. A slight tremor of fear rippled through me, as the wolf encounter was again at the forefront of my mind, but Michael’s voice quickly broke the stillness.
“Are you . . . decent? Can I come in?”
Considering that my legs were hanging out the other side of the tub and my chest was barely covered by the startlingly clear water, I didn’t feel very decent, but I let him enter all the same. “Yeah . . . come on in.”
My heart started beating harder when he stepped through the door. Even though we weren’t about to go there, I felt like I was celebrating my wedding night or I was about to lose my virginity again; the air was thick with tension.
Michael avoided looking directly at me as he came inside, but his eyes made quick flashes my way every so often. Knowing he was seeing bits and pieces of my bare flesh made my skin feel electric. “I’ll just be . . . cleaning. Don’t mind me.”
The way every inch of me felt alive, I knew that ignoring his presence would be about as possible as ignoring the wolf earlier; he just seemed to fill the cabin. Closing my eyes, I tried anyway. Eliminating my vision amplified my other senses, and I could hear every bump, scrape, and grunt that came from his direction. With the aural play-by-play, it was almost like I could see him, and I smiled as I relaxed into the water. This wasn’t so bad.
But then a few short seconds later, I felt his hand touch my arm. “Mallory?”
Jerking away, I instantly crossed my arms over my chest and looked up to see him right beside the tub, doing his best not to look in the water. “Michael?” I asked, my heart thudding in my ears. Why was he so close to me? While I was naked? Wasn’t that against our . . . guidelines?
“You fell asleep in the water,” he said, his eyes only briefly flicking to my face. “I tried to make as much noise as I could, but you were really out. I didn’t want the water to freeze on you, so I thought I better wake you up.”
“Oh,” I said, stretching muscles that I was surprised to find were tight. “I guess I was more exhausted than I thought.” Peeking around, I saw that the cabin was mostly put back together. The water in the tub was also just below lukewarm. How long had I been out? “I guess I should . . . get out,” I said, tightening my grip around my chest.
Michael flashed me a brief smile, and his cheeks heated in such a way that I began to have a sneaking suspicion that he hadn’t been as cautious with his gazes when I’d been asleep. Just the thought of his eyes on me made that glorious tingle return in force. “I’ll go wait outside,” he murmured.
“Okay,” I whispered, kind of wishing he’d stay.
Once he was gone, I let out a yelp and dunked my head under the water. It was way too cold now for that, but it helped clear my head. I couldn’t want those things with Michael. Or at least I shouldn’t want them. I also shouldn’t want a gigantic hot fudge sundae with a mountain of whipped cream and sprinkles on it, but I did. Some desires just couldn’t be helped.
Not wanting Michael to catch me while I was changing and also starting to get really cold, I hopped out of the tub and quickly got into dry clothes. I was just using the tub to clean a few of my dirty outfits when Michael came back into the cabin with some moose steaks and potatoes. “At least the wolf didn’t break into the meat shed,” he said. “That would have been a disaster.”
Hearing him say that made me cringe. “I hate to sound like a broken record, but I am so, so sorry. I promise that won’t happen again.”
Michael gave me an easy grin as he set the meat down. “I know. I let a couple of squirrels in once. That’s how I learned to triple-check the latch.”
“Lesson learned,” I told him with a smile. Lesson definitely learned.
The next few days were some of the best days of my life. Even though half of Michael’s stuff was ruined, and most of the rest was in poorer shape than it had been before the wolf attack, things in the cabin were . . . wonderful. Michael was warm, funny, thoughtful. He always invited me to go with him on the traplines and always said he missed me when I couldn’t go. Each day that I had with him was opening something incredible inside me, something I wanted to share with him and keep sharing with him. And even though I was pretty sure what his answer would be, I had to ask anyway.
“So . . . ,” I began while he dealt us a round of crib one evening. “My plane was destroyed in the crash, as you know. I won’t be able to afford another one for a while.”
Michael frowned as he set the last card down; it had puncture marks through it. “Yeah . . . I figured that would be something you’d have to save for. I wish I could help you.”
I gave him a bright smile. “You can help me.”
His face instantly grew suspicious, but it was a playful look, almost amused. “I hope you’re not about to ask for my plane. Because I do need to run into town a few times a year, and having to call you every time I need to borrow it would be damn inconvenient. I don’t exactly have a phone, and my smoke signals are hit and miss.” He smiled, and his pale eyes sparkled with joy.