Alaska Heart (17 page)

Dale pulled me out of bed and led me to the bathroom. He reached his hand into the shower and turned on the water while I took my turn leaning against the threshold, enjoying the view.

“Did you design all of these rooms?” They had the polished look of a more feminine eye. Who had picked out all of the little details and where was she now?

“Yes. My sister helped. Something not to your liking?” He folded his arms across his bare chest, and from there my gaze wandered southward.

“No, no.” I held my hands out, eyeing specific parts of his anatomy. “Everything is perfect.”

The dimple in his cheek appeared as he tugged me into the room with him.

“I want to soap every inch of your glorious body.” His breath was hot in my ear.

“Am I that dirty?” I planted light kisses along his neck and shoulder.

Dale laughed and opened the shower door for me as he bowed. “Dirty ladies first.”

I shoved him back a bit, and he raised his eyebrows before slipping his hand from the brace. As he stepped into the shower with me, he winced and rubbed his wrist with his other hand.

“Does that feel any better?” I eased his arm under the hot spray of water raining onto me.

“No. Not really. Pisses me off. I was stupid. Should have just let go of the sled.” He shook his head and flexed his right hand. A pained breath slipped from his throat.

“Give yourself a break, Dale.” I grabbed his other hand and tugged him into the stream of water, closer to me. “You’d crossed the finish line, achieved your goal, won the race. You’re allowed to not be thinking clearly after that.”

He shrugged, but his lips turned up as his eyes combed over me.

“Am I allowed to not be thinking clearly now?”

He slid his left arm around my waist, and our wet bodies met in a haze of steam.

“I haven’t been thinking with any sense or reason since I met you,” I said, enjoying the feel of Dale’s body against mine. I couldn’t get close enough, but I wanted to try. Often.

With his lips on mine, Dale reached behind me for the soap. He stepped away and lathered his hands in slow motion. The suds built on his capable hands. I wanted him to touch me. More than I’d ever wanted anything.

Dale maneuvered to switch spots with me. I raked my fingers through his hair, wetting it in the shower spray. Droplets of water beaded in his lashes and rolled down his cheeks when he blinked. In the dim light of the shower stall, his eyes were the color of fresh pine needles, and they had me completely under his spell. What kind of magic was this?

More importantly, how did I keep it from becoming a curse?

“Is this right?”

Dale came over to inspect Gypsy’s harness. “Yep. Looks like you’re a born musher.” He elbowed me.

“Nah, you’re just a brilliant teacher.” I nudged him back, enjoying how easy it was to be around Dale. He was like an old pair of sweatpants, warm from the dryer and comfortable around the waist.

“Now, attach the tugline to the towline like this.” Dale secured Zynk’s harness as a demonstration. He stepped back and shook his right hand.

“Are you going to be able to drive the sled?” I asked. “I don’t want you to further injure yourself on my account.”

“Who said
I
was driving the sled?” He grinned at the shock on my face.

“You don’t think…I mean, I can’t…I don’t know how…” I dropped the tugline and fumbled around at my feet to pick it up.

“It’s easy. The dogs do most of the work anyway. They’re the real athletes in the sport of mushing.” Dale gave Zynk a scratch between the ears.

“But all the commands and whatever. I don’t know what to do.” Panic streaked through me. I loved ATVing and snowmobiling, but in both of those the driver had complete control. With mushing, the dogs were an uncertain element. They had minds too, which might not be in sync with mine. They definitely were in sync with Dale. But me? I’d only fed them twice. Who was I to them?

Dale must have seen the color drain from my face. He left Zynk’s side and, with one long stride, stood beside me. “I’ll be with you on the runners, silly. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He tapped my chin with his gloved finger.

One woman melted in the snow coming right up.

Dale tugged on the various lines connecting the dogs, and each dog nuzzled him when he passed. Nodding, he walked into the shed.

“Help me with the sled?” he called over his shoulder.

I followed him. First he paused beside a collection of snow pants hanging on pegs along the shed wall.

“These ought to fit you.” Dale selected a black pair and held them out to me. “They’re my sister’s. Everyone in my entire family keeps a set here for when we play in the snow.”

That explained the three sets of children’s snow pants that hung short, the legs not reaching the floor of the shed. They were adorable. I slipped into the pants Dale handed me, which fit perfectly. A snicker from Dale made me glance up.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m wondering if there’s a sick psychological explanation for why I’m attracted to someone with a figure like my sister’s.”

“Your sister must be a lovely woman.” I posed for Dale in the snow pants.

He pulled on my hair, which I had twisted into a long braid. “C’mon, you nut.”

Together we maneuvered the sled out into the kennel yard. Only pockets of snow dotted the area. Dale opened the fence gate and, on a quick whistle, the harnessed dogs followed him out to the woods beyond the yard.

“I shovel the snow from the yard so I can get to the dogs’ shelters and the shed,” he said. “There should be more than enough snow back here for a solid ride.”

Following Dale’s simple hand gesture, a tightened fist held out in front of him, all the dogs stood statue still right where Dale had left them. “Let’s strap the dogs to the sled and we’ll be off.”

In a few moments, Dale attached the final lines. He threw a pack of supplies into the basket of the sled. “Come here.” He motioned for me to step onto the sled’s runners at the back.

Fortunately, excitement outweighed nerves at this point; the adventurous girl in me thirsted for some action. I hopped onto the runners and then positioned my hiking boots where Dale pointed. He stepped on behind me, and I loved being trapped between the sled and his body.

“Oh, boy,” Dale said.

“What?” I looked ahead at the dogs for a problem.

“I would have run the Iditarod in slow motion if I’d been standing behind you like this.” He burrowed his face into my neck and nipped my ear with his teeth. He pressed his lips to my neck. “Ready?”

I nodded, too turned on to speak. Everything Dale did aroused me.

Pulling my scarf up and my hat down, he whispered, “Situate your goggles and yell
hike
when you’re ready.” He pulled up the fur-trimmed hood of his green jacket and moved his own goggles into place. When his hands were back around me and on the handles of the sled, he said, “All set.”

“Hike,” I yelled.

With a minor jolt, the dogs took off, the sled along with them. My insides jumped around as the dogs pulled us over thin spots of snow. Each bump made me tighten my grip on the sled’s handles, but soon it smoothed out as we hit deeper, icier snow. The wind stung my face, the little of it that showed anyway, but my coat kept the rest of me toasty. Or was it the phenomenal musher behind me that kept me warm?

Aside from the soft jingle of the clamps on the lines and the shush of the snow beneath the sled runners, the white world that stretched before us was serene and freeing. Muscles flexed in Zynk’s hind legs as he trotted in front of the sled, and I was amazed at the precision in his technique.

“Up ahead,” Dale said, his face still close to my ear, “we want to turn right. You’re going to give the command
gee
and then lean into the turn. Okay?”

“Got it.” The turn appeared, and I did as Dale had instructed. All the dogs, as if sharing a single brain, moved toward the right in perfect synchronicity at my command. I let out a giddy squeal, and Dale squeezed his elbows together, catching me between them.

“You wouldn’t be having fun, now would you?”

“With you? Never.”

His laugh echoed in my ears, and I could think of no other sound so enjoyable.

We rode for a while and then stopped to drink steaming hot chocolate from a thermos Dale had packed. He checked the paws of all the dogs and deemed them in good condition, so we got back on the runners to continue on our mini-expedition.

Again, the landscape awed me. Pine and birch trees huddled in groups, silently watching over the unspoiled wilderness. Crystal clear blue sky above us met pristine white snow beneath us. I filled my lungs with the crisp air. Would I ever enjoy a walk in New York City after this? Home would be an overcrowded, stifling, asphalt jungle compared to the unfettered nature that roamed free and clear in Alaska. Traveling by car—even a hot sports car, which I usually enjoyed—couldn’t even come close to dogsledding with Dale.

With Dale.

He made everything better. My solitary life in New York closed me off from the possibilities of sharing my life with someone. I couldn’t keep denying myself the love I needed to make my life mean something. Work gave my life purpose, but it didn’t fill all my needs.

I had only just met Dale so I wasn’t going to be ridiculous and say I loved him. Not yet. Not out loud. I did love being with him, however. No sense in keeping that fact from myself.

I’d be an idiot to
not
want Dale. On the other hand, I was an idiot to want him.

“What time do you have to be back at Moose Point?” Dale asked as we mushed over a little hill of snow.

“My interview with the governor is at 4:30.”

“We should probably head back,” Dale said. “It’s already 2:00, and it’ll take a little while to detach and settle the dogs.”

I leaned so my backside pressed against Dale’s front. “I’m having a wonderful time, Dale.”

“Me too.” He kissed my cheek. “I’m glad you like mushing.”

“What would have happened if I’d hated dogs? What if I were strictly a cat person?”

“I would have been able to sniff that out through your early emails, and our correspondence would have come to an abrupt end.”

“No dogs, no you, huh?”

“Nope. We come as a pack. Some women can’t accept that.” His hold around me loosened as he waited for me to say something. When I didn’t, he let out a breath, tightened his arms again, and nuzzled his chin against my shoulder.

“Come haw,” Dale called. At his command the dogs U-turned to the left so we could start on the return trip. He definitely was the pack leader, though Gypsy was a close second. The other dogs matched her pace and responded to the changes in direction she made. They functioned as a unified team. If only humans worked so cooperatively.

“When did you go on your first sled ride?” I asked. I wished my first hadn’t been when I was twenty-eight. Something else I’d waited too long for.

“I was ten and my sister asked for a sled ride for her birthday instead of having a party. My parents conceded, figuring it’d be easier than planning a party for a thirteen year old. We went to Denali, arranged for a sled ride, and I fell in love with it. My father will tell you he got me started on my—what’s he call it? Oh, yeah. Path to Victory.”

I thought of Ram taking credit for Dale’s interest in mushing. “Your father’s a hoot.”

“He’s insane.”

“That’s what I like about him.”

“I think he likes everything about you,” Dale said. “Before you came over last night, he called me and asked if that ‘New York Goddess’ was coming over.”

“Goddess!” I doubled over in laughter. When I bent forward, my bottom lined up perfectly against Dale.

“Oh, man…” he groaned. “Even with layers of snow pants between us, you have the ability to tantalize my sensitive areas.”

“I let nothing stand in my way,” I said around a giggle.

“That’s what I like about you. You’re determined.”

“No obstacle too big.”

“Whoa,” Dale yelled, making all the dogs stop along with the sled.

“Umph—” Breath escaped from my lungs as my stomach careened into the sled handles and the weight of Dale crashed into me. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Dale tugged on my shoulder to turn me around. “All this talk of you being unstoppable is turning me on.” He pulled up his goggles and did the same to mine. “Perfect.” His lips crushed down onto mine.

Though his nose was cold against my cheek, his mouth was blazing hot. He gave, and I took. My lips parted, accepting what he offered. Each taste of him brought me deeper under his intoxicating spell. Wrapping his arms around my bulky coat, Dale pulled me closer to him, and, once again, I had the unquenchable urge to strip. It didn’t matter we stood in the middle of an open snowy field with a frosty wind sifting around us. He had raised my core temperature with the heat of his desire. He was a flame to my wick, and every time he touched me, tasted me, I burned a little brighter.

When he pulled away, his eyelids drooped at half-mast. “Is it possible to overload one’s senses?” he asked, feigning exhaustion.

“I was going to ask you the same question.” I raised his chin so his eyes met mine. “I probably don’t want the answer to this, but where did you learn to kiss like that?”

Dale grinned—the sexiest one yet—and straightened to his full height. I had to raise my head to maintain the eye contact. That alone had my insides fluttering.

“You don’t learn skills like that, Alanna.” Dale exhaled a heavy breath and stepped off the runners. “You’re born with them.”

Laughter bubbled out of me, and Dale joined in after he did his best manly pose. One foot on the sled basket, his elbow resting on his bent knee.

“Many thanks to your Creator. She did a lovely job on you.”

He walked over to the back of the sled. “She got a lot right on you too.” He planted another kiss on the tip of my nose and then repositioned his goggles. “C’mon, or we’ll never make it back.”

“I’m not exactly opposed to being stuck out here with you.” I stepped back onto the runners, and Dale got on behind me.