Christmas on the Last Frontier (Last Frontier Lodge #1) (16 page)

His eyes darkened a shade, that smoky gaze sending desire sliding through her veins. He reached for her hands, the warmth from his bringing a sigh to her lips.

“You’re freezing,” he said.

“I forgot my gloves when I started walking over here.”

His mouth kicked up in a grin. “You coulda called me. I’d have come to get you.”

“I didn’t really think about it. I just started walking…and ended up here.” When she spoke, she recalled her restlessness and the reason behind it.

Gage’s eyes coasted over her face. “Everything okay?”

She shrugged. “I, uh…”

She paused when something clattered in the kitchen. Gage glanced over his shoulder and back to her. “Come on. Let’s get you where it’s warmer. Delia will insist you have something hot to drink. Then you’re telling me what’s on your mind.”

Marley met his eyes in the dim light in the hallway. He knew her better than she’d like to think. She nodded and let him lead her into the kitchen. Delia had transformed it from the sterile, quiet space it had been into a bustling, lively kitchen. While there were a few weeks left between now and Christmas, Delia had hired a crew and was doing practice runs for the locals on invitation only nights. When Marley had heard this, she’d been impressed. Delia had explained she needed some way to make sure the kitchen staff had enough practice with the menu and were ready for busy nights. Marley’s mother had already attended the first two and could hardly shut up about it.

Delia turned their way when they walked into the kitchen. “Hey Marley! Gage said he thought he saw you walking over. How’s it going?” Delia carefully measured flour and added it to a mixing bowl. “We’re working on the baked goods for the menu,” Delia explained as she gestured for a young woman nearby to pass her some spices. Delia added a few spices to whatever she was working on and wiped her hands on her apron. “Let me get you something. We have tea, hot cider and cocoa. Take your pick.”

After Delia poured Marley a large steaming mug of fresh hot cider, she shooed them out of the kitchen. Gage led the way down an unfamiliar hallway and up a flight of stairs. Marley quickly realized they were entering a living space separated from the rest of the hotel and discovered his grandparents had created a charming private apartment that occupied the upper floor over the kitchen and restaurant. The living area had an open living room and kitchen, which overlooked the ski slopes to one side and offered a view of Kachemak Bay in the corner. Moonlight haloed through the clouds, leaving a smudged streak of light on the bay. The slopes were barely visible in the falling darkness.

Gage gave her a quick tour. Beyond the common area, there was a short hallway with two small bedrooms, a bathroom, and a large master suite with its own private bath. It didn’t appear as if Gage had personalized the space. When he caught her glancing around, he shrugged sheepishly. “I’ve been so busy working on the lodge, I haven’t taken any time to decorate in here. My grandmother must have cleared out all of her personal furniture because it was empty when I got here. What you see is stuff I hauled up here from some of the rooms. My sisters say they’ll be up here over the holidays to help out.”

Marley bit back her grin. “Well, you did say decorating wasn’t your thing. Maybe I can help with that too.”

He nodded with alacrity. “You can do whatever you want. I’d like to make it nicer. I keep thinking I should invite you over here, but as you can see, your place is a little homier.”

Marley giggled, soft warmth suffusing her at the idea of Gage thinking about having her over and worrying what she might think. Anxiety rose behind that feeling because she still didn’t quite know where things were headed with him. It was hard to reconcile the eagerness of her heart and body with her mind’s frequent reminders to take things slow and not overthink what was happening. She took a breath and followed him back down the short hallway to the living room. The couch looked as if it had come from the reception area. She sat down, tucking her feet under her and curling her hands around the warm mug of cider. When she took a sip, she realized she’d need to take it slow. Delia didn’t mess around with her cider and it had quite a kick. Gage had helped himself as well and quickly took a swallow before turning to her, his eyes instantly serious.

“Okay, what made you walk through the woods when it was almost dark?” Gage asked bluntly.

Marley started to shrug when Gage arched a brow and shook his head. She bit her lip and looked away. She didn’t want to feel the way she had since the robbery—anxious, hyper-vigilant, and humming with a thread of unease. She didn’t want to seem helpless and needy with Gage. But dammit, he was too perceptive. She sighed and met his eyes, figuring it would be pointless to avoid telling him about the call because she’d eventually tell him. “A guy from my old job called a little bit ago…”

Gage interjected. “What did he want?” he asked quickly, his eyes sharpening.

“I was getting to that. He said he was giving me a heads up that I needed to get back to HR about the emails. He made it seem like he was trying to do me a favor. I don’t know what he has to do with any of it, or why he’d call. We weren’t really friends. He dated a woman from work who lived in my apartment building. I don’t know what to think.”

As soon as she explained, she felt silly. It was just a phone call.

“What’s his name?”

“Kent Walker.”

Gage’s hand tightened on the armrest. His expression was carefully controlled. “Right. Well, I planned to ask you if you knew him.”

“What?!” The back of her neck prickled. Her unease grew by leaps and bounds. If Gage planned to ask her if she knew Kent, that could only mean he somehow knew who Kent was and had reason to wonder about her connection to him. Which frightened her. “How do you know who Kent is?”

Gage cleared his throat. “My friend in security traced those emails back to him. Aidan followed up with the police working on the investigation for your robbery, and they got a warrant for him to keep monitoring Kent’s emails. He asked me this morning to find out how you knew Kent. We know he worked at the same company as you did. Aidan doesn’t have much more to offer, other than that Kent handles accounting for several businesses.” Gage paused and swore under his breath.

Anxiety knotted in her chest. She didn’t understand why Kent would send those emails and what he wanted. “I don’t understand. I don’t know what he’s doing. I…”

Gage held her gaze, his expression hard to read. “We need to know the extent of your contacts with him. It may not be obvious at first, but break it down for me. How long did you know him, how often did you see him, that kind of thing.”

Marley swallowed through the tight feeling in her chest and throat. “That’s the thing. I didn’t really know him well. Just like you said, he handled accounts. I worked in development. He dated Becky, a woman from work who lived in my apartment building. I’d sometimes see them in the halls or on the elevator. I didn’t even know he had my number.”

Gage nodded slowly. “How close were you and Becky?”

Marley shrugged. “We were friendly, but not too close. I worked almost all the time. One time when she went on vacation, she asked me to check on her cats since we lived in the same building. After that, she’d water my plants whenever I was gone, which wasn’t often really. That’s it.”

“Did she have a key to your apartment?”

“I gave her a spare whenever I went out of town, but she always returned it. I thought about calling her, but now I’m not sure. Kent’s call seemed weird. I got freaked out, and then I thought it was silly. But if he’s the one who sent me those emails…” She paused and took a breath. She thought she’d closed the door on the robbery when she moved home. She wasn’t silly enough to think she would simply forget what happened. But she thought that by finally going home to Diamond Creek, she’d be able to get a grip on the fears that dominated her life in the days and weeks after the robbery, and perhaps she’d manage to sleep through the night again. Those stupid emails sent a prickle of unease through her. She hadn’t wanted to connect them to the robbery, but something felt strange. Kent’s call and learning he’d been the one to send the emails stirred the anxiety she’d kept at bay for the last few months.

She’d finally slept all the way through the night a few times when Gage was with her, and now her anxiety had notched up again with her stomach knotted and tension coiled throughout her body. She took a slow breath, focusing on the heat from her mug of hot cider. She felt Gage’s palm slide slowly across her shoulder to rest on the back of her neck. He squeezed gently, subtly easing the cords of tension in her shoulders and neck.

“I don’t know what to do. This makes me tired,” she whispered. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She took a swallow of cider, savoring the burn from the alcohol that came with it.

“No one is going to hurt you again. That much, I can promise you. I won’t tell you not to worry because that would be a waste of breath. Aidan’s working with the police down there, and we’ll get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, you’re either staying with me every night, or I’m staying at your place. If you don’t mind, that is.” Gage’s words were soft and gravelly. His hand kept subtly massaging her neck.

Part of Marley wanted to wrap herself in the comfort her offered, but she needed to be able to handle this herself. She wanted to right the ship of her life herself, but she was weary and Gage’s strength tugged at her, made her want to let go. She took another gulp of cider and glanced up at him. His eyes locked to hers. She lost herself in the stormy, smoky gray of his eyes and forgot the internal push and pull of her own mind. His hand moved away from her neck when he carefully brushed a loose curl out of her eyes, tucking the wayward lock of hair behind her ear. His touch sent shivers through her. It occurred to her that she hadn’t replied to him yet. “I don’t mind,” she said softly.

He looked puzzled.

“Staying with you every night,” she added.

The corner of his mouth kicked up. His eyes darkened, skating over her face. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. Do you mind if I call Aidan right now? I’d rather let him know sooner rather than later about Kent’s call.”

Marley shook her head. Gage shifted his hips and pulled his phone out of his pocket. His free hand idly stroked through her hair as he waited for Aidan to answer. She barely focused on what he said to Aidan, her body on high alert. Gage’s soft touch was like sparks on the tinder of her desire. After a few more minutes, Gage set his phone down.

“Aidan’s going to follow up with the police tomorrow.” He paused and turned to her. “It’s killing me not to be down there handling this.”

Marley shook her head sharply. “No! Don’t do that.” Her words tumbled out rapidly. She tried to make sense of her responses. She wanted this all to go away, wanted to handle it herself, but she couldn’t seem to resist Gage’s protectiveness. It was a muddle and trying to sort through it only tired her. The mere thought of Seattle sent a wave of fear crashing through her. She couldn’t stand to think of Gage not being here. With her. A single night without him had been too much.
You’re in too deep. You don’t even know what he wants from this.
She ignored the voice of reason in her mind. All she knew was she felt safe when Gage was with her…and so much more.

“I’m not going anywhere. Even though I’d prefer to be more hands on, I trust Aidan completely. He’ll keep us in the loop every step of the way. It just makes me sick this guy is messing with you. I’d love to go down there and make him regret it,” Gage nearly growled.

His words washed through her. The part of her that wasn’t fighting against the tide of feeling savored the warmth and security she felt with him. She tried to summon reason, but she didn’t have it in her just now. She looked up, her eyes colliding with his intense gaze. She couldn’t form words as sensation whipped through her. She felt the pull of his gaze from the inside out. Her core drew tight with need. He reached for the mug of cider in her hands and deliberately removed it, carefully setting it on the table beside the couch, his eyes never leaving hers. He said her name, his voice rough and raw. Her pulse raced. The moment held still between them, the delicious ache of want building to a fervor in the quiet. The low charge between them hummed and arced higher. In a swift movement, Gage’s lips crashed against hers, and she dove headlong into the tornado of sensation swirling around and within them.

The fear and anxiety that had run on high idle since the phone call earlier spiraled into a frenzy of heated desire. Marley couldn’t get close enough fast enough. Gage’s kiss consumed her—wet, scorching and overpowering. His tongue swept in commanding strokes, tangling with hers before he pulled away, tugging at her bottom lip before his lips, tongue and teeth left a searing trail down the side of her neck. He caught her earlobe in his teeth, eliciting deep shivers throughout her body. Need coiled tightly inside of her and she tore at his clothes, sighing with relief when she could run her hands over the muscled planes of his chest and his rock hard abs. He shoved her shirt up and over her head. She straddled him, savoring the hard, heated length of him against the core of her.

He placed a palm on her chest, levering her back slightly. She lifted her eyes to meet his hooded gaze—dark smoke caressed her. In slow motion, he eased his thumb under the clasp of her bra. With the barest motion, the clasp gave way, her aching breasts tumbling free. He breathed her name as his hands cupped her breasts. She sighed at his touch, achy shivers racing through her. He tugged at her nipples, pinching them lightly before his mouth closed over one and then the other, laving them, dragging his fingers in lazy circles through the moisture left behind from his mouth.

Marley shifted back and tore at the buttons on his jeans, curling her hand around his arousal. Gage’s breath hissed through his teeth. She stood and yanked at his jeans until they fell around his ankles. He kicked them away and reached for her. Ignoring him, she slid her hands up his thighs and gripped his briefs. With a swift pull, they followed the course of his jeans, his kick landing them in another corner of the room. Again, he reached for her. Again, she ignored him. She’d come to learn he was unabashedly comfortable in his nakedness. It was no wonder given that his body was a work of art—all hard muscles and lean glory. He bore a few scars, including one that curled in a jagged line on his side and around to his back. She meant to ask about it, but now wasn’t the time. She curled her hand around the velvet length of his cock. His head fell back with a groan.