Alaska, With Love Assassin-Shifter 02 - (6 page)

“
Um,” James pointed behind Derek. “I have plans already.”

Derek turned to see the amused look on Josh’s face. “Oh shit.” He whispered. Then it clicked. Plans? The jealous rage rose instantly and Derek felt his lips curl. “Plans?”

Josh saw the change in Derek’s face. “Whoa,” Josh put his hands up in defense. “Nothing like that, General.”

James sighed and stood up. “I’ll give you the time off Josh, take all you need. I need you whole when you come back.” James grabbed his jacket. “I’m going to the damn bar to get a drink.”

“
Can I come with you?” Derek turned around to look at James.

“
Sure,” James stopped at the door. “For whatever reason, Josh, you’ve been given a chance at something. Remember the words of the fortune teller. I’ll see you when you get back.”

~~

Four hours later, Josh was boarding the flight to Alaska from Sea-Tac. He found his seat in first class and sat down, mentally exhausted. Closing his eyes, he saw

Mark’s face, it was
always
there. As soon as they were in

the air, Josh unbuckled his seat belt and went to the restroom. He hadn’t even gotten the door shut, when he was forced into the bathroom and the door was shut and locked. His face registered shock when he saw the flight attendant smiling at him.

“
Sabine?”

 

“
Joshua…” Sabine smiled wickedly. “I have missed
you, how long has it been
cheri?
”

“
Um, a few months?” Josh swallowed hard. Sabine’s hands slid down his torso to cup his cock. “Look, I don’t —”

“
Shhh,” Sabine smiled, rubbing the front of his slacks. “I have missed your lips.” Sabine pulled Josh down to her lips and kissed him hard. After a few seconds, she realized he wasn’t kissing her back. Not only that, his dick was soft. “Joshua? You do not find me attractive anymore?”

Josh sighed, rubbing his face with his hands and sat down on the toilet. “It’s not that, I have feelings for someone else.” Josh blinked in surprise. He’d just

admitted it out loud.
Shit.

Sabine smiled wide. “My Joshua has finally found ‘the one’? Oh, I am so happy for you!” Sabine hugged him hard.

“
Really?” Josh looked at her. Sabine was beautiful. She had black hair pulled up in a French twist, with smokey grey eyes. She had a face like a porcelain doll. His mother would love her.

“
But of course! We have fun, nothing more, and I have always known that.” Sabine palmed his face. “Something is troubling you, no?”

“
It’s complicated,” Josh sighed. “But my heart is taken now.”

 

“
Well then,” Sabine stood him up and fixed his shirt. “It will all work out.”

 

“
God, I hope so.” Josh smiled.

 

~~
“
Mark?”

 

Mark blinked and looked up. “Yes?”

 

“
You zoned out again.”

“
Oh,” Mark blushed. “Sorry, I was thinking about something else.” Mark sat back and took a good long look at his therapist. Doctor Cormick Forrester was in his thirties as far as Mark could tell. His hair was strawberry blonde; he had crystal clear blue eyes and a creamy complexion broken up by a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Needless to say whoever he had at home was one lucky fuck. Mark’s mind, however, was elsewhere, on a tall blonde with emerald eyes.

Care to share?”
“
“
Well, I’ve already told you about Josh.”

“
Yes, you did.” Cormick tilted his head. “What I want to know is how you’re dealing with the nightmares.”
“
Well, I really have no choice
but
to deal with them
don’t I?” Mark tried to smile; it turned out to be more like a grimace. “I wake up soaked in sweat, screaming.”

“
You need to give yourself time, Mark. It’s only been three months. You’ve said you don’t want to pursue Josh until your whole again, correct?”

“
Correct.” Mark nodded. “I also want to make sure he’s
still there
to
pursue.”

Cormick sat forward resting his elbows on his knees, with his notepad dangling from his fingers. “You really don’t have much self-esteem anymore do you? You’re a beautiful man Mark, anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“
You have no idea what Josh looks like, Doc. He’s probably got thousands of women waiting in line outside of his house with food in their hands, along with their panties; just dying to be given the chance to take care of him.” Mark chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair. Damn, he’d be the first one in that line, hissing at the other women. That brought a smile to his face and he saw Doctor Forrester arch a brow. “I had a visual.”

“
Were you in that line?” Cormick laughed softly. He liked his sessions with Mark Patterson, he was sweet. He genuinely wished he could heal him somehow, in time for him to get to Josh, but Mark was on his own schedule.

Mark needed to heal
himself
first.

“
Why yes, as a matter of fact I was. I took them out like a professional linebacker. Those women can’t give him what I can.”

“
Do I even want to know?” Cormick covered his face with his notepad to cover the blush in his cheeks, and to hide his smile.

“
Probably not, but it would make for
great
daytime TV.”

Mark waggled his eyebrows.
“
You’re one special man, Mark.”

“
Like special as in, I need a helmet and medication?” Mark cracked up.

 

“
Okay, not familiar with the helmet.” Cormick smiled. “Medication, maybe.”

 

“
I don’t want the drugs.” Mark shook his head. “But I’ll take the helmet.”

 

“
I don’t think there’s a prescription for helmets.”
“
Could you imagine the pharmacists face if there was?”

Mark giggled.
“
Do you still want to try hypnosis?”

Mark sat back uneasily. “I’m not sure, what if you try shit while I’m under?” Mark grinned mischievously.

“
I assure you, I am the epitome of professionalism.” Cormick read Mark’s face easily. “I’ll bring you out as soon as I see it becoming too much. I promise Mark.”

Mark thought about it. Really, what did he have to lose at this point? “Alright.”

~~
Josh.”
“

Josh was pulled out of his daydream by Wayne’s old west drawl. He was standing with a bear trap in his hands, frowning. “Huh?”
“
Ya wanna keep yer fingers?”

“
Oh! Shit, yeah.” Josh dropped the trap in the basket in the back of the four wheeler. This was the fourth trap they’d found this morning alone. They’d also found a few where the wolves were known to hunt.

“
What the hell is on your mind, son?” Wayne ran his arm across his forehead, wiping the sweat off.

Josh looked Wayne Maccon over; he was a man’s man. Josh didn’t know if he felt comfortable telling him about Mark. “I don’t know if you can relate, Wayne.”

Chicks or dicks?”
“
“
What?” Josh almost fell over on his ass in surprise. Did he really just hear that question?

“
Well, the way I see it, confusion such as yours only comes from pussy or dick. So which one is it, Montgomery? I’m leaning towards the dick, since I’ve never known you to have a lack of pussy.” Wayne grinned over his shoulder as he ambled towards the four wheeler.

“
It’s the latter.” Josh blurted out before he could stop himself.

“
Well, no wonder you got your boxers in a bunch.” Wayne sat on the seat and smiled. “First time finding a man attractive?”

“
Sort of.”

“
Let’s head to the lodge, I got a big ole’ bottle of Jack needs a shot glass. You can tell me all about it while we put our feet up in front of the fire. Ain’t nothing new to me, son.”

Josh had to shake his head and smile, Wayne, just knew how to fuck you all up. “Fine smartass, lead the way.” Josh looked at the setting sun, when he wrapped up work in Denali; he was headed to find Mark. ~~Chapter Five~~

“
Do you think about me? You know? Sexually?”
“
Yeah, I do.”

Lips so soft covered his own, and then the sweep of a tongue licking inside; tasting, probing, searching and then the heat was gone. That’d been all it took, just that one fleeting kiss and Mark had been down for the count. No one had ever kissed him like that. It was the single most erotic kiss he’d ever had, and it stayed with him for over six months. He dreamed of it, felt his cock filling from the lingering memory of that one kiss. Now he was cold and wanting that touch, that spark, that fire that welled within him whenever he thought about those lips touching

his. Needed it? Shit, he
craved
it.

He stared at the white ceiling and brought Josh’s face back into view as he stroked his cock slowly. Blonde hair in a buzz cut, those piercing green eyes that stared right into his soul; hands so strong, yet so gentle touching him lightly. And then a kiss that knocked him for a loop, and sent his whole body up in a raw mess of nerves, and his senses into overload. His hand stroked faster now making its own rhythm. The hands slid down and gripped Mark’s cock stroking, teasing as his lips and teeth nibbled at him, fuck but he could almost feel…

“
Doctor Patterson to second floor nursing station.
” The
ceiling spat at him.

Mark groaned and released his leaking cock. He wiped his hand on his scrubs and threw his legs over the side of the harsh uncomfortable cot and stood, stretching his back. In a few hours he’d be on a plane to Alaska to find the man that had kept him up at night. The same man that had him jacking off night after night, the one that was in his very soul. Mark threw his coat back on, grabbed the stethoscope off the chair and exited the on-call room. The halls were filled with the sick and needy, and Mark made his way to the nurses’ station looking for Annette; because the ceiling spit had been her oh-so happy voice bringing him out of his cock gripping haze.

His eyes fell on the multiple charts that threatened to spill over onto the floor and he sighed, picking them up and righting them. What the hell, might as well check and see what was on the menu. He had a few hours to kill. This time of the year was the flu. Almost every chart had someone with flu like symptoms, and Mark put half of them back. The third to the last held a name he really didn’t want to deal with, the ex. Raoul.

“
Hey Doctor Patterson!”

Mark turned to see Annette’s over excited face, and smiled. She always looked like she’d snorted coffee through a straw. Annette’s eyes were huge and brown, and her equally brown hair was in a ponytail, whapping her in the face as she bobbed. She was so cheery all the time, that Mark wanted to slap her and tell her that Santa Claus didn’t exist, the tooth fairy was her mama; Oh, and the Easter bunny was a crock of shit! “Hello Nette.” And Cadbury eggs were fattening. Straight to your ass, fattening!

“
There’s a guy in room two says he knows ya.” Annette studied him. Doctor Patterson was pretty, his huge blue eyes made you want to get on your knees and suck his— “So I told him I’d get you personally.”

Mark pretended to look seriously at his watch, he frowned at it as if it’d stopped working, or was working and now he was late, anything to get out from underneath Annette’s I-want-to-fuck-you’ look. He wasn’t oblivious to women. He just didn’t want them in that way. The thought of having to sit in the same room as Raoul and pretend to care about him, would be about as much fun as sliding down a wooden banister bare assed. “Could you tell him I left for the day?” Mark gave his best, I’d-love-to-fuck-you look and smiled slyly. What the hell, if it worked. It did.

“
Oh….yeah sure.”

Mark looked at her. Annette’s mouth had dropped open just a tad, and saliva was pooling out of the side. She snapped her eyes shut and licked her lips, swallowing. Her eyes went huge again, reminding Mark of his effect on women. Shame it hadn’t worked so well on one guy. Well no, he guessed it had, since said guy had fled to Alaska and left Mark to wonder what the hell he’d done. Mark snapped back to the present and smiled. “Great, well I’m off.”

“
Hey that’s pretty, is it new?” Annette ran a finger over Mark’s wrist.

 

“
Yes, it is.”

Mark looked at his wrist where the silver tracking bracelet sat shining in the harsh lighting of the hospital hallway. Yes it was new, a gift from Mateo and Riley. After telling them he was going off on his own to find Josh, Mateo had gone through the roof and forbidden it; which had Riley in a fit of laughter, smacking him upside the head. Mark couldn’t help but love Riley. Riley was so sweet you couldn’t help it. No wonder Mateo had caved so fast. Mark smiled and turned to leave.

When he heard an accent, his skin broke out in bumps and his heart rate went through the roof. As many times as he’d told himself that that part of his life was over, it still kept him up some nights. He knew Manuel was dead and his whole house and business had gone up in flames the minute Josh Montgomery had set foot on the property. The early morning hour when Josh had found him cowering in the shower, thinking Manuel was back to rape him again. All those memories came flooding back. The thick Spanish accent oozed along his spine and into his ears; and his hands curled into fists.

“
I knew you would try to leave.”

Mark turned slowly and met head on with Raoul Rodriquez. They had dated. Well not dated, they had fucked over the course of two weeks. Raoul had come in with a gash in his head and Mark had patched him up. From there they’d gone out to dinner and fucked. After that it was just a series of stolen kisses here and there and a quick fuck on his way to work. So why Raoul was here now, Mark didn’t understand. It’s not like they had professed their love for one another.