Alaska, With Love Assassin-Shifter 02 - (7 page)

Raoul’s hair was longer now, but the brown eyes still looked at him the same way. Like he was naked, and it made Mark’s skin crawl. He could try to rationalize it, but the beatings and rapes had hurt him both mentally and physically. The only man he felt safe with and wanted in a sexual way was in Alaska, where he was headed to in less than two hours.

“
I’m leaving, Raoul. I’ll get another Doctor to look you

over.” Mark turned his back and started walking.
“
Ah, and where is it you are going?”
“
I’m taking a trip to Alaska. I’ll have someone come

down right away, it was nice seeing you.”
Bullshit.

Mark practically ran down the hallway and grabbed his bag out of the locker room. The faster he could get away, the better. He’d tried to put in his notice with the Hospital administrator and was told to take a nice long vacation. His job would be there when he got back. The funny thing was he didn’t know if he did want it back. He wanted Josh, and wherever Josh was, is where he was going to be. The double doors opened and Mark stepped out into the warm humid Columbus air. Even in December, Georgia was in the seventies. Mark sighed and threw his bag in the trunk of his car. He had time, and it wasn’t like the security line at the Columbus airport was long. It was non-existent.

Mark pulled onto the freeway and watched the landscape fly by. He hadn’t really had time to go out over the last six months; he’d been in therapy for most of it. All his blood tests had come back negative and Agent Pruitt had told him that Manuel’s blood tests had been negative as well. Mark asked to have the tests run during Manuel’s autopsy, and Agent James Pruitt had it done for him right away. Agent Pruitt was sweet and cute as all hell, but Mark had his eye on someone else. He parked his car in the long term parking lot and walked into the small airport. There were maybe ten other people at the most, and Mark handed the TSA agent his ticket and ID.

“
Have a good flight Doctor Patterson.”

“
Thanks.” Mark smiled and stepped through the detector. He took his seat up front and closed his eyes. Josh’s face was instantly there, his smile, his laugh and Mark drifted off thinking about Josh’s kiss. A while later, the sound of the Captain’s voice over the loud speaker jostled Mark out of his sleep. They were in descent into Dallas Fort Worth. Mark stretched his legs and got ready to grab his bag. As soon as he stepped off the plane he made a bee line for the nearest Starbucks. He sat with his coffee, twirling the stick in the golden brown liquid.

“
Wow, you look almost sad, in a way.”

Mark looked up to see a woman in a flight attendant uniform. Her black hair was swept into a French twist and smokey grey eyes were looking right at him. The woman had the most beautiful skin, like a porcelain doll, with just a hint of gloss on her perfectly shaped lips. The name tag said Sabine. “Hi.”

Sabine took a seat and tilted her head. “One that looks like you should not look so lost. You are having girlfriend troubles?”

Mark chuckled softly and raised his eyes to hers. “No, more like boyfriend, although he’s not my boyfriend.”
“
Merde
…” Sabine sighed and took Mark’s hand. “All the good ones are married or gay. Or they are gay
and
_married.”
“
Isn’t that the same thing?” Mark smiled at her. Her accent wasn’t thick, but he could tell she was French.

“
No, they are gay but married to women and keeping their vows.” Sabine rolled her eyes. “What a waste of time.”

Mark giggled and she took his hand smiling at him. “I… there is a man.”
“
Oui
? So, tell me why he is not yours.” Shaking her
head, Sabine chuckled. “Where are my manners?” She put her hand out and smiled at him. “I am Sabine.”

“
I’m Mark, nice to meet you Sabine. It’s a long story, but to make it short he wasn’t gay. Or he thought he wasn’t, until he met me and kissed me and ran off to Alaska. I tried telling him it was okay and everything, but Josh freaked out—”

“
Josh?” Sabine’s eyes went wide. “You say he went to Alaska? Josh Montgomery?”

 

Mark sat back flabbergasted. “Well, yeah.”

“
No wonder.” Sabine sat back, sighed, and looked at Mark. “So it is you.” Sabine saw the look of confusion on Mark’s face and took his hand. “I have known Josh in the, biblical sense? Is that the word?” Sabine saw Mark nod his head, and a blush hit his cheeks. “I have seen him. Six months ago he took a flight I was working and I thought it would be like always, but when I touched him he told me he couldn’t, that his heart belonged to someone else.” Sabine squeezed Mark’s hand. “It is you his heart belongs to.”

Mark felt hope blossom in his heart as he looked at Sabine. “Thank you, you have no idea how much better I feel now.”

“
You, go get your man.” Sabine stood and looked at her watch. “I must go, but you must find me and let me know what happens, eh?”

Mark nodded and stood up to hug her tightly. “Thank you so much.”
“
Au revoir, Cheri.
” Sabine blew him a kiss and smiled.

Mark sat through the next flight in a state of utter happiness. He didn’t even feel them touchdown in Anchorage, and was in a daze as he went to collect his suitcase from baggage claim. He stepped out into the cold Alaska air and sucked in a breath of ice. His lungs immediately began to scream in protest, and Mark zipped his jacket up, covering his mouth. Clear blue skies greeted him, and Mark realized Alaska smelled clean. No smog, just snow. He rented a jeep and hit the highway on his way to Denali National Park, to Josh Montgomery, to safety.
~~

Josh’s biceps hurt, yet that didn’t stop him from swinging the ax again and again, the heat shooting up his arm with every swing. The burn felt good. It reminded him he was alive. Well, that and the puffs of white air around his mouth. It was twenty below and Josh’s gloves were trying to keep his hands warm. He had shoved those little warmers in them an hour ago, as well as putting some in his boots. The Alaskan wilderness spread out before him. Snow covered mountains and trees dotted the landscape as far as he could see. Josh had come here to put his head back on after kissing Mark Patterson, the man he’d rescued from a raping drug dealer in Peru. And then kissed, like an idiot.

Josh had been straight, or so he’d thought, until he’d laid eyes on Mark. Everything he thought he’d know about himself had fallen away at the touch of Mark’s lips on his. Even now he couldn’t stop thinking about him. What the fuck had he been thinking, kissing a guy that had endured three months of brutal beatings and rapes? Josh swung the ax low and struck the last blow sending the white spruce down swiftly. The sweat dripped from his brow, almost freezing, before rolling down the side of his face. His eyelashes were white, and he knew it was time to head back in for a bit.

Josh had been camping out for a while now. It was relatively peaceful, and no one bothered him except for the stray fox that would come around and visit during dinner time. Well, and occasionally his buddy Wayne, the park ranger. He hadn’t dealt with too many bears, but the Bull Moose was definitely curious about the man in the small cabin. Josh had a beautiful view of Wonder Lake and his very own light show at night, there was nothing like it on God greens earth. The Aurora borealis was a

sight to see, and no one could just say. “
Yeah, it’s cool
.”

Unless they were an asshole. The green, purple and orange flowed; suspended in the sky, and Josh always sat out at night to watch it.

The light was fading fast. The winter months brought nothing but darkness, as opposed to summer where it was light all the time. Even at two in the morning it looked like the sun was just setting during summer. Winter was what brought some people to their nervous breakdown point, because at the most, you had maybe a good six hours of daylight before being plunged into total darkness. Josh grabbed his shit and made his way back to the small cabin, dropping firewood on the small rickety porch in front.

Inside was one room that made up the living room, kitchen and bedroom. The lone couch pulled out, but Josh didn’t bother. By the time he was done for the day, he fell on it fully clothed and was out for hours. He threw some logs on the fire and went about making coffee. A look at his watch said it was only three in the afternoon. Damn, and he was already hungry. Sometimes it made Josh feel like he was in Florida at the retirement home, because come four in the afternoon it was dark, and he felt like it was time to make dinner.

Josh’s radio piped up and he heard Wayne coming through loud and clear.

 

“
Montgomery?”

 

Josh smiled and picked up the radio, Wayne’s voice always sounded like Hoss from Bonanza.

 

“
What’s up, ya lily livered chicken?” Josh said.

“
Ah fuck off, just got a call from up the trail. Seems we got a tourist done got lost along the way. Says he ain’t, but you know how them lower forties are.”

“
Well I reckon I’ll go check it out, Hoss.” Josh bit back a laugh as a stream of obscenities came through the radio. “Yee haw.” Josh laughed as Wayne told him to shove it where the sun don’t shine. He grabbed his jacket and gloves. The wind was picking up now and he knew it was going to be brutal tonight. What kind of idiot walked around outside in this shit? Oh that’s right, he did. Just because some damn tourist decided to stray off the beaten path. Somebody was slacking up top, because there weren’t supposed to be any tourists at the lodge this late in the season, that ended in September and it was almost Christmas. “Fuck.”
~~

What the fuck was I thinking?
Mark felt the wind

whipping at him and bundled up tighter. Snow was coming in fast now, and his goggles were fogging up on the inside. Every breath froze his lungs and hurt like hell. Mark had put on layer upon layer of clothing, and could still feel the biting winds chilling him to the bone. His hand was shaking with the compass in it and he knew he couldn’t stay out much longer. His mind was still working, and as a doctor he knew even with the layer of clothing, hypothermia would set in. He could feel beginning, even now. Mark was tired and he wanted to lie down and sleep. Every effort to pick up his foot and move it again felt like someone had attached weights to it.

He dragged himself another ten feet or so before resting on a tree. Jesus, his body was shaking so bad he swore he was knocking nonexistent leaves off the tree above him. It was so pretty out here. Mark sat down and pulled his knees up to his chest wrapping his arms around them. He thought he saw a light off in the distance, and hauled his sore body back up. The only thing that kept him going was Josh, Josh’s face, Josh’s lips….Josh.

The ground rushed up to meet him, and he lay face down in the cold snow. Mark rolled over on his back and stared at the sky, it was so pretty. Alight show was going on. Wait, what time was it? It was an all-out effort to try and bring his wrist to his face. Finally giving up, he just lay there, staring up at the sky. Snow covered him in seconds. He tried to brush it off his face, but even that took too much effort. Mark closed his eyes and listened to his heartbeat. It was slowing now, and he knew his pulse was getting weak. God he was an idiot. He was going to die out in the wilderness, and the only thing he would miss the most was the lips of the one man that’d brought him here.

~~

Fuck but the wind was a bitch, and snow slapped Josh in the face. He trudged through it looking for dumbass in the snow. What an idiot. And yet here he was, looking for said idiot in the middle of a snow storm. He heard a cracking behind him and spun around looking for the cause. His eyes made contact with those of a black wolf. He sighed and bent down. “Dammit Dakota, you scared the shit out of me, I thought you were a grizzly.” Josh put his gloved hand out and was met with a snap at the tip, and then he was being pulled forward. “What’s up?” Dakota let go and Josh followed him. Dakota trotted in front of him looking back now and then to make sure Josh was keeping up.

Another mile of walking south from where he was had him in dense forest, and then Dakota stopped, sitting on his haunches with a low growl. Josh could see a bump in the ground and made his way closer. No, not a bump, it was a body. Fuck, the tourist. Josh moved the snow off the body and hauled it up over his shoulder. Not too heavy, but the body structure said man; unless, of course, it was a woman with no tits, because he didn’t feel bumps on his back. The walk back to the cabin had Dakota right on his heels. Dakota was the only wolf pack member that constantly made contact with him. He always showed up around dinner time. How convenient. Dakota sat on the porch as Josh made his way inside. He put the tourist down on the couch and stripped off his own gloves and hat. Josh’s jacket was next, and he went about putting water to boil for coffee again. There was a soft moan from the couch and Josh figured he’d better get the guy into some warm clothing, and fast.

He sat at the end of the couch and took the guys gloves off, inspecting his hands. His long slender fingers were still pink. Thank God. A flash of silver caught his eye, and he pulled the jacket a bit higher, revealing a silver bracelet. As his eyes read the four letters, he realized the hands were familiar. The hands were those of a man he had kissed. A man whose hand Josh had spent hours holding while sitting by his bedside. Whose hand he’d stared at, memorizing every line, every curve, everything about Mark Patterson. The panic rose in Josh, and he took the goggles off, along with the hat and face mask. There he was, Mark. Cold, lips blue.

“
Mark!” Josh took off Mark’s jacket first, and then his hands went to work stripping off the wet clothing. Picking Mark up, he opened the couch so he’d have a larger place to set him back down. Grabbing every blanket he could find, Josh proceeded to strip himself down, getting in bed with Mark. God, but Mark was so cold, his skin was like ice. Pulling him into his chest and holding him, Josh rubbed Mark’s arms, trying to get his circulation going again. After what seemed like a lifetime, Mark’s body seemed to relax and warm up. His breathing became even, he was sleeping peacefully. Josh closed his eyes and thanked God he had found Mark. Any longer out in the elements and he would have died. ok tI’ve got you Mark, you’re safe now.” Josh whispered. ~~