Broken Trails (34 page)

With the edge taken off her arousal, she finished washing and climbed out of the shower. Her mirror image was clear and crisp, no steam fog clouding her view, and she nodded to her reflection. The water had been cooler than she normally enjoyed.

She stepped forward for a closer examination. There were bruises on her left side from the sled crash, though not too dark and dangerous looking. Her hands and face were red and a bit chapped from the constant exposure. Her feet looked well enough; she changed socks and liners regularly to combat trench foot or some other disease. All in all, she was pleased to note she was in decent shape to continue on. She combed out her hair, and then brushed her teeth in blissful relief before dressing in clean clothes.

Gathering her belongings, Lainey eased the bathroom door open to a dark hallway. Across the way was the bedroom she and Scotch had shared. To her left, the hall glowed with distant light, and she could make out the end of a couch. The kitchen was that way. She turned off the bathroom light, dropped her things in the bedroom and eased down the hall. Her nose twitched at the smell of coffee and the promised French toast, and her stomach rumbled.

The living room was small and tidy but had a cozy feel to it. A quilt wrapped body lay on the sagging couch. She remembered sitting there a few hours ago with a dinner that looked delicious though she barely recalled eating it. Lainey heard a muttering snore emit from its depths, identifying the individual as her colleague, Howry. She almost tripped over another bundle curled up on the floor by the fireplace - Strauss. Lainey wondered where the others were. She did see Thom and Rye, right; not hallucinations brought on by seeing Helen at the checkpoint?

Soft voices beckoned her, and she continued past Strauss, through a tiny dining room and into the brightly lit kitchen.

Scotch sat at a small wooden table, nursing a cup of coffee. A woman stood at the stove, spatula in hand, poking at a slice of bread in the fry pan she held. Lainey recognized her as their host, but a sudden sharp stab of hunger overcame her. She struggled with her body's baser instincts, leaning against the door as she forced her mind to work. "You must be Molly," she finally said, attaching a name to the woman's face.

The woman smiled. "Yes, I am," she said. "I'm surprised you remember."

Lainey blushed and shrugged. "So am I."

Molly laughed. "Have a seat. Breakfast is almost ready. Scotch, get her a cup of coffee."

"Yes, ma'am." Scotch grinned and winked at Lainey, waving her to a seat at the table before following orders.

She sat down, and her stomach growled.

"Sounds like you're hungry," Molly observed. "Good thing. I've made enough to feed an army but half the troops are still asleep." She gestured toward the living room with her spatula.

Lainey was glad her face was already reddened from the weather. It took an effort, but she slipped into professional mode, giving Scotch a smile of thanks when she delivered a steaming cup of coffee. "I'm not sure I said this last night, but thank you for putting me up and feeding me."

Molly waved her gratitude away. "I volunteer every year. Having you folks through McGrath is a celebration. Thom and Helen have bunked here every time for the last ten years." She flipped the toast in the pan. "And I've been watching this scamp since she first entered the Junior Iditarod."

Scotch sat down beside Lainey, still smiling.

"Scamp, huh?" Lainey asked.

Scotch shrugged, eyes twinkling.

"Scamp," Molly intoned. She removed the pan from the burner, and put the toast onto a plate already piled high. Transferring the plate to the table, she set it before Lainey. A motherly hand reached out to rub Lainey's shoulder. "Eat up. There's plenty more where that came from."

"Thank you!" Lainey tucked into her breakfast, almost moaning as the French toast and maple syrup hit her tongue. It was a far cry from her lustful daydreams, but just as satisfying.

As they ate, Molly kept up a running chatter about other mushers who had come through her home. She never let their coffee run low, constantly topping off their cups as she puttered around the kitchen. Lainey heard all about the mushers who had spent time in the spare bedroom on their way through to winning the race. Some tales were humorous and some rather acerbic, but Molly seemed proud to be involved with the Iditarod in this way.

Lainey ate until she was ready to burst. Finally, she stared mournfully at her plate, a half eaten slice of toast soaking in syrup.

"Finished?"

Her taste buds screamed no, but Lainey nodded. "Unfortunately."

Molly grinned and took their plates.

"That was wonderful, as usual," Scotch said, leaning back to stretch luxuriously.

"Yes, it was." Lainey startled herself with a yawn.

Molly chuckled, wiping the table before them. "Needing a nap already?"

"Appears so."

Lainey stuck her tongue out at Scotch, receiving a slight wiggled eyebrow in response. She ignored the sudden flush of desire through her body. "I've got too much to do. I really need to get to my dogs."

"Me, too."

As they both stood, Molly retrieved keys from a peg board by the kitchen phone. "Here. Take the snow machine." She bustled to the sink. "Since you're checking out around five, Scotch, I'll have a decent dinner ready by three, okay?"

Scotch came up behind the shorter woman and hugged her, kissing her temple. "That'd be great. You're fantastic, Molly."

Molly clucked and shooed them away, though Lainey could tell she was pleased with the attention. She gave their hostess her thanks before trailing after Scotch to the bedroom.

Her eyes needed to adjust to the darkness, so she crept along until she located the correct door. Stepping in, she carefully closed it behind her. Before she stepped further into the room, Scotch grabbed her and pressed her against the door.

"I said I was going to get that kiss from you after you brushed your teeth," she whispered.

Their lips met, and Lainey moaned. Scotch tasted of coffee and syrup, and she opened her mouth in invitation. Their hands roamed each other's bodies, their tongues pursuing one another back and forth. Any relief Lainey had achieved from her shower activities was demolished under the weight of a fresh wave of arousal. Their intimacy lasted forever, it lasted years, yet it ended far too soon. Scotch was breathing hard as she rested her forehead on Lainey's. She licked her lips, and Lainey so wanted to reach forward with her own to help.

"That was nice."

Lainey chuckled breathlessly. "You have a magnificent ability for understatement," she said, squirming a little to feel Scotch's body against hers.

"Thank you," Scotch laughed. "I've cultivated it for years." She gasped as Lainey slid beneath her sweater. "Unfortunately, we have chores to do and a race to run."

Pouting, Lainey caressed Scotch's belly, no longer reaching upward to take rounded breasts into her palms. "Nome."

"Nome," Scotch promised.

Lainey pushed away from the door, forcing herself to disengage from the luscious body that had pinned her. "You're driving me insane."

"At least you have company for the trip," Scotch said, stepping back.

"Well, let's go get the dogs fed before I change my mind."

"Yes, ma'am."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

LAINEY SMILED WHEN she saw her team. Most of them still slept, but Kaara jumped up at her approach. Her sleeping mate, Bonaparte, barely acknowledged the loss of her warmth, rolling over and giving Lainey his back.

"Hey, sweet girl," Lainey murmured, squatting down to give the dog some undivided attention. "Did you have a nice nap?"

A couple of others shook themselves from their slumber at the sound of her voice, and she proceeded to scratch and rub anyone awake enough to want the petting. Bonaparte got to his feet but continued to ignore her. She resisted the urge to force herself upon him, not wanting him to become too mutinous. After the race was over, she planned on really pissing the mutt off for all those months of suffering his regal attitude. Grinning in anticipation, she pulled a bag of moose liver from the sled and snacked them. Even her morning sourpuss, Meshindi, gave up his grumbling when she offered him his favorite treat and Bonaparte finally deigned to acknowledge her presence.

Once everyone was awake, she doled out the dog chow from the cooler. In no time, her team enjoyed a substantial meal, wolfing their breakfast down in much the same way she had at Molly's. While they dined, she grabbed water from the checkpoint boiler to start their next meal. She sorted through her clothing, separating dirty socks, wet booties, and damp work gloves from the much smaller pile of clean and dry items. Her hostess had insisted she use her washer and dryer rather than drag everything down to the local laundromat.

When the dogs finished eating, Lainey went down the line and collected their plates. She scooped up excrement, freshened their straw beds, and swapped out wet blankets and dog coats for fresh. Regardless of Molly's insistence, Lainey intended to wash the dog stuff at the public laundromat. No reason to clog up the woman's filters with tons of dog hair.

She spent the next hour tending each dog starting with her leaders, Trace and Sholo. She petted and massaged each one, even Bonaparte, giving them bonding time with her at the same time she examined them for latent injuries. Paws were carefully examined and salve applied. Heldig received a different concoction than the others, one prepared for the express use of extra healing. It was thicker in texture and Lainey slathered it onto the abraded pads of Heldig's paws, hoping the rest and herbs would keep her on the trail longer.

When she got to Himitsu, she gave the yellow brown dog a little more loving than the rest. His usual partner on the line had been Tecumseh. With his buddy dropped, he now ran alone for the most part, and Lainey wanted him to know how much she depended on his quiet, well-mannered ways. Besides, he was one of her major trash talkers, and she rather enjoyed hearing him cuss out the other teams.

Chibee wriggled in pleasure at her approach. Being the youngest, he still held a lot of puppy like appeal and energy. Lainey appeased his adolescent urges by wrestling with him until he was on his back, and then gave him a thorough tummy scratching. He grinned at her, tongue hanging from the side of his mouth and eyes twinkling.

Further down the line, shaggy Jonah tugged on one of the disconnected tow lines with his teeth in a broad hint, his desire to get going obvious. Lainey laughed. "Not yet, big fellah. We've still got," and she looked at her watch, "about twelve hours to go before we can blow this joint." She shook her head. Twelve hours. What a wealth of time. She could get so much done in twelve hours, even a lengthy nap.

"You ready to go?"

Lainey looked at Scotch, smiling. "Yeah." She gave Jonah a final scratch before gathering up the laundry she had piled in a dog blanket. "I want to stop at the laundromat, too."

Scotch walked beside her, a bundle thrown over her shoulder. "Why? There's plenty of time for both of us to get our stuff done at Molly's." She waved distractedly at a volunteer who called her name in greeting, but continued to speak to Lainey. "You can grab another nap while I do mine."

"I don't want to mess up her machines with the dog blankets," Lainey said. "She seemed pretty proud of them." In fact, Molly was very pleased with her facilities, having just bought the washer and dryer new last summer. They were the first new appliances she had ever had, and she bragged for ten solid minutes as she offered their use to the mushers.

"Well, we can do that." Scotch shrugged. "But you'll insult her for sure. She wouldn't have extended the invitation if she didn't mean for you to use it. And she sure as hell knows what all's involved with the offer."

Lainey frowned, peering at her friend. "You sure? I really don't want to break something."

"I'm sure."

Still uncertain, Lainey agreed to give it a shot. Since Scotch was scheduled to leave a couple of hours earlier than her, she would have the first crack at the equipment. If things went well enough, Lainey figured her usage would not screw things up too much.

"Besides, it'll take more time if you do loads in two different places. Trust me, it seems like you've got forever, but the minutes and hours will race by." Scotch climbed aboard the snow machine, balancing her load in her lap.

Lainey hugged her belongings to her chest. Despite the awkwardness, the ride back to Molly's was quick and smooth. In no time she was back inside at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and watching Scotch sort through her things. Howry and Strauss were still sacked out in the living room, and Molly was nowhere to be seen, having gone back to bed.

She yawned again, hearing her jaw creak with exertion. Before she could recover, another one burst out of her. "God, I'm sorry," she finally managed.

"Go to bed. You can use the rest," Scotch said. She placed a glass of water in front of Lainey. "But drink this first. Part of the reason you're so tired is you're not getting enough fluids."

"Yeah?" Lainey asked, picking up the glass.

"Yeah. You need to drink at least six of your juice packs or Gatorades a day. Have you?"

Lainey, swallowing water, merely rolled her eyes.

"Thought so. If you don't take care of yourself --"

"You can't take care of your dogs," Lainey finished. She lifted her glass again and emptied it. "Yes, ma'am. Point taken."

When she stood, Scotch intercepted her, and held her close. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you when I'm done. Three or four hours, not much more."

Lainey's eyes slipped shut as she savored Scotch's proximity. "Okay," she whispered. She lifted her head, searching blindly for a kiss, and received the sweetest one imaginable. Lainey wanted to draw it out, make it last, not knowing when the next one would come. Someone coughed politely at the door, however, and they broke apart.

Howry leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed and an unrepentant grin on his face. His hair stuck up at an odd angle and it ruined his attempt at a knowing and devilish appearance. Lainey almost laughed aloud, but bit the inside of her cheek to control herself.