Chapter 11
ELEVEN
LANIE
Echoes of Us
“All right, that’s great. And up she… goes,” Cord calls, triumphant as his fingers slide across the remote screen. The drone lifts above the icy ground, a large piece of cardboard from the back of his truck having provided a launch pad. “Looking good, Lanie.”
“Show me.” I sneak beneath his arm to stare at the screen, the forest receding below as the drone rises higher, only slightly off-kilter.
The forest appears in grayscale, warm dots already appearing that represent the heat signatures of whatever is below.
They might or might not be wandering cattle. “That’s incredible.”
“Thermal imaging.” Cord’s face glows like a kid at Christmas.
I wonder who, exactly, we’re out here for, and then decide I don’t care.
Gimme wolves. “We should be able to spot your pack if they’re around.
But if snow is predicted, like for tonight…
” He flicks the display over to a different setting to show an array of colors.
“We’ll be able to see them with clarity from inside the tree line once we’ve worked out where they are. They birth in January, right?”
It might be late summer, but the chill of an early fall season encroaches from the white-capped mountains on a brisk wind that heralds a cold night.
“You’ve done your research.” I offer my approval. “Usually, yes. Show a girl how to fly?”
Cord provides me with a quick set of instructions and hands the pristine tech over.
After a few false starts, I get a feel for the device, sending the drone skimming above the treetops.
Concentration edges in on a tension headache, but what could become a migraine will just have to hold off for one damn day.
I know willpower won’t actually prevent anything, but I’ll be damned if it will spoil my moment.
Cord hums beside me, loose and easy, tension leaving his frame.
A gust of wind catches the drone, lifting it higher than I intend the device to fly. I swear liberally, fighting the tech as he laughs at me. “How long do the batteries last?”
“Maybe an hour?” His hand closes around mine, helping me guide the device back on track.
“That’s not very long.” I frown, calculating in my head. “So, thirty minutes in and out? There’s an awfully large area to track.” I risk a glance at the mountains that suddenly seem both close and a long way out.
“Five hundred thirty thousand acres, but you’re only seeing the back end of that so… maybe one seventy. We will find them. Even if it takes a few tries. I promise.” Cord drops a kiss on my shoulder, and I nearly drop the remote.
“Five hundred thirty—as in, half a million acres?” I squeak high enough for my voice to rasp.
Cord laughs into the crook of my neck, the sound and the reverberations doing terrible things to my flying ability that, let’s be honest, is pretty crappy to start with. “That’s why we have three drones.”
I kill an abrupt laugh. “Of course we do.”
The wolves prove to be too elusive for my first flight.
One drone returns to its landing pad with no movement recorded, though at one stage it took both of us the better part of ten minutes to work out the difference between a rock and a tree.
From above, they all look the same, no matter which screen we are on, and the heat signatures of smaller forest creatures became muddled.
The second returns with a similar result, though it, at least, covers more ground, scooting out further and much faster with no head wind.
Cord waits patiently on a picnic blanket he’s laid out, our gear scattered around it.
No matter where I am, he’s never far away, always in contact with me somehow.
Right now, his arm curves around my waist. I thought the constant touching would freak me out, but away from the house, away from everyone else…
I kind of love it. Sharing this with him, even when I’m frustrated with the elusive pack, my lack of understanding at the excess of tech, and my own skills.
“Aren’t you bored?” I ask, landing the second drone without breaking anything—a small miracle.
“I haven’t been out past the second field for nearly a month, Lanie. Once you’ve found your wolves, I’ll show you what Coyote Falls really looks like.” Cord traces my cheek with his knuckles, the promise in his eyes sending a shiver skimming through me too fast to catalog.
“I’m looking at it now.” I gesture to the screen that shows the third drone’s bird’s-eye view, high enough to scope acres of forest land.
“Yeah? Have you found the falls yet?”
I turn away from the screen to look at him. “You have a real waterfall?” Of course he has a waterfall. Why would I expect anything less?
“Whoa. Let’s fix that.” He grabs my hands, manipulating the controls to take the drone out of its headlong plummet and back on course, bringing it home to land.
“We can recharge them from a station back in the truck. I’ll take you swimming at the falls one day when it warms up again.
The water’s ice-cold, regardless of the season, but it’s beautiful. And peaceful.”
Warms up again… His lips brush the nape of my neck. Summer. He’s talking about next summer. A whole year away. I shiver as he pulls the collar of my jacket back, his lips trailing the bare skin to the scooped neck of my long-sleeved tee.
“I’m supposed to be looking for wolves,” I protest, switching the drone off. “And this stuff is getting yuck.” The landing pad sinks into a squelching mud puddle from recent rainfall on cue.
Cord ignores my objection, his lips traveling along my neck, sliding his hand beneath the curtain my hair provides.
A tug around my waist lands us both back onto the picnic blanket.
He leans into my space, stealing the air between us.
Large hands frame my face, roughened thumbs tracing below my lower lip before his mouth claims mine in the sort of kiss that I know is meant for more.
His tongue sweeps across my lips as he presses us back.
Sensation zings through my body where his weight settles over mine. I skate my hands along thick arms that fold around me before his tongue plunges into my mouth, and I stop thinking altogether. Just feel. Everything. A gasp leaves me, followed by a shudder as his knee presses between my thighs.
I pull away, breathless. “Cord, we should—”
“There’s no one here, Lanie. Just us.” Arctic eyes bore through me, giving me a bare second to voice my protest.
Spoilers: opportunity not taken.
A feral smile quirks Cord’s mouth before he claims mine again.
His body pressed to mine leaves me aching everywhere, needing more.
A soft sound works its way free of my throat as I kiss him back, wiggling beneath him in a bid to be closer.
Every objection between us dissipates. His knee presses firmly between my thighs, up a little.
The pressure isn’t enough. My body undulates against his as I roll my hips, pushing upward, seeking more.
An approving male sound originates deep in his chest.
Cord braces a forearm above my head. His other hand slides along my ribs, tugging my shirt up.
“Take this off.” Command edges his voice that matches the unyielding intent in his eyes. One thumb grazes a searing path across the flesh at my belly where the material has scrunched up.
Oxygen flat out refuses to fill my lungs.
I push up onto my elbows, lifting the hem of my tee in offering.
Cord’s fingers coast over every inch of skin I expose, his head dipping to follow the path with his lips.
I arch under his touch, drawing the top over my head.
But it’s awkward as hell and I wriggle when the tee catches on my arms. His hand slams down just as I maneuver the stretchy fabric to my hands, trapping my wrists in the material, leaving them pinned over my head.
A twisted sound tears from my throat. My heart races as he nudges my thighs wider, settling in the space between.
I flex my fingers in his hold. His grip isn’t too tight, just restrictive.
If I yank my hands away, I think he’d let me up, but that edge of danger does strange things to my body.
A shudder ripples over me as his tongue traces the tops of my breasts through the lace of my bra.
My short breaths meld with the soft sighs he draws from my parted lips.
Air is optional right now.
“Cord?” I pant, straining a little against his hands.
A moan leaves me as he kisses my mouth roughly, flicking my bra strap away.
He pushes the cup down, breaking back to capture the tight bud of my nipple with his lips and teeth.
I twist beneath him, giving a soft cry. “You should stop,” I murmur through a haze of need.
Cord laughs softly. “Why, because we’re not in a bed? Lanie, I don’t play by the rules.” His mouth crushes my lips again as his hand works at the other cup of my bra, rolling the freed nipple between his fingers.
Heat gushes between my thighs. I try to press my knees together, but his legs are in the way, so I rub shamelessly against him instead, needing the friction as he pinches and soothes at my nipples, alternating the motion until I’m a hot, writhing mess beneath him.
My body pulses all over as he teases me relentlessly.
“Can you come for me like that?” he murmurs. “I want to see you fall apart for me.”
I shake my head as he returns to the teasing rhythm, straining restlessly on his hold over my wrists. “I—no, I have no idea,” I whisper, my mind fracturing between the points of pleasure he draws from me.
“Let’s find out.”
Cord’s mouth latches on to one nipple as he plays with the other, his tongue swirling, thumb and finger pinching and plucking. I moan, rubbing against the hardness of him, until he pulls his body back and suddenly I’m humping nothing but air.
“No,” I gasp, spreading my legs wider as he sucks on my nipple. “Please, I need—”