Page 11 of His Rescued Mate

“What brought you here?”

“It’s funny. I can’t even tell you. I just knew this was where I belonged. Not just Kodiak Island, but this place. I discovered it when I first arrived. I was hiking all around the island and found the lake.”

“The place we were at earlier? Up where you can see the whole of the lake?”

He nodded. “That led me to exploring the shoreline and eventually to this cabin. It was abandoned and in total disarray, but it spoke to me. I had some money put away, and I bought it. Then the need to create the sculptures and mountain climbing equipment just took over.”

“Were you a success from the start?”

Max shook his head. “Not right away. I worked at Joe’s shop, To the Top, worked as one of the cooks at the Black Bear Diner, and hired out as a guide. I took a group of corporate executives on a team building experience…” He chuckled. “Those guys were woefully unprepared for a ‘wilderness adventure,’ but they came together and got each other through it. Those guys had a lot of money. One of them saw one of my hand-carved tools and wanted to buy it. I brought them back here and between them they bought everything I had. Joe got pissed that I hadn’t been selling them all along and so started featuring my things in his store.”

“But how’d you end up with an exhibit in Portland?”

“Gallery owner came up to Kodiak for his sister’s wedding. He saw my things at Joe’s and the sculpture I gave his sister as a wedding present. He guided me through putting on an exhibit down in Seattle where several other gallery owners saw it… and the rest, as they say, is history. In other words, pure dumb luck.”

Alexa shook her head. “I don’t believe in luck. I believe in being aware when life hands you an opportunity. If all it took was luck, most people would be doing better. But they aren’t because when an opportunity is presented to them, they either fail to see it or choose not to take it.”

Max leaned back, looking at her. “Why wouldn’t someone take advantage of an opportunity?”

“Lots of reasons, I suppose. For me it was fear. The old adage ‘better the devil I know than the one I don’t.’”

“In what regard?”

“I stayed in a marriage for far longer than I should have. Don’t get me wrong, my ex isn’t a horrible person, but we just weren’t good for each other. Not toxic, but not good, either. I took a trip to Easter Island…”

Max nodded. “Yeah, I read that article. You’re really good at what you do. I’d never had any desire to go there until I read your piece. The way you wrote about the island, the people, and the statues made it seem so important and relevant to today. I’m probably not expressing this well. You’re the one who writes.”

“You’re doing fine, believe me. I know what you mean. Being in the presence of the Moai will always be one of the place markers in my life. You know, those times when you look back at your past, and you realize you had come to a fork in the road, and as Frost said, ‘I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.’ I came home, left my husband and our beautiful loft in The Pearl District, and started living the life that before I’d only written about.” Max smiled. “What?” she asked.

“I know exactly what you mean. I came to Kodiak for a long weekend, and never left. I felt as if I was home.”

“Me, too. When I got off the plane and learned what happened to Joe, I was like oh shit, now what. Then you stepped in and brought me here, and it was as if everything I had been feeling settled as if I’d found my place.”

There, she’d said it. She’d put it out there. Alexa sat waiting, but not for long. Max’s strong hand cupped the nape of her neck and pulled her forward, his lips covering hers in a gentle yet somehow dominant kiss. His tongue traced the seam of her mouth, not so much asking for entrance, but letting her know he meant to taste her deeply.

He kissed her, taking her in, like a man long denied water and drinking her down as if he’d never satisfy the thirst. His tongue thrust deep, asking for more of her than he thought she might be able to give. Alexa sagged against him, opening not only her lips, but all of herself to this man. His need for her seemed to pour out of him like a waterfall rolling off a cliff, covering her in the same warm, comforting manner as the shower in her room.

Alexa could feel herself bending to his will and surrendering to a mutual need she was sure was there. She’d been celibate since her divorce, unless you counted self-stimulation and satisfaction as sex, which she didn’t. For the longest time, she thought her libido had died. She hadn’t felt much of a need for it, but it had sprung back to life from the moment she laid eyes on Max. She’d never been so intensely aroused and attracted to anyone. She was pretty sure if he’d told her to strip and lie down in the middle of the parking lot when she arrived, she’d have done it.

Max lifted his head. “What?”

“I was just thinking that when I got here, if you’d wanted, I would have stripped naked, laid down in the parking lot, spread my legs and let you fuck me then and there.”

Max pulled away slightly, his eyes searching hers. "“Damn, I wish you’d told me that sooner.”

Alexa was pretty sure her heart was racing like that of a thoroughbred at the track. It shouldn’t have been difficult to find words, but it was. “Me, too.”

Max stood up, hauling her up against his chest and kissing her again before sweeping her up into his arms and moving towards his bedroom.

“Put me down. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

He chuckled, the sound deep and melodic as it moved across her body, seeping into her pores. “Never happen. I plan to ravish you.”

Alexa wound her arms around his neck. Nobody had ever picked her up, much less swept her up into his arms and carried her to a bed.

“What about what we found?” she asked.

“The stuff in the box? It’s been waiting there for god knows how long; it can wait a while longer. I can’t. I won’t.”

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