Page 8 of Dear Alaskan Bush Pilot
"I don't mean to be rude, but," he says, rubbing his hand down his beard. "What are you doing out here?"
Jera finds her voice and explains why we've come. She hands him the letter. As he reads it, I can see the wheels turning in his head as he plays out the scenarios of what his life could have been if he had received the letter. His grip on the paper tightens as he gets to the end. Patrick turns and takes a few steps away back towards the trees.
There's nothing Jack, and I can say to try and help the situation, so we both stay silent, watching as Jera closes the distances between them and whispers something to him. Jack takes my hand and gently pulls me back towards the plane.
“I think we should give them some privacy.”
We walk to the other side of the plane facing the stream and prop the side doors open. We take a seat next to one another, shoulders touching, leaving no space between us.
“That was intense,” Jack is the first to break the silence.
I glance over my shoulder and look through the window to see Patrick and Jera sitting together on a boulder, whispering to one another.
“I can’t imagine waiting that long to finally be reunited with the one I love,” I say.
"I don't understand. If he loved her as much as he seems to right now, how could he not go to her? Why did he need some letter to fight for the one he loves?”
“We don’t know the full story.”
Jack shakes his head like he's almost angry at Patrick for not fighting for Jera. "I don't care what the circumstances are. I would always fight for you."
I freeze, not sure I heard him correctly. “What?”
Jack meets my stunned gaze, and his eyes grow wide like he's just realized what he’s said.
"What I meant is," he starts to say but stops. His gaze dips down to my lips and then back up at me. "Screw it. No, I didn't misspeak. If anything, seeing the pain in Patrick's eyes as he realized all the time he lost with Jera is enough to push aside my fear to let you know how I really feel about you."
I swallow the hard lump of emotion in my throat. “And how do you feel?”
Jack runs his fingers into my hair and cups the back of my head. “This.” He pulls me towards him, pressing his soft lips against mine.
JACK
The moment her lips touch mine, I get a feeling of home. Like I've been wandering for so long, looking for a place that feels good and safe, and I've finally found it. I use my tongue to urge her lips to part and deepen the kiss. It takes my last shred of self-control to remember that Patrick and Jera are only a couple of hundred feet away. They can still hear us.
We only pull away from one another when we need to take in a breath. I press my forehead against hers.
“I’ve been waiting for that for too long,” she whispers.
“I would have done this sooner, but I know that you don’t date pilots.” I lean in and kiss her again.
But Emery pulls back before I can get more than a peck from her. “What are you talking about?’
“Sergei said that he heard you say that you don’t date pilots,” I explain.
Emery runs her hands over her face. “I said that before you moved up here. None of the other pilots ever interested me—until you.”
I push to my feet and thrust my fingers through my hair in frustration as I take a few steps away from the plane. “Almost two years.”
“What’s almost two years?”
I turn around to look at her. "The amount of time we lost that we could have been together." Emery starts to open her mouth like she wants to argue with me, but I need to get this out. I need to tell her. "Because I can assure you that I wouldn't have hesitated a moment to make my move if I knew you felt a fraction for me as I feel for you."
Emery pushes to her feet and walks over to me. “Why do you think what I feel is only a fraction?”
"Because what I feel for you consumes me. I've learned to tamp it down, but sometimes when I can't get you out of my mind, I get lost just thinking about you."
Emery steps closer, her soft curves pressed against me. I loop my arm around her waist and pull her tighter against me. I know that she can feel my hard cock, but I don’t care. I don’t want to waste another moment.
