Wild Shores

Chapter Seventeen

Gem’s brain finally went back online and reality cut through the lazy haze of satisfaction. Reality was so much more vivid than it had been just a short time before, like a black-and-white image suddenly suffused with color. Austin’s heart beating beneath her cheek was real. The scent of spice and sea was real. The lassitude and lingering pleasure in her loins was real. And so, too, was the certainty of the end drawing closer.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but she knew it was running out. Usually she could tell the time without a watch to within a minute or so, but apparently great sex derailed her inner compass. Austin had declared she’d only had an hour, without explaining why. Gem hadn’t asked. It hadn’t been important then. Maybe Austin was one of those people who worked on a specific schedule and never deviated. Gem didn’t know, but then she didn’t know a lot of things about her. That hadn’t seemed important then and still didn’t.

She did know her touch, more intimately than that of the man she’d been married to or the woman she’d been making love with for the last two years. She knew her body and what caused her to tighten with anticipation and explode with satisfaction. She knew the heat of her gaze and the intensity of her attention. She knew things on some primal, fundamental level that had nothing to do with all the daily tasks of living that usually consumed her time. In another minute or five, Austin would disappear again, possibly never to return, and she’d known that too. Gem pressed a kiss to the inner curve of Austin’s breast where her heart beat so close to the surface. “You have to go, don’t you?”

Austin stroked Gem’s hair slowly, letting strands sift through her fingers. Fog climbed up the small window next to the bed, an ever-thickening shroud heralding danger. “I do. I’m sorry.”

Gem rose up and kissed her before meeting her eye to eye. “No apologies are necessary. I knew this would be brief.” She grinned. “And I must say, it didn’t feel fast, it just felt…amazing.”

Austin cupped her jaw, kissed her back. “Such an ordinary word for something extraordinary. But yes, amazing.”

Gem sat up and swung over the side of the bed before the fire surging in her depths made her try to keep Austin from leaving. “We should get some clothes on. I’ll walk you back.”

Austin skimmed a hand down the center of Gem’s spine, imprinting the firmness of muscles and the delicacy of fine bones beneath ivory skin. “No need. It’s going to be ugly out there.”

“All the more reason I should go check in at the center. I want to make sure the team members we expected actually got in today. And that everyone else is settled.”

“All right then. You’ll be careful, won’t you, if you stay?”

Gem turned back, leaned down to kiss her. “I will. And you, the same. You’re sure you don’t want to get out ahead of the storm? I’m afraid it’s not going to be very restful around here for the next few weeks. If it’s peace and quiet you need for your work, you might not get it.”

“I’ll be here.”

“I’m glad, then.” Gem brushed her fingers through the dark lock of hair slashing across Austin’s forehead. “I hope I see you again.”

“I do too.”

Gem dressed quickly, used to being fast in a cold cabin in the morning, and Austin moved just as efficiently. Outside the fog lay a foot thick over the marshes, but she knew the trail by heart and led Austin back to the center as evening threatened to come early. Only three cars dotted the small parking lot, and she recognized Austin’s rental next to her own. She stopped beside Austin’s, resisting the urge to grip Austin’s jacket and hold her in place for just another minute or two. “Would you mind texting me when you get back to your B and B? Just so I know you’re all right.”

“As soon as I’m settled,” Austin said after a moment. She handed Gem her phone. “Put your number in there. Then you’ll have mine when I text you.”

“Are you sure? I know it might be a little too persona—”

Austin slid a hand beneath her hair and cupped her neck, drawing her closer, tilting her head up. She kissed her, a deep, possessive kiss. “I’m sure. Very. I’ll let you know.”

Gem slid her arms around Austin’s neck, pressed close, took her mouth again. She drank her in as deeply as she could, feasting on her heat and the dark promise of her mouth. When she drew back, her heart was pounding and her breath was short. “Well. That will hold me for a little while.”

“Not long enough for me,” Austin muttered.

“Be careful.” Gem backpedaled, watching until Austin slid into the driver’s seat, started the SUV, and pulled away. The fog quickly swallowed her headlights and Gem finally turned and went inside.

Paul was just zipping up his backpack. “I’m going to close early. There’s no one around, and the weather really sucks.”

“I don’t blame you. Go on ahead. Is anyone in the back?”

“Emily’s there. A couple of other people stopped in earlier and then went to their cabins. Joe left about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Thanks. Take care on your way home.”

“Will do. I’m walking. It’s not that far.” He headed out the door, his bright orange backpack slung over one shoulder.

“’Night,” Gem called after him and went down the hall to the canteen.

Emily was the only one there, nursing a hot cup of instant soup.

“Hey.” Gem pulled another packet of soup out of the box that sat on the counter, ran water into a mug, and emptied the packet. After she put it in the microwave, she turned to find Emily studying her with an unmistakable smirk. Heat rushed to her face. “What?”

“How is it you failed to mention the hottie?”

Gem laughed. “Hottie?”

Emily made a sizzling sound. “Like, if I didn’t have a thing for a certain type of appendage, I could almost see myself getting all sweaty and—”

Gem held up a hand. “Okay, let’s not go there. A picture is worth a thousand words and all.”

“Pfft,” Emily said. “Seriously, where were you hiding her?”

The microwave dinged, saving Gem for a moment. She took out the soup, stirred it until the lumps on the surface disappeared, and sat down across from Emily. Confession time. “I didn’t mention her because I just met her yesterday.”

“Whoa.” Emily sat up straighter, her expression sharpening. “Yesterday and already—wow. Who knew?”

“Will you stop,” Gem said, laughing again self-consciously. “You make me sound like a…I don’t know what.”

“Woman with hidden depths? Dark passions? Secret desires?” Emily lowered her voice and drew out the words as if she was introducing an X-rated movie.

“You’re really going to make me suffer, aren’t you?”

“Damn straight. I don’t get to hear very many interesting sex stories. All my friends are married and have been for so long that it’s babies and diapers and bills. So spill.”

Gem blew on her soup and took a cautious sip. It was too salty, too chickeny, and tasted delicious. She realized she hadn’t had anything to eat since the muffin about ten years ago, which might explain part of the appeal. And she really couldn’t stall any longer. “We met at the airport and ended up sharing a ride out here. She’s the one I told you about.”

Emily made a come-along gesture with her hand. “And?”

“And, well, we really connected, and then last night we—”

Emily’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? You slept with her and you didn’t even mention her when I was asking you what’s new? Like, you know, anything exciting happening in your life such as you met this really hot woman and just happened to fall into bed with her, like, a few hours before?”

“Because it sounds crazy,” Gem said, protesting. “It sounds crazy when you say it, and it would’ve sounded crazier when I said it. I don’t do that sort of thing.”

“Well, apparently you do. More than once.”

“How did you know—”

“Are you telling me…” Emily slapped her forehead. “Oh my God. You are in trouble now. Really? Today?”

Gem covered her face with her hands. “I’m not talking about this.”

“You so are. So who seduced who?”

“There wasn’t any seduction.”

Emily’s eyebrows rose. “Really? How does that work, then? I mean, do you just have a conversation where you discuss the possibility of having sex and come to some kind of decision as to who should take their clothes off first—”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that it wasn’t like that.” Gem pushed a hand through her hair. “It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced. It was just…meant to be, I guess.”

“Oh,” Emily said softly. “That’s just…kind of incredible. Good for you.”

The tension ebbed from Gem’s shoulders. “You think? I mean, you don’t think I’m crazy?”

Emily guffawed. “Are you kidding me? Of course not. The last time I looked, you were well over twenty-one. And if you met somebody you really connect with and she’s hot—and boy, she really is hot—then why not?”

“I do sort of have a girlfriend.”

“I never got the impression you two had made any long-term plans. Am I wrong on that?”

Gem shook her head. “No, we never have. We’ve just kind of gone along. We’ve never talked about living together or making anything more formal. And if it did come up, I would’ve said no. I think she would have too.”

“If you didn’t make any plans or promises about monogamy and such, I’m not even sure it’s something you have to tell her. Except if it changes things.”

Gem drank some more of her soup. “Oh, it changes things. It changed me.”

“Are you going to see Austin again?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t make any specific plans. It’s almost as if we’re both waiting.”

“For what?”

Gem sighed. “I don’t know.”

❖

“You fucking waited long enough to call,” Tatum snarled over the shortwave when Austin finally reached him. “It’s fucking soup out here. How do you expect the bird to fly in this?”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Austin said. “The weather moved in faster than I expected. I can stay here tonight, and we can try again—”

“Hell no. We want you out here to take the heat with us. I’ve got a bird on its way right now. Fortunately for you, it’s a short trip, but I’d put on a life jacket when you climb aboard.”

“I’m really sorry, Ray, I—”

“Forget it. It’s good practice for these boys. They sit on their asses most of the time drinking coffee and reading girly magazines. Even the girls.”

Austin laughed. “Sure and why not. I’ll check in with you, soon as I arrive.”

“You do that.”

The bird arrived ten minutes later. She climbed aboard and took the seat opposite the pilot. When she pulled on her headgear and connected her mic, she said, “I’m Austin. Sorry to drag you out in this.”

“Benny,” the pilot, a woman Austin didn’t know, said with a shrug as she lifted off. “No problem. I could find my way back to the rig with my eyes closed.”

“Well, thanks for the lift, Benny.”

“Happy to oblige. I’d read all the skin mags anyhow.”

Austin grinned. Ray Tatum knew how to hold a crew together, and they’d need that glue before this was all over.

Benny was a fast, accomplished pilot and she set the bird down without a single bump thirty minutes later. The landing lights on the helipad were barely visible through the heavy fog, but the red beacon on the central tower shone above the layer of mist like a blinking red eye. As the rotor slowed, Austin jumped out and jogged across the platform to the command trailer. The air temperature had dropped twenty degrees, but it was still unseasonably warm outside. She shed her jacket as she walked in and dropped it over the back of a chair.

Tatum, Reddy, and Claudia stood in front of the largest satellite monitor, studying the patches of green and black swirling across the screen.

“How does it look?” Austin said.

“The front’s coalescing,” Claudia said, glancing over her shoulder at Austin with a worried frown. “This isn’t going to be a tropical storm. It’s going to come ashore a hurricane, category two, at least.”

“Well, fuck me,” Tatum said.

“I’ll second that,” Austin muttered. “What’s the situation with the well?”

Reddy shot her a dark look. “We’re still leaking. Slow, but we can’t stop it. We’re containing it, but just barely.”

“And if the rig starts rocking in the storm? What’s your best guess then?”

“We’ll double our rate of loss, best case.”

Austin glanced at Ray. “Ray? You agree?”

“Fuck me,” he repeated. “We can’t be sure of that, but it’s a possibility.”

“Right then.” Austin punched in Eloise’s number.

“Tell me something I want to hear,” Eloise said.

“I take it you’ve seen the weather reports?”

“I’m getting the same information from Dr. Spencer that you are, along with updates from a dozen other meteorologists sitting in stations up and down the coast.”

“Then you know we’re going to get hit hard.”

“The rig is built to take it. What’s the situation with the leak?”

“Still slow, but not slowing,” Austin said. “In my opinion, the risk of an uncontained spill warrants preventative measures now. We should alert Fish and Wildlife so we can begin containment procedures. We want to get out in front of this on the record before we bring in the booms.”

“Can’t you buy us any more time? We can start drilling secondaries—”

“No, not with the storm headed our way. Everything is going to slow down—roads will close, flights will be canceled. People and equipment are going to have difficulty even getting here, which means everyone is going to be short staffed. Multiply our usual response time by three, and we’ll be lucky to have enough manpower and equipment to protect the shore if we do have a spill. If we don’t move now, we’re going to look negligent.”

The silence over the line spoke volumes as to how much Eloise did not like that word. Austin had used it intentionally to underscore the gravity of the situation. She needed Eloise to pull the trigger on going public.

“You’re pushing me to a place I don’t like to go,” Eloise said, “considering we don’t have any visible signs of a leak at the surface or, if I’m getting the correct information from your Dr. Spencer, in any underwater currents.”

“We don’t, yet,” Austin said, “but I don’t think anyone in this room will bet against that happening soon. And when it does, we have to be able to show appropriate intervention and full disclosure well ahead of the spill.”

“Very well,” Eloise said, her fury a cold and lethal blade. “I’ll contact the authorities. Be prepared to coordinate. Hopefully the storm will at least keep the reporters away for a while longer.”

“I’ll need to contact the Coast Guard and the research team at the sanctuary.”

“First let me handle it at our level. Then you can contact the locals.”

Austin gritted her teeth. Translation: Eloise would deal with the bureaucrats, because that’s where the political pressure would come from. The individuals on the front line would have to wait. “Let me know as soon as you’ve made your statement. Then I’ll set up a joint briefing here.”

“I’ll leave that to you,” Eloise said. “Expect my call within the next few hours.”

“Right.” Austin disconnected and faced the others. Tatum and Reddy looked weary, Claudia contemplative. “We’ve got about an hour or two before the fat hits the fire.”

Claudia tilted her head and gave her a long look. “I don’t think you made her very happy. She would’ve liked it if you had tried to buy her a little more time.”

Austin shrugged. “There isn’t any more time.”

“Tough call,” Tatum said, “but it’s done now.” He glanced at Reddy. “Let’s go back to work.”

“Let me know if the situation changes,” Austin said.

“You’ll be the first to know.”

The men disappeared, and Claudia settled back into her chair in front of the monitors. She continued looking at Austin, a crease between her perfectly arched brows. “If Eloise is inclined to shoot the messenger, your job could be on the line.”

“If it is, it is.” Austin was used to being the messenger bearing bad news and had taken more than a few arrows in similar situations. She wasn’t worried about Eloise—she had no control over what she might do. If Eloise wanted to fire her for the call she’d made, she didn’t really care. She was a lot more concerned about Gem—who was right in the path of a potentially major oil spill, not to mention a hurricane.