Page 28 of Alpha Geek

“And we’ll also be naked, right?”

Tripp spoke with a wink and not a single ounce of hesitation or fear. His endless willingness to jump into any challenge and call it an adventure was a trait Amelia had already admired about the handsome millionaire, and yet, it managed to inflate itself twofold after being injected with the serum.

She smiled at him, securing her pack and oxygen tank.

“You are correct,” she said slyly. “That’s not a sight the climbers are accustomed to at the peak, I’m sure.”

“If it is you, I’m sure they’d be delighted.”

Amelia sighed, licking her lips impulsively. She could feel the mark on her waist singing. Her leopard cried out for more.

“What?” he said with a smirk.

“You’re incorrigible, aren’t you?”

She leaned over and kissed him softly. Even though it was a mere peck, his scent, combined with the velvet smoothness of his mouth, shot lightning down her body, coiling at the core of her loins.

“Let’s get going before you get me going again,” she murmured.

They removed most of their clothing and stashed it in their packs before they shifted. Amelia helped Tripp along the way, encouraging him to give in to the feeling of breaking through his skin and the elation that followed the first time a shifter changed to their true form.

But like most things Tripp did, he was a natural. His fur sprouted black and glossy in the sun, the same as his natural human hair. His bones cracked and snapped as they adjusted into the most handsome and dignified wolf Amelia had ever seen.

She gulped once he was complete, then quickly shifted into her snow leopard form.

“How’s that feel?”

“Like I’m home.”

In her animal form, she lifted her nose into the air to scan for anything that smelled like danger. The wolf attack sat heavily on her mind, and she would keep her senses on high alert as they continued upward. Fortunately, with Tripp being a shifter now, he wasn’t as vulnerable, but he still had no real experience in controlling his body and fighting a seasoned assassin.

Amelia found it infinitely easier to climb Everest as a shifter, especially since Tripp had become one too. It was shocking to see him at first, his increase in size, his insatiable hunger for her, and everything else he thirsted for. A person’s personality remained once they became a shifter, but all of those traits become enhanced in the same way saturation could be turned upon a photograph.

She found herself to be enriched. Her zest for life and adventure has returned to her like a forgotten friend. She wouldn’t have ever come to understand how much she missed the thrill of climbing if she’d never met Tripp. And she also would have never met her mate.

They climbed in their shifted forms at a steady pace for a few hours, with Tripp acting like a jovial newborn pup. It nourished Amelia to see him that way. He had brought her back to life in ways she could never pay him back for.

But she would be willing to try by serving him as her mate, as he would serve her as his own.

After rapidly moving up the mountain, both Amelia and Tripp detected the scent of hikers up ahead. They decided it would be a good point to shift back and finish off the trip with their comrades in the form they had begun it all in.

They shifted in a secluded cave, becoming naked once more in front of one another, which made it nearly impossible to resist more lovemaking. Amelia was riveted by the idea that she could let herself go in sex from now on, letting her sensual self out to roam free over the splendid scenery of Tripp’s hard body.

But they managed to resist, agreeing that they had loads of time when they returned home to explore each other. Plus, Amelia found the anticipation of it all to be rather exquisite.

They put on their coats and gear and managed to catch up with the rest of the hikers. They were all supremely jubilant to see that they had made it, especially after a few other climbers had witnessed the strange wolf attack.

Both Amelia and Tripp reassured everyone they were fine and had taken cover in a nearby cave while the storm blew over. However, no one seemed to question them because of the titillating frenzy of the moment; they were less than a mile away from the Everest summit.

They had planned to climb the southeast ridge and did so needing secure ropes, ice axes, and harnessing themselves to one another with sharp anticipation. They all took turns reaching the peak where a multitude of flags had been planted over the years, a wash of colors left by explorers from all over the world who had taken on the sublime task.

Amelia watched as Tripp arrived at the peak, the other hikers embracing and weeping with relief. She knew how important it was to Tripp, and she could feel his heart beating like a rhythmic drum as if it was her own.

They stepped onto the snowy ridge together, the sea of flags below them. He stared for a moment, his hazel eyes still with disbelief. Amelia took him by the hand, and it was then that it all became real to him.

“We did it, Amelia,” he said, eyes glazing over the cold. “We actually fucking climbed Mount Everest.”

Happiness that Amelia had never felt surged in her chest, and she wrapped her arms around Tripp. Never in her wildest dreams would she have anticipated finding her mate in a way that was so astounding and spectacular. And to fall in love on Mount Everest was something not even a work of fiction could compute.

---