Page 31 of Alpha Geek

SEVENTEEN

AMELIA

Amelia felt like she was dreaming from the moment she’d first met Tripp. She had just been a person working a job she enjoyed, planning out things for a boss who was reasonable and kind. There was no doubt that she would have been fine had she stayed in that position and refused Nick’s proposal to take on Tripp’s case. She didn’t suffer in her position, and she was certainly staying safe.

She hadn’t come to that realization until they started the climb of Mt Everest. Meeting Tripp was dizzying enough. Add to that bringing a fire of desire and sexual ambition to life inside her, forcing her to face the realities of being a shifter, and finding her mate in the most inconvenient of circumstances was beyond words. On top of all of that, she was confronted with the reality that her first love, the love of climbing, was indeed something her heart had been pining for without her even knowing it.

She had told herself the story of needing to leave Alaska for a job, and she had come to believe it in a desperate effort of self-preservation. Climbing Everest and falling head over heels for Tripp had made her see she was cheating herself out of the pure enjoyment of actually living.

Amelia had told Tripp all of this in a post-lovemaking confession before they were set to leave for the main city in Nepal, Kathmandu. They were heading off to meet with Nick and a few other agents who were providing them with a private jet ride back home. They were also going to have a short debriefing after a celebratory feast at the most glamorous restaurant money could buy.

She felt like she was spewing word vomit as she stared up at the ceiling of the hut, the roofing rattling lightly in the wind. She had never been close enough to anyone to expose the darkest corners of her soul, the parts of her that even she had trouble facing.

“The job with Nick is great,” she continued, wringing the sheets in her palm like a soaked towel. “I got a lot of meaning from helping him. I think he’s a great support to women, especially shifter women.”

It was nearly morning, and they had barely slept. But the ease of their pristine love kept them awake, their minds and bodies not wanting to miss a single second of development.

They would crash eventually, but it wasn’t going to be at that moment.

“But?”

Tripp was sitting up in bed, holding a coffee cup. He had gone into the communal tent and retrieved one for the both of them, a gesture Amelia found both simple yet romantic. His eyebrows both raised, a curious look of amusement on his face.

She couldn’t help but grin. He brought it out of her.

“But I know now that there is more out there for me,” she said, sliding her hand across the bed to find Tripp’s torso. “More marvelous things I didn’t know I was missing.”

She heard herself speak, soft and with more assurance than she thought herself capable of. Tripp reflected that back to her, and it made her feel more empowered.

“I feel the same way, my beloved,” he said sweetly. “I can’t believe I ever thought I was living my life without you in it.”

He was a writer and a smooth talker by nature, but his words always had an effect on Amelia. It made her stomach tingle, and sparks of stars surged up her spine like a comet through a stark sky. Her leopard purred in response. Tripp meant everything he said, not a single doubt crossing her mind.

Isn’t that what it means to be in love?

They dressed and departed base camp on time, glued to each other like octopus tentacles intertwined. Amelia found herself adoring even the most mundane behaviors of her mate, like the way he stirred his coffee, how he stared out the window in their cab, daydreaming, and swirling his thumb that was hooked around hers.

The doubtful part of her wanted to believe it was actually just some dream. She had smacked her head in her apartment and was lying there, her brain synapses formulating a pleasant narrative that would ease her into the afterlife.

But when Tripp’s electric mouth touched hers, she knew that even the most detailed of imaginations couldn’t summon such a profound feeling.

They attended the feast in the big city with Nick and a few other agents that Amelia had met before. She introduced them to Tripp, not feeling an ounce of jealousy. All of the women who worked for Nick were attractive in their own unique way, and she could appreciate that. But she knew in her heart that Tripp only had eyes for her.

Once they indulged in laughter, food, and drink, Nick hopped in the cab with them back to their hotel. He wanted to have a quick debriefing in the lounge before they called it a night.

Nick was his usual solemn self, with that amused smile lingering on his lips like a phantom expression. But there was a sensation of seriousness in his tone that alarmed Amelia, though she tried to put it off as her overthinking feline brain went into overdrive.

“Craig tried to make a claim on your fortune when you were gone,” Nick said at the booth they sat in, stirring his Old Fashioned. “But he seemed to back off from it rather quickly. We think there was someone at base camp alerting him that you had survived.”

Amelia wore a snug red dress that she’d brought from home, one that pressed against her neck but held her breasts up in an appetizing offering. She was feeling sexier than ever, especially with Tripp’s big hand resting on the exposed flesh of her thigh.

Nick’s tone and delivery of the news flattened that feeling, and it irked her ever so slightly.

“Do you have anything to confirm this?” Amelia asked.

Nick shook his head, raising his drink to his mouth.

“It’s an educated guess,” he murmured. “He was obviously counting on the wolf shifters being successful, but alas, they didn’t know about the serum, did they?”

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