Untamed Heat

by Tarah Scott

  She got out of the car and caught sight of someone before they disappeared out of sight around the large rocks. Liz slowed, suddenly unsure she could face him. She’d made fool enough of herself last night. If anyone guessed her attraction to him and word reached Emma… Her apology could wait, but warning him she’d been questioned by the police couldn’t. She didn’t like the idea of the two detectives showing up at the dig and accusing him of assaulting her. Or worse, leading him to believe she had told them he assaulted her.

  Get it over with, then go home and have a strong drink.

  Liz walked to where the ground sloped and stopped. A hundred feet up ahead, half a dozen people knelt or squatted among different sections separated by twine over a tenth of an acre. Hints of three structures were visible in the earth. Trowels, root cutters, wooden picks, shovels, and spades were scattered or in use. Mesh wire boxes were set up for sifting through dirt. She caught sight of Professor Hawkins lying on his stomach, intent on something he was carefully uncovering with a small brush.

  Despite Liz’s best efforts, her pulse picked up speed. Dark curls stuck out in a tousled mass below the worn felt cowboy hat he wore. His cotton shirt was rolled up to his forearms, and his long legs seemed to go on forever in tight blue jeans heavy with desert dust. His ass—good Lord, she wasn’t going to be able to do this. He hadn’t even looked in her direction, and already she was melting like a sixteen-year-old.

  Of course, he looked up. His gaze met hers, and he broke into a smile. Her heart stopped. She really wasn’t going to get through this. He shoved to his feet and stepped over the twine. Liz started down the hill toward him, then realized she should have waited for him at the top. That would have been noncommittal. She could have said her piece, then left. But she’d started this downward spiral. Now she had to crash and burn. They met at the bottom of the incline.

  “I’m relieved to see you,” he said.

  She blinked against the glare of the late morning sun. Why hadn’t she worn sunglasses? What better way to hide? “I’ve come to apologize.”

  A corner of his mouth lifted. “No need. Emma’s young to be in undergraduate school. It’s a jungle. You’re right to look after her.”

  “Thanks, but I should have talked to her before doing battle. She made that abundantly clear.” Liz silently berated herself for the thousandth time. That would teach her to eavesdrop. “Emma’s threatening to drop out of your class.”

  “She’s a smart kid. Surely, she understands your mistake?”

  “Oh, she understands, all right.”

  A question flickered across his face, and Liz cursed her big mouth when he laughed and said, “She figured out how it went, huh?”

  Liz nodded. “Like you said, she’s a smart kid. Too smart, sometimes. But that’s not all.” Or the worst part, she silently added. “The police came to see me this morning.”

  “I expected that,” he said.

  “Did you know they have a witness who saw us in the parking lot?”

  His brow furrowed, then understanding gleamed in his eye. “Damn.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Liz said.

  His expression hardened. “It’s not your fault. I’m half guilty of what the cops think I did. I got aggressive with you. I’m sorry, Liz.”

  Warmth fluttered across the inside of her stomach. He would call her Liz, instead of Elizabeth. “Let’s forget it.”

  He shook his head. “I’m lucky you’ll talk to me at all.”

  “I could say the same,” she said.

  “No, you couldn’t. It’s one thing for you to think you’re protecting your daughter, quite another for a man to intimidate a woman.”

  “You did make it up to me by saving my life.” A rush of emotion flooded her. She’d never dreamed anyone would throw themselves in harm’s way to save her.

  His expression turned grim. “Do the cops have any leads on who the guys are?”

  “They didn’t say anything to me. I told them you suspected Reid’s men.”

  “I bet they didn’t much care for that idea.”

  Liz startled. “Are you saying they don’t want to catch Mr. Reid if he’s guilty?”

  “Vance Reid is a very powerful man around here. Even you knew who he was.”

  She nodded. “He built the big mall that just went up. Still, the police must want to stop him. If he’s guilty.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it has to be a lot worse before the right people take notice.”

  “What exactly is going on with him and you?” she asked. “You said he wants you to declare a dig out in Mesa to be Navajo. Why would he care?”

  “The dig crosses onto property he’s building on. By all indications, the site is Paleo-Indian and could predate anything we’ve found so far.”

  She grunted. “Pinning down evidence of Paleo-Indians is like hunting ghosts in a fog.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “You sure you’re not an archaeologist?”

  Liz laughed. “Em was eight when she decided she wanted to be an archaeologist. Once she’d exhausted the library, she made me buy every book on Native American history she could find.”

  “I see why she’s doing so well,” he said.

  “Professor,” a young man called.

  He looked over his shoulder.

  “Come take a look at this,” the young man said.

  Professor Hawkins placed a hand on the small of Liz’s back and started them forward. His warm fingers on her skin. She concentrated on taking steady steps.

  “I’ll talk to Emma,” he said. “She doesn’t have to take my class, but this is a tough field and she’s doing herself a big favor by staying ahead of the game.”

  “What do you mean she doesn’t have to take your class?”

  “My class is a graduate course.”

  “Good Lord.”

  “You didn’t know?”

  Liz gave a soft laugh. “She left me in the dust long ago.”

  “You obviously did a good job with her.”

  “Or she did a good job with me.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t let her know that.”

  They reached the young man, and Professor Hawkins dropped to a squat outside the roped off section, beside a round discoloration in the even soil where the ground had been levelled.

  “A bioturbation,” Liz said.

  He looked up. “Very good.” His attention shifted back to the ground. “Log and photograph the bioturbation, then continue digging around it. Let me know if you find any more.”

  The kid nodded, and the professor rose. He lightly grasped her arm and stepped several feet away from the section the young man was working.

  He released her. “Did you study archaeology?”

  She shook her head. “Em and I have been on several digs together.”

  “Sounds as if you enjoyed it.”

  “I did. I’d love to do more. But these days she’s so busy with school, there’s not much time.”

  “Why not join in here?”

  Liz blinked. “I—I don’t know.”

  “Do you have any place to be?”

  There had been no pressing business at Leland Industries, so she’d left her assistant manager in charge for the day. “I—”

  “We can always use extra help,” he cut in, “and it’ll give you a chance to have a little fun.”

  The dig was out of cell phone range, but Liz had no worries about Nancy’s ability to keep production of the Linda Bellmont clothing line running on time at the factory. Still, Professor Hawkins didn’t know that.

  “That dress won’t do,” he said before she could refuse. “At least, not given the crowd we have here.”

  She startled. Not given the crowd?

  “I have an extra pair of coveralls you can use, and I’m sure we can scare up a pair of sneakers or work boots. Last thing you want to do is ruin the leather on those loafers.”

  “I’m not an archaeologist,” she insisted.

  Once again, he placed a hand to the small of
her back and started them walking alongside the dig. “Maybe you should become one.”

  “I… That’s ridiculous.” Her mind reeled at the feel of his hand on her back. She flushed. “I’m too old to consider a second career.”

  “Nonsense. You could have your degree in four years.”

  In four years, she would be pushing fifty.

  “I would be glad to help,” he said.

  Liz stumbled. His arm shot around her waist, and he yanked her against him. Her shoulder pressed against the solid wall of his chest. A mental picture rose of her breasts crushed beneath that dark expanse, her arms and legs locked around him as his cock slid in and out of her channel in full, long strokes. She jerked her gaze up to his. He stared back, dark eyes intense as if reading her thoughts. From the corner of her eye, she registered the young woman who had straightened from her kneeling position beside the middle section of the dig was staring at them.

  Liz pulled free. “I, uh, I’m sorry. You’re right, these shoes aren’t meant for an archaeological dig.”

  A corner of his mouth twitched, and she narrowed her eyes in warning. He sobered and began walking again.

  When they’d passed the dig and started up the incline toward the cars, he said, “I have to ask. I didn’t give Emma the wrong impression, did I?”

  “Wrong impression, no. It was a complete misunderstanding on my part, all me. She had no designs on you and didn’t think you had designs on her,” Liz added in a rush.

  “That’s a pretty big misunderstanding.”

  Despite his casual tone, Liz had the distinct feeling the wheels inside his head were going full steam in an effort to piece together what had happened. He couldn’t possibly guess the truth. Could he?

  “Chalk it up to age.” She laughed.

  “Age?”

  He slid his gaze down her body. Her nipples tightened, and she prayed they didn’t poke past her bra and against the cotton fabric of her dress.

  He lifted his eyes back to her face. “If your mind is in as good a shape as your body, you can’t use that excuse.”

  She gasped in surprise, but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything.

  “How did you come to this…misunderstanding?”

  Her heart jumped into an erratic beat. “Like I said, age.”

  He studied her for a few seconds. “Maybe it’s best I ask Emma.”

  “No!” Liz burst out, then quickly added, “I mean, you’ll only embarrass her.”

  “Embarrass her? I doubt that.” He lifted his brow in question.

  She narrowed her eyes. Coming here had been a mistake. “I overheard a phone conversation and got it all wrong. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “You’re not playing fair, Liz.”

  A flush of warmth dug bone deep. He said her name with an intimacy she couldn’t remember ever having heard in a man’s voice. She shook her head, unable to get a word past her lips.

  “What did she say?” he asked.

  “I couldn’t repeat it even if I wanted to.”

  A predatory glint lit his eyes. “Had to be pretty scandalous to get you down to the campus ready to kill me.”

  “You might want to be careful,” she muttered. “The desire to kill you is still simmering.”

  His gaze bored into her. “Simmering is exactly how I want you, sweetheart. Until I get you hot.”

  Chapter Four

  They reached the parked cars, and Hawk was certain Liz would bolt. He cupped her elbow and was sure he felt the same tremor he’d detected a moment ago when he touched her. Last night’s escapade had left her skittish, but he was betting the age difference was what had her worried. He would dispel that fear soon enough.

  “I’m really not sure about this,” she said.

  The tremble in her body had reached her voice, and he wanted like hell to bury himself in her, balls deep, and kiss her until that tremble turned into a shudder that rocked her body with orgasm.

  “We could use the help,” he said.

  They reached his truck. Hawk stopped at the passenger side and opened the door. He glanced in the direction of the dig. From this position, they were completely out of sight of everyone. He maneuvered her between him and the door.

  Liz snapped her head up to meet his gaze. “I—”

  “I should have an extra pair of coveralls.” He leaned past her to the passenger side floorboard, and she pressed back against the edge of the seat. He grabbed the duffel from the floor, then paused and looked at her.

  She stared, clearly uncertain of what his advance meant. He would have thought she’d have men crawling all over her. Surely, she couldn’t misread his desire. Desire? Hell, this was all-out lust. His chest nearly brushed her breasts. He hadn’t forgotten the feel of her lush body against his last night when he’d kissed her. The jolt of desire had startled him, and he’d been as close as he’d ever come to fucking a woman he believed was working the wrong side of a deal. But she wasn’t with Vance Reid, so, when he did finally get her into bed, he wouldn’t feel guilty about taking his time making her come again and again, then doing the same thing as often as she’d let him.

  Hawk released the duffel, straightened, and traced a line down her cheek where a lock of hair moved in the whisper of a breeze. “You’re quite beautiful.”

  Her mouth parted in surprise, and the uncertainty in her gaze deepened. Hawk’s grandfather swore Hawk had the supernatural sense that ran among the men in his family. Hawk hadn’t put much stock in the old superstitions, but by the time he was fifteen he’d given up denying his uncanny ability to sense what other people felt.

  Last night, when he’d mistaken her for a prostitute, that ability must have been out to lunch. Right now, however, the awareness hummed through him like a live wire that insisted Liz Williams wanted him as badly as he wanted her. The sense was also telling him she would talk herself out of her feelings for him the moment he was out of sight. He had to give her a reason not to walk away.

  He leaned further into her and brushed his lips against hers. She clutched his shoulders. Heat streaked through him, hardening his cock. Hawk drew her closer, forcing back an uncharacteristic compulsion to crush her to him. He flicked his tongue against her lips. She opened for him, and he swept inside, tasting, sucking, thrusting as he would inside her pussy, if she’d let him. He wanted to taste her, all of her.

  She tentatively brushed her breasts against him, then slid a hand up his neck and fisted fingers in his hair. Hawk cupped her ass and lifted her so that her mound was level with his erection. He braced her against the seat and slowly undulated his hips against her, careful to find her cleft and fit himself to the folds. Her breath caught, and he thought he would come in his jeans.

  She abruptly pulled back. “Professor—”

  “Hawk,” he said with a hoarse laugh.

  “What?”

  “My friends call me Hawk.”

  “Hawkins,” she murmured, then, “Hawk, I think—”

  “No thinking, Liz.”

  She wiggled, and he tightened his grip on her ass.

  “You don’t understand,” she said in a breathless voice that threatened to send him over the edge.

  “I understand perfectly, sweetheart. You’re worried about the age difference.”

  “An age difference you’re not up to speed on.”

  “Not up to speed on?”

  He gave his heart a moment to slow, then lowered her feet back to the ground. When he leaned a shoulder against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, her gaze followed the action, then jerked back up to his face. His cock pulsed. Yeah, she wanted him.

  “Fill me in,” he said.

  She hesitated. “I’m not forty.”

  “So you said last night.”

  “Try forty-four.”

  He tried not to laugh. “Is this where I’m supposed to look shocked?”

  “Twelve years is a huge span,” she said.

  “Twelve years?” he repeated. “Who told you my
age?”

  Startlement flickered in her eyes, and he realized he’d caught her. “That’s what you overheard Emma talking about, wasn’t it?” Liz tried to shove past him, but he straightened from the door frame, blocking her way. “What did she say, Liz? How good-looking I was, what a good lay I was? How perfect I might be for her mother?”

  “No,” Liz snapped. “If she’d said that, I wouldn’t have made a fool of myself at the school.”

  “But she said it when you spoke with her afterwards, didn’t she?”

  Liz’s gaze flicked past him, and he knew she was gauging a dash for her car.

  Hawk wrapped his arms around her. She jammed her hands between them, but he drew her close. “Are a few years age difference going to stop you from getting to know me?”

  “A few years?” she sputtered.

  “Statistics say women outlive men by ten years. Women don’t even reach their sexual peak until their forties, then they stay there for decades.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re making that up.”

  “Am I? Look at you, sweetheart. Your body is humming. You’re a wet dream come to life.”

  “I—I am not.”

  He cut off the words with a kiss. Her mouth moved beneath his in a half-hearted attempt to continue the argument, but he thrust his tongue past her lips. She arched into him, and he groaned. Hawk lifted her onto the seat and stepped closer so that his dick pressed flush against the juncture between her legs. He cupped a breast and kneaded the flesh through the thin layer of her dress.

  Hawk slid a wet kiss down her cheek to her neck. The sun had brought out a taste of salt and desire. Her head fell back, and he continued downward to the V-neck of her dress. He swiped his tongue between the fabric and her skin, then along the luxurious velvet rise of her full breast. She squirmed, and he loosened his crushing hug and coaxed her arms around him. God, how he wanted those arms and her long legs wrapped tight around him when he pistoned into her pussy. They would both come hard. He slipped a hand under her dress.