“Spit it out, honey,” he said softly.
Damn him.
“If there are cameras we’d have to take off our clothes.” Building momentum on her objections she said, “Mac Tudor and the SIA couldn’t have authorized it.”
She half expected him to say the SIA had sanctioned disrobing and getting down and dirty to find La Pasion.
Instead, Zane laughed. “Of course not. All we have to do is fake some orgasms so they can hear and see what we’re doing if we find a room that has these devices in them. The rooms that don’t have the devices, we’ll be able to check them without any worry about being detected.”
She slanted a critical glance his way. “Right.”
He heard her skepticism and reveled in the way he’d made her squirm. This minute she appeared ready to hit him over the head, so he’d better change the subject. Being in this sleeping bag, naked, warmed him in more ways than one. Whenever and wherever her gaze touched him, he believed he saw a need for more connection. Hurt tightened her voice earlier and made him long to remove those sorrowful feelings, no matter where they originated.
Damn it, Zane, don’t get hooked. The woman could be an A-number one manipulator. Allowing her to bite your Johnson isn’t going to finish this mission with full-fledged success. Keep cynical, keep cool.
Deciding to change the subject yet again, he said, “You still believe you were led here by that ring?”
“Yes.” Rock-hard conviction in her voice said she did believe it. “I don’t understand it any better than you do, and frankly it scares me to death.”
Internal struggle flickered over her smooth features. He wanted to plunge his fingers into her hair and draw her close, hold her near to keep all the demons away. Her lower lip trembled a little and it about did him in. Don’t cry, Keira.
“Look, I realize you don’t believe me,” she said when he didn’t comment. “But think about this. How would you feel if you woke up someplace and didn’t know how you got there?”
“I’m sure, if it really happened, I’d be confused.”
Her eyes lightened, as if happy he now understood. He didn’t.
“Then you do understand?” she asked.
“I don’t believe what you said about the amnesia. You can’t expect any reasonable person to believe that unless you’ve had a psychotic break or maybe a head injury.” Worry spiraled into his gut, sudden and repentant. “Damn it, Keira, did you hit your head during the limo accident and not tell me?”
Her gaze widened a little. “No.” She flapped one hand in dismissal. “This isn’t a brain injury. It’s something bizarre. Something I can’t explain.”
The scientist in her quavered, he could tell. “You encounter these bizarre incidents very often?”
This time she wrinkled her nose. “No. Not until today.”
He digested everything that happened today. When he looked back at her, she yawned. “It’s getting late. If you want to sleep, go ahead. We have a walk ahead of us tomorrow.”
She stared into space for awhile. “What I really wish is that I had a camera so I could take pictures of the circle outside.”
He grinned. “What do you make of the sexual symbols on the pillars?”
“I’m not sure what to think. They’re not like the carvings I’ve seen in India or Italy or anywhere else there are significant drawings related to sexual activity.”
Sexual activity. No, he shouldn’t be thinking or talking about sex around this woman. Not with her so accessible, so damned pretty, and so crazy-making.
“Any idea how old they are?” he asked.
“They’re probably a few hundred years old at the least, but beyond that, I can’t say without doing some testing.” Her pert nose twitched. “Besides, I’m supposed to be looking for La Pasion, not pillars representing human sexual activity.”
She yawned again.
“Take a rest. Like I said, tomorrow is a long day.”
He watched as she closed her eyes.
“Stop watching me,” she said.
He laughed and closed his eyes. “That better?”
“Much.”
Within moments he heard her soft breathing and not long after he felt the sandman take him down to slumber.
Chapter Nine
Warmth encompassed Keira in a gentle blanket as she lay on her right side in the tent. She drew in a deep breath and savored the delicious comfort and the undeniable, scrumptious scent of man. With dawning awareness she sensed Zane’s muscular frame. She would know that taut, well-built body anywhere. Spooned against him, she felt the pressure of his chest against her back, the encompassing power as his arm draped over her midsection. His large hand splayed over her ribs as he drew her closer, tighter. Every inch of his incredible strength shifted in a languid way, like a tiger stretching. A heavy sigh eased from his chest. His breath tickled her ear, hot and arousing. She shivered delicately. Oh yes. God, he feels so good.
She opened her eyes long enough to see that night fell over them and the tent had darkened. Somewhere along the way, he’d turned the flashlight out.
Then his hips nudged hers and she let out a tiny gasp of surprise at Zane’s tremendous hard-on.
She didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed for herself or him or both. He shifted again, his cock so hard he wedged it with assurance between her cloth-clad thighs. A woman couldn’t ignore the huge, solid strength of his cock if she tried. His hand slipped upward and covered her right breast, encompassing her flesh in heat and gentle pressure.
Oh my. Her nipple prickled with a sweet burn and went hard.
Zane’s touch sent lightning quivers over her frame. The hair on his naked forearm tantalized and she brushed over it without thinking. Such power resided in his muscles, such capability.
Again, like a cat, he stretched against her. His cock edged deeper between her thighs. He felt spike stiff as his thickness rubbed against her clit and labia through the sweats. A tight jolt of pleasure coiled in her stomach.
“Mmm.” His soft sigh against her ear said he might or might not be awake.
His lips moved over her earlobe in a gentle foray and she gasped at the piercingly arousing feeling. Her stomach muscles clenched and a throbbing feeling heightened deep in her pussy. She wanted…she wanted…
Restless yearning spread deep inside her body and created a firestorm of desire she couldn’t remember feeling with any man before Zane. Again his mouth explored her ear, the shifting, feather soft feeling of his tongue and lips a torment that made her writhe in his arms.
He cupped her cloth-clad breast with rhythmic, gentle squeezes. His fingers drew up over her breast until he brushed over the tip with a flick. Fire darted into her nipple and she barely stifled a gasp.
Oh yes. He’s awake.
“So sweet and hot,” he said against her ear.
Husky and deep, the low, sexy sound of his voice untied her one thread at a time. She shivered against his big, hard body and felt every inch of her feminine vulnerability. This man could hurt her emotionally. Physically.
Relentless, he licked her earlobe and breathed into her ear an earthy groan as he tasted her. Just the sound of that masculine moan drove a spike of hot, liquid desire into her deepest regions.
With full and total freedom she allowed abandon to take over. Whatever happened between her and Zane from now on, she wanted to grasp onto what they had this second.
His hand moved again, not content to torture one part of her body. With cupping, caressing motions he explored down over her hip, then back up in a silken, seductive slide up over her waist and arm. He kneaded her left shoulder, then licked at the back of her neck. She shivered as her enflamed senses shouted for fulfillment. All her inhibitions crumbled as his magic plied and plucked and stroked her into a blazing firestorm of female needs that refused to stay buried.
Molding her to his will, he plumped her breast, drawing his hand from the base to the tip, always teasing her nipple in the process. She tried holding back
soft moans as his caresses continued, but they slipped from her. Her breasts felt weighty, nipples aroused into hard points that ached for each brush of his fingers, each plucking motion that drove her to within inches of begging for fulfillment. Unable to resist, she squirmed back against him.
Incredible feelings spiked deep inside her as she grew hot and moist. Her breathing quickened, her heart picked up speed. He slid one hand down over her stomach and inched the sweatshirt up so he could trace his fingers over naked flesh.
Upward. Upward. Up over her stomach until he captured her naked breast. His hot flesh against her skin made her moan with delight. He clasped her nipple and tugged gently. She moved against him with steadily building craving. Creamy and slick between her legs, she pulsed and ached high up in the deepest regions of her core. Needing him, wanting him to put the fire out that built with each passing moment.
He moved back and forth between her aching breasts, drawing his fingers from root to tip with agonizing precision. All regrets, all desire to stop the continual sexual need rushing through her came to an abrupt halt. She couldn’t think, only experience and feel.
As a low groan issued from his lips, he licked her ear with tiny, brushing touches that sent shivers of delight coasting over her skin.
“Zane,” she gasped.
She reached back and clasped her hand over his thigh, enjoying the rough hair and the skin encased over steely muscles. Without hesitation he plunged one hand into the waistband of her sweats. Quivers of excitement danced over her skin as he palmed her belly. Yes, oh yes. He worked his way slowly across her stomach to her hip, then back enough he could cup her ass. Anticipation made her ache.
She trembled with need, realizing she played with fire. Instinct parted her legs and he allowed his hand to travel up over her hip again and then down between her thighs.
When he touched wet, swollen folds, a low, soft growl of male appreciation left his throat. “Oh yeah.”
Searching with tender, patient fingers, he rubbed over and around, touching Keira in ways she’d never been stroked before. Probing moist secrets and being exquisitely gentle, he drew one finger around her folds. Nothing could stop her excitement as it drew tighter and tighter in deep in her pussy.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this excited. Her body reacted to his tenderness, the liquid arousal evidence of how much she needed him. When he drew his finger over her swollen clit, the blaze of pleasure made her shiver.
“Oh God, Zane.”
He licked her ear again, then plunged his tongue inside. He thrust one finger through parted slick flesh. She panted, her breath coming in bursts as he withdrew, then slid back inside, then allowed his fingers to trace circles over her folds, brushing and provoking.
As he kissed her neck and shoulder, his touch drove her to within an inch of total meltdown. His hips moved against her as he eased two fingers deep into her.
Shaking with longing, she couldn’t think. All senses focused on the way his touch enflamed vulnerable tissue. Her heart raced as excitement escalated. No man ever made her feel this way until now; out of control and not caring if the sun rose in the morning as long as he didn’t stop. As his fingers moved inside her, she released control. Nothing mattered but executing the dance. When he returned to ply her clit with repeated strokes she thought she’d die with ecstasy.
He pressed, plucked, manipulated until all her muscles tensed and fire took over her veins. She writhed as his continual touch threatened to blow her apart.
“Feel it,” he said hot and guttural into her ear. “Let it come.”
Easing two fingers deep into her, he slid back and forth against sensitive, slick walls. It felt so good, but she needed more.
“I can’t stand it,” she moaned, her yearning expanding to mind-blowing proportions. “Please.”
As he wedged three big fingers deep inside her, the full, spreading feeling blew her away. She imagined his cock would feel like this. Tight, buried deep, he would pump in and out with precise strokes designed to ignite her.
Panting, reaching for the stars, she headed for the rapture. As lights seemed to go off with a flash bang inside her, she climaxed with a scream. Pulsing pleasure jolted her center as he continued to slide his fingers in and out. Sheer ecstasy shuddered along her muscles and nerves in rippling waves, her whimpers of happiness attesting to amazing pleasure.
When the earth shuddered under them, and a growl penetrated the air, she jerked in surprise.
“Jesus, honey,” Zane said, his voice sounding breathless. “The fuckin’ earth moved.”
Still breathing hard, she shivered as her body came down from bliss. “Was that real?”
He kissed her ear and laughed huskily. “Which event?”
She smiled. “The ground moving. That rumbling noise.”
“It was an earthquake.”
“Uh-huh.” She sighed, contented. “For a minute I thought it was…you know.”
His soft, rumbling chuckle against her ear threatened to set her off again. That and the fact his fingers still rested against her mound. She could come again. Now. But she wanted him inside her first. Wanted him pounding out his lust between her thighs.
The afterglow surrounded her, lulling Keira into a daze. She wriggled her hips against him and his cock remained hard against her.
He moaned softly. “Don’t.”
Defiant, she slipped from his arms and turned to face him. Tentatively she reached for his erection, wanting to give him whatever he needed to find the same explosion she’d experienced moments ago. She found his length. His gasp of pleasure spurred her on as she encased his width in her grip. Hot, extremely hard, and big. Very big. She’d never had a cock this large inside her before, but the idea of experiencing every long, thick inch excited her beyond words.
“Keira.” His voice sounded strangled.
He couldn’t mask the hungry growl in his voice. Zane wanted relief and she intended to give it to him. With a firm stroke she measured him from base to tip and back again.
“No.” He put his hand over hers and stilled her movements. “I want like hell to fuck you, but I didn’t bring protection with me. I don’t have any diseases, but I won’t risk getting you pregnant.”
His statement gave her pause. She didn’t need protection from pregnancy; she had a birth control implant.
Before she could speak he jerked upright. Through the thin nylon encircling them, the stone pillars started to glow.
“Holy shit,” he said as he jumped out of the sleeping bag and jammed his legs into his cargo pants.
He reached for his weapon.
Another small glow, this one emanating from inside the tent, caught her attention. “Oh my God! The ring. Zane wait. Look at the ring.”
With the tent halfway unzipped, he turned to glance at the ring lying on the tent floor. “What the—?”
One quick motion opened the tent the rest of the way. She wouldn’t be left behind with the ring, so she jumped to her feet, ready to follow him out.
“No.” Zane turned back to her. “Stay here until I know it’s safe.”
She snorted. “It’s not safe in here with the ring glowing. I’m going with you.”
Rebellion flashed in his eyes and he grasped her by the arms. “Bullshit. Stay here.”
As soon as he stepped outside and zipped up the tent, she did a little rebelling of her own. She’d be damned if she’d stay in this tent with this freaky ring. It couldn’t be that bad outside. She unzipped the tent and stepped outside.
The rain had stopped, and moonlight spilled over the area, mixing with the ethereal glow from the pillars.
Zane stood stock-still and watched the eerie spectacle in front of him. She expected him to turn on her and snarl and order. Instead he kept his gaze pinned on the pillars.
“Holy shit,” he said again.
Indeed. Glowing pillars was bad enough. Pillars with moving figures were another thing all together. Total disbelief smacked her bet
ween the eyes. I must be hallucinating.
Animated, the carvings performed specific sexual acts. She put her hand out toward one of them and the heat made her move back.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Or have I lost my mind?” she asked.
“Looks like we’ve both lost our minds.”
She glanced over at him and something strange happened. Even though her heart already palpitated like crazy because of what she witnessed, her belly fluttered with renewed excitement when she looked at him. Sure, she’d seen this man without a shirt before, but in the golden glow thrown off from the pillars, he looked like a god.
An aroused, incredible god.
His five o’clock shadow now stood out starkly against his skin and gave him the rough-and-tumble look of a bandit. His dark eyes captured hers, daring her to say anything. One word that would set him off. The way he looked at her, hungry and hot, said it wouldn’t take much to change his mind. To convince him he could have her right here and right now, regardless of the peculiar, carnal things they witnessed.
His erection pressed against the zipped front of his pants. His chest heaved up and down with his accelerated breathing. She ached to touch the hair-rough planes of his chest, to smooth her touch over firm muscles. Keira longed to search Zane’s secrets, to demand his vulnerability so that she could drive him as insane as he did her.
Walking toward her, he kept her gaze firmly pinned with his. “You’re the archaeologist. What the hell do you make of this?”
She almost smiled. As if he asked her about the sexual feelings pouring back and forth between them and not the pillars. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know what’s happening.”
When he stopped close, she breathed deeply of his heady, masculine scent. Her senses whirled, attraction doubling as an ache started deep inside her, begging for another completion, a finish to the inexorable craving.
As she looked up into his gorgeous face, she reached up and touched his jaw, felt the roughness stubble over the softer skin of her fingers. “Do you suppose the earthquake started this…uh…encounter?”
Special Investigations Agency: Primordial Page 16