Carnal Chemistry

by Katie Allen

  “Hi.” She gave a dorky little wave, realized what she was doing and immediately dropped her hand. “I’m Lauren.”

  Aristotle looked at her expressionlessly for a moment before turning his gaze on Cal, who suddenly became interested in looking around at the scenery. With a shake of his head, Aristotle looked up at the sky and scrubbed a hand over his head.

  “Christ, it’s like fucking Noah’s ark around here, coming in two by two,” he muttered. “Thought you’d be smarter than that, C.”

  “Fuck off, dickhead,” Cal growled, slamming his door shut with enough force to make Lauren wince. “I wouldn’t have made it here if it wasn’t for her.”

  She met Aristotle’s gaze again and tried to match his cool, one-eyebrow-lifted expression. A slight hint of amusement touched his mouth before he locked it down.

  “Thanks for letting us hide here. Just point us to the nearest extra bed.” She realized she was over-sharing, or over-implying, at least. “Or...um...two beds or, well, sofas would be fine or a couple of sleeping bags even...”

  They were both staring at her again. Calvin looked amused.

  “One bed will do.” Heat joined the laughter in his eyes. “Where are we staying?”

  Aristotle jerked his head toward the far side of the lodge. “Take any of the three cabins on the west side. Once you unpack, park the car in the shed behind the last cabin.”

  She couldn’t hold back a laugh at that. “Unpack what? What you see is what we own. See these jeans? Not mine. All our stuff blew up. You wouldn’t happen to have some spare toothbrushes, would you?”

  After eyeing her for a moment, he gave a clipped nod. “We’ve got supplies. Get the car out of sight and pick a cabin, then come back here. Everyone else is inside.”

  Although the mention of “everyone” roused her curiosity, she forced herself back in the car. Cal drove them along a curving path that was so narrow the pine boughs brushed the windows. It wasn’t far to the first cabin, and the second and third came along in quick succession.

  “That one,” Lauren said when she saw the third cabin. “But they’re all cute. Did this used to be a resort?”

  He nodded, pulling the car into a three-sided shed. “Looks like it.”

  She climbed out, hauling the case of water and food with her, although she was tempted to leave the protein bars out for the squirrels. As she circled the car, he met her and took the supplies out of her arms. They followed the path back to the third cabin.

  “Not to ask a rude question, but did Aristotle buy this place or are we all just squatting?” She skipped a step to catch up to him and had to sigh. Once again, she was following him through the woods.

  “He owns it,” he tossed over his shoulder, moving the supplies to one arm to free up the other hand to open the door, which had apparently been left unlocked.

  “How’d he get the money?” she asked, following him inside. “To ask another rude question.”

  He grinned at her. “He and Benji got banned from a few Vegas casinos.”

  “Counting cards, just another useful bionic skill.” She looked around the small cabin. It was mainly one room with spiral stairs leading to a loft. It was decorated in a Western motif, with a twisted pine coffee table and a red, comfortable-looking couch. The flat-screen TV mounted on the log wall appeared to be fairly new, albeit dusty. A mini-kitchen took up a section of the far wall, with a sink, small refrigerator and a microwave.

  After climbing the narrow spiral staircase, she saw the loft held a queen bed and a dresser. The upstairs covered half of the lower level and a waist-high railing lined the edge overlooking the main living space. She trotted back down the stairs and headed for one of the two interior doors.

  Peeking inside, she smiled when she found a full bathroom. Until she saw it, she wasn’t sure exactly how rustic the cabin-living experience was going to be. Peeing behind a rock was fine in an emergency, but she’d prefer not having to do it on a regular basis. Plus, sometimes there was nothing better than a hot shower—her three days on the road had hammered that home.

  Opening the second door, she found a closet. As she stared at the bare hangers, she added clothes to the mental list of supplies they’d need for their stay. Chewing on the inside of her lower lip, she closed the door.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She turned around at the sound of Cal’s voice. “What?”

  “You’re staring at a door, so obviously something’s up.”

  Her legs felt shaky suddenly. She moved to the couch and plopped down.

  “Shit, what is it?” He followed, crouching down in front of her.

  “I just realized this isn’t over.”

  He looked at her blankly.

  “When we were driving, the goal was to make it here. Now that we’re here...well, we’re here.”

  With a shake of his head, he said, “You’re losing me. What are you trying to say?”

  “This is going to be our lives for a while, isn’t it? Hiding?”

  His eyes were wary. “Yeah.”

  She nodded.

  His hands grasped her thighs, and she looked down at them, sucking in a breath at the pressure on the bandaged cut on her right leg.

  “Sorry.” He immediately released her, holding his palms a couple of inches above her lap. “Do you want to be here? With me?”

  His words were low but they had a frantic edge, so unlike Cal’s usual unflappable demeanor that she brought her gaze up to meet his once more.

  Before she could say anything, he spoke again, low and fast. “You’re not safe out there on your own. You can’t go back to Florida. They’ll take you to the lab. It’s too fucking late. I tried to keep you out of this, but now you’re in it. You can’t motherfucking leave. Shit, Laur—I don’t want you to leave.”

  While he was talking, his hands had moved to grasp handfuls of her coat. He pulled her closer, inserting his crouched body between her knees and pressing his forehead to her shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Cal,” she soothed, her hands automatically rubbing his back. “I don’t want to leave. I just had a moment of... I don’t know...reality. It just hit me that the road trip was just the beginning. This is real and scary, and I won’t be able to go home for who knows how long.”

  Wrapping his arms around her, he stood up and turned, rotating so he was sitting on the couch with her in his lap. He unzipped her coat and slid his arms underneath, hugging her against his chest.

  “Why the hell did an empty closet make you realize this, and not exploding cars or fucking tranquilizer darts?”

  She huffed a laugh against his chest. “Good question. I think I was just focused on surviving then. Well, surviving and not whining so you wouldn’t bitch at me.”

  His hands slid up and down her back. “I want you to stay. Not just so you’ll be safe. I want you with me. I think about you leaving, and my chest caves in.”

  “I know the exact chest-caving feeling you’re talking about.” She pushed back to look at him. “Despite everything, I’m glad I warned you when the agents were looking for you at TechnoCorp. I’m glad I got sucked into this craziness. I’d even sign up for our road trip from hell again, if it was the only way I could be with you.”

  He yanked her back against him and pressed his lips below her ear. Lauren could feel his heart thundering in his chest, beating faster than it had when he’d run, carrying her, from the agents. She was amazed that she’d returned the Bionic Man to his basic human form, to a point where his heart raced just from holding her against him.

  “All mushiness aside,” she said after a long moment, “it would be nice to be able to leave the mountain eventually.”

  He groaned and his grip eased slightly. “Fuck. You want a long-term plan, don’t you?”

  Leaning back, she grinned up at him. “Ye
p.”

  He smiled back. “A motherfucking long-term plan it is, then.”

  * * * * *

  Coming soon from Carina Press and Katie Allen

  Want Aristotle’s story?

  Read on for a sneak preview of DOUBLE DOSE, the next book in Katie Allen’s RESEARCH & DESIRE series

  Daphne’s whole life revolved around talking, around the science of moving the mouth and lips and tongue in just the right way to make sounds other people could understand. She’d gone to school for a ridiculous amount of time and worked with patient after patient for years, first as a student and then as a full-fledged speech-language pathologist at the clinic.

  Despite all that, this man took away her words.

  It wasn’t just that he was hot, as in incredibly, mind-erasingly hot. There was something about him that just drew her. He could have easily played the leading role in an action movie, with his chiseled jaw and ice-blue eyes. A black stocking hat covered his head, and his fleece-lined flannel shirt muffled the lines of his arms and chest, but Daphne knew, just knew, that all the hidden parts were just as beautiful as those exposed.

  Longing surged through her, but it was quickly shut down by a wall of guilt.

  She frowned. There was no reason to be guilty anymore. She could ogle any gorgeous man she wanted to ogle. It was over—a year of dating and three months of being engaged were done.

  Brett had left Denver weeks ago, taking his clients’ money with him but leaving her behind.

  Despite the “ex” part of her ex-fiancé, this man was so beyond her realm of possibility. She was pretty enough, but ever since she’d skipped ahead two grades in elementary school, it seemed the social cues involved in being popular had always escaped her. The few friends and fewer boyfriends she’d had before Brett had fallen squarely in the nerd spectrum. Brett, with his runner’s body and white smile, had been the hottest guy to ever even look at her twice. Unfortunately, it had taken her more than a year to discover the reason behind that second look.

  The stranger was staring at her, standing stock-still by the door of her waiting room. The clinic’s receptionist, Jan, had turned off the majority of the lights when she and the other staff members had left at five-thirty, so the man was blanketed in shadow. She wondered for a moment how hot he’d be in the full light but shook the thought from her mind. There were more important things to consider, such as the fact that she was alone with this huge, rough-looking stranger in an abandoned waiting room, next to a door Jan always locked each night before leaving.

  She was tempted to take a step back, but she squashed her instinctual alarm. Jan had most likely forgotten to lock the door, and this poor man probably thought Daphne was a crazy woman because of the way she was silently standing and staring at him.

  Clearing her throat, she broke the silence. “Can I help you?”

  “Dr. Dahl?” His voice was delicious, deep and smooth. Her name also sent a wash of relief through her. He was just a potential patient who’d come through an accidentally unlocked door after hours.

  “Yes.” She put on her professional smile, stepped forward, and reached out her hand for him to shake. “Were you waiting long? Office hours have actually been over for a while. The receptionist must have forgotten to lock the door when she left.”

  He held her hand, pulling her toward him. “No.”

  She cocked her head, her smile wavering as she was drawn even closer to his mountainous form. “You weren’t waiting long?”

  “No. She didn’t forget.”

  When the words finally penetrated, it was too late. A large hand pressed a cloth against her nose and mouth. Before she could open her lips to scream, everything disappeared into darkness.

  Don’t miss DOUBLE DOSE by Katie Allen.

  Available October 2017 wherever Carina Press ebooks are sold.

  www.CarinaPress.com

  Copyright © 2017 by Katie Allen

  Also available from Katie Allen and Carina Press

  Research & Desire

  Erotic Experiments

  Natural Selection

  Coming soon from Katie Allen and Carina Press

  Research & Desire

  Double Dose

  Also available from Katie Allen, writing as Katie Ruggle

  Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue

  Hold Your Breath

  Fan the Flames

  Gone Too Deep

  In Safe Hands

  Rocky Mountain K9 Unit

  Run to Ground

  On the Chase

  About the Author

  Katie Allen is the fabulously filthy-minded alter ego of romantic-suspense author Katie Ruggle. She lived in an off-grid solar- and wind-powered house in the Rocky Mountains until her family lured her back to Minnesota. When she’s not writing, Katie rides horses, shoots guns (target shooting only, since killing anything other than paper makes her ugly-cry), cross-country skis (badly) and travels to warm places where she can scuba dive. A graduate of the police academy, Katie is a self-professed forensics nerd. A fan of anything that makes her feel like a badass, she has trained in Krav Maga, boxing and gymnastics. You can connect with Katie at katieruggle.com, Facebook.com/katierugglebooks or on Twitter, @katieruggle.

  Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!

  The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:

  This book contains a romance central to the plot and ends in an HEA or HFN.

  Simple, right? But so important, we know!

  Look for the Carina Press Romance Promise and one-click with confidence that we understand what’s at the heart of the romance genre!

  Look for this line in Carina Press book descriptions:

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

  Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise.

  Find out more at CarinaPress.com.

  More satisfying erotic romances to fill your desires.

  Read one—or all—of these!

  TOO TABOO: An Erotic Romance Anthology

  In this erotic romance anthology, a sex surrogate is drawn into a relationship with a client she wasn’t expecting—and can’t resist. Two rugged men show a trespasser just what happens when a good girl breaks the rules. And an experienced agent in seduction is captured by her enemy, who turns her worst fears into her darkest cravings.

  This anthology includes:

  ABSOLVE ME by Morgaine Cameron

  TWICE AS HARD by Amber Bardan

  SEDUCTION SQUAD: CAPTURED by Amanda Stewart

  Stories also available for purchase separately.

  LITTLE DANCER by Brianna Hale

  Twenty-year-old dancer Abby Williams is shocked when a spark of curios-ity and taboo desire have her wanting more from the darkly handsome and commanding Rufus Kingsolver. Under Rufus’s firm hand, they explore the erotic depths of their unconventional, yet beautiful, relationship. Abby is falling deeper in love with Rufus and the Little/Dom lifestyle, but it’s not long before she comes face-to-face with her darkest fear—judgment from the outside world.

  Daddy knows best, but what if, this once, he can’t protect her?

  PRINCESS BRAT by Brianna Hale

  Throwing tantrums may be childish behavior, but it’s the only way Adrienne Westley feels she can be heard. Bodyguard Dieter Vanderbroeck doesn’t give in to her bratty attitude
, try as she might to defy him. With a commanding voice and a firm hand, Dieter’s authoritative tone calls to a part of Adrienne that she’s long kept hidden—and as Dieter begins to unravel her submissive nature, it becomes harder and harder to keep things professional.

  The Luminous series by Stacey Lynn

  DOMINATE ME

  The first time I felt Master Jensen’s presence beside me, I knew he would be the one to show me all the kinky pleasures of Luminous. That I would give my body to him. Begin my journey to sexual freedom at his feet. But when I dared raise my eyes to his, I saw he would get a part of me no man had had before: my trust.

  “Well done and titillating. Interference from well-meaning friends adds an interesting measure of conflict to the story.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  CRAVE ME

  I know I shouldn’t covet my sister’s ex-boyfriend. She may have wanted nothing to do with his BDSM lifestyle, but I’m a born submissive. And the only place I want to be is under Simon’s command. But he won’t go near me. Not with the memory of her so close. That leaves me no choice. If he won’t touch me when he knows who I am, I’ll have to come to him in disguise. He’s worth the risk. I’m meant to be his. Now I just have to prove it to him.

  LONG FOR ME

  I’ve seen what happens when you give everything to a man. That’s not what I want. I won’t have my heart crushed in anyone’s fist. Then he changed everything. Him. Bennett Ashby. My boss. Seeing him at Luminous, dressed in leather pants and wielding a whip... Do I crave this? My mind says no, but my body is starting to have very different ideas.

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