by Lily Cahill
Suddenly, the beautiful natural landscape around them was torn apart by an ugly orange plastic fence. Through the lattice, Caleb could see that a huge area had been cleared of trees and grasses. A few sheds were plopped around the perimeter of the field with muddy boards forming a sort of sidewalk around the site. The ground was gashed here and there with yawning pits, and piles of mud were fetched up against the fence. It reminded Caleb of a very organized shanty town.
Caleb got out of the car as soon as Marley parked and headed toward the fence. Kam followed him. He had looked at the materials about the dig, but pictures and reports didn't make it clear how much of the hillside had been torn up. All around the site, majestic trees stood tall. But here, there was nothing.
"I didn't realize it would be so ugly," Caleb murmured to himself.
Beside him, Kam stiffened. "Ugly?"
"I just mean ... well, I didn't realize the process would be so disruptive to the natural environment."
"How are we supposed to get at what's underground," she said icily, "Without digging it up?"
He probably would have been offended if someone called his code work ugly, he thought. "Sure. Of course."
"We've set aside funds to rehabilitate the area after we're done," Kam said, still defensive. "And we partner with several local environmental groups."
"Okay."
"We use the most up-to-date technology to limit our environmental impact. Conductivity surveys, soil samples, LiDAR ... we don't just cut down trees for the hell of it."
"I never thought you did. I was just surprised."
"I wouldn't want you to think we're acting irresponsibly," Kam said. All traces of relaxation were gone from her now; she was every inch the huffy academic, defending her methodology. "Your money is being well spent, I assure you."
"So we're back to that again?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Did we ever get away from that?"
She had a point. Just because the money didn't matter to him didn't mean it was the same for her. "Look. I'm here because I want to learn more about the work you are doing here. And to be completely clear, I think you're doing a great job. Maybe it would be easier if you thought of me as a student, like one of your interns."
"Believe me," she muttered, "you are nothing like my usual intern."
"Well, pretend that I am. I am here to learn from you."
"That's all?"
He stepped closer to her. "Well, I'd welcome the opportunity to fuck you silly morning, noon, and night, but you said that's off the table."
She tilted her head up to meet his gaze, her eyes wide behind her glasses. "I meant it."
"I know. And if that's what you want, that's how we can handle it. And I swear, I'll be a good student. Attentive. Obedient. Dedicated."
Her breath was getting shorter, her pupils wider. She licked her lips, and it nearly brought him to his knees.
Then the back door to the van slammed. Marley started toward them with a bag full of tools in his hand.
Kam was looking at his chest now, her hands clasped tight. "If this is going to work, I need you to stop doing that."
"Doing what?" he purred.
"That. Flirting with me, telling me that you ...."
"That I want you."
"Yes," she said, blowing out a breath. "I'm serious, Caleb. We both know that this can't go anywhere. It won't work. It can only end in heartbreak."
He met her eyes for a long moment. He had never experienced heartbreak, but he thought it must be something like this. The person he wanted most in the world was right in front of him. And she didn't want him back.
How could she not feel what he felt? How could she stand to be with someone else?
She cleared her throat. "Do you still want to take a look around the dig?"
"Yes," he said, though his throat was raw. Is this what fate had in store for him? Loving a woman who loved someone else?
Chapter Ten
Kamilah
"So, how are things going with our resident billionaire?"
"Fine," Kam said as she stripped off the damp towel she had wrapped around her body and started to dress for bed in flannel pants and a camisole.
"Fine?" Her annoyance was clear, even over the speaker phone. "The last time I talked to you, you were convinced he was going to take over the dig. Now everything is fine?"
Kam shook her head. If she were being honest, she would tell Alex that her entire world felt upside down. For the first time in her life, logic was failing her.
Logic dictated that it was messy and unprofessional to have a relationship with Caleb Ingram.
Logic indicated that he would follow his established relationship pattern, as documented by the tabloids--a few months of whirlwind romance, followed by swift ending.
Logic reminded her that repeated sexual encounters increased attachment. Therefore, if she wanted to avoid being a victim of his established pattern, she ought not engage in further sexual interactions ... no matter how much she wanted to.
After all, it was only logical that they would cross paths again in the future. If InTech was going to continue funding the dig--which she sincerely hoped they would--it was essential that she be able to treat Caleb with the proper distance.
Which was driving her completely insane.
"Yeah, fine," Kam sighed.
"Okay, you have to give me more information than that," Alex said. "And will you take me off speaker phone? I can barely hear you."
Kam picked up her phone and put it to her ear. "Sorry."
"That's better." Having Alex's voice in her ear was more intimate than the speaker phone. Harder to avoid the truth. "Okay. Tell me about him."
"He's ... useful." The word fit, although it didn't begin to describe him. "He's always working on something. He fixed the LiDAR, by the way."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Took him, like, thirty seconds to figure it out," Kam said with a tinge of frustration.
"God, think of all the hours we spent cursing at that machine," Alex laughed. "What else? What's he like?"
"Not like I thought," Kam said. "He doesn't act rich."
"Act rich?" Alex giggled. "What, did you think he'd be blowing his nose on hundred dollar bills? Wearing diamond cuff links to the dig?"
"You know what I mean. I figured, a guy like him, he'd have fancy tastes. He'd want to go out to dinner, shop. Whatever it is that rich people do. But he seems perfectly content to spend the evening at the house, cataloging pottery shards."
He'd looked so handsome doing it, too, with such care and focus. The memory was interrupted by Alex's laugh. "Well, that's just crazy."
"But at the same time, he's really generous. Yesterday, a whole bunch of new computers showed up at the house. InTech brand. He said we needed new equipment, and it was pointless to spend InTech's money on products he could get for free."
"Wait. You mean I can finally get rid of the laptop I've been using since college? Woo-hoo!"
"He really seems interested in archeology. In the Yursui. He's actually been really helpful. And he cooks," Kam said. Now that she had started talking about Caleb, she didn't want to stop. "Tonight he made lasagna."
"It sounds like you're starting to like him."
Kam shut her eyes. "Like him" didn't even begin to cover it. She craved him, yearned for him, so every second they worked together felt like exquisite torture. When she slept, her imagination went into overdrive, conjuring up wild fantasies that left her hot and aching. The man was driving her crazy, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could take it.
And the craziest part was that he seemed completely unaffected. She'd asked him to stop, and he'd stopped. He'd stopped looking at her, stopped flirting with her, stopped touching her. Stopped calling her "Professor." It was like a switch had flipped inside him from "ardent lover" to "disinterested colleague."
Which was exactly what she had wanted, she thought bitterly, until she had it.
She should have slept with him agai
n while she had the chance. She should have wrung every drop of pleasure out of their time together. She should have sated herself on him, saved up every memory like a squirrel tucking away its winter stores. Instead, she had pushed him away. And he had gone.
Again, Kam yearned to tell Alex everything. They were best friends, and it felt like lying to not tell Alex how she was feeling. But really, what was there to say? He wasn't interested in her anymore, so it was moot.
Instead, she changed the subject. "I'd rather work with you any day. When do you get out of the hospital?"
"Tomorrow, come hell or high water. If the doctor says I have to stay, I'll make a break for it."
Kam smiled. She missed Alex, and hated knowing she had been ill. "Good. Because I'm going to put you to work right away, analyzing our new data."
"Can't wait," Alex said cheerfully. "And I'll finally get to meet Caleb Ingram for myself."
A horrible thought occurred to Kam. What if, now that Caleb had lost interest in her, he started flirting with Alex instead? Alex was certainly attractive, and she was more gregarious and approachable than Kam was.
She didn't think she could stand it.
Just then, a knock came at the door. Thinking it was Marley, Kam shouted "Come in!"
It wasn't Marley. It was Caleb.
He was carrying one of the books she had loaned him, along with a bag of chocolate chip cookies. His brow was furrowed. "Hey, Marley went to the store and I was hoping you could explain something to me. I was reading about carbon dating, and ... "
He trailed off as he took in how she was dressed. His eyes traveled all the way down her body, from her wet hair to the blue polish on her toes. When his eyes finally came back to hers, she saw a flash of the hunger she had missed seeing in his eyes. "Alex, I've got to go."
"All right, I'll call you tomorrow night from the road," Alex said, even as Caleb stiffened and looked away.
"Sounds good. Have a safe trip. Talk to you later." Kam hung up the phone and stood. Her heart was pounding, wild with yearning. "Sorry about that. What was your question?"
"Was that Alex? Dr. Winter?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say 'I love you?'"
Kam tipped her head quizzically. "Why would I?"
"I thought Alex was your partner," he said, his voice tight.
For a moment, Kam was lost, but then her mind cleared. "Partner, like research partner. We've been working as a team for years."
"You're not ... together?"
"No," Kam said with a laugh. "Did I give you that impression?"
He dropped the book and the cookies where he stood. Before she could blink, he had swept her up in his arms.
Chapter Eleven
Kamilah
She barely had time to understand what was happening when he pulled back. "You have to choose," he said roughly. "You said no more, and I respect that. But please--please--say yes."
"Yes," she said, nodding frantically. She was tired of logic, tired of doubts. Tired of denying everything she wanted. "Yes, gods, yes."
When his mouth came down on hers, Kam felt like a volcano had erupted inside her. All of the passion and desire that had been simmering under her skin exploded in a rush of passion. His mouth was on her, his hands were on her, and there was no question of denial.
She wrapped her arms around him and clung, trying to get closer. She couldn't get close enough. The kiss was desperate, wild, as if he hungered for her as violently as she did for him. The pressure of his hands thrilled her skin as he relentlessly stroked her back, her ass, her shoulders.
When he finally took her breasts in his hands she moaned into his mouth. He growled in return, kneading her tender flesh as he flicked his thumbs over her taut nipples. She threaded her hands into his gorgeous hair and offered herself up to him completely.
She wanted to keep kissing him forever, keep his mouth hot and hungry on hers, but his lips moved down to her neck, her throat. She arched her back, wanting his mouth on her breasts, and he obliged. When he nipped and tugged at her nipples, she felt an answering pull in her center.
He pulled the camisole over her head with one hand and shucked off her pajama pants with the other. She hadn't bothered with underwear, so there was nothing stopping him from slipping two long fingers inside her.
Her knees buckled as she cried out. She had never come that fast, with no more than a touch. But then his fingers were moving, sliding deftly in and out as his thumb rolled over her clit. It seemed like only seconds before she was coming again, gasping and moaning as she clung to his shoulders for balance. He was watching her intently, his eyes dark and focused, deliberately driving her further and further. It was the hunger in his eyes, the absolute concentration, that drove her over a third time.
She was still shuddering when he lifted her in his arms. It was only two short steps to the bed. He set her down, and she had a truly superb view of his body as he stripped off his shirt and dropped his pants. Hard, carved muscle rippled over his torso and wrapped around his powerful thighs.
And there was his fantastic cock, standing tall for her. Desiring her. Kam wanted to taste that desire, wanted to know every inch of him. She slipped off the bed, dropped to her knees, and took his cock in her mouth.
"Shit. Oh shit, that's hot," he said, his body taut as a wire. His hands tangled in her damp hair. He didn't try to direct her motions as she bobbed up and down, swirling her tongue around the blunt head before taking him deep again. He never took his eyes off her as he moaned curses and praises, incoherent with pleasure.
Suddenly, he pulled back, almost shoving her back on the bed. "Tell me you have condoms," he panted.
She gestured at the bedside table and he ripped the drawer open. He found the packet and sheathed himself with trembling hands. "I've been waiting for this. Wanting this. I have to have you."
She laid back and welcomed him into her arms.
He kissed her again as he pressed his full weight on her. This kiss was just as hot and passionate, but it was tinged with a softer emotion that made Kam's heart tremble. She knew, then, that she was already in love with him. It was improbable, irrational, insane. That didn't stop her heart from lifting with the knowledge.
Caleb lifted himself up on an elbow and cupped her face with one hand. He looked directly into her eyes as he pressed inside her. She wanted to keep her gaze locked with his, but pleasure made her eyes roll back. "Oh god. I missed this so much."
He grinned in a way that was both boyish and very, very adult. "It's been over a week. I can't believe we made it this long."
"Sex releases the same brain chemicals as opiates. It's highly addictive."
"If you're doing it right," he said, and began to stroke in and out of her. Soon they were both moaning, both delirious with pleasure. He lowered his mouth to her nipples again, and she cupped her breasts in her hands to bring the taut nubs closer to his lips. He drove into her again and again, and she wrapped her legs around his hips so she could grind against him.
"Fuck. Fuck, you're going to make me come," he groaned. He pressed himself up on his hands so he could fuck her faster, harder, deeper.
"Yes," Kam cried, eager for him to have the same pleasure he had given her. "Come for me."
He froze, buried inside her with his jaw locked and his eyes blind. She could feel his cock pulsing inside her and she ground against him, so close, so close ....
When the orgasm finally hit, it felt like a thunderbolt. It cracked her open, breaking up space in her soul that could only be filled with Caleb. When he collapsed on top of her, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and trembled with satisfaction.
Chapter Twelve
Caleb
"Wait. You thought that Alex and I were together?"
Caleb's eyes blinked open. He'd been drifting happily on a post-sex haze with Kam cuddled into his chest, thinking about how deeply satisfying it was to make love to his mate. It took him a moment to comprehend what she was saying.
; He ran his hands down her back, relishing the way her body dipped and curved. "I figured that was why you were trying to avoid this."
She wiggled until he loosened his arms, letting her push back. "And all the other reasons I gave you that this was a bad idea, I was just making them up?"
"That's not what I said." Caleb pushed his hand through his hair. "I respect you as a professional. But we hammered out the financial end of things, didn't we? It has nothing to do with what's between us."
"It's not that simple," she said, sitting up.
Her hair coursed down her back, making Caleb want to run his fingers through it. "It is to me. I don't know how to make you understand, but the fact is the money doesn't matter to me."
"But my imaginary relationship with Alex does?"
"You told me to stop because you wanted to avoid the heartbreak. I thought you meant you didn't want to end your relationship."
She was frowning at him. For some reason, that made him smile. He knew her temper was up, but he was too pleased to stir up any anger of his own.
He would rather argue with her than get along with anyone else.
She was propped up on one arm, and he ran an experimental finger up the side of her body. She shivered, but shook him off. "So what was your plan? You would just hang out on the sidelines until Alex and I broke up?"
He smiled lazily. "It worked."
"It didn't work," she said, smacking his shoulder. She let her hand linger on his arm. "It can't work when your essential premise was false. But it's unbelievably arrogant to assume that I would just leave my longtime partner because some handsome billionaire genius wants to get in my pants."
He grinned at her. "'Handsome billionaire genius?'"
When her scowl deepened, he laughed. "Come on. Come back here," he said, coaxing her down until she was snuggled against him again. "Kam, I'm not sure why you're fighting this. Yeah, it isn't easy or perfect or totally logical, but what's between us is special. This sort of connection is rare. I can't see any good reason not to pursue it."