Unearthed

by Ann B. Morris

  When they reached the second-floor landing, Beck turned and gave Jeremy a thumbs-up.

  No doubt about it, the guy definitely had class.

  ****

  As soon as the bedroom door closed, Beck reached for Alex. “I’ve missed you like hell,” he whispered.

  She let out a pent-up breath and reacted to his candid admission by throwing herself into his arms. “I’ve missed you, too.” And she had. In the midst of everything that happened all day, she’d wished more than once Beck was with her.

  Well, he was with her now, and she would make the most of it. While his mouth found hers, and his hands explored every part of her body he could reach, she jerked his shirt free from the waistband of his jeans.

  His mouth on hers wasn’t enough nor was the feel of his touch through layers of fabric. She wanted more. She wanted what she’d had during those glorious early morning hours when his body covered hers. She wanted to feel all of him—every inch of his gloriously naked body. Her hands slid upward under his shirt until her palms found the thick, crisp curls that covered his chest.

  Her breath came in short pants as he took kiss after kiss without lifting his mouth from hers, but she would gladly have taken her last breath before she would have drawn away. She returned his kisses with an intensity as strong as his. A throaty groan escaped his lips, and piece by piece he stripped her clothes from her body until they were strewn on the floor at their feet.

  Suddenly, with a deeper groan, he grasped her wrists and pinned her arms at her sides. “I’m about out of my mind with wanting you,” he said, his mouth at the hollow of her throat, his breath hot against her wildly beating pulse. “If we don’t move to the bed this instant, I’ll take you right here.”

  She shuddered, every nerve in her body taut with anticipation. Did he think it mattered where he took her? On the floor, against the wall—as long as he was inside her, she didn’t care where they ended up. She lifted her hips against his and pressed along the hard ridge of his fly, testing his words as well as his resolve.

  Beck lifted her by the waist, spun them both, and inched them toward the wall until her back flattened against it. “I couldn’t wait to get back here,” he said, his forehead and nose touching hers. He cupped her breasts in his hands.

  She thought she would die right on the spot if he didn’t take her before she drew another breath. As he pulled her to him, an overwhelming weariness flooded over her. She turned her head away from him so he wouldn’t notice the deep yawn she tried to check.

  “Damn.” He pulled away, scooped her up in his arms and started across the room.

  “What are you doing?” She was all tense with wanting him, but strangely relaxed at the same time.

  “Taking you to bed. So you can sleep.” He was already at the side of the bed. He set her down easily and leaned down to pull back the covers. “Slide in.” He gave her a gentle nudge.

  She obeyed without question and put out a hand to touch him, but he’d already started for the other side of the bed. She turned her head so she could follow his movements. The only light in the room was filtered moonlight that spilled in through the slatted blinds. She watched as he took off his shirt. “Turn on the lamp,” she murmured.

  “You won’t go to sleep with the light on.”

  “Please. I want to watch you undress.”

  “Damn, you’re a hard-headed woman.” He switched on the bedside lamp then continued to remove his clothes.

  She watched him through a sleepy, sensuous daze. Rivers of heat flowed up and down her body at the sight of his full arousal. “Beautiful,” she whispered and reached for him as he slid under the covers beside her.

  Beck caught her wrist just as her fingers brushed the tip of his erection. “Damnit lady, you’re giving me a rough time tonight. But I’m willing to undergo the torture if you go to sleep. You’re exhausted.”

  She giggled. Then she giggled again, feeling slapstick silly. “Do you know you’ve said ‘damn’ four times and you never used that favorite four-letter word of yours once.”

  He slipped his arm under her shoulders and tucked her head under his chin. Laughter rumbled in his chest and bounced her head up and down. “You mean you’d rather have me say, ‘fuck, lady, you’re giving me a rough time tonight’?”

  Again, she giggled. “No. I like damn better. I just couldn’t help noticing you’ve cleaned up your act a little, that’s all.” A long, deep yawn caught her on the last word. She curved a leg around his and draped an arm across his chest.

  He gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “Go to sleep. We can talk later.”

  She giggled. “I want to talk now. I mean I’d rather be doing something else, but since you don’t want to, I have no choice.”

  He turned his head and caught the tip of her nose between his teeth. “Not, don’t want to. I always want to with you. But I’m not that insensitive. According to your friend, you’ve had a rough day and probably very little sleep.”

  She felt the cloud of sleep descending quickly. “You haven’t had any more sleep than I had. And I’m sure you had just as grueling a day. Besides, I want to talk.”

  Beck sighed and turned his body more toward her. “Okay, you win. Talk. What do you want to talk about?”

  “Umm. I don’t know. What do you want to hear?” Was she only imagining it, or were her words slurred?

  This time, his sigh was more like a moan. “Okay. Okay. As soon as I had the chance, I meant to ask you about the necklace you found. You and Jeremy were talking way over my head downstairs. You skipped a lot of the details a dummy like me needs to know.”

  “Shush.” She passed her fingers over his lips. “You’re not a dummy. What do you want to know?” She took a couple of deep breaths to pull in more oxygen so she could think clearer.

  “What the necklace looked like. From what you and Jeremy said, I gathered it was the real thing.”

  Some of the drugged feeling dissipated as she told him about the artifact she’d unearthed. “Of all the stories that have circulated throughout the years about a young Indian couple, all have deviated in some way from each other. The only thing always constant is the description of the charm on the end of the leather necklace that hung around the young maiden’s neck.” She slurred her words again.

  “And?” He gave her shoulder a gentle shake. “Don’t fall asleep on me now,” he whispered jokingly, his lips at her temple.

  She took a deep breath. He felt so good. She felt so good. “A replica of a bird’s head. As the story goes, the young Indian male gave it to the young maiden shortly after they met. Supposedly, he named her ‘Little Bird That Sings Sweetly,’ because she had such a soft, sweet voice.” She snuggled closer and struggled to pull her thoughts together so she could finish the story. “According to the legend, one eye of the bird was larger than the other, exactly like on the artifact. Finding that artifact has been the most exciting thing that’s happened in my career.”

  “This necklace—did it have some special significance to them—like maybe engagement rings do in our culture?”

  “Only that he made it especially for her. The necklace was a token of his love, not as highly regarded in their society as it should have been since she was the daughter of an important chief, and he was just a lowly warrior and….” Her body felt heavy with the need for sleep. She yawned against his throat.

  Alex felt herself pulled into a dream then tumbled from one dream to another, all of them troubled. But in every one Beck was always close enough for her to touch or to catch her when she fell.

  ****

  Beck came awake slowly. For a second, he didn’t know where he was. Then he remembered. He was in Alex’s bed. The room was still dark, so daylight hadn’t arrived yet.

  Something awakened him. Something pleasant. He fought to recall the sensation. Then he felt it again. Between his legs, cupping his testicles, a warm hand, Alex’s hand. His cock responded.

  She nuzzled her face closer against his side. “Are
you awake?” she whispered.

  “Ain’t no way in hell a man could sleep through that,” he said groggily, covering her hand with his and pressing her hand closer to his body.

  He rolled to his side, her hand still cupping him. He took away his hand from hers and ran it down her smooth, soft belly until he found the rise of her mound, then worked his finger down until her wetness drew him inside. “Oh, babe,” he moaned, coming fully awake now with her hand massaging him more firmly and his finger coaxing soft moans of pleasure from her throat.

  He withdrew his finger and gently lifted her hand from between his legs then crossed a leg over her hips and straddled her. He found the hard peak of a breast with his lips and sucked quickly but gently. His thumb and forefinger found the other peak and mimicked the suction motion of his mouth, while his throbbing erection sought the opening he had prepared. “I can’t wait.” He needed to come so badly he had to clench his jaws to keep from shouting out.

  “I’ll die if you do.” She reached between them and helped him make his entry faster, and when it was done, she cupped him again while he thrust inside her. Before long they both begged for release.

  “I’ve got to stop a while, babe,” he said, his voice ragged, his chest heaving for air. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.” He tried to slow his thrusts and pull back, but her grip on his testicles was too firm.

  Locking her legs tighter around him, she whispered in his ear how he made her feel and how she would die if he didn’t let her come right then.

  He couldn’t resist her plea, or the tightening in his body and the spinning in his head. “I’m coming, babe,” he moaned, plunging even deeper and harder inside her.

  Her body jerked and bucked and her heat closed around him the instant he burst forth inside her.

  In the next second, her mouth moved from his shoulder to his lips.

  He kissed her deeply, his body still pumping in short, ecstatic bursts while her still-throbbing muscles slowly relaxed around him.

  “Are you sure you’re not sorry I woke you?”

  He brushed away damp strands of hair from her eye and kissed her forehead. “I’ll let you know after the next round. If I can keep you awake, it’ll make this little session seem amateurish.”

  “Promises, promises.” She giggled and moved beneath him, sliding her hand from between his legs and moving them outward to stroke his thigh.

  “I might make you wish I hadn’t made any promises at all before the rest of this night is over,” he teased.

  She slid her hand under him again.

  He jumped at her touch. “Easy, babe, they haven’t recovered, yet.”

  “I just wanted to speed things along to help you keep your promise.” She continued to massage him, lightening her touch, but keeping her hand firmly in place.

  “You witch. You enjoy torturing me, don’t you?”

  She laughed and caught his chin in her mouth, opened her mouth to say something, and froze when his cell phone rang.

  Beck groped on the floor for his pants, found the phone still clipped to his belt, unhooked it, and answered in a record five seconds. “Call the police,” he shouted, fighting to keep panic out of his voice. He rolled to the floor and, with one hand, pulled on his pants, not bothering with his briefs.

  Alarmed, Alex sat up.

  Dancing around the room, hopping from one foot to the other while still talking into the phone, Beck put on his socks and boots. He gestured between her and the floor. The gesture was enough to get her on her feet and scrambling for her robe.

  Beck reclipped the phone to his belt and had one arm in his shirt when he raced across the room, snatched her hand, and dragged her out into the hall. He pounded once on Jeremy’s door but didn’t wait for an invitation to enter. Still dragging Alex behind him, he almost collided with a naked Jeremy hurrying toward them. He pushed Alex toward Jeremy. “Don’t let her out of your sight until you see me again. She could be in danger.” He fled from the room.

  Alex stood, with her heart in her throat.

  “What the hell is going on?” Jeremy shouted in bewilderment.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Beck yelled over his shoulder as he headed for the stairs. “Just keep her safe.”

  Alex wrapped her arms around her waist against a shiver that raced up her spine. “I only caught a few words, but I think someone set his father’s house on fire.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alex closed the menu, laid it on the green plastic table, and looked at Jeremy seated across from her. After Elaine French’s funeral, they stopped at a restaurant on their way back to the site. “I don’t feel good about your taking time off from work just to follow me around.”

  Jeremy shook his head slowly from side to side. “We’ve been through this a half-dozen times, at least, Alex. Your friend is worried about you. I’m not letting down either of you. So, it’s settled. I stay with you until Beck returns. Case closed.”

  She let out a long sigh and settled back against the padded leather booth, too emotionally drained to argue the point any more. Neither slept after Beck’s hasty departure. Even before they left for the funeral that morning, she’d received a frantic call from her mother, insisting Alex visit her before the scheduled anniversary party the following week.

  Her mother wouldn’t tell her the full story, just that Alex’s father insisted she cancel the celebration immediately. Ten full minutes passed before Alex calmed her mother enough to promise she’d call back as soon as possible and that she’d do everything in her power to visit her the coming weekend.

  Then, after a losing battle with Jeremy, they’d set off for Mississippi—she in her car, and he in his rental. She’d signaled him off the highway only minutes before so they could stop for lunch. Not something she wanted, but something he’d made her promise they’d do since they’d had a hasty, rushed breakfast and no time to eat since.

  “If I’d had any idea what was going on at that site, I’d probably have flown here weeks ago,” Jeremy said.

  They’d spent a good while after Beck left, drinking cup after cup of coffee while she told him in detail everything that happened since her first day on the site, including her first encounter with Beck. Just like Beck, Jeremy thought it highly unlikely that all the other incidents occurring since then were not somehow related.

  “The situation’s just too weird. Why would somebody want to harm me or the site? The only people who could possibly be upset are one of the native tribes, and everything is fine with them. They’ve all offered to cooperate in any way they can. They’re happy the unearthing is being done in a professional way, knowing they’ll benefit in the end.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “Who knows if anything that’s going on is directed at you, personally. But you can’t take any chances. People do strange things for strange reasons. As the old saying goes, ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’.”

  Alex was ready with a comeback when the waitress arrived to take their order. After the waitress left, she picked up the conversation. “I met Beck’s father last week strictly by accident,” she told him. “He’s one of us.”

  Jeremy lifted a brow.

  She told him about the last-minute detour the week before which resulted in a visit to Beck’s grandmother. “I ended up going with her to the hospital where Beck’s father had been taken in an emergency. He slipped and broke an arm. He’d been drinking.”

  The waitress set iced tea in front of each of them and Alex waited until she was out of earshot before she continued. “I was at the hospital for a few hours. We had time to talk. One thing led to another, and I wound up telling him about A.A. He wants me to come talk about it sometime. He said he’s tired of boozing it up every day. He wanted to quit but didn’t know how.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “So, what’s the problem?”

  Alex squeezed the lemon slice in her tea and added two packets of sugar. She took her time stirring the liquid and noticed her hand shook as she placed the spoon on the table. “Beck’s
the problem. He’s not very sympathetic to his dad’s problem. I don’t want him to think I’m interfering where I don’t belong. Still, I have to help, don’t I?”

  Jeremy placed a hand over hers on the table. “Yes, you have to help. If Beck’s father wants it. But the question I want you to answer for me is, “What exactly is the relationship between you and Beck? Is it serious?”

  “We have no strings. No commitments. I haven’t probed, but from the little he’s told me, and what I’ve found out from his grandmother, he doesn’t trust women very much. His distrust of women comes from his mother walking out on her family when he was a young boy.”

  Jeremy’s brow arched. “So?”

  “I don’t want to do anything that might look like I was sticking my nose in his personal life.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you? You might know what an obligation I feel for Beck’s father because it’s exactly what you would feel for someone who truly wanted your help. But how can you possibly know what I have with Beck?” An edge of irritation slipped into her voice without her realizing it. She pulled back her hand as if he’d pinched her.

  Jeremy’s head bobbed up. “Hey, don’t bite off my head. I’m not questioning your relationship with the guy, and I’m certainly not judging it. To tell you the truth, I rather like him. He’s upfront. I like that in a guy.”

  Alex reached across the table and laid her hand on Jeremy’s arm. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I guess I’m on edge with everything that’s happened. The harassment, the funeral, my relationship with Beck.”

  He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Forget it, kiddo. What exactly would you like me to do, or more to the point, tell you to do?”

  “I guess I want you to tell me to….” She slid her hand from his and picked up the glass of tea. “No, I don’t want you to tell me anything. I know what I need to do.” She reached across to the empty chair next to her, took her cell phone from her purse, and entered Beck’s number.

  “Where are you?” Beck asked.

  “About an hour away from the cabin.”