by Mary Winter
“Stand down,” the agent ordered. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“Oh, don’t I? I know when I was stuck in a Siberian prison, not a single member of the Quintursa’s elite force came after me. My own brother, one of your operatives, would have languished there if I hadn’t gotten both of us out. What the hell have you ever done for me and my family?” Liam struggled to keep his voice down.
“The situation that occurred was…regrettable. However, there were things you didn’t—”
“There are always things I didn’t or my brother didn’t. Is that all you guys know how to say? Do they teach you to speak in cryptic when you go through agent supervisory training or whatever the hell it is that you go through?” Liam snorted. “Look. I did my duty. I reported the information. If there’s anything else that you’d like to tell me, I’m all ears.”
“Not at this time. I highly suggest though that you rethink your position on the Quintursa, Liam. I know you don’t like our organization, especially since your brother joined. You think you and your family can live up there in your semi-remote lodge offering tourists a bit of the Alaskan wilderness. A few bear sightings, maybe some salmon fishing, and they’ll go home content to have tamed the wild. It doesn’t work that way. The more people come up there, the more they’re going to want what we have. Ms. Doyle’s report could go a long way into keeping these people away, far away from us. It’s up to you to make sure she writes that report,” the agent said. He truly sounded repentant, as if he were receiving orders from somewhere he didn’t like. Or maybe something else was at stake. Not knowing the inner workings of the organization, maybe the agent had a past, one that made him too close to this mission.
Liam hated to speculate. Cameron couldn’t tell him much, but what he didn’t say spoke volumes about this illustrious, mysterious organization. The legends boggled his mind, and he was one of them, a Homo interans. If he told them to Sarah, undoubtedly she’d be on the first plane back to DC she could find, and call a shrink to come get him. He stifled a grin, not wanting the agent to know the direction of his thoughts.
“I don’t think I can make Sarah do anything,” Liam replied after long moments of silence.
“You’re a charming guy, Liam. I bet you could make her do anything you wanted. Think about it.” The agent disconnected the phone.
Chills slid down Liam’s back. His stomach churned. The urge to get up and wash his hands filled him. Maybe he’d wash his ear where the phone rested, anything to keep this unclean feeling from creeping over his skin. What kind of person did the agent think he was? It sounded almost as if the agent wanted him to seduce Sarah.
His body reacted instantly. Insistent throbbing rode low in his veins, pooling his blood and making him hunger. The bear inside him roared, demanding he unleash his passion upon a mate. Her lavender smell haunted him, as did the memory of her lips warm and pliant beneath his. A low groan reverberated from his throat.
Seduce Sarah into writing an anti-drilling report. The man found the thought abhorrent. If—no when—he took Sarah it would be of her own free will, because he wanted her and she wanted him. The bear thought only of claiming a female. And the bear knew, once he did, she’d belong to him. He shuddered at the thought.
His jeans tight, his breath shallow in his chest, he battled the urge to stride from the room and do just that. Dragging his fingers through his hair, he stopped. He couldn’t. Promising his bear a good, long run to burn off energy, he strode upstairs to tell Sarah they were leaving in the morning. He’d convince Sarah all right, but he’d do it on his terms.
~* * *~
When Liam barged up stairs two days ago and ordered her to be ready to hike out again at dawn, Sarah had been surprised. She’d expected more down time. Then, he’d marched her out like some new recruit, and they’d hiked so long her legs had burned. A camp and then out again into areas she swore had never seen another human being before her. She’d wanted to see the real Alaska. Be careful what you wish for. Her lips twisted into a pained grin.
Her thighs burned. Though the temperature outside hovered in the forties, her skin burned with the energy she expended. A brief stop for an energy bar and to refill their canteens at a stream an hour ago left her stomach rumbling from hunger. Physical exertion allowed her mind to wander. She’d always been a dissociative person when it came to exercise, choosing to use her runs as time to think things through rather than focus on the demands she placed on her body. Hiking through the pristine wilderness brought her attention to small flowers and colorful birds sitting amid the branches. She focused on her surroundings in a futile attempt to ignore the burn in her thighs and her panting breaths.
How could she ever write a report that would harm this place? Walt’s words rang in her mind, his accusations that she focused too much on her guide then on her job. Watching Liam’s broad back as he led her down the trail, Sarah tried not to admit Walt might have been right. Just thinking about their kiss sent heat spiraling through her. Lips tingling, her steps slowed. She touched her fingers to her mouth. In spite of being engaged, she wanted him.
Sarah hurried to catch up with Liam. Whatever happened out here, she couldn’t take this any farther. No matter how much she wanted to. She drew a deep breath and tried to shove Liam’s image from her mind. Think about her work, about writing a report that walked the fine line between persuasion and truthfulness. Truthiness. Now there was a word she could get behind if she were a different kind of person.
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Liam didn’t even look back. Sarah hoped he hadn’t noticed her faltering. She didn’t want to explain to him why she wasn’t keeping up and didn’t want him to think she couldn’t. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden.
Frankly, Sarah wondered why she even wrestled with this dilemma. She knew this day would come from the day she’d accepted the assignment. Her personal feelings demanded she keep drilling far away from this place. Even if she wasn’t prone toward nature spirituality, she firmly believed the wild should be left that way. Out of all the people working for Hodges Associates, she was the only candidate for this trip. The fact that she’d jumped at the opportunity only made it imperative that she keep her personal feelings out of it.
“You doing okay back there?” Liam called. His steps slowed. “We can take a break if you want.”
“I’m all right,” Sarah replied. She sounded a little out of breath, more from her internal wrangling than the physical exertion. Her muscles ached, though they had found a steady rhythm, one that kept them crossing ground.
“You sure?” Liam stopped and turned.
Sarah halted beside him, wishing she could keep her breathing more even. She managed a smile. “I’m okay. We can keep going.”
Liam’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t question her quasi-lie. “All right. We’ll be where we’re camping soon, and then I wanted to show you a few things.”
“Not more drilling, right?” With her mental turmoil, she doubted she could handle seeing more signs of man’s destruction of the environment. Taking off her hat, she wiped her forehead with a handkerchief she kept in her pocket. She pulled the knit cap back over her head, not wanting to think about her hair sticking up in a million directions. Cold weather did not make good hair days.
“No, not more drilling. It bothered you that much?” Liam started walking down the trail, slower this time.
Sarah weighed how to respond. For someone who didn’t like deception, she sure was doing a lot of it lately. First to Walt, then to herself. She should have been upfront with him about the kiss she’d shared with Liam. Except if the afternoon soap operas with which she indulged herself on weekday afternoons during her lunch were right, telling your fiancé you kissed another man never went well. Even if you weren’t quite sure you wanted to marry your fiancé.
“I’d prefer to see something prettier,” she replied after long moments. “I don’t want to be too biased with my report.” She hoped he believed he
r.
Liam stared at her for a moment. She half expected him to call her out. Not right now. Not while I’m trying to wrap my head around this assignment, Walt, and our kiss. Her sister had teased her about going to Alaska and finding a hunky man. She feared she’d done just that.
She followed Liam in silence the rest of the way to their camp site. He found a place near a stream that ran so clear she could see small silver fish darting among the rocks. The clearing backed against a stand of evergreens that would keep the wind away. Setting his pack down, he brought out the tent and began to pitch it. Sarah knew her duty. Gather firewood. She thought of that ill-fated attempt when she’d encountered a grizzly bear and hoped she wouldn’t find the same thing here.
A little over an hour later Liam had the tent setup and the food secured from wild animals. He used the wood she’d found to build a fire, and a kettle hung from a tripod filled with boiling soup. If it weren’t for the chill in the air and the fact that she wore way too many layers it could be a normal camping trip that she’d never taken before. She sat on a log, arms wrapped around her for warmth.
Liam sank to the makeshift bench beside her. “You ready to see more of my world?”
His low voice rumbled through her like the subtlest of caresses. “Your world? I thought we were just in Alaska.” She meant the words to sound teasing.
“Honey, this is my world.” He turned and reached for her. Tucking a strand of her dark brown hair beneath her blue cap, he let his fingers stroke her cheek.
Sarah shivered.
“Look at you dressed in your new hiking gear, your boots barely broke-in. You don’t belong here anymore than I belong in Washington, D.C.. I’d be like a tiger in a cage.” Liam’s thumb lingered against her lower lip, and for a moment, Sara battled the temptation to slide her tongue between her lips and taste him.
Sarah pulled away, startled by his words. “Who said anything about taking you back to D.C.?” She saw his point though. He belonged out here in the wild with wide-open spaces. Besides, not much call for eco-tourism in the greater D.C. area.
“Exactly,” Liam replied, almost as if he tried to convince himself of something. He bolted to his feet. Holding out his hand, he offered it to her. “Why don’t you follow me?”
Sarah stared at his hand almost as if it would bite her. Drawing on a reserve of strength, she laid her gloved palm in his. Even through the clothing, heat radiated into her. She moved beside him and he released her hand. She tried not to mourn the loss.
Liam led her to the edge of the creek. “I want you to take a look at this. You can see the bottom of the pool. This water comes from a glacier hundreds of miles away. The spring that it feeds is located upstream. Look at those fish. Did you know this species isn’t found anywhere else?” He squatted by the water and pulled off his glove. “Take a drink.”
“Is it safe?” Sarah remained standing beside him.
Liam nodded. “I wouldn’t ask you to drink if it isn’t. Trust me on this. This is my world, remember?” He flashed a smile that warmed her all the way to her toes.
Nodding her head, Sarah pulled off her glove. She bent down and scooped up a handful of water. By the time she brought it to her mouth only a few trickles remained, but they were enough to send the crisp, mineral taste bursting across her tongue. She closed her eyes and savored the rarity of fresh, untreated water. “That’s wonderful,” she said, licking her lips to be sure she got the last drop.
Liam grinned. “Thought you might like it. Come on.” Effortlessly, he rose to his feet and led her downstream. They followed the creek for a while before turning between two large pine trees that looked as if they’d been there for decades. The trees formed a gateway that led to a meadow that she supposed during the summer months would be completely dotted with wildflowers. Now only a few blooms, most of them battered by the weather, dared to top the tall green stems. Not even the wind penetrated the trees surrounding the clearing. It was so quiet she swore she heard her own heart beating.
A natural cathedral. There were no other words to describe it. A large rock sat in one corner. Several birds flitted from branch to branch in the trees behind the rock. She felt, if she closed her eyes, she could sense the very earth singing to her.
Suddenly, she became aware of Liam staring at her. She blinked. He looked as if he wasn’t quite sure what to think, and Sarah knew that was a good thing. She didn’t want him pigeonholing her into where he thought she fit. She wanted to show him she was more than her resume.
Tension grew between them. She pressed her lips together. Aware of him, of how well he fit into this environment, she realized with a start that she wanted him in a way she never wanted Walt. He seemed too superficial, too much a part of her Washington lifestyle. Here, she thought nothing of Washington, only of the beauty surrounding her and the man who would show her nature’s marvels. Her breath caught in her throat.
No, it couldn’t be this way. “It’s beautiful,” she said in an attempt to put some distance between them. Perhaps by breaking the silence with the sound of her own voice, she could bring them back to reality. Except this was reality where Liam was more than a tour guide. And they both knew it.
“Yes, it is.” He stared straight ahead, neither looking to the left or the right.
“What else did you want to show me?” She licked her lips, then feared they might chap so she fished lip balm from a zippered pocket and applied it liberally.
“What do you want to see?”
Sarah gaped at his question and the images that roared through her head. It had to be the exertion, not anything else, that made her want to watch him strip off his clothing, layer by layer, until he stood bare-chested in this hideaway. She let her eyes wander over his muscled chest, trying to imagine the whorls of hair between his pectorals, the arrow of darker hair leading beneath the waistband of his pants.
The sharp cry of a bird pierced the air. The sound drew her from her musings, aware she was staring at Liam like a starving woman. Damn Walt for his views, and damn him for never making her feel this hot. Heat radiated from her cheeks, and she turned away, certain she blushed. “You know it’s tough, what they’re asking me to do,” she said in a way to distract her thoughts.
“The report?” Liam asked, almost as if he knew there were other things, like keeping her hands to herself, that might be difficult as well.
Sarah nodded. “Yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong, this is beautiful, and I’d hate to see it ruined as much as the next person, but that’s not going to fly in Washington. They want cold, hard numbers, and right now the administration and the oil companies see the wealth of crude that lies beneath the surface. You know how valuable that is. Hell, Russia just put a flag beneath the north pole in an attempt to claim the resources there.” Sarah removed her cap and dragged her fingers through her hair. They caught on snarls, and she pulled off the elastic constraining her hair. She slicked it back again, once more securing the unruly mass, then tugged her cap down over her ears. Only then, when her heart didn’t pound ninety miles an hour, did she turn and face Liam.
“So what do you want to see?” he asked again.
“Environmental impacts. Not that I really want to see it, but that’s what’s going to sway the people. There will always be those who don’t care. They see the world as theirs to exploit. I know I’m not going to change their minds. But, there are lots of people out there who simply don’t understand. They see Alaska as a huge wilderness void. No one lives up here, so what’s the harm? Those are the people I need to convince. Yeah, I know my audience is primarily politicians, but some of them think, too. Can you show me environmental impacts?” Sarah asked, thankful once more to be on the confidant turf of her job.
“If you give me a bit of time, yeah. Think about it, for every place where they drill they will need to bring in infrastructure. That means roads and heavy equipment. There’s places where the soil has washed out and wildlife habitat has become fragmented. I need to consult my maps. It�
��s getting late. I wouldn’t want to take you out on a wild goose chase tonight, but I could show you that. Probably tomorrow, even,” Liam replied. “You’re up against some tough sonsofabitches, you know that, don’t you?”
Sarah smiled. “You don’t have to be a shark to swim in the same waters. You just have to know where to hide.” It had been the same words she’d told her sister, Natalie, when she’d gone to work for a Senator. Now, with her husband out of work because of a construction injury, her little sis swam with the best of the sharks. And I taught her how to do it. Sarah didn’t know whether to be proud or ashamed.
Liam chuckled. “Guess that’s true. Come on, let’s head back to camp. I want to make sure we’re settled in before dark, and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“Hungry as a bear, huh?” Sarah asked as she fell into step behind him.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder. For a moment, Sarah feared she’d said something wrong. She half expected him to correct her. Instead, he gave her a long, slow wink. “Something like that, yeah.”
“Well then we better hurry,” Sarah teased.
“As the lady wishes.” Liam strode forward, leading them back to camp at a brisk clip.
Sarah followed, not minding the pace. She still had time to look around and notice the beautiful scenery surrounding them. Her comments about Liam being hungry as a bear made her think of those lumbering creatures. She wondered if she’d see one again. A shiver darted down her spine at the memory. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rubbed them trying to ward off the ominous chill the mental images created.
She’d let Liam worry about the bears. With her report, breaking up with Walt, and wondering what would happen to her sister’s job if she wrote the findings her conscience dictated, she had enough on her plate. She trekked silently behind him as they made their way back to camp.
Twilight painted the sky with orange and pink streaks. Shadows gathered at the bases of the trees, creating dusky hiding places. The twitter of birds settling down for the night created a cascade of noise overhead. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted, the lonely sound chilling Sarah to the bone.