by Tarah Scott
“Were you expecting trouble?” she asked.
“I always keep a rifle on a dig. There’s not much danger with a big group like today, but I spend a lot of time on digs alone. Mountain lions can be aggressive.” He extended his hand in invitation. “The Toyota will be more comfortable than my truck. We can put the backseat down.”
She entwined her fingers in his and he led her towards the Land Cruiser. The casual clasp of his fingers, warm and sure, sent a frisson of awareness through her. Had it been so long that any touch from a man was so noticeable? She had to get a grip. It would be easy to get carried away with a middle-aged fantasy that ended up making a fool of her—and getting her and Emma hurt. Hawk had made it clear that he wanted her, but he was grown up enough to put aside his sexual advances. They had to get through this night and get safely home tomorrow.
Five minutes later, Hawk had the seat down and the sleeping bag spread out across the Toyota bed. He motioned Liz in, and she ignored the idea that he was watching her ass as she crawled inside.
“Why leave us here like this?” she asked as he closed the door behind him.
He scooted back to where she sat. “Another warning.”
He stretched out kitty-corner on the sleeping bag and pulled her against his chest. The moon that lifted over the orange tinged horizon joined forces with the scent of earth and unique masculine smell that was him, and her pussy tightened. The arm wrapped around her lay heavy across her waist. A quiver radiated through her stomach. Liz willed herself not to melt against the muscled expanse pressed close to her breast.
“This is low-key compared to last night’s warning,” she said, in a voice she prayed didn’t give away the desire that throbbed between her legs with every beat of her heart.
He was silent, and she was sure he could feel her nipples hardening against his chest. How long before he caught scent of the moisture dampening her panties? How long could she resist?
“I meant what I said. I’m not going to risk Emma’s relationship with you.”
“I won’t change my mind about being her advisor,” he said.
“What?” Liz shoved up onto an elbow so that they made eye contact in the dusky moonlight. “You’re going to be her advisor?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
Liz shook her head. And Emma wouldn’t. She would give up his support before hurting her. Liz hadn’t considered the possibility that Emma would find a professor willing to advise her so early in her education. Her throat tightened. Emma’s upset hadn’t just been teenage embarrassment. Had she already gone too far?
“This is too big for me to jeopardise,” she said.
“The only person who can jeopardise Emma is herself,” he said, “and that’s only if she doesn’t do the work. I can’t see her doing that.”
“When things end between you and I—”
“You’ve already made up your mind?” he cut in.
“You have to admit, the chances of a long-term relationship between us are slim.”
“I’ve seen worse odds.”
Liz nodded. “Maybe, but I’m not willing to gamble with my daughter’s future.”
He laughed. “You have nothing to say about it, sweetheart. It’s a done deal.”
“What do you mean?” she demanded.
“I’ve already assigned her senior classes.”
Liz stared. “But she’s only an undergrad.”
“An immensely talented undergrad who deserves as much help as she can get.”
“You could still change your mind.”
His brows rose. “If you piss me off?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened.”
“It would be a first for me. Not to mention, I’m not stupid enough to let a student’s mother get between me and some great funding.”
Liz blinked. “She’ll garner that much funding for you?”
Hawk shrugged. “She’s a hot commodity. I’m simply a smart enough businessman to have tied up the deal before someone else did—and I have no intentions of giving her up, no matter how hard you try to talk me out of it. Though I won’t stop you from plying me with your womanly wiles in order to try.”
“Talk you out of it? I… I don’t know how to thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for you, Liz—much as I’d like to take the credit.”
“I know,” she swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat, “which only makes it all the more amazing. You did it because you’re a nice person.”
“Mostly a good businessman,” he said.
She touched his cheek. “No. A nice person.”
“Careful, Liz.”
A quiver rocked her stomach. The husky note in his voice would do her in. “You were right,” she said.
“What?”
“I have lousy timing.” Not to mention mush for a brain.
He laughed and pulled her close. “Yeah, but my timing’s great.”
Liz thought about his great timing that morning when he’d had his mouth on her pussy, and her pulse skipped a beat—then faltered.
“Oh, my God.” She buried her head in his chest.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“They were watching us when—” She groaned.
“They—” He chuckled, then gave her a reassuring hug. “It’s more likely Reid’s men came later.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Any more than you can know they were watching. And, even if they were, the only thing they saw was us kissing.”
“And you on your knees when you—” Her cheeks heated, despite knowing he couldn’t see her face.
“When I what?”
His deep voice reverberated through her. “You know what you did.” She winced at the squeak in her voice.
“I can’t wait to do it again.”
Liz jumped at the feel of lazy circles travelling along her arm.
“You want me to fuck you that way again,” he said. “No woman reacts the way you did and doesn’t want to have that done to her again”—he brought his mouth close to her ear and added—“and again.”
Liz had thought that very thing, and her clit ached painfully at the idea.
“Last night, you said Vance Reid wanted you to declare a dig out in Mesa to be Navajo. Why does he care?”
The lazy circles stopped. “The dig crosses onto property he’s building on,” Hawk said. “By all indications, the site is Paleo-Indian and could predate anything we’ve found so far.”
She grunted. “Pinning down evidence of Paleo-Indians is like hunting ghosts in a fog.”
“You sure you’re not an archaeologist?” Hawk asked, admiration obvious in his voice.
She laughed. “Em was eight when she decided she wanted to be an archaeologist. Once she’d exhausted the library, she made me buy every book on Native American history she could find.”
Liz settled her cheek more comfortably against his chest and stared through the window at the moon that rose against a darkening sky. “So, Reid isn’t willing to wait the years it will take to determine the site isn’t Paleo-Indian.”
“Hey,” Hawk said.
She giggled, then sobered at remembering the SUV that had nearly run her down—then tried to run them down in Hawk’s truck. “You said they would blink first.”
He squeezed her arm. “I was wrong.”
Warmth flowed like liquid silver up her arm from where he touched her.
“Reid isn’t chancing that we’ll beat him,” Hawk said. “And I do plan to beat him. Did plan to beat him.”
“Did?” Liz pushed up and met his gaze. “Now wait a minute, you can’t make any changes on my account.”
He tweaked a lock of her hair. “Sweetheart, I wouldn’t be able to not make changes, if I tried.”
“You are out of your mind. I don’t know how your generation does things—”
“My generation?” Rich laughter slid across her senses like black velvet. “You’re going to be able to get
away with that bullshit for about two seconds, then I’ll toss you on your back and fuck you until you forget your age, your name…” His voice deepened. “But you sure as hell won’t forget my name.”
Chapter Seven
Liz didn’t resist as Hawk pulled her closer. His lips touched hers and fire exploded between her legs. A moan slipped from her. He grasped her hips and lifted her onto his body. Her curves moulded to his sharper contours—especially the rock-hard erection that dug into her abdomen.
Her head whirled. She told herself to stop, but the command evaporated with the feel of his fingers pressing into her ass and the undulation of his cock against her pussy. Desire streaked through her like a runaway train—headed for a cliff. He might have been an honourable man who wouldn’t let their relationship affect Emma, but he was still twelve years younger than her. She was going to crash and burn in a blaze that left nothing but ash in its wake.
Liz broke the kiss and dropped her head onto his neck.
“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he said. “And this.”
He rolled and she found herself pinned beneath him.
Air rushed from her lungs and she gasped at the steely weight that bore down on her. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. She wanted to run away and stay at the same time. She grasped his shoulders in an effort to stop the spin that threatened to toss her stomach into her throat. He covered her breast with a warm palm. She shivered. He kissed her.
His tongue flicked against her mouth. Liz opened and he drove inside, his tongue sliding along hers in languid strokes that heated her core to boiling point. She envisioned yanking open the front of his jeans and seizing the raging cock that pressed into her belly. She wanted to touch him. All of him. He slid kisses across her cheek to her ear. Warm breath tickled the sensitive lobe.
“I want to fuck you hard and fast.” He chuckled. “I’m going to make you come so hard your eyes roll back in your head.” He bit down on her lobe and nibbled.
Liz drew in a sharp breath. Hawk slid off her and began unbuttoning her coveralls. Panic rushed to the surface. The full moon acted like a bright streetlamp. He was about to see her—all of her—and she was not at her best. What would be her best? What would be good enough for a Native American warrior?
“I—I’ve been working in the dirt all day.” The words sounded stupid. He’d got the buttons undone clear to her waist. “I’m a mess,” she insisted.
He spread the coveralls. Cool air wafted over the rise of breasts not covered by the black lace of her bra.
“The most beautiful mess I’ve ever seen.”
Her heart pounded as he slipped aside the bra cup and the nipple pebbled under his intense scrutiny. Hawk lifted her shoulder, eased back the coveralls, then did the same for the other shoulder. He tugged the sleeves free of her arms and dragged the coveralls downward. Liz lifted her hips, allowing the fabric to slip free, and tried to still the tremble that threatened to become a seismic disaster.
His head dipped and warm lips closed around her areola. Pleasure strung taut between nipple and pussy. He cupped her mound with his palm. Liz whimpered. She wanted him inside her. Now. Needed to feel his shaft fill her, balls deep, stroke her, push her to the mind-bending orgasm he’d promised. His finger slipped between the thong and her flesh. Her clit tightened in anticipation. Liz pulsed against the long digit. Tiny licks of pleasure stretched out from her core.
“Hawk,” she breathed.
He pressed close to her side, and she became aware of the heavy jeans that separated his cock from her naked thigh. With trembling fingers, she reached between them and grasped the top jeans button. The sucking on her breast stilled. She froze.
He shifted and nuzzled her ear. “Don’t stop.”
Liz shifted her gaze to the sliver of moonlight that fell across the space between them and worked free the buttons. She shoved the shirt tail up and out of the way, then pulled back the front of his jeans. A large bulge pressed against white boxer briefs. Her mouth went dry. It had been three years since she’d had a man, and forever since she’d had a man like Hawk. She grasped the waistband and gingerly pulled the fabric past his shaft.
His long, thick cock sprang free, aimed directly at her abdomen. Heart pounding, Liz wrapped a hand around the girth. He pulsed between her fingers. Excitement swelled on a rising tide through her. He felt so good, so hard…so male. It had been too long since she’d touched a man. Just as it had been too long since she’d tasted one. What would he do if she took him in her mouth?
Before she could talk herself out of it, Liz shoved him onto his back. She brought her face to his rod and he remained motionless as she grasped the root and ran her tongue around the corona. Thick, pearly cream slid across her tongue.
A growl reverberated from his chest and he tunnelled his fingers into her hair. Liz quelled the nervous tightening in her stomach and took him into her mouth. He thrust inside, slowly, gently, letting her set the rhythm. She resisted the urge to close her eyes, kept them wide open, watching his length disappear inside her mouth, then reappear as she pulled back. She hollowed her cheeks, caressing the velvet steel while sucking hard on the upstroke.
His fingers tightened in her hair. “Liz.”
The word came out a hoarse groan, and she was startled at the realisation that she was driving him over the edge—and with little effort. She increased her rhythm. To her shock, his cock hardened further. She breathed deep, revelling in the male scent, the feel of his engorged staff filling her mouth. He’d said he would make her come so hard she saw stars. She wanted to make him come so hard he wouldn’t soon forget this night, or Liz Williams. She sucked more of his length, swirling her tongue around the root.
He abruptly seized her shoulders and she found herself on her back, him over her. He kissed her, long, hard and demanding, then broke away and shucked his shirt, jeans, and boots. In seconds, he was over her again and Liz reached for him as his weight crushed her breasts with exquisite discomfort. Her nipples marbled against his smooth flesh. Her clit throbbed with a need unlike any she’d ever experienced. His shaft lay heavy between them. Her fantasies during those hours of digging were dim versions of the reality.
Hawk pushed onto his elbows and positioned his cock at her opening. He lifted his head. Liz gazed at his face, but his features were hidden in shadows against the moon that watched from beyond the window, its darkened valleys eyes that stared like a lewd voyeur. He eased inside so that only the tip of his cock stretched her tight channel. He settled on top of her, cupped her face and kissed her—slow and tender, and with a gentleness that nearly brought tears. He eased deeper. Pleasure trickled through her at the feel of the invasion. She gripped his shoulders.
He stilled. “You all right?”
Liz slid a hand up and threaded her fingers through the hair at his nape. “Don’t stop.”
He gave a gravelly laugh and surged hilt deep. She cried out and dug her fingers into his flesh. He eased out, then in again. She lifted her legs, bracing her feet on the car floor, and raised her hips to meet his slow thrusts. Hawk trailed hot licks down her neck. Sizzles skittered across her flesh. Liz shivered, her fingers tightening in his hair.
“That’s it, sweetheart.” He thrust hard.
She gasped at the pleasure that rocketed through her.
“You like that?” he asked.
She pulled his mouth to hers. He increased the speed of his thrusts. Liz wrapped her legs around his waist. A tickle began in her core. Her heart jumped into warp speed. Harder, deeper, he drove into her. Emotion tightened her chest. His pubic bone bumped her pleasure point. Pleasure ripped through her. She angled her pussy for more direct contact. He drove deeper, harder. His shaft rammed into her cervix. Her clit tightened and Liz cried out in her release.
“Fuck,” Hawk muttered.
His arms slid beneath her, crushing her as he pounded into her. She couldn’t think. A second orgasm crashed over her. Her channel walls milked his cock. His hoarse groan pierced t
he desire that blanketed her brain. He pumped into her, his breath coming in laboured gasps in her ear. He collapsed on top of her, heart thundering so hard she felt the powerful beat against her breast.
Hawk slid to her side and hugged her close. “Give me a minute, sweetheart, and we’ll do that again.”
Chapter Eight
Hawk’s eyes snapped open. Awareness danced across his nerves. He pushed onto an elbow and peered through the window at the road. Headlights cut across the night a mile up the road. This wasn’t the first time he’d had cause to thank his ancestors for the supernatural sense that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. The way things were going tonight, it wouldn’t be the last. The vehicle disappeared around a bend in the foothills, but he had recognised the headlights as belonging to a large vehicle like the SUV that had rammed his Chevy the night before—not that he’d needed confirmation.
“Liz.” He gave her a hard shake while reaching for his boots.
“Hmm?”
“There’s a car coming. Get up.”
She bolted upright and swivelled in the direction he stared, but the car was hidden from view amongst the hills. Hawk stuffed his foot into a boot.
Liz looked at him. “What time is it?” Then before he could answer, “Who would be coming down this road this time of night? Are there homes out here? I don’t recall seeing any when I drove out.”
“No.” He grabbed the second boot. “We’ve got to get out of here. They’ll be here in less than a minute.”
She scooted to the end of the bed and grabbed her boots. After he’d made love to her a second time, he’d insisted they dress. He’d hated not feeling her soft body against his, but the temperature was dropping, and there had been the possibility Reid’s men might come back. He hated being right.
Hawk crawled to the door and got out. He scanned the road. The car hadn’t come around the nearest bend yet, but they couldn’t be more than seconds away.
“Put on that jacket,” he ordered, and grabbed the rifle and cooler.
“Would Reid’s men come back?” she asked.
