CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Demon whined, drawing his attention. The dog moved to the door of the shelter, wanting a last minute run. Nathan led him out, taking time to tie a short leash on to prevent his running too far from the cave opening. Still uneasy about the unknown visitor, he wasn’t taking any chances with any of his charges. By now, darkness had fallen, the temperature dropping quickly. Though spring was upon them, the nights were still long and cold.
Demon marked a nearby bush, sniffing the air for intruders. Nathan trusted Demon’s ability to sense any threats and right now the dog seemed unconcerned, taking his time and inspecting every plant and rock within his limited space.
Nathan’s eyes lifted to the heavens. The night sky was lit by a million stars, no smog or reflected lights dampened their brilliance. The quiet was unlike anything modern man could ever experience or appreciate, and he was awed by its grandeur. Nothing he had ever experienced in his earlier lifetime could even remotely compare to the untouched beauty of his surroundings.
Being alone for so long had insulated him against the uniqueness of his life, but seeing everything again through Riley’s eyes, he was gratified anew by the chance to experience such wonders. Finished with his exploration and marking territory, Demon allowed Nathan to lead him back to the warmth and safety of the cave.
During their brief absence, Riley had retreated to the sleeping area and was readying herself for bed. He could hear the water splashing as she showered and he longed to join her there. Tempting visions of her naked flashed through his mind, his tenuous control slipping as he listened. Forgetting his earlier resolve to proceed with caution, he forged ahead. The water stopped just as he stepped through the door. The graceful line of her damp posterior glistening with water droplets drew his immediate focus. Startled, Riley turned, clutching a small towel for cover. Her face mirrored her surprise at his intrusion. He had been more than circumspect to this point, never overstepping the bounds of propriety.
Nathan stood there, unable to think clearly, drinking in the sight of her, his blood beginning to boil. The taste of her still lingered on his lips. It had been far too long since he had made love to a woman, too long since he had even touched a woman. Without conscious thought, the distance between them disappeared. He was close enough that he could smell her clean woman scent, see each tendril of auburn hair curling from the steam of the shower. She stood there, frozen, her large eyes questioning and mysterious.
He reached out, softly stroking the curve of her neck, down the softness of her arm, his fingertips lightly touching the swell of her breast. She stiffened, but other than that slight move, she remained motionless as he continued his exploration. Sexual tension ignited. He stepped even closer, reaching up to pull her hair loose from the haphazard bun at the top of her head. Glorious auburn hair fell in a thick veil, framing her face. She shuddered as his fingers glided through the soft mass, intensely aware of him as never before, her breath coming in small gasps. The small towel no longer separated them and he pressed fully against her, his lips claiming hers in a powerful embrace. Time stood still. He could feel her thundering heartbeat as her breath quickened in response, melting against him. Primitive lust raged. Stepping back, his eyes traveled down.
Nathan groaned. “Lord, woman” he breathed. “I’m not a monk! You’re so damned tempting—my body has a mind of its own when you’re near.”
He had only guessed at what her loose clothing covered—and his imagination could not have measured up to the real thing. Riley’s form was sculpted for the caress of a lover. Long slender legs molded upward into flaring hips and a waist so small, he was sure he could span it with his hands. His eyes were drawn to her generous breasts, thrusting and proud, the rose colored nipples hardening under his heated perusal.
Cupping her face in his large warm hands, he studied her face carefully, as if memorizing every line. Riley tensed, arching her back and tilting her face upward, wanting his touch. Softly and delectably, his lips settled on hers, eliciting feelings never before experienced. Her lips parted in response, welcoming his invasion. The kiss deepened, tongues entwining in the age old dance of life and pure, unadulterated lust. Nothing defined where Riley left off and Nathan began, and it was as though they were melded together as one.
Riley’s head reeled. Nothing invaded her conscious thought but the nearness of this male. She felt as though she were spinning down a wondrous warm tunnel, apart from the physical world, where only Nathan existed. She was his and he claimed her. Nothing else mattered. Unable to control himself, he forced her back to the bed, his tongue probing deep in imitation of the act of sex.
Whimpering with longing, she grappled with his leggings, wanting his naked body against her, damning the leather thong that wouldn’t cooperate. Her fingers worked the tie loose and, hooking her toes in his waistband, she shoved the offending leggings down.
A small chuckle escaped Nathan’s lips. “You’re pretty limber, aren’t you?”
“I was a pretty good gymnast once,” she acknowledged, giggling. Her hands found him, amazed and delighted by his size. He groaned, pushing against her, hunger igniting beyond control. Her senses flamed, his merest touch sent tingling shivers of passion through every vein. Her body came alive with feeling, every pore alive with emotion. This man—this moment—everything she had waited for all her life!
Nathan groaned, pulling back. “I hadn’t planned on this happening yet. Much as I want to, now isn’t the time.”
Riley caught herself, stifling the urge to continue, embarrassed by her uncontrolled response, at the same time understanding his reticence.
Without a doubt, the temptation to force the issue was enormous! Physically, she was ready to advance their relationship, but mentally was another matter, and half-measures weren’t enough. The comfortable relationship they had now worked for both of them and if it became something more, she’d damn well better be ready.
Expelling a deep breath, she conceded reluctantly that living alone with a male, and a very sexy and interesting one at that, had its problems; the first being that it had been a long time since she had allowed herself to engage in any sort of male/female entanglement. She just hadn’t had the time or the inclination. Nathan was most definitely an “inclination” and time didn’t even factor in. Granted, Nathan wasn’t the type to exert pressure and for that she was grateful. But adjusting to the whole time travel thing expended a lot of emotional energy and Riley just didn’t have the fortitude to endure more than one disturbing situation at a time.
Reluctantly, she rolled aside, her face flaming. He was right—now was not the time.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jonas groaned in frustration. Day after day, they waited for Miles to finish his calculations, but it didn’t appear that he was any closer now than he had been at the start. Bethany’s whereabouts had been located, but how did they get her to return? He mulled over his possible options, and decided the best bet was a frontal attack. Getting her attention would be the first step and then give her something to gnaw on. Using Miles as the bait was the perfect choice. Bethany had never made any bones about her contempt for the man and only continued to work with him because he kept his mouth shut about Nathan. Thinking it over, Jonas concocted the perfect cover story—Miles was using the facility and conducting experiments without her approval or control—the one thing Dr. Collins would never allow. Simple, but effective. Time to ring her up and dangle the bait.
Bethany answered on the second ring.
“Professor Collins? This is Jonas Whitehorse, security at the facility.”
“Jonas! How nice to hear from you. Is something wrong?”
Jonas paused for effect, his voice dripping with concern. “I just thought I should call you. Something strange is going on up here.”
“What do you mean, strange?”
“Well, it was my understanding that the facility was to shut down shortly after you left, but Miles seems to be working on something and I’m not able
to access the files to see what it is.” He waited, giving her time to assess the situation.
“Well, of course it was supposed to be shut down!” she exclaimed. “It should have been done weeks ago! Why didn’t you call me sooner?” She sounded alarmed and aggravated. Perfect!
“It wasn’t until lately that I’d begun to suspect something wasn’t above board. He ordered me to keep the facility powered up and security tight. I’m pretty concerned about the situation.”
He waited for her expected response. “Put me through to his line,” she demanded.
This was the best part of the story. “I wish I could, but he has made it impossible for me to access his phone line. We aren’t allowed in and he doesn’t want anyone interfering.”
“Maybe I should try to call him directly?” She was really beginning to sound agitated.
“You could try, but like I said, he’s made it almost impossible to contact him.” Jonas tried to sound tentative and confused, though he could tell she was already jumping.
“Maybe I should just come up there?” Clearly his tactics were working.
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” A tiny smile tweaked his lips.
“Of course it’s necessary. That big pile of crap! I should have known he wouldn’t follow orders. How long has this been going on?”
“Since shortly after you left.” Adding unnecessarily but for effect, “I kept thinking he was finishing up, but it never happened.”
“I knew I couldn’t trust him! Why did I ever think I could? I’ll be on the first flight back. Can you meet me at the airport?” She was chomping at the bit and Jonas had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud.
“Sure, no problem. Just let me know what time and I’ll be there.” Mission completed. “I really appreciate you taking care of this. I didn’t know what else to do.”
She almost screeched. “Miles is going to be the sorriest son-uv-a-bitch on the face of this earth when I get there.”
Good, even better. Not only was she alarmed, she was downright furious. Miles wouldn’t stand a chance and maybe, just maybe, the calculations would be finalized and they could get on with the mission.
“I’ll call you just before I fly out.” She was sounding calmer but definitely still irritated. “I can’t believe that man—just meet me at the airport. I’ll take care of this personally.” With that, she slammed down the phone. Jonas burst out laughing. Her ego couldn’t handle being undermined by Miles, whether he was doing so or not, and Jonas had counted on that flaw in her personality to goad Bethany into returning. He guessed she would be there in the morning, or even later today if possible.
Yep, with Bethany on her way back, it was only a matter of time before the team departed for the adventure of a lifetime. He hesitated for a split second, but only for a split second.
For the first time, he fully realized that his next steps would indelibly alter his life and the lives of his team members. This was not just another mission; it was the start of a new life, existing far beyond the parameters previously experienced by any of them and none could begin to fully understand the changes they might be forced to make to survive until they had actually faced the unknown. Shaking off the pessimistic thoughts, he shrugged his shoulders, calmly accepting the inevitable. Life was full of changes and he embraced them willingly.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Nathan studied the ground, noting carefully each small clue leading to the unknown visitor’s identity. No animal had made these imprints and they were not the imprints of the others. They were human, evidencing a noticeable arch to the instep and narrower in structure, not like the wider, flat-footed prints made by the others. Although most Neanderthal males were typically five feet six inches or less, these had been made by a much taller individual, the strides were longer and less heavily indented. He had discovered the first prints well outside the vicinity of the shelter, but near enough to believe this definitely was the unknown visitor of the night before.
He tracked the prints for awhile, moving away from the shelter towards the north and the cliff that overlooked the encampment of the others. Whoever it was, they had stayed there for some time, sitting and even laying down while keeping watch. He found only one set of prints, which led Nathan to believe the individual was perhaps a scout for some larger group.
He followed the tracks down the incline towards the east until they disappeared in the rocky area near the river. Not wanting to encounter any of the others without his prosthesis, he hurried back before he was discovered. Aunt Bethany’s map speculated that there were perhaps Cro-Magnons in the area, but this was the first time he had encountered anything to corroborate her assumption.
What little he had garnered about Cro-Magnons before his arrival here indicated they were much more aggressive than the Neanderthals, even to the point of possibly being cannibalistic. He rather hoped that was not the case.
He and Riley had discussed the possibility of finding a friendly tribe and joining them, solely on the basis of long-term survival, but he wanted to be sure about the group before making contact. Consciously, or unconsciously, they both knew that if any children were born to them, they needed the contact. Wouldn’t do, though, to get eaten in the meantime! Better warn Riley. A closer watch needed to be kept for awhile in case the lone visitor was on more than just a simple reconnaissance mission. Once again, he silently damned Aunt Bethany for putting Riley into this situation.
Riley was anxiously waiting Nathan’s return, pacing the shelter while Demon whined at the door. Nathan had opted to go alone, not wanting Demon’s tracks to muddle the picture. He had been gone so long—most of the day—and she was to the point where she was about to go crazy when she heard the outside entrance open. Relief flooded through her, causing her knees to buckle when Nathan came through the shelter door.
“What took so long?” She couldn’t hide the anxiety in her voice and she sounded angry even to her ears.
“Eh, sorry,” he apologized, surprised by her vehemence. “I didn’t realize I had been gone so long. Took a lot of time tracking and I wanted to be sure no one else was near us.” He pulled off his outer coat, tossing it onto a chair and sat down heavily. Consternation creased his face and she could tell he was worried.
“I found tracks of a lone human, probably a scout for some larger group. I didn’t see any others, but there would be absolutely no reason for a lone person to be out here.”
“Do you think it was one of the others?” Riley couldn’t believe that anyone else might be here.
“It wasn’t one of them. I could tell by the tracks. I’ve seen enough of theirs to know the difference. These were definitely human.” He didn’t look happy.
“Isn’t that good news?” She was excited by the discovery—it was just what they had talked about.
“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to hold my opinion until I know more. We don’t know what kind of people they are—if they’re friendly or not, and I’m not taking any chances with our safety.”
“Well, maybe they are just passing through and don’t want any trouble.”
The whole thing just didn’t set well with him. He had been a soldier for too long not to trust his feelings and his sixth sense told him something was wrong. His feeling of unease deepened. He might have to scout farther just to satisfy himself.
CHAPTER TWENTY
A few days later, in the early hours of the evening, Nathan found more unidentified prints in the outlaying area near the shelter. It was obvious from the amount of the prints that there were at least five plus individuals in the scouting party. Once again, the prints followed a path overlooking the others’ encampment, and then disappeared in the rocky area near the river. The discovery of the new footprints followed too closely to the earlier set to be merely a coincidence.
Nathan presumed the lone traveler had returned to a larger group and they, in turn, had returned to investigate. None of the prints approached the cave shelter and his little group see
med to be safe for the time being. Nathan’s unease grew considerably by the discovery. This new group wasn’t here by accident. The others’ encampment, occupying a choice position, easily defensible and surrounded by an abundance of wildlife and foodstuffs, seemed to be their focal point of interest.
The unknown visitors were scrutinizing the others’ encampment a little too closely for comfort if they were just passing through, and if they weren’t, he suspected it would be just a matter of time before their motives became apparent. He debated warning the others, but how to accomplish that? He couldn’t speak to them and, in any event, they avoided him for good reason. There just didn’t seem to be an easy answer. While he had some slight interest in contacting this new group for his and Riley’s future well-being, he didn’t want to ally himself on the side of the bad guys, if this new group were the bad guys. He had no way of knowing one way or the other what kind of people this new group was and until he knew for certain, approaching them was not an option. He decided to wait a few days and see if anything further developed. If they were just passing through, there was no good reason to stir the waters.
Demon tensed, a deep rumbling growl echoing from his chest. Instinctively, Nathan crouched down, signaling the dog to be quiet. Demon’s attention was directed at the line of trees to the west and it was in that direction that Nathan concentrated his visual search. Limbs snapped and broke as the unknown ones passed through. From the sounds they made, it was more than just one. They appeared overly confident and made no effort to cover the sounds of their passing.
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