Ursa Major

by Mary Winter

  “And have mother find out about it and come out here like the momma bear she is?” Liam snorted. “Hardly. At least with Sarah, by the time she finds out, Sarah will be back in Washington.” He stumbled past the pang that hit him at the thought of her leaving. It had to be that way. They literally came from different worlds.

  “You have a point. If mom thinks one of her babies is about to settle down…” Cameron chuckled. “Be careful, okay? It’d hate to explain to the Quintursa that you hadn’t been laid in so long you let common sense fly out the window. She’s human. That’s all you need to know. Even if she does have a damn good figure.”

  Liam surged across the desk. “You stay away from her, little brother.” He grabbed the collar of Cameron’s shirt.

  Cameron grinned like a maniac. “So that’s how it is. Good hunting, brother. I think you’re going to need all the luck you can get.” Pulling Liam’s hand away, Cameron rose to his feet and whistled on his way out the door.

  Liam sank back into his chair. So that’s how it was indeed. He rubbed his hand over his face and knew Cameron was right. He was going to need all the luck he could get.

  Chapter Twelve

  With the tent setup, a camp fire burning, and some kind of one-pot dinner simmering over it, Sarah felt as cozy as if she had opted to stay in the lodge. Watching Liam monitor dinner made her glad they hadn’t. He sat there, occasionally stirring the pot with a wooden spoon. She balanced her notebook on her knee and debated about asking him about his work with the drilling site.

  “Do you do that often?” she asked, her researchers need for knowledge out weighing the woman’s need for discretion. “Go in with a bear like that.”

  Liam shrugged. The spoon stilled in the pot. “When I have to.”

  She sensed his evasiveness, much like the lobbyists who never really wanted to reveal how much money they gave to congressmen. “You look like you’ve had a lot of practice. You seem comfortable with the bears, almost as if you could imagine yourself as one of them.”

  Liam stiffened.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to offend, but one of my friends in college was on the equestrian team. When she worked with her horse they were like one being focusing on the same goal. That’s what I see when I watch you with the bears. You’re not afraid of them and you won’t let them boss you around. It’s like you know who you are in your skin and so do they.” She pressed her lips together, aware she babbled.

  He fished the spoon out of the pot and rested it on the upended lid on the ground. “You could say I’ve had some experience with them. I’ve lived out here all my life. You can’t do that and not run into a bear or two.”

  Though he tried to shrug off her question, Sarah sensed a deeper meaning behind his words. “But living out here and doing what you do with the bears are two separate things. You must have spent a lot of time around them to be able to understand them like you do. I know you’ve been in some pretty remote places. At least that’s what your website says. This is different. I can’t explain it, but it is.” She hated searching for words. Whether in written reports or arguing her company’s case in the political arena, she knew her stuff. Sighing, she flipped open her notebook, hoping maybe one of the passages that she’d written in her notes would jog her memory.

  “Why do you think that is?” Liam turned the tables on her.

  “I don’t know. We were talking about you.” Sarah rose to her feet. She crossed the space between them, crouching down by the fire. In this light, the flames glinted from his tanned skin. His parka hung over a tree branch, the sweater he wore too thin for the outdoors. “Aren’t you cold?” She reached for him with a gloved hand.

  “I’m tending the fire,” he replied, not really answering her question.

  “You’re being awfully evasive,” she countered. “I don’t know why you’re good with bears any more than you know why I’m good at my line of work.” She grinned, thinking she had him there.

  Liam chucked and stroked her nose. “But I do. You’re tenacious and you like the truth. Am I close?”

  He was, frighteningly so. A heated flush crept over her cheeks and down her neck.

  “Guess I was.” He turned his attention back to their dinner.

  Sarah thought for a moment. “Because you’re like the bears. You’re wild and untamed and you feel like your habitat is being encroached upon by people who don’t understand and don’t care. You fight for what you believe in and are ready to give everything to defend those you feel are under protection. Am I close?”

  Liam sucked in a harsh breath.

  A few flakes of snow tumbled from the leaden skies. Sarah held out her hand, watching the flakes, each one unique, melt on the palm of her glove. “Think it’ll keep up.”

  “Wasn’t supposed to,” Liam muttered, casting a wary eye toward the sky. The flurries distracted them from their conversation.

  Sarah stared at the scudding clouds, wondering what would happen if the storm got any worse. They’d hiked for a few hours before coming to this place, and while they could return, she didn’t relish it in a driving snowstorm. Surely Liam had checked the forecast before they’d started off this morning.

  “So did I hit the nail on the head?” Sarah asked, noticing the stew was bubbling and her stomach rumbled.

  “So you think I’m wild and untamed?” he countered.

  “Maybe,” she hedged.

  “Like somebody off the cover of a romance novel?” He laughed.

  “Nah, you’re better.” She pressed her lips together, suddenly aware of what she’d just said.

  Liam stared at her, unabashed hunger in his gaze. If he’d been a bear, then she was the sweetest, most succulent pot of honey, he’d ever seen.

  Sarah licked her lips.

  Liam’s gaze followed the movement, what sounded like a soft groan emerging from his throat. The rapid bubbling of their dinner filled the silence.

  “When’s dinner going to be ready?” she asked in a futile attempt to break the moment.

  “Anytime.” He didn’t look away from her.

  Sarah swayed toward him. A kiss, just one. Out here in the woods with the softly falling snow it might as well been the perfect scene for seduction. The only thing better would be inside a warm lodge watching the flurries.

  Their lips brushed. A hesitant touch like the first touch of a match to tinder, flames licked over her skin, warming her inside her winter clothing. His kiss deepened, his fingers sliding around to cup the back of her neck. His fingers tangled with the strands of her hair revealed beneath her stocking cap.

  She melted against him. Her eyelids fluttered closed, her breath sighed into him just as her body yearned to join with him. So wild, so untamed, he tugged at her senses. The falling snowflakes caressed her skin, kissing her with a hint of winter’s chill. Warmth from the fire burrowed through her. Her hunger faded away as his lips moved over hers.

  Arousal stirred deep inside her. She wanted him as he was right now, as hard and fast as the rushing rapids. Curling her fingers around his arm, she clung to him, and she knew that once this trip ended, she’d never be the same woman she was now.

  The need for air parted them, and she drew a ragged breath.

  “Dinner,” Liam said, a true man thinking of his stomach. He reached beside him for the plates. He spooned generous portions from the simmering pot and handed her a plate and a fork. “Eat up.”

  Sarah took the meal from him. She scooted back to her chair and started to eat. The scrumptious mix of pasta, ground meat, and vegetables really hit the spot. She hadn’t believed that camping fare could be so tasty. From lowered lashes, she watched as Liam dug into his plate with the appetite of, well…a bear.

  He reminded her of the wounded grizzly, so proud, yet trapped within the confines of human life. She bet if he didn’t have to lead tours, if he could just roam the wilderness, he’d be the happiest man alive. A part of her wanted to travel with him, to forget the citified ways of Washington and simply live
out here among this beautiful country. Right now, watching Liam clean his plate, then go back for seconds, she didn’t want to return to Washington D.C.. Not if it meant she could stay out here, fighting for his causes, for her causes, and actually do some good in the world.

  The realization rocked her back on her heels. Her dinner forgotten, she stared into the flames. Swirling snowflakes grew heavier, until a thin layer blanketed the ground. She looked longingly at the tent.

  “We should probably get inside.” Liam placed the lid on the pot. “I’ll put the food away in a little bit.”

  He wasn’t afraid of bears. He might go through the motions of stowing the food and safe campers, but with the storm brewing, animals of all sorts would be on the lookout for the easy meal that their dinner would provide. Just another piece of the puzzle of the man called Liam.

  Sarah followed his direction, bringing him her plate and then returning to the tent. She carefully removed her boots just inside, trying hard not to get any snow on their bedding. With the flaps zipped closed over the mesh openings in the tent, she saw only shadows. The four tent walls made her think she was in her own, little world, one in which she had far too much time to think.

  She had enough information to go back to Washington D.C. at any time. She didn’t want to return, but the truth was, seeing one more tree, one more panoramic vista wouldn’t change her mind. Even when she removed her personal feelings from the situation, she knew no matter how carefully a company went about it, further drilling would only damage the ecosystem. And that’s exactly what her report would say.

  The zipper on the tent’s opening pulled her attention away from thoughts of work and reports. Liam crouched low as he stepped inside, deftly turning to sit and peel off his boots. “I tried to brush most of the snow off,” he said apologetically.

  “That’s okay.” A cold gust of wind whooshed into the tent, making her burrow deeper into her sleeping bag. “Did you know the storm was coming?”

  “This?” Liam shimmied into the sleeping bags.

  A wall of his body heat rolled into her, wrapping her in his warmth. His musky, woodsy aroma surrounded her, and she realized, belatedly, that he’d zipped the sleeping bags together. She hadn’t really noticed when she’d crawled into them. She’d been lost in her own thoughts. Now, she couldn’t move two inches without bumping into him. Her breathing grew shallow as her breasts rose and fell beneath her sweater.

  “It’s not a storm. In a few hours it’ll calm down and you’ll hardly know this happened. We just have to wait it out.” Liam sounded unconcerned.

  Sarah’s stomach flip-flopped at being trapped for a few hours in such close quarters. She debated about crawling out of the sleeping bags, putting her boots and coat back on, and sitting in the farthest corner of the tent. Except, she realized as she lay there, she no longer shivered. “So we’ll be safe in a few hours?” she asked, just needing to hear his confirmation again.

  “Yeah, we will. You worried? I’ll take care of you.” Liam’s assurances rumbled through Sarah, stroking against a very primal, very feminine part of her.

  Had they been back in the city she would have dismissed it as a “me Tarzan, you Jane” response. Out here, she needed him in order to literally survive and a part of her…liked it. Feminists be damned, the idea of Liam taking care of her, protecting her, made something flutter deep inside. “You know, if we were in D.C., I’d have to take care of you,” she countered, not wanting to appear to vulnerable. At least there was somewhere in the universe where she could still be a tough chick.

  “You don’t think I can handle myself in the city? I have been in them, you know.” His smile revealed his dimple.

  Sarah curled her fingers into a fist, resisting the urge to reach out and caress that endearing feature. “I bet you have,” she replied, and when his grin widened, she knew she was in deep trouble.

  ~* * *~

  Liam didn’t know what possessed him to banter with him. Hell, at this point, he didn’t know what made him zip their sleeping bags together, except he figured he’d have enough self-control not to jump her and they needed to conserve body heat out here. Except now, watching her sweater move with every breath, knowing her slender jean-clad legs weren’t very far from his, had his body hardening with a swiftness that distracted him from the conversation.

  “So what cities have you been in?” Sarah asked.

  Her words made him pull his attention north, to her lush, full lips and the memory of what it’d been like kissing them. Damn. He was worse than a horny teenager. “A lot of them.” He hedged, not quite ready to reveal the extent of his globetrotting. His work had taken him to nearly every continent—he hadn’t been to Antarctica yet—and not all of it had been civilian work. He doubted she’d want to hear how he’d spent months in a Soviet prison, and while he’d been there, he’d been working for his people’s super secret intelligence organization. “I’ve been to D.C.,” he added, as if his going to her town would lend him more credence. Then thought he might surprise her by mentioning, “and Beijing.”

  Sarah’s eyes widened. “Really? Business or pleasure?”

  “A bit of both. I went on a twenty day trip across most of China, partially because I wanted to see it and partially because I wanted to see how other eco tour companies ran.” Now that they were talking about his work, he rested his head on his hand.

  “I bet that was a trip of a lifetime,” she said. Her eyes sparkled with interest, and not just in the conversation.

  Liam curled the fingers of his free hand into a fist, lest he reach out and toy with the strands of her hair. Deep in his gut he knew he shouldn’t give into whatever this was sparking between them. The kiss by the fire had been a mistake, as had the ones before it. Even knowing that, knowing that he was who he was and she was human didn’t stop the hunger from raging deep inside. And for a moment, he wondered what it would feel like to have her beneath him, to find himself buried in her warm body and to know just for a moment what it felt like to connect with another person.

  Slowly, he uncurled his fingers. Strands of her hair, like rich mocha, hovered closed to his ungloved fingertips. He reached for them, caressing the silken tendrils between his thumb and forefinger. Lifting it to his nose, he inhaled and let her lavender scent surround him.

  Sarah leaned toward him.

  Outside the snow showed no signs of stopping. His ursine nose picked up its smell in the air, the crisp, wet scent that told him that they’d be trapped in her for a while. And Sarah. Always Sarah. He didn’t need his people’s enhanced abilities to know she was there. He exhaled.

  Her lips hovered close to his, tantalizingly close. His body tightened, and he knew, in this instant, if he didn’t kiss her the moment, and perhaps she, would be lost to him forever. Her trip was almost completed. She had confessed she had no reasons to stay here, except him, and he tried not to think about that because she was human and he, well, wasn’t.

  Liam gave into his baser urges. He closed the space between them, using her lavender scent as a lure. She rolled towards him, and they met in the middle, a tangle limbs and lips. A soft, contented sigh emerged from her mouth and he swallowed it greedily. He traced her lower lip with his tongue, not quite ready to delve inside the warmth of her mouth.

  Beneath him, Sarah melted. Her fingers circled into his shoulder, one hand searching beneath his stocking cap to tangle in his hair. She pulled him down to her, winnowing her way beneath him. Sarah molded her body to his. Her completely uninhibited response set his blood on fire.

  Liam deepened the kiss. He slid one hard thigh between her legs. Beneath him, she rose into it, the motion of her body moving beneath his eliciting a moan that rumbled from the depths of his chest. He slid his tongue into her mouth, a primal claiming of a male taking a mate. His weight pinned her to the ground. Without the luxury of an air mattress between their sleeping bags and the tent floor he remained cognizant of any discomfort she might be feeling. Sliding his hands down to her waist, h
e twisted so she was on top of him.

  Having Sarah straddle him tugged at the last remnants of his control. The man inside him warred with the bear. So many reasons why they shouldn’t be doing this and all of them were human reasons. The bear didn’t understand. Deep inside it roared at being so close to a female, one it considered a mate. Liam tugged off her stocking cap, freeing her hair for his exploration. Tangling his fingers in it, he slanted his lips across hers.

  He paused long enough to suck in a frigid breath of air. He nibbled along her jaw line, loving the silken texture of her skin. His hands at her waist tugged at her coat and the thick clothing beneath. He burned with the need to touch her. Feeling her wriggle on top of him, the heat from her body radiating into his, had him achingly hard.

  Sarah slid her fingers between them and lowered the zipper on his jacket. She flattened her palms against his chest, her touch as intimate as if they’d been unclothed. The sleeping bags rustled around them. Even zipped together they had little room to maneuver.

  He smoothed his hands over her rear. He pulled her closer in a futile attempt to pretend that he was just a man. His bear snarled, demanding to claim what belonged to him. The beast roared at him, rising from the depths of his soul. Heat flashed through his body at odds with the bitter temperatures outside, and Liam knew if he stayed in this tent, kissing Sarah, much longer that she’d know his secret.

  Great mother help him. He couldn’t pull away.

  ~* * *~

  Sarah sensed the change in Liam the instant he pulled her on top of him. She reveled in his emerging wildness. Like the land outside that he loved so much, he represented something raw and untamed. She hungered for his intensity. It pulled her away from the civilization her job and her life in D.C. promised. It made her forget about her mission and focus on the woman inside waiting to be unleashed.