CHAPTER NINE

 

Ti’ann felt like the day dragged on forever. By evening, she was covered in purple dust and sweating like she’d walked into a sauna. And yet somehow Samuels had managed to get through the entire day immaculate and without breaking a sweat. That just wasn’t fair.

When she finally reached the privacy of her tent, she stood in the center of the small space feeling like gravity had suddenly increased. She needed food, and she needed a shower. After a few mind numbing minutes, she finally decided on a cool shower so she could relax and enjoy her dinner. She changed from her dusty boots into a pair of plastic sandals and grabbed a clean t-shirt and pants.

At the tent flap, she glanced back at her bed. Nathan’s jacket was still there, hiding under her blanket so Krin wouldn’t notice if he came into her tent. She really needed to return that to Nathan. The fact that she’d “forgotten” last night and had slept with the garment again was not good. And having his scent next to her all night had not helped her sleep. With a sigh, she headed toward the shower huts. Shower then food. After that, she could deal with…everything else.

Most of the camp was in the canteen for dinner so she didn’t even have to wait in a line. She slipped her change of clothes into the dry cupboard of one of the two shower huts then stepped inside, clothes and all, keyed in her personal code on the protected panel and waited for the door to seal shut. The water flow started thirty seconds after the door sealed, soaking her. She stripped when the timed burst shut off and tossed her now wet clothes into the small washer unit at one side of the hut to finish cleaning. Then she worked her wet hair out of the braid and soaped every part of her she could reach before the water blasted her again.

When the shower water shut off and the dryers clicked on, she ran her fingers through her hair and started to braid it back up while the dryer did its work. With a great deal of effort, she kept her mind off the tense afternoon, having Samuels inspect the new dig, then question Monroe. She’d wanted to scream just to break the tension during that conversation. Now she was too tired to think about it. Instead, she wallowed in the feeling of being clean.

The warm air clicked off and Ti’ann slipped her clean clothes out of the cupboard and dressed, then pulled her freshly washed clothes from the unit and unsealed the door. She’d barely stepped out of the hut when Terrance Samuels blocked her path. She let out an involuntary yelp and almost dropped her clothes.

“Sorry to startle you, Dr. Jones. Ti’ann.”

That bloody smile was back. Too charming by half, and it got on her nerves. “It’s quite all right, Dr. Samuels.” She made a point of remaining formal with him. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be around. Have you finished dinner already?”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d join me.”

“Oh.” She could feel the sweat starting to trickle down her back again. She’d felt so clean just a minute ago. “Of course. If you’ll just give me a few minutes to drop these back to my tent.”

“I’ll walk with you.” He extended an arm gesturing for her to lead the way.

Her mind froze as they walked. Any small talk she might have been capable of vanished into the ether. She’d never been great at small talk and social situations anyway. Since Samuels wasn’t supposed to be there on a social visit, she felt even more awkward.

She went into her tent and let the flap dropped behind her, leaving Samuels outside. Taking the moment of solitude to collect her courage, she set her clothes on her bed, patted the place where Nathan’s jacket hid, took a deep breath, and prepared to face the smile again. Terrance was waiting patiently, his hands clasped in front of him. He would have looked perfectly at ease, and incredibly sexy, if it weren’t for his eyes. The hardness and focus there belied his casual, charming air.

She tried on a smile and said, “Shall we? I’m starving.”

He chuckled and allowed her to lead the way again. It took a great deal of effort not to show how antsy she was as they walked to the canteen. She kept her hands away from her braid and even managed to avoid fidgeting, but it was a close thing.

She forced out a polite, “How did you find the day?”

“Very informative. Thank you. You and Dr. Freemont have been very cooperative.”

“Will you need to stay on site for long?” Did that sound too desperate?

“Another day or two and our inspection should be complete. Don’t worry, Ti’ann, we’ve come prepared. We won’t inconvenience you.”

“No inconvenience at all, doctor.” She really wished he’d stop using her first name.

“You’ve been studying paleontology since your second year of college. How do you find the subject?”

“Fascinating. Otherwise, I’d do something else.”

He chuckled again. “Not many people would consider changing occupations after establishing themselves in one.”

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have gone into paleontology to begin with if I hadn’t liked it.”

“Would you still have chosen a science?”

“Yes.” Hell. She did not want to have this conversation. She squirmed inside. The subject was too personal, and she didn’t even like Terrance Samuels, nonetheless want to get personal with him. This would be easier if he did all the talking. She didn’t care how much personal information he revealed. “How about you, doctor? How long have you been a physicist?”

“Nearly fifteen years.” He raised a hand and smiled. “I know. I don’t look old enough, but I started young.”

She tried to smile but her face felt stiff. “And what’s your specialty?”

“Chemical physics. I ran a lab until about four years ago when I was recruited for this job.”

Then silence. “Do you enjoy your work now?” Jesus, why couldn’t he just ramble? Krin always told her men loved to talk about themselves, but Samuels didn’t expand more than a sentence or two before falling quite again. How was she going to eat dinner like this?

When they entered the canteen, the tent fell momentarily silent. Conversations started again, but they were muted. Terrance gestured her to a seat and walked to the auto-cookers. Instead of sitting and letting him bring her food, she followed to get her own plate. It barely ruffled his composure.

She sighed. This was both embarrassing and awkward. She looked around, hoping Krin was somewhere nearby, ready to rescue her, but he wasn’t. In fact, as she watched, the tent started to quietly clear out. Anyone with enough of his or her meal eaten made an excuse to leave. By the time they sat down, only about seven people were left in the tent. She couldn’t blame them. She didn’t want to be there either.

“So tell me,” Terrance said as he settled a napkin in his lap, “what brought you to this part of Narava?”

She raised an eyebrow at his table manners. They didn’t tend to go in for formality out here. “We conducted surveys of a few likely sites. The geologics of this area indicated two layers of rock ideal for preserving bones, one at just over 50,000 years ago and another at 5 million years ago. A preliminary MEI scan indicated the presence of enough fossil material to make this site exciting.” She shoveled food into her mouth so she could stop talking.

She glanced up, noticed the precision with which he ate, and almost choked. Every piece of food was cut smoothly to a perfect, mouth-sized bite. His knife and fork were set precisely on the plate when he wasn’t eating, and he wiped the corners of his mouth every time he set his utensils down. There was a time in her life when even if his looks hadn’t intimidated her, his table manners would. She’d been taught well by her parents and had eaten at enough formal dinners to be comfortable with that sort of polite behavior now. But it seemed so out of place in their little canteen in the middle of nowhere Narava.

“Are you bothered that Monroe and a few of his people have to leave before you’ve broken ground on the new site?” Samuels asked.

She blinked at the change of subject and it took her mind a minute to catch up. Swallowing a tingle of panic, she said, “There’s no point in them hanging around while the EDU is down. And they have business to attend to. They’ll be back soon enough.” There, that sounded about right. Exactly the thing she’d say if all this was true.

Monroe had concocted a story to get Val away from the site because, while none of the three inspectors carried visible detectors, they were government officials—legitimately or otherwise. Monroe didn’t want to risk Val being discovered. Ti’ann couldn’t blame him. She’d be happy to have the Shifter out of camp, too.

“The fact that Clare O’Malley is staying isn’t…concerning?” Samuels asked, studying her closely.

“Why would it be?” Ti’ann forced a half-laugh. “Besides, Mike is also staying. Why would Clare leave?”

“Of course.”

With smooth confidence, he returned to small talk about her career path. He kept the conversation going through the meal, suave and never awkward, never seeming aware of her discomfort. He called her Ti’ann instead of Dr. Jones despite her insistent use of his title. And he never corrected her or requested that she call him Terrance. She managed to swallow her dinner, but it settled like a hard lump in her stomach. The sooner she could get away from him, without appearing rude, the better. From the corner of her eye, she could see the remaining people quietly clearing the canteen. She kept wondering where Krin was. Why wasn’t he here to take his share of this discomfort?

After she’d eaten as much as she could stomach and he’d finished his meal, she decided enough was enough.

“Thank you for a lovely dinner, doctor,” she said with what she hoped passed as a smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a few things to do before I get to sleep. We have an early start in the morning.”

He stood when she did and walked with her to the recycling unit then out of the canteen. “It was a pleasure talking with you, Ti’ann. I hope we’ll get the chance to talk more before my work here is finished.” He took hold of her hand, squeezing it affectionately, refusing to release her until she’d agreed to speak with him again soon.

Her legs felt like jelly as she walked away, knowing he was still watching her. She wanted to rub her hand over her shirt to wipe away his touch but managed to contain the impulse until she’d rounded the imaging tent out of his line of sight. She rubbed her hand down her thigh then ducked inside to make sure all was as it should be. Nothing looked disturbed. The safe appeared secure.

The safe was safe. She wanted to laugh at that thought and wondered if maybe she wasn’t going just a little hysterical. She’d never been hysterical before. Getting hysterical was the sort of thing pretty, delicate women did. But she felt a definite need to squirm and wash her hands and laugh all at the same time.

She thought she should go find Nathan. He’d calm her worries. Her next thought was just how insane that would be. Nathan most definitely didn’t have a calming effect on her. If anything, being around him would send her completely over the edge. She didn’t trust herself with him. And in her present state, she was very likely to embarrass herself if she tried talking to him.

Though, she had a good excuse. She could return his jacket.

But then she wouldn’t have it in bed with her tonight, surrounding her with his scent.

She groaned out loud and sat down in one of the seats by the imaging console. She was acting like a moron. Nathan wasn’t any safer to her peace of mind than Samuels.

Though, having Nathan around today had been very reassuring.

Damn but she wanted the man again. Still. He was the sexiest man she’d ever known and too many memories had assaulted her since his arrival, too many remembered sensations and longings.

Was it really so bad that he didn’t remember her? Did she care at this stage?

So their previous meeting hadn’t been as spectacular to him as it had been for her. It’s not like she was in love with him. Yes, it was humiliating to be forgotten. But Nathan had managed to give her the best sex of her life. She’d never felt so free and uninhibited before. And right now, on the verge of emotional breakdown from the stress of Samuels and the new find, the thought of throwing herself back into that blissful release appealed a lot.

She had thought maybe, just maybe he’d been hitting on her that night on the cliff. Though she’d convinced herself she’d imagined the heat between them, it was possible he was interested in her, even if he didn’t realize they’d met before.

Was she brave enough to try seducing him? Would he laugh at her?

She flexed and fisted her hands against her thighs. Her two previous lovers had both laughed at her for attempting to act sexy. And as Krin had so accurately pointed out, Nathan was no staid professor or hotshot digger. True, Nathan hadn’t laughed at her three years ago. But two nights of freedom couldn’t overcome a lifetime of uncertainty. Odds were in favor of him dismissing her attempts at seduction because she’d experienced that more often than anything else with men.

With everything else going on, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand having Nathan turn her down. There was only so much mortification her pride could take.

She stood up and squared her shoulders. Tonight, pride would win out over bravery. She was just too tired to be courageous.

But as she stepped out of the imaging tent, she stepped into Nathan.

“Oh.” She came up short and the abrupt move made her stumble back a step. He caught her shoulders and held her until she’d righted herself. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting to see you.” She forced herself to look at him. Heat warmed her cheeks and her stomach flipped a giddy little summersault. Thoughts of pride and bravery vanished under awareness of the feel of his hands on her shoulders.

He kept his hands on her long enough to thrill her, fill her with a hope that she hated as much as savored. Then he released her and took a step back.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, his voice quiet. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She narrowed her gaze. “What do you mean?”

“Dinner with Samuels.” His brows lowered and his mouth turned down in the barest of frowns. “His idea?”

“Ah.” So he wasn’t talking about her rapid heartbeat and breathless state. He hadn’t noticed she was on the verge of throwing herself at him. “Yes, dinner was his idea. And it was the most uncomfortable meal I’ve ever been forced to eat.” Even trying to eat under Nathan’s scrutiny last night had been easier to take. “But I’m fine.”

“What did he want?”

“To chat, I guess. I don’t know. I was too anxious to be away from him to care what he wanted.”

Nathan stared at her for a very long moment, but she couldn’t decipher his mood at all. What was he thinking? Did he have any idea what she’d been thinking just moments ago?

Would he laugh at her if she kissed him?

“Be careful around him,” Nathan finally said. “I’ve check into him a little more. There’s not much there. But he’s definitely not here for the reasons he claims.”

She glanced around and lowered her voice. “He’s…?”

“Back at his ship. And being watched.”

She wanted to ask more questions but also didn’t want to be overheard. She asked the one thing she really wanted to know. “He’s not a legitimate inspector then? You’re sure. He’s here because of the dig.”

Nathan nodded.

They’d known from the beginning the coincidence was too much. Having Nathan confirm their suspicions made her stomach sore. She glanced back at the imaging tent.

“Everything is going to be fine, Ti’ann,” Nathan murmured.

She faced him again and realized he was standing closer, so near she wouldn’t have to lean very far to fall against him. She flicked her tongue out to wet her dry lips and watched his gaze drop to her mouth. Oh god. That look. So hot, so erotic. So well remembered.

No longer able to resist, she did lean toward him, watching his mouth as intently as he’d stared at hers. That mouth had done the most wonderful things to her body three years ago. And she wanted…needed to have him again. Even if she was making a fool of herself, even though he didn’t remember her, even if this would hurt her even more when it ended. She didn’t care. He was heat, strength, comfort and freedom all combined into the sexiest, most handsome man she’d ever known. Walking away from this chance would be worse than taking it.

She met his gaze, so dark in the moonlight, and started going to him.

“Goodnight, Dr. Jones.” Ti’ann jolted out of the moment, straightening just in time to see two of the volunteers passing on their way to their tent. One of the girls, Micca, waved as they walked by.

She nodded to them, unable to speak around the thumping of her heartbeat. When the young women were out of sight, she faced Nathan again. He was farther away now. And his expression was unreadable again.

“Get some sleep,” he murmured. “I’ll make sure Samuels doesn’t do any harm tonight.”

She wanted to say something, anything. But her mind was a blank. He walked away well before it started working again.

Standing in the chilly night air, she realized once again she’d forgotten to mention his jacket. Which meant the garment was waiting for her in her tent, filling her bed with the smell of him.

She’d return the jacket tomorrow.

*****

Val was never alone. He’d been watching all day. The others were always with it—watching, protecting. He found the situation frustrating, but he had patience. He could bide his time.

He overheard their plans for three of them, including the Shifter, to return to Capital. He couldn’t take the chance the Shifter would escape him and not return. He was supposed to kill Shifters. It was part of his purpose.

Though he wasn’t supposed to take action without permission, he felt sure Dr. Ripley would approve his efforts to keep the Shifter here so he could kill it. Their ship was easy enough to disable. It would take time for them to repair. And when they did, he would disable it again.

He felt secure enough in his efforts to keep Val from leaving that he broke from the hunt to check on the others who’d arrived. He’d been warned about them just yesterday. He wasn’t to interfere. They weren’t even to know he was here. That suited him. He didn’t like the look of them.

They made her nervous. Ti’ann Jones. The leader. He saw it in her when she thought no one was looking. He sensed it, almost smell it, like she gave off an odor of fear. It was hard to believe they didn’t notice too. But they weren’t as skilled as he was.

He considered her fear. Of course they would make her nervous. They were a danger to her. She’d be afraid of him, too, if he let her see him. But that wasn’t his job. He was here to collect information. Information the inspectors wouldn’t be able to get. They weren’t good enough.

He’d seen the big male—Nathan Longfeather—setting up the monitors and surveillance equipment. Nathan Longfeather would make sure Terrance Samuels and the other two didn’t find anything important. He kept a close watch on them and ensured they were never where they might discover something. Nathan Longfeather’s human form handicapped him, but he was thorough and efficient at his task. E appreciated efficiency and thoroughness.

He paused.

E. That’s what Dr. Ripley called him. Project E. He was the fifth one, the successful one. He was the best.

He hadn’t considered a name for himself before. E. They all had names. Even the Shifter was called by a name. He was better than they were. He should have a name. E.

E was a good name.