Hawk and the Cougar (8 page)

“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.

“It’s an SUV.”

Hawk slung the rifle over his shoulder, then, cooler in hand, he slammed the door closed and grasped Liz’s hand. The SUV appeared around the last bend.

“Come on.” He started them at a run in the direction of the dig.

They neared the decline as the vehicle veered off the road a hundred feet from them, headlights dead on them. Hawk pumped his legs faster and nearly flew down the hill. Relief swept through him when Liz kept pace. Headlights cut a path across the desert over their heads. Car doors slammed.

They reached the farthest cluster of pillars when a voice shouted, “Come on, Professor, you know we saw you.”

The Beanstalk.

Hawk pushed Liz behind him and peered around the pillar. Two figures stood on the rise. Jack and his sidekick, The Beanstalk.

“Come on, Professor,” The Beanstalk called. “We only want to talk.”

Hawk turned and grasped Liz’s shoulders. “You moved that pretty ass damn fast. The hills are a hundred and fifty yards. Think you can amp it up a bit?”

She swallowed, but said in a strong voice, “Kick-boxing three days a week and Stairmaster four.”

He grinned. “You’re in damn good shape. We’re going to make for the saddle.”

“You don’t want anything to happen to your lady friend, do you, Professor?”

Liz’s head snapped in the direction of The Beanstalk’s voice.

Hawk grasped her jaw and turned her face toward his. “You trust me?”

She nodded.

“Good, then do as I say. We’re going to run for it, but if they start shooting I’m going to cover you while you make for the hills.” She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “If you get shot, there’s no way I can get you to a doctor.” He gave her a smile. “Don’t worry; I plan on us making it—together.”

She nodded and he released her.

“Professor, you’re scaring your lady friend,” The Beanstalk called.

Hawk’s heart hammered. The asshole had started down the hill. “Grab that cooler and be ready to run,” he ordered.

In one fluid motion, Hawk swung the rifle from his shoulder and aimed as he stepped from around the rock. Then he fired. Both men dropped with shouted curses and began to roll down the hill. Hawk whirled, grabbed Liz’s hand, and raced across the open desert.

They were halfway across when a shot rang out.

“Run!” Hawk shouted, and sent Liz forward.

He whirled, swung the rifle up, sighted The Beanstalk, and fired again. The big man stumbled as if he’d tripped, then crashed to the ground. Hawk swung the barrel toward Jack and pulled the trigger as he dived for cover. Hawk pivoted and came up short at finding Liz standing twenty feet away.

“God damn it, Liz. Run!”

He reached her in two seconds. Hawk seized her hand and shot forward. She tripped. He yanked her to his side, her feet righted, and they raced forward. Another shot rang out. Dirt kicked up to Liz’s right. Red hot fury rammed through Hawk. He hugged Liz to him and dived for the narrow saddle as another shot echoed around them.

They hit the ground, Liz on top of him. Hawk ignored the pain that radiated up his arm and pushed her from him as he rolled onto his stomach and pointed the rifle in the direction of the men. They were running at breakneck speed toward him and Liz. The Beanstalk pointed his pistol.

“Motherfucker,” Hawk cursed.

He sighted The Beanstalk’s leg and fired. The Beanstalk dived to the right, while Jack dropped.

The Beanstalk rolled and came up on his belly like Hawk. “I’ll kill you, motherfucker,” he shouted.

Hawk fired, then pushed to his feet and hauled Liz up with him. “We’ve got to keep moving.”

He pulled her forward and they broke into a run for the next hill. They rounded the slope as more gunfire sounded. Hawk shoved Liz down and peered around the side. God damn it, the men were nearly halfway to where he and Liz were. Hawk faced her. His gut wrenched at the stark fear on her face.

“Can you keep going?”

She nodded, and they jumped up and started forward. This time, there was no saddle. They had to go over the top of the large rise in front of them. How the hell far were Jack and The Beanstalk going to follow them? The two men weren’t equipped for getting lost in the mountains.

“Come on,” Hawk urged. “We’ve got to get over that rise before they get around the hill behind us.”

Seconds later, they started up the incline. Hawk glanced back. The men weren’t in sight.

“Think
Stairmaster
,” he coaxed through heavy breaths.

Liz was breathing heavier than she had been when they’d started up the hill, but she nodded and picked up speed. Damn, the woman could move. They neared the top and Hawk looked back in time to see that the men had nearly reached the bottom of the hill behind them. Hawk pulled Liz to the ground. She cried out.

“Crawl,” he ordered. She started to look back, but Hawk grabbed her arm. “Keep going.”

She crawled forward and they were over the summit in three seconds. They jumped to their feet and raced to the bottom where Liz came to a halt, breathing hard.

“I need”—she drank in more air—“to rest.”

“I know,” he said. “Soon.” He pulled her forward.

They moved as fast as they could to the next saddle, where the hills were twice the size they had been when they’d fled into the foothills.

Shouts went up farther away behind them, and Hawk knew the men were losing ground. He and Liz slowed, but didn’t stop until moonlight dimmed within the deepening shadows of the larger hills.

At last, Hawk brought them to a halt. He listened, but heard only silence. “I think we lost them.”

A quiet sob broke from Liz.

“Sweetheart.” He pulled her into his arms.

“I thought they were going to follow us all night,” she cried against his chest.

“They were damned persistent,” he agreed.

She began to tremble, and he realised the adrenaline that had kept her going was wearing off. She was going to fall apart. He scanned their surroundings. They’d climbed to an open area against the incline of a gentle rise. He scanned for snakes among the tiny ground shrubs and found none.

“You need to rest.” Hawk pried loose the cooler she gripped, then dropped it to the ground and urged her down as he sat beside her. He laid the rifle beside them and she melted into his arms, tears flowing in earnest.

“It’s all right.” He stroked her hair.

“I thought they were going to kill you,” she sobbed.

Hawk gave a quiet laugh. “That’s what had you scared?”

Her head snapped up. “It’s not funny.”

“I know. You weren’t just a little worried they might kill
you
?”

“You were the one they were shooting at.”

Hawk remembered the shot that had gone wide to her right. They
hadn’t
been shooting at him. “I told you to keep running,” he said.

“I wasn’t going to leave you to get hurt or captured. They would have killed you.”

The determination in her voice didn’t surprise him, but the tightening in his chest did. She meant it. She would have put her life on the line for him, just as she had last night when she’d confronted him. It took guts for a woman to stand up to a man his size in a deserted parking lot. And stand up to him she had, even after he’d backed her against the truck and… His cock jerked at the memory of her lush body trapped between him and the truck.

She’d responded to him even then. He hadn’t missed the hardening of her nipples against his chest. And he’d responded to her, despite thinking she’d been sent by Reid. What would he have done if she’d been on the wrong side of this fight? Hawk startled at the feel of her palm flat against his chest. His heart jumped into high gear as the hand slid upward. Her slender fingers made contact with his neck and his shaft thickened.

“Liz,” he rasped.

She answered by drawing his mouth down to hers. Warm lips met his, and he knew the answer to his question. If she’d been on the wrong side of the fight, he would still be right here with her body pressed close to his. Her tongue slipped past his lips and stroked his. Lust coursed through him like a river of lava. She reached between them and fumbled with his belt.

He broke the kiss. “Liz, if they show up—”

“You said we lost them.”

“I know, but if I’m wrong—”

He broke off. She’d gone stock still—except for the tremble in her fingers he knew was more from fear than lust. Fuck, he was an idiot. She needed him, as much to make her feel safe as she did to allay her fears about their burgeoning relationship. Hawk crushed her to him. She pushed at his chest.

“Shh, sweetheart,” he soothed. “I need you as much as you need me.”

“You said—”

“I’m an idiot.” He pulled her across his lap and covered her mouth with his. His cock pulsed when her rounded ass pressed down on his fast-growing erection. Fuck, any minute the damn thing would burst past his button fly and dive straight for her pussy.

She melted in a shuddering mass against him. The kiss turned violent, a slash of sucking lips, tangled tongues and grazing teeth. Hawk pushed aside the lapel of her blue jean jacket, then fumbled the buttons on the coveralls and palmed her lush breast through the lacy bra. She moaned. He bent his head and sucked the peak through the lace. Liz clutched his shoulders and arched into his mouth. He sucked harder. She gasped.

He pulled loose the remaining buttons on the coveralls and sunk his fingers into the hot moisture of her sex. Liz cried out. She’d creamed her panties. Blood roared through his ears and his cock hardened to the point of agony. She slid a hand up his neck and speared her fingers into his hair. He rammed a finger inside her opening, still sucking her nipple. She tugged hard on his hair.

Need coursed through him with startling heat, but he forced himself to slowly insert a second finger and gently stretch her. She was so damn tight. The thought of ramming his engorged cock inside the small opening sent a dizzying wave of lust through him. He sawed his fingers in and out of her wet passage.

“Hawk,” she whimpered.

The need in her voice tightened his chest. He moved to the other breast while fucking her harder with his fingers. She pulsed against the digits. The action bumped her buttocks against his erection. Sweat beaded across his forehead and instantly cooled in the night breeze. Her breath hitched and he realised she was close to climax. Desire to be inside her clenched body nearly overwhelmed him, but he wasn’t done with her yet, not by a long shot.

He released her nipple and buried his face near her ear. “You like this, sweetheart?”

 
She nodded into his chest.

“Good, because I want to touch you all over…suck you all over.” She shuddered and he felt the tightening of her channel walls around his fingers. “I’ll make you come every way you can imagine, my cock inside your ass while my fingers are inside your pussy.”

She ground the cleft of her ass against his cock. His balls tightened. She wanted everything he had to give, and she could damn well take it, even if she didn’t know it yet.

Her walls fluttered, then she spasmed around his fingers. “That’s it, baby. Take all you want.”

The pulse that beat in her neck thundered against his jaw. He stroked and her legs clamped tight around his hand as another orgasm shook her. Before the shudder had passed, she was reaching for his belt.

Hawk thought he would go out of his mind. She undid the belt and pulled the buttons free. His strangled laugh cut off when she pulled back his boxer briefs and fisted his cock in a tight grip that seared him to the core.

“Liz.” He yanked his cream-coated fingers from her cunt.

Her head jerked up. He seized the sleeves of the coveralls and tugged them from her arms. She tumbled from his lap when he dragged the coveralls down her hips. He yanked them free of her legs, then tossed the jacket on the ground beside them and pulled her to her knees on the fabric. Hawk turned her back to him and undid her bra. The elastic sprang forward and she tossed it aside, then started to face him.