Discover Time For Love Read online

  He set a pan of water to boil on the second burner for noodles to go with the stew. His problem was, he wanted too much. He’d long ago given up the idea of an academic career and he didn’t regret that. He enjoyed the combination of creativity and management that was needed to make Discovering Dinos successful. And while he didn’t teach university students, he did give guest lectures at high schools and then there were the week-long digs at the dude ranch. So he was passing on his knowledge and helping young minds learn.

  There was a part of him, though, that craved the excitement of the big find. When he’d descended from the truck on that first day when he and Liz found the rift, his heart had pounded and he had wanted to dance a jig, there, in the middle of the road, in front of a woman who was pretty much a stranger. That she was as excited as he had been was as potent as an aphrodisiac. She’d been in the forefront of his thoughts ever since. He’d watched her work long hours, always meticulously, and oh so very, very carefully. That quiet, skillful style called to him, captured his interest, then deepened from initial attraction into respect and something more profound, and far more emotional.

  When he kissed her, he realized that attraction had become desire. Desire that he couldn’t sate in one night with her. Desire that told him he needed months—if not years—to explore her, physically and emotionally.

  He hadn’t told her, of course. He shredded lettuce into a bowl of water to wash it. He realized he was ripping the leaves into smaller and smaller bits. He paused to take a deep breath and regain control. Then he told himself, again, that Liz deserved her chance at success. By returning to Scarr’s camp she wasn’t rejecting him, what he stood for, or the relationship that had borne fruit last night. She was looking at the rest of her life, not a short-term romp in bed.

  Being rational sucked. He wanted her with him. At his campsite, on his dig, in his bed.

  Jeeze, he had it bad.

  It. His hand, until then, still busily shredding lettuce way too fine, stilled. What was it?

  Obsession? Lust? Desire? Passion?

  None of the above, but something far more important?

  What was that? Love?

  Nah. Couldn’t be. Love took months to develop and was based on mutual respect. Well, they had the respect thing. Or at least, he had it. But they didn’t have the months.

  So he was safe. Whatever he was feeling, it wasn’t love.

  If he’d fallen in love with Liz Hamilton, he’d made a big mistake, because she was focused on her career, not a relationship.

  He looked down at the little bits of lettuce in the bowl and sighed. His green salad was going to look more like coleslaw than a traditional salad. He swirled the bits around in the water, then dumped them into a colander and shook out as much water as he could. He set the colander onto a towel to drain and tossed cherry tomatoes into the bowl to wash while he chopped up an onion.

  He was scrubbing the tomatoes when he heard the sound of a truck engine. He jerked his gaze toward the road, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Will had emerged from his tent to see who was arriving, while Justin and Maggy, who were sitting by the firepit, both jumped to their feet.

  The engine belonged to his truck and the driver was Liz. Mike felt the little knot of worry in his gut dissolve at the site of her as she jumped down from the parked truck.

  She half ran, half skipped to the camp. “I’m sorry I’m late! Did I miss dinner?”

  All those emotions that he’d been brewing up while he cooked, boiled to the surface, hot and bubbly and ready to burst. “That’s it? Did you miss dinner? That’s all you have to say?”

  She blinked at him, then she smiled. “You’re grouchy.”

  “I am not grouchy,” he said, realizing as he said the words that was exactly how he sounded.

  Her smile widened. She said softly, so only he could hear, “You were worried about me.”

  “Damn right,” he snapped back, but he kept his tone as low as hers.

  Her smile brightened to megawatt level and he realized she was riding an adrenaline high. “Tonight,” she said, her voice low again, but this time full of promise. “My tent or yours?”

  “Mine. I have a bed and it’s bigger, and sturdier, than your air mattress.” He must be drawing on her excitement, because a few minutes ago he hadn’t even considered the possibility their relationship would continue.

  “Deal,” she said. Then Will came over from his tent and Maggy and Justin drifted over from the firepit.

  “We didn’t expect you back,” Will said, when he reached them.

  Liz turned her blinding smile on Will and Mike was overwhelmed by a moment of intense jealousy.

  “It took me longer than I expected to sort out Scarr,” she said, with a wink.

  Amusement lightened Will’s expression. “How did you do that?”

  “Yeah, how did you?” Mike echoed. “Scarr sounded pretty firm when he laid down his terms.”

  She shrugged. “I reminded him that neither he, nor Zac wanted to do the actual digging work to get the skeleton out of the ground.”

  Mike grunted. “Good point, but I expect Scarr could have assigned some of his delectable diggers to work the site.”

  “Delectible diggers?” Liz said, a laugh mixed with amazement in her voice.

  Mike refused to be embarrassed. “That’s what the townsfolk call them.”

  “Huh. I didn’t know that. I suspect Scarr thinks of them that way, but I’ve never heard him use the term.” She grinned. “You’re right, though, he didn’t take that argument very seriously because of his…interns. So I reminded him that the university and its law team know that the find is mine and that I’m the lead on this skeleton. That made him think. I made him really consider when I suggested that if he tried to cut me out, it would be his reputation that would suffer, because everyone would wonder why he’d done it. I even speculated that he might become known as uncollegial. You know, someone who refuses to share his results and knowledge with others in the field, or withholds support for a colleague. Students wouldn’t want to work with him. Colleagues at his level would shut him out. Funding would dry up. He’d have his tenured position at the university, but he’d be out of the mainstream in our field.”

  Midway through her recital, Mike started to laugh and Will’s amusement turned into a low chuckle. As she talked, the water for the noodles boiled over, while the stew rose perilously close to the top of the pot, bubbling and spitting. Mike rushed to save his meal, lowering the flames on the burners and adding noodles to the boiling water.

  When he had food under control he looked over at her and grinned. “So what was the outcome of your blackmail conversation?

  “It wasn’t blackmail! I was merely pointing out some of the difficulties that could arise if he banished me from the site.”

  Mike raised his eyebrows. “And?”

  She shrugged. “Things continue as they did before. I stay here at night. I dig the Daspletosaurus during the day.” She looked round at each of them, and smiled. “I’m very glad to be back.”

  Later that evening, after Will and Maggy and Justin had turned in for the night and the camp was in darkness, Liz and Mike quietly made their way to his tent.

  “I thought you weren’t coming back,” he murmured when they were inside and alone together. His hands were on Liz’s waist and he’d positioned her so that her hips rubbed against his. He slid his hands under her t-shirt, up her bare skin, savoring the sensation of silky skin under his fingertips.

  She sighed with pleasure. “I was always coming back. I had to figure out how to make Scarr understand I would be doing it on my terms, not his.”

  “You were gone all afternoon.” He set his lips to the pulse beating in her neck and nibbled.

  Her breath caught. “Scarr is stubborn and for some ridiculous reason he decided today that he was going to linger at the rift, instead of vacating as soon as I wasn’t around. I had to wait for an hour before he showed up.” She rubbed her hips ag
ainst his, amusement sparkling in her eyes as she watched his eyes glaze and his expression harden in reaction. “I’m not the most patient of people, so I was pretty grumpy when he finally showed up.”

  “Guess you’re going to be grouchy with me, then, because I plan to take my time.” He moved his mouth to the underside of her chin, then kissed his way up to her lips. His tongue flicked out to stroke the edges and she put her hands on his shoulders and clung.

  She opened her mouth to invite him in, but he nibbled on her lip, scraping with his teeth, soothing with his tongue. Her eyes closed and her grip on his shoulders tightened. “Let go,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”

  With a little groan, she did. He wrapped one arm around her waist to hold her steady, while with the other he slipped inside her bra to cup her breast, teasing the nipple with his thumb. She murmured low in her throat and her tongue came out to touch his lips in a tentative way that he found far more erotic than an aggressive approach.

  He pulled away to lift her and carry her over to the camp bed. There, he sat her on the edge and knelt down before her so they were at eye level. He stripped off her t-shirt, then unhooked her bra and slipped it off her shoulders. He paused to look and be dazzled. “You’re so beautiful.”

  She smiled that cocky, feminine smile at him and put her hands behind her so her breasts stood high. “Touch me,” she said, her voice husky with the same desire that was coursing through him.

  He did, with pleasure. He put his hands on her breasts to stroke and fondle and tease her nipples until both stood puckered and taut. She dropped her head back and closed her eyes. He saw her swallow hard, then he lowered his head and took one nipple into his mouth.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered. She arched into his mouth, demanding more. On her other breast, he pinched her nipple and her breath caught. “Mike. Michael. What you’re doing to me. Stop that or give me more.”

  He didn’t stop, but he didn’t give her the more she wanted either. He continued to suck and play while she shivered and moaned.

  “Please,” she whispered. “I want to get my jeans off. I want your clothes off. I want to touch you. All over.”

  “You want a lot,” he murmured, but with one last flick, he drew away.

  Her hands were trembling as she tried to unfasten her jeans, so he took over the job. It gave him the added bonus of an opportunity to stroke hips and thighs, and to test out her most private place. He wasn’t surprised to find that she was wet and ready for him.

  When he stood to strip off his clothes, she settled on the cot. He lowered himself to her, positioning himself so that he was on his knees, spread wide so that they were on either side of her hips. “You wanted to touch me,” he said.

  She did. She slid her hand over his erection, already full and ready. It grew under her touch, straining his control. It was his turn to groan. “You have about one more minute then I’m going to break.”

  She chuckled. To his regret, she abandoned his cock to slide her hands up his chest, lingering at his nipples to tease and taunt as his hand played with hers, then she caught his shoulders and drew him down to kiss him.

  He slid inside her as their lips caressed each other. She closed around him, heightening his pleasure as he thrust. As the tempo increased she writhed beneath him. The kiss deepened as they both fought for release.

  When it came, it was shattering. They lay panting as pleasure eased and finally died away. He slid off her, drawing her against him for a cuddle.

  “Mike,” she whispered.

  “Hmmm?”

  “Do you have time tomorrow morning to go somewhere with me?”

  “Why?” He frowned. She sounded uncertain.

  “There’s something I want to show you. Something important. Will you come?”

  He stroked the hair that had tumbled over her forehead, the short strands silky beneath his fingertips. “Of course. Will you tell me what it is?”

  She looked into his eyes. He saw worry in hers and that made him very nervous.

  “I can’t. It’s…well, it’s complicated.” Her gaze searched his face, begging him to understand. “Will you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s that simple?” she said, with a little laugh.

  It was, he realized, that simple. It didn’t take months. All it took was acceptance and realization.

  He was in love with Liz Hamilton.

  “Yeah,” he murmured before he kissed her again. “It’s that simple.”

  Chapter 21

  They wrangled over who would drive the truck the next morning. Mike insisted, his truck, he’d drive, but Liz pointed out that the destination was hers, so she should be the one behind the wheel. Since Will had already departed with Maggy and Justin down to the rift, the argument became a discussion filled with considerable touching, kissing and laughter. In the end Liz did drive, because she refused to divulge the destination to Mike.

  When they reached the open stretch of prairie and parked she turned to Mike. “We’re here.”

  He stared out at nothing and said, “Why here?” When he looked back at Liz there was a frown in his eyes.

  She grinned at him. “You’ll see,” she said, and hopped from the truck.

  He followed her out. She came around the hood to stand beside him. He looked at her, his brows raised. “Now what?”

  “We walk.” She looked ahead to the bright orb of light only she could see, then turned to him. “Take my hand and don’t let go. Okay?”

  He was staring at her as if she had temporarily lost her mind, but he clasped his hand around hers. His touch warmed her, filling her with so much contentment, Liz knew she was doing the right thing. There was a risk, of course, in taking Mike into the future with her. He might react like her father had when her mother confessed to him that she both traveled through time and brought time travelers into her own time. Daniel Hamilton couldn’t handle the strangeness and the result had been divorce and a strained relationship with his daughter, Faith, who was a Beacon, like her mother. Chloe Hamilton had made the mistake of not telling her husband-to-be this important part of herself before they were married. Liz wasn’t going to make the same mistake with Mike.

  Yesterday’s crisis had made her realize that she’d slipped past attraction and great sex into an emotion that she thought was remarkably like the one her sister felt for Cody Simpson. Lust, affection, respect, pride, and tenderness all wrapped up together in a package called love. She knew Mike wasn’t ready to take their physical relationship into an emotional one, but she thought he was drifting in that direction, even if he didn’t actually know it yet.

  So she was going to show him her newly found time traveling ability and ask him to accept it as a big part of who she was.

  A few feet away from the Beacon, she stopped. Showtime. “What do you see ahead of you?”

  He frowned, looking around the open prairie. “Sagebrush. Some dried grasses. Red earth. Hoodoos over to the east. What’s this all about, Liz?”

  Her mouth twitched up into a rueful smile. “I see a great round orb of light. It’s a beacon and it’s waiting for me to pass through.”

  “Liz,” he said. He sounded impatient, definitely disbelieving. “You’re having me on. Why? What’s the real reason we’re here?” He turned so they were face-to-face, then he lifted his free hand and dug his fingers into her hair. “Whatever is going on, you can tell me.” His gaze locked with hers. “Did you make another find, here on my permit land? Are you worried about telling me?”

  She laughed. “Kind of, but not what you think.” She touched his cheek in a gentle gesture. “There’s no easy way to explain this. I think we should just do it.” She turned back to the beacon. “Walk with me. And remember, don’t let go.”

  She tugged at his hand to be sure he was following, then she stepped into the beacon.

  And was inside the sleek, stainless steal lab.

  Beside her Mike said, “What the hell?”

  Mark was sitting
at his desk, but he had his chair positioned so he could see the place where she always arrived. He smiled and said, “Welcome. You must be Mike.”

  Mike was staring at Mark as if he was prepared skewer the other man if he did anything untoward. The only problem was, he’d have to let go of Liz’s hand to do it and once he no longer had physical contact with Liz he’d revert back to his own time. “Who are you?” he said suspiciously.

  Mark raised his brows. “Oh, I forgot.” He shot an amused look at Liz. “You didn’t prepare him.”

  “Doing works better,” Liz said. “Mike, this is my grandson, Mark.” Mike snorted with disbelief. Liz continued on as if he hadn’t made the sound. “Mark, this is Mike Edmonds.”

  “I know,” Mark said. “I’d shake your hand, Mike, but if you aren’t in physical contact with Liz all of this will disappear.”

  “Yeah?” Mike said.

  There was a gleam in his eyes that Liz didn’t like. “Mike, don’t—”

  He jerked his hand from hers and was gone.

  Mark laughed. “You’d better go get him.”

  Liz shot him a fulminating look. “You knew this was going to happen.”

  “I did, but I had no idea it would be such fun.”

  “Great,” she muttered. “Another tease in the family.” She went through the beacon back into her own time. She found Mike standing on the prairie.

  He was frowning, but when she suddenly appeared, his eyes widened. “Where were we?”

  “In a museum, in the future.” She waited patiently while he digested that information.

  His frown turned into a brooding stare. “You mean we just traveled through time?” She nodded. “That’s a lot to take in. I’m fairly certain that it’s generally accepted that time travel doesn’t exist.”

  “It does in my family.” She hesitated, then said, “We keep it pretty quiet.”

  “I can imagine,” he said. He looked over her shoulder at the place where the beacon was, though she knew he couldn’t see it.