Chapter 3

Sunlight burst through the cabin window onto an empty bed. Caleb had been up for hours after a night chasing sleep. Chasing but not catching. His coffee sat untouched before him as he stared into space, his thoughts consumed by his guest.

She was hotter than any professor had a right to be. Like a scientist in a cheesy spy flick whose white lab coat and clipboard disguised a dangerous body and willing sexuality.

Such thoughts had plagued him for hours. Even now he wanted to take his ATV down to her campsite and check on her. She would be snuggled in tight, her limbs wrapped around her body pillow. Caleb had never wanted to be an inanimate object so badly. To feel those smooth legs wrapped around him...

The ringing of his cell snapped him out of the fantasy. He grabbed the phone and glanced at the number. Brice Masterson. Fantastic.

"I thought you trust fund babies didn't get out of bed before noon."

"That's usually true," Brice answered with a chuckle, "but I couldn't sleep amid the tangle of supermodel limbs, so I decided to give you a call."

"And I'm so glad you did. I wanted a chance to thank you for the little gift you sent."

"Gift? I don't know what you mean."

Caleb smiled. "You sure? She couldn't be more perfect if you wrapped her."

Brice's voice lost its playfulness. "You met Dr. French. She's not a gift; she's a biologist, one we've given a hefty grant for research in my park."

"Your park?" Caleb didn't hide the smile in his voice. Brice Masterson was the closest thing to a friend he had. While working together on plans for the park, they had developed a relationship of sorts, based on mutual teasing and a shared interest in kayaking.

And women.

"Yes, the Masterson Memorial Parklands Project, the one intended to honor my dear departed parents' memories, and the one I'm currently allowing you to develop because we both share a passion for the outdoors, among other things."

"I can tell you one thing I've got a passion for right now. And that makes me wonder, is it one you share?" His tone was good-natured, but the question was significant.

Brice sighed, his voice taking on a serious tone. "Cut the shit, Caleb. She's not like the women we usually bag. She's an academic--"

"And a damn sexy one," Caleb interrupted.

"That may be true, but she's not there for you. She's there for frogs. So leave her alone and let her work."

Caleb felt a twinge of jealousy. Was Brice into her, was that why his friend was warning him off? Even if he was, Caleb wasn't sure he could resist the temptation. "What do you want, Masterson?" he said, hoping the man hadn't called to lay claim to his professor.

"Just a question for you. Have you noticed anything unusual around the park? Any strangers? Loud noises?"

Brice wasn't fucking around. His tone put Caleb on alert. "No. What's the situation?"

His pal sighed before answering. "My family was less than pleased with my donation of the land for the park. Fortunately, my parents' will was iron-clad. All family and corporation assets went to me in the event of their deaths, and the courts have upheld the will despite several challenges."

Brice continued, his voice taking on an edge as he laid out his suspicions for possible retaliation by displeased family members. A frown spread across Caleb's features as he listened. The millionaire wrapped up his debriefing with a final warning. "Keep your eyes peeled for any unusual activities, and I'll do the same on my end." Brice's voice became stern. "And that means you'll be too busy to bother our dear Dr. French."

"Don't count on it." Caleb ended the call and tossed his phone onto his table. How had things gotten so complicated so quickly? He'd hoped for a quiet place in this world, one where he could live his life in privacy, in solitude. But it seemed the world, and Brice's overly-entitled family weren't ready to grant him peace. His thoughts turned to his own family before he could stop them.

His childhood was nothing like the fantasyland that he assumed his friend's to be. His parents' marriage had been a nightmare, one that he couldn't escape, asleep or awake. They had tortured each other emotionally for years until the venom they'd built up inside had leaked outward and destroyed them both. He could remember his mother's screams on that night, his father's furious face but strangely sad eyes...

No, he wouldn't go there, wouldn't remember. He'd moved to the park to escape a similar fate, and he wouldn't allow such negative thoughts to infect his new life here. He stood up swiftly, nearly banging his head into the lantern that hung above him. He turned it off and headed for the shower, forcing his mind away from his family, away from the threat to his park and his dream. That left only one available avenue for his thoughts, one that led straight to the desirable little professor a few miles away.

His cock woke up as he thought about her in her own shower. The air would be crisp, the water cold. Her nipples would bead under the chilly spray, her skin breaking out in goose bumps as the water flowed over her breasts and smooth belly, lower down to her most intimate part. Would she be covered in dark hair, or would she keep herself smooth?

Caleb groaned and took himself in his hand. Thoughts of her rubbing soapy water over her flawless skin made him ache. He imagined her hands making tiny circles, down her neck, over her shoulders, across her breasts, sliding down her stomach, then lower to cup her slick, wet lips.

He gripped his cock tightly and pressed forward, forcing himself to move through his fingers over and over until the room grew dim. How good it would feel to take a woman slow and hard. Or fast and furiously. Hell, anyway she wanted it.

A few moments and an unsatisfying orgasm later, Caleb was out of the shower, dried, and fully dressed. His mind wouldn't leave the professor alone, however, and he began to worry. He'd been attracted to women before, and most had been attracted right back. This mutual attraction usually led to a night of steamy sex, followed by a quick departure in the morning. No follow up phone calls, no texts, no reconnection.

He didn't do relationships, that was something he and Brice also had in common, another reason they'd become pals. They were good for one night of pleasure, and no woman had ever held his interest beyond that. None had ever once tempted him to break his own rule, perhaps because he'd never allowed them to. It was safer that way, easier.

Maybe that was the problem with the professor. He just needed one night to get her out of his system. Then he could ignore her, and she could do her research in peace, then get the hell out of his park.

Decision made, he moved toward the door to try to get some work done on his trails. It would give him time to plan the best way to get her beneath him, and quickly. Grinning wryly as his dick began to swell again at the thought, he pulled on a jacket and headed out of the house, hoping that hard work would give his body the release it needed.

***

Dani was freezing cold. The portable shower was handy, but the ice-cold water she'd pulled from a pond was not an easy thing to take this early in the morning. Her teeth were chattering as she dried herself vigorously, hoping her goose bumps would subside once she got dressed. She fled to her tent, struggling to get it unzipped as she stood freezing in her towel. Finally, it gave way, and she rushed in, diving back onto her bed and burrowing under the blankets until she stopped trembling with cold.

Finally, she felt warm enough to brave dressing, which she did clumsily from underneath her sleeping bag. She then scooted out of bed and unzipped the center divider in her make-shift tent, a thin wall that separated her "bedroom" from her "office." She went directly to the table she'd set up yesterday and the propane stove that lay atop it. She filled her camping coffee pot with her favorite brew, lit the stove, and put the pot on the burner to boil.

Dani opened the two windows within the tent to make sure there was proper ventilation. Before long the water was boiling, and she could see the coffee percolating through the glass dome on top.

Pouring her first cup of coffee she smiled, adding a sugar cube and a packet of creamer. If there was one area in which she accepted the label obsessive , it was in regards to her coffee. Dani sat down, put her feet up on the table, crossing one leg over the other, and took her first sip.

She gave a choked gasp and spit the coffee out in an arc that sprayed all over her legs. She hissed, being careful to set down the cup before she stood and wiped up the mess. It tasted like pond water, pond water and frog shit.

It took a minute for Dani to recover her confidence, but she wouldn't let a cup of terrible coffee destroy her excitement. She needed to scout out the area and determine the locations of amphibian colonies. Maybe she could even place some of her cameras if she got lucky and spotted some frogs.

Gathering her supplies, she placed them carefully into her backpack. Dani made sure to input the location of her campsite into her GPS so that she wouldn't get lost while exploring. Finally, she stepped out into the sunlight and sped down the slope, heading off to the ponds and adventure.

By lunchtime, Dani was sweaty and miserable. She'd found no evidence of her frogs and felt the first tendrils of doubt beginning to climb her insides. Having read about a colony not five miles from this park last year when she'd been crafting her grant proposal, she knew this area should be home to the species as well. But she couldn't find even one frog, despite her best efforts.

She swatted at the gnats that flew around her face as she splashed through yet another puddle. Having placed no cameras, she plodded back toward her camp, burdened by all of her gear and the weight of failure.

In the distance, she heard the sound of a motor. The idea that it might be Caleb's ATV made her quicken her pace, and she almost jogged back to camp. He was nowhere to be seen, but something seemed off about her campsite. She was sure that she'd zipped up the tent completely when she'd left, but it was now partially unzipped, as were her shower and bathroom.

Dani wondered if Caleb had come to call and been snooping while she was gone. She approached her tent, attempting to determine if anything had been disturbed, but she could see nothing out of the ordinary. Unzipping her tent, she slipped inside.

Although her "office" was necessarily small and low-maintenance, it was clear that a few things had been moved around. Papers that had been neatly stacked slid haphazardly across her desk. Her laptop, which she had closed down before departing this morning, was now propped open. Even her coffee cup had been moved and set down in a different position. Strange.

Stepping back outside, she listened for the motor sound that she had heard heading back. It was gone. Dani sighed, wondering what to do about this invasion of privacy. If Caleb wanted to know something about her research, why didn't he just ask her? What was with the snooping? She remembered that she was alone out in the woods, the closest human a couple mile's hike away. And that human was not necessarily someone she trusted. She barely even knew him.

Dani hated feeling afraid, and her anger at the invasion of her privacy quickly burnt the thin thread of apprehension to an unrecognizable crisp. There were still several hours left before the dusk, more than enough time to make the hike to his cabin. Dani took a moment to refill her water bottle and secure her campsite, then set off down the overgrown hunting trail.

It led up a series of hills and back down through pleasant green valleys. The short climbs had her heart pumping, but the adrenaline in her veins was fueled by her anger. It hadn't been easy, fighting her way through graduate school, sometimes not being taken seriously because of her gender, size, and appearance.

She'd worked hard to prove that big brains could come in small packages, and still jerks like Dean Fischer ignored her intellect in favor of her more physical charms. She couldn't stand being taken advantage of, which was exactly what Caleb was doing by invading her privacy. He thought she was just a weak and witless woman, one who'd let him walk all over her while digging through her personal stuff with impunity. Well, she'd show him, she'd...

Her anger petered out as she crested a hill and took in the view around her. It was stunning, the way the rays of sunlight pierced the clouds and shone down on the forest laid out around her. Trees in every shade of green carpeted the valley, a clear blue river making its way between them, its fast-moving water bubbling up white in spots. Dani could make out a couple of eagles circling the treetops, and she smiled without thinking. It was magnificent, and she felt some of her tension fade.

After a few moments of absorbing the view, she resumed her trek. Cresting the last hill, she looked down into the small valley holding Caleb's cabin. As she drew closer, Dani could hear a repetitive thwack coming from behind the building. She peeked around a corner to determine the source of the noise, and her breath lodged in her chest.

The ranger was shirtless in the waning sun, his strong arms moving rhythmically as he raised an ax and brought it down on a log. The log split like butter and he stooped to set up another one.

His muscles were slick with sweat, rippling as he swung the ax over and over. Dani wasn't sure how long she stood there staring, until she finally inhaled heavily and closed her eyes.

She wanted to rub herself against him like a cat in heat. She imagined her tongue tracing the line of muscles in his abdomen and up his chest, tasting his sweat and male essence. He was so hard as if his body were sculpted from marble, but she imagined if she touched him, his skin would be warm.

So he's hot. Big deal. He's also been snooping around your campsite. So get those bulging muscles out of your mind and get back on task. With one more deep breath, Dani rounded the corner to confront the handsome snoop.

His blue eyes met hers as she came forward and electricity seemed to shoot through her body directly to the apex of her thighs. One eyebrow rose in surprise, and Caleb stopped his chopping and set down his ax. He grabbed a towel and began wiping himself down, stalking over in her direction.

She inhaled sharply and forced herself to focus on his face and not the towel that was rubbing so intimately against his body.

"Professor Greenhorn," he drawled with a lazy half-smile that said he knew the effect he had on her. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Really?" Does he want to pretend he hasn't been poking around in my stuff? Or does he actually think he'd gotten away with it? Whichever it is, two can play this game. Dani raised her brow, mirroring his inquisitive look and decided to make him confess.

The lazy smile faltered, and Caleb looked confused. "Was there something you needed?"

"Not particularly," she replied. "How about you? Was there something you needed?"

***

Caleb shook his head, trying to puzzle out her question. "I don't follow you." He flipped the towel over his shoulder and stared down at the petite woman before him.

"You don't follow me, huh?" A smug smile covered her face. "You sure?"

Caleb didn't understand what she meant. For a moment, he thought she might be a mad scientist, one who'd use the power of lightning to reanimate her dissected frogs. He throttled the laughter that image provoked before it could escape. She didn't seem crazy, just strange. "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

He wanted to groan but instead shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what you mean. If you need something, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to take a shower and change."

She seemed to swallow nervously. What was going on in her head? "Look," he said quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here to help. Why don't you just tell me what's going on?"
She sighed then shook her head as if to suppress a thought. "So you want to play innocent, huh? Are you really going to pretend that you didn't rifle through my stuff while I was in the field today?"

"What?" He removed his hand from her shoulder and ran it through his hair. Caleb's mind was blank for a moment, confused by her statement. Suddenly he recalled Brice's call, and his mouth snapped into a line. "Let me put a shirt on and grab a jacket. We'll take the ATV back to your site." He walked around her and headed for the door to his cabin.

"Wait!" She jogged after him, her shorter legs pumping hard to catch up. She tried taking the front steps two at a time as he did and tripped, stumbling into his back and latching onto his waist, her small fingers gripping him tightly. Her touch brought a flash of warmth to his cooling skin, and for a second he relished that heat.

He could feel her breasts through her shirt against his naked back, and he wanted her to mold herself against him. But now wasn't the time to act on urges, so he immediately hardened himself against her and pulled away.

"Be careful," he said without turning around. He thought he felt her stiffen behind him as he entered his cabin.

To be continued…

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