Chapter Three
Thankfully with Jenny’s help, Erika was able to salvage more than she thought. Her tent was a loss, as were the coolers and the food contained within. But most of her clothing just needed a good washing and a lot of her gear was in hard, protective cases locked with a padlock and designed to withstand getting run over by a jeep or kicked around by an elephant. She thought it was overkill to bring such protections to Montana; now, she knew better.
A trip into town fixed the cooler and food situation. She wished it restored her sense of safety just as easily. It didn’t, and when Logan found her packing her truck to head back out, he stepped right in to help her finish packing. “You’re not mad that I’m going back out?” She had less than half the pictures she needed, and she’d be damned if she let Jaime or whoever this asshole was scare her from her job.
“Nope. I’d do the same thing. This time I’m going with you.” He pointed to his own bedroll and pack that he fastened on the back of the ATV.
“Just don’t get in my way.” Erika frowned. Maybe he could be a help to her. Performing his bodyguard duties would help alleviate this churning worry in her gut. His lack of experience in the field, aside from any military work he’d done, would only serve to make her job harder. She’d been there before. Well-meaning people going along on a photo shoot ending up scaring the wildlife, or worse, keeping it from showing itself. She fastened a ratchet strap over the gear in the back of her truck to keep anything from bouncing out on the road back to her camp site. She’d poured over maps. A new camping area was about a half mile away from where she’d been, deeper into the federal lands and away from the main road. Logan and she agreed that would be a good place to set up their base.
Two hours to drive there and another hour to set up and Erika realized she was ready to head out into the field. She glanced around her camp. Leaving everything would provide an opening for whoever harmed her camp the first time to come back. She gathered up a bag with her cameras, some snacks and two canteens of water, along with a poncho and jacket in case the weather turned colder.
“I’m going to head onto the ridge and see if I can spot anything.” Erika lifted the pack onto her back. She fastened the waist strap and checked the shoulder straps. “You’re welcome to come with me or stay here. I shouldn’t be too far out of sight.” Her babysitter. That’s what Logan had become, and she hated the thought.
“I’m going with you. Just tell me what to do so I don’t interfere in your work.” He cupped her cheek.
Closing her eyes, she turned into the touch. “At least you thought of that. Stay behind me. Stay low. Don’t make any sudden moves. Can you do that?” When she opened her eyes, she saw Logan’s face inches from hers.
“You mean like this?” He swooped in and kissed her, his mouth moving with hungry intensity across hers.
She stiffened, startled by his kiss. Then as his tongue swept across her lower lip, she relaxed against him, parting her lips in invitation. She clung to his broad shoulders, wishing she could drown in his kiss. With Logan pushing her back against the fender of the truck, his body hard and insistent before her, she wanted nothing more than to tumble them to the nearest soft surface—maybe even her truck seat—and have him make love to her until she couldn’t stand. That wouldn’t get pictures taken and would distract them from a potential stalker. The thoughts dumped cold water on her ardor, and she gently, but insistently, pushed Logan away.
She struggled to get her breathing under control. “That can’t happen again,” she told him.
“Going to bury your head in work and pretend like what’s between us isn’t happening?” He braced his hands against the truck on either side of her. “I thought you had more fight than that.”
“It’s not burying myself in work if it’s for a good cause. I promised Jay and Cody I’d do this for them. I intend to honor that promise. Given that they hired you, I suggest you let me do my job.” She took a deep breath to tamp down the frustration welling within her. “As far as what’s between us, PJ, from where I’m standing that’s what’s stopping you from doing your job. Because we have a visitor.”
Instantly, he backed away, spinning on his heel in time to see the white tail of a deer bound back into the woods. “Shit,” he muttered to himself. “I didn’t even notice.”
“I did. Why? Because this is my job, to keep an eye out on all the wildlife in the area. In some parts of the country that involves the human kind of wildlife too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” She knew she was being a bitch and couldn’t help it. She hadn’t asked for a body guard, hadn’t wanted one. She’d be lying to herself if she said that what had happened back at her camp scared her. She’d been in places like this before, war zones where big cats were caught between factions or elephants trying to escape habitat destruction. One little pushy asswipe in Montana wasn’t going to get in her way. And frankly neither should Logan.
She marched along the trail she’d scouted on the map, checking her phone’s GPS now that it had much better signal for some reason, sensing Logan following behind. She was surprised he didn’t want to lead. Then again, he didn’t know where she was going. They’d talked about the trails, but nothing concrete. The weight of the camera against her back reminded her of work to be done. That’s what she had to focus on. Get the job done, then she could worry about Logan.
~* * *~
Logan wanted to kick himself a thousand times for getting distracted. He knew better than that. He was better than that. Something about Erika made his focus go out the window. Maybe it was because he remembered how good they’d been together, and judging from the chemistry of their kisses, how good they’d be again. He sighed and followed her on foot. Taking the ATV would have been easier; Erika argued that the engine would scare off any wild horses. She had a point. He just didn’t have to like it. On foot they were bigger targets, less capable of defense and retreat if necessary.
He strode behind her, stopping when she motioned with her hand. She dropped to one knee, unhooked her binoculars from her bag and scanned the next ridge. He did the same. A small group of wild horses stood not far from tree cover. She lowered herself to the ground, stretching out to make her profile as small as possible against the hill.
He followed suit, looking behind them as well as to all sides until she scowled at him. Apparently she thought he was moving enough to disrupt the horses. Sure enough, one of them lifted its head and sniffed the air.
“Stay still,” Erika hissed at him. Slowly, like a sniper getting a rifle into position, she lifted her camera, fiddled with the lens and leaned forward, holding her breath the entire time.
He froze, feeling penned in like he’d just dropped behind enemy lines with little intel. At this very moment her stalker could be back at the camp going through things. Sure, he’d let the deputy know where they’d be, though he hadn’t told Erika. It wasn’t enough. Not out here, miles from anywhere.
The slight click of the camera announced her taking pictures. Through the binoculars he saw only several brown horses, not enough detail to make a photograph. Of course she’d have lenses, telephoto zoom, whatever made the pictures in the magazines look good, and the urge to find out about her work, what she was doing, made him open his mouth to ask, only to shut it again when she gave him a stern look. Glancing through the binoculars again, he watched the horses trot into the trees and out of sight.
“This isn’t going to work.” She rested the camera against her chest. “You want to watch out for me. Fine. But do it about twenty yards behind me, so you won’t be seen by anyone looking at this ridge.”
“But I won’t see--”
She held up her hand. “Look, you’d chew my ass if I told you how to do your job. And I really don’t want to, but you’re interfering with mine. I’ll watch everything in front of me. You watch what’s behind me, okay?”
He certainly didn’t mind watching her six. That was beside the point she was making, which he had to admit was a pretty reasonable one. “Okay. But if I see anything that indicates trouble, I’m right by your side.”
“Fine,” she grumbled. “You’d think I hadn’t been in war zones or something,” she muttered under her breath, lifting her binoculars again.
He moved a discreet distance back where the top of the ridge blocked is view in front of her, but he saw what was on either side of her, and could glance behind him without any problems. There was a small group of trees at his three o’clock blocking his view. They troubled him. He couldn’t see beyond them, and wasn’t certain they blocked anyone’s view of Erika.
By his watch, he kept vigil for an hour and a half, the only sounds those of nature. All of a sudden thundering hooves broke the silence. Erika whirled around. “Damn it, Logan.” She glanced at him and frowned. “How’d you spook the horses from here?”
Movement caught is attention. “Down!” He dove for her, covering her body an instant before bullets hit the ground around them.
“What the hell? My cameras!” Erika wiggled beneath him.
“Stop moving.” He sighted and squeezed off two shots. Whoever had been there was gone. He rolled to one side long enough to let her move her gear; he hadn’t thought of that, only of her safety. “You hurt?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Wait here.”
He moved into a crouch and covered the space between them and the edge of the trees. When he arrived, he saw nothing. Not even footprints in the stubby grass. He followed the edge of the woods until a gray swath of gravel caught his attention. A parking lot. When he arrived, it was empty, though tire tracks indicated someone might have been there and left. How long ago, he didn’t know. A plaque proclaimed the place a scenic overlook, and he noticed that it gave an excellent view of the ridge where the wild horses had been. That may have been enough to clue in someone to Erika’s location. Aware he’d been gone from Erika, he hurried back to find her still in the same position.
“You okay?” He knelt beside her, patting her arms and legs, looking for wounds.
“I’m fine.” She sat up, visibly shaking.
Logan wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against his body. “It’s okay. Whoever was there is gone now.” He stroked her hair, trying to get images of Erika hurt, or worse, out of his mind. “This has gone beyond ex-boyfriend stalker territory. Let’s get back to camp. We have to call the deputy, and I need to let my boss know. I know you won’t abort your mission, so I have to ask you to let me do mine.”
She nodded, and he wished he could wipe the fear from her eyes. When he reached for her hands, they were ice cold. He removed his chambray shirt and held it out to her.
“Put this on. I don’t want you going into shock on me.”
She nodded and slid her arms into it, wrapping his shirt around her as if it could ward off all the evils of the world. From her reaction, he guessed she’d never been shot at. It was an experience, for both of their sakes, he didn’t want to repeat.
~* * *~
When they returned to camp, Erika was thankful to see nothing had been disturbed. The sounds of the shots, the feel of the dirt rising up to hit to hit her, played over and over in her mind. She’d been in tight situations before; she never considered herself a wilting wallflower. To think someone was shooting at her—that couldn’t be the work of Jaime. A coward who couldn’t take no for an answer, that was who Jaime was. He wasn’t a murderer.
Logan sat down beside her, his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into his warmth. His solid body protected her, made her feel as if she were safe even when she knew she was anything but. She breathed deeply in an attempt to slow her racing heart. The shaking had stopped by the time they were halfway back to camp, though she still wore his shirt. Logan’s cell phone chimed.
He pulled it from its holster and checked it. After reading for a moment, he put the phone away. “It’s a text from Hank. Jaime was located in Croatia doing a photo shoot there. He’s not our guy.”
“I didn’t think so. Jaime and I might have had personal and professional differences. He’s not a killer. He’s vegan. He can’t even eat meat.” She managed a smile. “So who is it?”
“We don’t know.”
She sighed and came to a decision. No one knew what might happen in the future, and since Logan had come back into her life to not experience passion in his arms again seemed unthinkable. She had no idea if there was anything they could do right now in finding the person who shot at her. Having him race off to look only made her worry. Right now, she didn’t want to be alone. She knew one way to get him to stay. Reaching up, she cupped his check. “Then make me forget. Just for a little while.”
Logan sucked in a breath. “Are you sure?” He glanced at her, the heat burning in his eyes strong enough to make her toes curl with the promise of pleasure to come. “Are you really sure?”
“Yes.” She said it aloud, afraid he might not consider her nod enough consent. “I want this. I want you.”
“Oh, Erika.” Logan pulled her to him, so she half-draped across his lap. Finding her mouth with his, he kissed her, all the pent up passion exploding in one, heart-stopping, toe-curling kiss. His tongue swept across her lower lip, hungry and demanding. She whimpered and opened her mouth to invite him deeper. With just a touch, her nipples hardened. Her sex softened, readying itself for him. She didn’t need much. And when his hand slid around the front of her shirt to cup her breast, she nearly cried out only to be silenced by Logan’s mouth.
“The tent,” he said when they parted for air. “More comfortable.”
“Yes.” She scrambled to her feet and grabbed Logan’s hand. Pulling him to the tent, she couldn’t wait. As soon as they were inside, she shut the door, then stripped out of her shirt and jeans, kicking her boots into the corner. Normally she was more careful, didn’t want to track dirt inside. Right now, she didn’t care, and she reached for Logan’s shirt.
She pulled it over his head to reveal his bare chest. Dropping the shirt next to them, she caressed his skin, exploring the planes and valleys of his sculpted abs, his pecs. She closed her eyes and leaned forward to taste him. He tasted of a slight hint of salt and something deeper, masculine, and she couldn’t get enough. Swirling her tongue around his nipples, she drew one into her mouth and sucked gently. His soft groan echoed around her, emboldening her to swirl her tongue between his pecs and down toward his navel.
Logan lay back on the air mattress and unfastened his jeans. His cock rose through the fly, thick and hard, a drop of fluid pearling at the tip. Erika scooped it onto the tip of her finger and brought it to her mouth, smearing it over her lower lip.
“You’re killing me,” he groaned.
“Am I?” A smile played around the corners of her lips as she drew her finger along his length to circle the wet tip of his shaft. Memories of a hotel room in town, the sheets tangled around them as she did this exact same motion filled her mind. Steak from the local steak house, brought back to the room in Styrofoam containers, and cans of light beer littering the night stand. Her mouth watered. She dipped her head and tasted him.
His salty flavor filled her mouth as she took him completely into her mouth. Springy curls tickled her nose, and she circled the base of his cock with her fingers. She worked up and down his length, judging by his slight groans and panting breaths that he was getting close to release. When she released him with a pop and crawled back over his body, Logan grabbed her hips and spun her beneath him.
She parted her thighs, and he settled there as if he belonged. Bracing his weight on his hands, he dipped his head and kissed her, no doubt tasting himself on her lips. He moved, just long enough that she heard the tearing of foil and rolled on a condom. Then he just as she did, he began a leisurely exploration of her body, drawing first one nipple into his mouth, then the next. She bowed her back and tangled her fingers into his short hair.