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.