She reached for the snap on his jeans, then hesitated, suddenly shy. His fingers closed over hers, guiding them back. "If you don't free me soon," he said a little desperately, "it'll be too late, darlin'."

She laughed breathlessly, then slowly worked the soft denim open. He nearly died of pleasure when she took him in her hands. With a hum of approval, she stroked him and he just about erupted in her hands like a novice.

"Oh!" she gasped, yanking her hands back when his hips jerked. "Did I hurt you?"

He could still laugh. "Not quite." Striving for some semblance of control, he bent to her mouth.

Her tongue touched his. Her perfect body pressed up against him, and he lost himself in the emotions she created, in how she made him feel. He kissed her for all he was worth, on the edge already, and from just touching her. As if wanting her as desperately as he was, his fingers slid down over her, sinking into the silken curls between her thighs. She let out a surprised, thrilled moan, and pushed against his fingers for more.

So very wet. The discovery made his head swim with desire. Exploring, he found the tiny nub that drove her and gently, so gently, squeezed. She shrieked, and the sound echoed in the cave. More than satisfied by her response, he covered her mouth with one hand, while the other feathered and teased mercilessly. Whimpering and panting, she thrust her hips against his fingers. When her muscles clenched, caught in the torturous slice of time before climax, he stopped. "Wait," he murmured, sliding down her body slowly. "Wait a sec."

She moaned, sounding dazed, bewildered. Desperate.

He pressed her legs wide-open with his palms, brushed a kiss against her inner thigh. Then the other.

She stiffened. "Cam," she whispered, sounding a little panicked. "Stop. I don't think-"

"Just for a minute, darlin'." He reached up, took her hand and set it over her own mouth. "Hush now, okay?" He nuzzled, kissed her center softly, then lightly grazed her with his tongue. He expected the brutal grip on his hair this time, and he licked at her as if she were his last supper.

His sweet, modest Haley shucked all inhibition and went crazy beneath him.

He lifted his head. "You still want me to stop?"

In answer, she yanked on his hair, pressing his mouth back to her.

He laughed softly and used his teeth until she was sobbing his name behind her hand, and her thighs were trembling violently around him. Still, he stroked and laved and suckled until she all but shattered beneath him and was left quivering, dazed and sated.

He rose above her, shaken and needy, stunned by what she did to him.

"I want you inside me," she said, her voice thick and emotional, and she reached to guide him to her.

"Oh, yes." He barely held on as he sank into her slowly, gradually, deeper and deeper, until he had nothing left to give. She arched her hips to meet him, reaching blindly up for him, and he responded, bending over her for a long scorching kiss. He started to move, his firm, fluid thrusts matching the greedy, eager motion of her hips.

Whispering her name hoarsely, he surrendered to the ecstasy only she could create. She held him as he hovered at the brink, struggling to hold back a little longer. But then she shuddered-close, so very close. He rode her off the edge of sanity as his release pounded through him, rocking his body, his world.


* * *

"Wow," Haley said shakily into the dark cave, some time later. "That gets better and better."

Pulling her close with the last of his energy, he nuzzled her hair. "Well, darlin', I have to agree there."

She held him tighter, as if she'd never let go.

"You're not going to pull my hair again, are you?" he joked, "because-"

"No," she whispered, kissing his jaw. "Oh, Cam. I'm so thankful to be with you. You saved my life tonight. I still can't get over that."

"Why not? I love you." Catching the telltale glint of tears in the dark, he tucked her against him, cradling her head in the crook of his arm. "I'm sorry. Pull my hair all you want. I won't complain."

She didn't laugh.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked her huskily. "Was I too rough?"

"No, God, no."

He tried to smile, there on the cold, hard floor of the cave, but it was difficult. "It could give a man a complex, Haley, if you cry every time he makes love to you."

"You love me," she said in a small, choked voice, curling into his arms. "I have a hard time dealing with that. Or the future at all, as a matter of fact."

"You'll have to get used to it. Do you love me, Haley?"

"I've never loved anyone before. I-" She lifted her hands from him in a helpless gesture. "I don't know."

"Sure, you do," he said mildly, though nerves raced through his body. "You just have to listen to your heart."

"I'm not ready," she whispered, and though he couldn't see for sure, he imagined her blue eyes wide with panic. "I told you, I can't face the future right now."

Ironic, he thought. His love scared her more than a gunshot missing her head by a scant fraction of an inch. "I can deal with you not being ready," he said, though it terrified him that she never would be. "What I can't deal with is knowing you still plan to go to Branson at the first opportunity. It's not an option, Haley. You're not going, even if I have to squire you away somewhere and hold you against your will." Gently he disentangled himself, sitting up to right first her clothes, then his, but when a little sob escaped her, he pulled her back to him. "Ah, Haley… it's going to be all right."

She shook her head, her swing of hair sliding over his face. "How, Cam? He won't stop hunting for us. In the morning-"

"We'll get out." Freezing night air blew in over them and he put his jacket back on her. Wishing they were warm and safe in his bed, he cursed the fates that had them in this cold, dark cave. "He works alone?"

"Yes."

"And no one else has a system like this?"

"No," she said firmly.

"We'll find a way to stop him."

"But how?" Sagging against him, she rubbed her face against his shirt sleepily. "I don't even know if our government will believe me." She yawned. "I'll rot in jail."

"No, you won't."

"Maybe the USGS will help." Again, she yawned. "But this is a pretty crazy story, and they're years behind where EVS was. Even if they believe me, they might want me to recreate the system, as well."

"Just tell them you can't."

"They'll know better than that." Her words had turned fuzzy, slurred with exhaustion. He rocked her against him. Amazement filled him over what this woman had accomplished, what she was capable of. Squeezing her close, he allowed his hands to sweep down her narrow back, over those slim limbs that drew him so. "Haley," he whispered, streaking his hands beneath her blouse just to feel her warm skin. Her body pressed heavily against his. "Haley?"

She'd become a dead weight against him. Knowing she was near complete and utter exhaustion, he tried to shift her to a more comfortable position.

She stirred. "Cam?"

"Shh," he whispered. "Sleep now."

"Can't… sleep," she mumbled, turning in his arms. "He might find us."

"I'll watch," he promised, lying on his side by her, still touching her. "Shh, now. Just sleep, Haley. Just sleep."

"Never had anyone… love me before," she murmured. "Never thought I needed it." She was silent for a long time. He thought she'd fallen asleep, but still he touched her, watched her, loving the luxury of having this unlimited access to her.

"It feels good, Cam."

"This does?" He continued to sweep his fingers down her arm.

One corner of her mouth curved drowsily. "Mmm. That, too." Her eyes remained closed. "But I meant… it feels good to have you love me… Why does it feel so good?" she wondered drowsily.

"Because it's right." He leaned over to kiss her.

"Never meant… to love you back. Didn't want to."

He froze. His hand tightened on her waist as he hovered over her, torn between shocked disbelief and joy. "Haley?"

But she didn't respond because she'd finally drifted off to sleep, and he wondered, as his heart threatened to burst, if she'd even realized she'd spoken out loud.

Chapter 13

In the dark, cold cave, Haley stirred from her dreams, gradually becoming aware of an incredible, healing warmth surrounding her. In her half-wakefulness, she smiled and curled back against it.

A band around her chest tightened, and a husky growl sounded in her ear. Her eyes flew open.

She was on the cave floor, spooned up to Cameron's hard, warm body. He had one leg thrown over her, another thigh nestled between her legs. Her back cozied up to his chest. She was using his arm as a pillow. Snuggled between her breasts, holding her possessively against him, was his other hand.

His thumb made lazy circles over her tight and achy nipples. "Good morning."

"It's… not morning yet." She gasped as his teeth sank gently into her neck. A liquid heat seeped through her despite the remarkable cold of their surroundings.

"Mmm. I know." There was a hint of regret in his voice as he rolled back from her. At the loss of his body heat, a chill instantly gripped her. And with that, their circumstances came flooding back to her: the airport, being shot at, running through the woods to make their escape. Making love with Cam.

He'd come for her, even at the risk of his own life. If that didn't define the depth of his feelings for her, she didn't know what did.

"It's time to go," he said.

She rolled onto her back and stared up at his tall, muscular form as he stood, and watched as his wide shoulders moved beneath his shirt, his long kegs rippling with strength. He caught her staring and smiled a little wickedly, as if he knew a secret. A good secret.

"Unless, of course, you want to delay a bit." Those expressive eyebrows lifted suggestively.

She had to laugh. "We can't." Then her eyes caught the bulge in his jeans that told her he wasn't kidding. Unbelievably, an arrow of longing pierced through her. "Well, maybe we could… But we shouldn't."

Grimacing, he shifted his hips, losing his smile. "No, we shouldn't. But around you, my body rarely pays attention to my brain."

She felt herself blush hotly, and thankful for the relative anonymity of the dark, she sat up. Nothing mattered, she thought, except making sure Cam's family had gotten out safely. She'd do whatever was needed to ensure that, even if it meant giving herself up to Branson.

But one look at Cam's lithe frame above her, poised and unusually intent, told her the terrifying truth: he wouldn't let her go; he'd fight with his very life to save hers. Swallowing hard, humbled to the bone over his love for her, she took his proffered hand and let him pull her up.

She rested her hands lightly on his chest, a little embarrassed to remember the passion he'd dragged from her, the unbelievable emotions he'd coaxed-

The man was grinning.

"What?" she asked warily.

The grin broadened when her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Nothing."

"It's something," she insisted, stepping back, her hands on her hips. "Do I snore? Did I grow a third eye? What?"

He laughed softly and hugged her, twirling her around. "Worse," he whispered. "You talk in your sleep."

"Well, let me have it, then. What did I say?"

"I'm not telling."

The cave was still too dark. All she could see was his vague, annoyingly cocky outline. "Cam."

"You can beg me later. Maybe, just maybe, you can change my mind and get me to tell you. But no promises, darlin'. You're going to have to work damn hard at it."

Before she could demand a better answer, he'd moved to the entrance of the cave, motioning her to follow. She stepped up to him and he pushed her behind his back as he stared out into the predawn woods.

Turning slightly, he whispered, "This is the safest time to go. We'll take the long way around, back to Tex's farmhouse. We'll use the phone there."

"What about your truck?"

He shook his head. "He might be waiting."

She took a deep, involuntary breath. They weren't armed. They'd be helpless to protect themselves. Given Cam's sudden tense expression, he was worried about the same thing. He fastened her jacket, then lifted her chin with his finger, staring into her eyes for a long, intense moment, his gaze drinking in her every feature.

Then he lowered his lips to hers in an incredibly tender kiss that brought a stinging moisture to her eyes. "Let's go," he whispered, stroking her cheek once.