Chapter 15
15
The dense woods enveloped them in a cloak of shadows as the vestiges of dusk barely filtered through the trees. They were far from the house, but with walls of thick trees on either side, the narrow path wound its way deeper into the forest.
Vivian trailed Logan, and when he finally stopped, she stumbled into his back. She reached out, her fingers gripping his coat. “Sorry,” she mumbled. A small shed was in front of them, and the wooden planks of the walls and roof appeared sturdy. There were no windows, but as Logan swung the door open, they could discern a skylight in the roof. He stepped in, setting the lantern on the wooden table against one wall.
“I wiped it down yesterday,” he explained. “But I know it will never be as clean as it should be.”
She looked around, her gaze surveying the interior of the shed. He had no doubt her mind was working overtime on how to make the shed functional. “I’ll cover the interior in plastic, so I’ll need a staple gun to make it quicker.”
“Good. That’s smart.”
She shrugged while still looking around. “I was told that I might have to prepare a temporary lab room. This should be okay. The table is small, but we can easily bring in a folding table as well.” Looking up toward the ceiling, she added, “The skylight will give light, but I can bring in lanterns, too.”
“We need to cover the skylight. We can’t have any light escaping to give evidence that you’re in here working.”
“Oh, yeah… right.” A sigh left her lips. “I think in terms of the lab and testing. I forget about the need for no one to be able to see anything.”
“I’ll buy some battery-operated lanterns. With halogen bulbs, they’ll give you a lot of light to work with.”
Turning to him, she crinkled her brow, asking, “Do you think this place will be safe? I know it’s actually close to our house and well hidden with the trees, but…” Her uncertainty crept out for the first time since he’d met her. Until now, she’d appeared fearless.
Facing her, he put his hands on her shoulders. “This is why we need to be smart. We need to be cautious. There’s no reason for them to suspect we are on to them. Just be a friendly neighbor, but do not attempt to question them. This shed is easily accessed through our kitchen door, which they can’t see. Your car is parked on that side and can hide you as you enter the woods. You should be able to come and go very easily, but…” He stopped for emphasis, bending slightly to peer into her eyes. “I want to be out here when you are. So when I’m gone, you watch their house. When I’m home, we can come out here together.”
Together … somehow that had his thoughts scattering in directions that had nothing to do with the mission.
She nodded, her lips curving slightly as his blue-green eyes locked onto hers. “Right,” she agreed, her voice coming out breathier than before.
Squeezing her shoulders, he forced his thoughts back to the task at hand. “Okay, do you know what you need my people to get?”
Looking around again, she blew out a breath. “Yes. I’ll put a list together for you when we return to the house.”
He nodded and sent a message to Bert, letting him know they would need Cole to fly up with supplies as soon as they could get them. “Let’s get back to the house. I have work I need to do once it gets dark enough.”
As they stepped outside, a rustling to the left caused her to stiffen, her hand reaching out to grab Logan. His gaze jerked over, focusing on the leaves to the side of the path.
“Meow.”
He looked down to see a small, thin, tabby cat looking up at them. Vivian gasped and bent forward, but Logan was faster and held his hand out to the scared cat. She immediately moved to him, allowing him to scratch her head, and the rumbling of a purr released from her throat.
“Oh, Logan, can we take her back? Please. I promise I’ll take?—”
He scooped up the cat. “Of course, we’ll take her with us. Looks like she could use a good meal.” As his gaze moved to Vivian’s, he could have sworn she was staring at him as though he held a treasure and not just a scraggly cat. Shaking his head slightly, he said, “Come on. We’ll get you two inside, then I have some work to do.”
Two hours later, he lay flat against the roof, hidden from view, and spied headlights coming down the lane. Akram and Farrah alighted from their car and walked silently into their house. Lights shone through the cracks in their curtains as they moved through the house, first in the front and then toward the back.
Rolling onto his back, he stared at the clear, night sky dotted with stars. They twinkled brightly with no pollution or atmospheric interference and appeared close enough to touch. Bundled up against the cold, he remembered the warmth of Viv in his arms. What started as a continuation of their cover quickly became a need on both their parts. Is it just lust based on proximity? Or something more? Something based on real emotions?
A gust of cold wind hit him, bringing him back to the present. Frustrated that the situation took his mind off the mission, he rolled over. Continuing to work, he set up the transmitter and hid it behind the TV’s satellite dish. Finally, completing his tasks, he moved toward the back, where a ladder was hidden. Entering through the kitchen, he stopped at the counter and looked into the living room, where Vivian sat on the sofa with the cat curled up on her lap.
“I see she’s made herself at home.”
Viv’s eyes lit as she held his gaze. “Is it okay if I named her? I thought Sakari would be nice. It means sweet in Inuit.”
“It’s perfect.” He meant the cat’s name, but as he took in the domestic scene before him, he had to admit the vision was also perfect.
She carefully set the sleeping cat on the sofa and walked over to the other side of the counter.
“Did you get it all set up?”
Letting go of the vision of domestic bliss, he nodded. “Yeah. Let me work on my laptop for a few minutes, and then I can show you what we need to focus on next.”
“Sure, that’ll be great.” Her lips curved, but the beaming light he had grown accustomed to from her wasn’t present.
Not knowing what else to say, he headed to the kitchen table and opened his laptop. Half an hour later, he called her over. She hurried to the table, clearly anxious to see what he had completed. Sitting in the chair next to him, she leaned close as she stared at the laptop screen. His nostrils filled with the floral scent of her shampoo, and he leaned slightly closer.
He showed her the various screens she could now monitor from the computers—a straight shot down the street to see someone coming, the cul-de-sac where someone would park, and the front and side of the house next door. “These images will be available to my people, but remember, they won’t be watching them twenty-four seven. Much of the day, you’ll log the comings and goings and the times so we can document their patterns.”
“Okay,” she agreed, eagerly nodding her head. “I can do that.”
“Perfect, so now, give me the list you’ve come up with for your makeshift lab, and I’ll have my people order it. They can bring it up along with my things.”
It was late, and they had a lot to do tomorrow.
“Go on to bed. I’ll take a shower and get some shut-eye, too.”
She agreed, smiling sleepily, then offered a yawning good night as she turned and walked down the hall. He stared for a moment until she disappeared into her room. Then he shook his head, wondering when his thoughts about her had changed. No answer came in the dark room, so he stood and headed into the bathroom.
Logan stood in the old bathtub as the warm water from the showerhead poured over his body. He wanted to make sure there would be enough to last for Viv’s shower. He tried to shake the image of Viv in the shower out of his mind but was unsuccessful.
He had come to Alaska expecting a male scientist, never anticipating a beautiful woman to work with him. And once he’d met her, the reality that they would pretend to be married shocked the hell out of him. His cock stirred at the thought of her soft body tightly held to his earlier when he arrived home. The way her breath warmed his cheek as she spoke. The way her small waist felt in his arms as her hips and breasts pressed against him.
As the water rained down, his hand found his cock, and with thoughts of Viv filling his mind, he quickly worked his way to release, the force making his knees weak. Choking back a groan, he hoped his low growl hadn’t been heard. By now, the water was cooling, and with guilt hitting him that she’d have to wait for more water to warm, he washed away the proof of his desire before turning off the spray.
Regretfully, he realized that this was all he would be able to have of her… just thoughts of her beauty as he jerked off while pretending to be her husband… What a fucking mess.
Wrapped in a cocoon of bedcovers, Vivian lay awake. Despite having slept soundly the night before, sleep now eluded her. Rolling over, she punched her pillow.
She had attempted to compartmentalize her feelings toward Logan, relegating him to the role of colleague only—someone necessary for the shared mission, like one of her lab partners. But she’d never counted on his rugged handsomeness or the way his stone-like features melted when he smiled—not that he smiled often. But then, that might be why the smiles he did offer were so breathtaking. And his eyes… my God, his eyes! Gray-green-blue… ever-changing. Granted, mostly they appeared stormy but mesmerizing, nonetheless.
Her hand slipped inside her panties, finding her folds slick with need. She shoved the thoughts of Logan as her boss into the box of not-to-be-touched and slammed the lid. Instead, he filled her mind as she imagined it was his fingers tempting, taunting, and teasing her body until she pressed her mouth against the pillow to stifle her groans.
The coil tightened inside, and when her release finally came, it was all she could do not to cry out his name. Riding her fingers until the tremors subsided, she inhaled a shaky breath, uncertain her lungs could take in enough oxygen. Certainly not enough to clear her mind of forbidden thoughts of him.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she attempted to recall the last time she had felt a genuine attraction toward someone. Her recent dating escapades had all ended in disappointment. Blind dates, dating sites, someone from work… yep, all disasters. Cursing her luck, she knew the one man who had held her interest for more than a day was off-limits, even while supposedly being her husband. And when the job was over with, he would go back to wherever he came from, and she would head back to California. What a ridiculous mess.