COWBOY ROMANCE: Justin (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 1) (92 page)

Chapter Two

After three days, Sarah couldn’t resist the curiosity bubbling in the pit of her belly of that preservation sight. She slipped on two pairs of socks and her favorite parka, then took the short trek to the excavation site, a hidden city that had just been uncovered 50 feet underground.

She stood on the ledge, watching the University researchers and assistants bustle around amongst the ruins. The sight of all of that faded rock, the evidence of a whole lost people being rediscovered like new, filled her with a sense of purpose that set her insides on fire. She scanned the small cell below her, filled with people rushing around, and found a set of temporary stairs just half way around the ellipses. But when she took her first step, she felt something grip her arm.

“I apologize if I startled you.”

She hadn’t even flinched.

“That’s quite all right,” she said as she gazed up at the man nearly six and half feet tall. His eyes drew her in, sharp and emerald. She swore she had seen them before.

His wide shoulders lifted in an exaggerated shrug as he looked out on the site. “Came across this place on accident.”

Sarah nodded. She struggled to think over the sound of her heart pounding. Her eyes watered because she couldn’t understand the sensations happening inside of her. She could feel the ebb and flow of water rushing up the tiny tunnels inside of the shrubs around her, but she couldn’t make sense of the fluttering in her own stomach. “Me too. I was, um… hiking.”

He nodded. “I just love these mountains.”

Sarah furrowed her brow. The sentence sounded like he had been carefully crafted. “I come here to get away from everything.”

“Are you from around here?” He asked, his voice as smooth as silk.

She shook her head, her eyes glued to the activities in front of them. She feared if she glanced at him, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to look away. “No. I’m from New York. I came out here after the—”

She stopped herself. She could hardly think the words, let alone say them out loud to a complete stranger.

She felt him glance down at her, that calculating stare reaching deep down into her. “After what?”

“Have you ever thought of volunteering?” She asked, struggling to change the subject.

They both glanced back out into the clearing. “Precisely why I’m here,” He said.

“Are you from the University?”

“No, I live around here.”

Sarah raised a brow. She hadn’t felt a disturbance on her way up. The woods were seamless, virgin. This huge research site was the first sign of an apex she’d noticed since she got off the plane. “Where?”

“West?” He made a vague gesture to his right. 

“And you’re just hiking.”

He looked past her. “This site strikes me. I read about it somewhere.”

Sarah’s eyes flashed wide. “Tell me what you know.”

He stepped away from the ledge and deeper back into the shrub.

She subconsciously followed.

“It’s an ancient city built by a group of… well, they disappeared.”

Sarah pressed her palm against the trunk of a tree to steady herself, but as the bark began to rearrange itself with her touch, she drew her hand away. She found it difficult to hide herself from him and yet, at the same time, a small part of her didn’t want to try. “What do you mean? Disappeared?”

He shrugged as if it were the most nonchalant thing on the planet. “People have their theories.”

“Tell me yours,” Sarah said, taking a deliberate step towards him. She wanted to see exactly how he would respond.

He opened his mouth once, but then shut it. Again. And again.

Sarah shifted her feet.

“It is said that they were a mystical people,” He stepped towards her.

Sarah took a waft of his scent, something like sweet metal. She felt it trickle down into her, settling in the pit of her stomach and radiating out to all of her extremities. “How mystical?”

“No one can trace their lineages, geographical or other wise to an origin. It’s like they simply appeared here. They were physical spectacles of the time: large, just as large as the average human today, which is strange considering the fact that they were ancient.”

Sarah found herself leaning into him, her whole body, from her cells upward, drawn to his presence. “So what happened to them?”

“No one knows.”

She could have been in a steam bath, she felt so warm. Goosebumps sprouted onto her skin, that sinking feeling pulling her out from under. “How tragic—.”

“Who are you?”

Sarah shook her head, jarred by this sudden change in subject. They had been discussing an ancient people and now, somehow, she had become more intriguing to him.

He stared at her with eyes wide, crazed almost.

She couldn’t decide whether to be excited or afraid.

“I’m Sarah Martin. A painter…”

He gave a short nod, his hooded eyes trained right at her. “Coel. Archeologist.”

***

Coel barged into his raider, shutting the door behind him. He sat down on his makeshift cot, slipping his boots off all in one fluid motion. He swiped his notebook off of the side table and started furiously writing. The ruins were exactly what he had come to earth looking for… but they were nothing more than just that: ruins. And only Sarah had led him to them.

It’s true. A human woman had managed to derail Coel so far off that he had spent the better part of his first full day of research following her around. And yet, as much as he wanted to berate himself for it, he couldn’t deny that thing inside of her begging to be explored.

Those sapphire eyes. What human that ever existed possessed such? He noticed the way that the entire forest seemed to bend to her movements. Trees swayed back and forth when not a gust of wind blew. She possessed something of his home planet. She might have just been the Kaharan he had searched for all along. He mapped out an elaborate plan to study her and her world, determined to complete his mission, even if it meant using her.

***

Sarah positioned her camera so that it would grab an image of her from her shoulders up, then perched herself in front of it. A short laugh leapt out of her mouth. Every time she did this, she felt as if she walked the line between feeling completely foolish and insanely important. These were her final days. This was her chance to decide how she wanted to be remembered. She cleared her throat and began
.

“I found something interesting today…I was looking for a place to move my camping grounds when I ran into this huge ruin. I mean, it was amazing! There were a bunch of researchers running around cleaning off what looked like old stone walls. It was a maze of stuff. I don’t know. I’ve just never been this excited about anything.

“And then there was the best part. The man. We ran into each other while I watched the researchers… strange... He made me forget about the cancer... I dreamt about him once, which doesn’t make any sense because I just met him today. Coel. I already miss the sound of his voice. I want to hear it again as soon as possible.

“But even as I say this now, I know that one day soon, I won’t be able to hear his voice. I won’t hear anyone’s voice. I won’t be able to paint, or drive or read. I won’t be anything.

One day soon. I’ll be dead.”

Her voice broke at the end of that last word.

Chapter Three

Coel had reached a dead end with his research. It didn’t take him long to realize that the excavation would hinder his attempt to study the ruin and the hopes of being able to trace any of the remaining Kaharans. He had his disguise, but that could only do so much. He couldn’t justify taking any samples to his raider for testing without drawing attention to himself and the human research facilities at the excavation site were barbaric and outdated, like using a radio, or one of those Morse code machines.

But Sarah had become a real lead. Even though he hadn’t made out just who and what exactly she was, their week of light banter and quiet adventure had convinced him that she was hiding something, something more than human. He sat on the edge of an oversized rock and watched her work. An easel had been erected in front of her. Her bun of auburn hair bobbed up and down as her gaze shifted from Coel to the painting. A giggle drifted from her lips.

“What?” Coel asked. He had become pleasantly accustomed to the sound.

“You’re so still,” She said, swiping a stray lock of hair out of her face.

Coel furrowed his brow, his lips folding into a smile. “Isn’t that how I’m supposed to be?”

He shook his head as he said this, a completely unrelated gesture. He should have been taking note of her mannerisms, recording any disturbances in the organic matter around her, but her eyes, her plump lips, that sharp furrow of concentration in her brow had veered him off course yet again. He struggled with the balance, following his only hope without letting her derail him.

She smiled, the gesture lighting up her entire face. It was an overcast day, but one could hardly tell by looking at her. “No. I told you, I just needed you there so I could contrast the colors right. You can move around as much as you want.

Coel nodded, but remained still anyway, too transfixed by her to mimic a normal human range of motion.

***

I need to tell him.

Sarah could not get the thought out of her mind. How absurd, the idea of telling someone she had just met that she would die before Christmas. And yet, how could she not? How could she go on staring at him over that canvas through eyes always seconds away from tears? She wanted him to know.

She tired of being the only one burdened with the information, tired of being forced to pretend that maybe one day she might be willing to take him back to her apartment in New York, the one she sold because she knew she had planned to live out her days as far away from human sympathy as possible.

“What is it?” Coel asked.

The sharp question demanded answer.

“How did you even know something was wrong?”

Coel hopped off of the rock and approached her. “You look frightened.”

Sarah gazed up at him, her eyes wide and expecting. For every step he took, she wished he would take another. “I’m just thinking.”

A knowing smile stretched across his face. “You’re a good liar.”

Sarah tried not to make a show out of taking a whiff of his scent. “And you’ve got a lot of confidence.”

“You’re easy to understand.”

Sarah flinched at this sharp statement she had become accustomed to hearing from him. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

He blinked. “I—.” His eyes went wide, “Forgive me.” He bowed his head.

Sarah shook her head at the warring combination of confusion and brilliance so inherent in Coel’s every word. She went out on a limb and placed her palm on his cheek. “It’s okay.”

He wrapped his hand around her wrist, meeting her gaze. “It’s just that I feel like I know you.”

All at once, Sarah wanted to vomit and hug him. She couldn’t bear the all-consuming pressure to tell him. So, she ripped her hand away from him and turned her attention to the canvas in front of her. “I have cancer.” The words leapt out of her mouth almost of their own accord.

She glanced back at him to find him staring at her with an even gaze, as if she had never said a thing.

So, she tried again. “I’m going to die soon.”

He narrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

A lump lodged itself in Sarah’s throat at the question she had already asked herself so many times before. What did she mean? What did the Universe mean? How could she be dying? She had mere months left and she still couldn’t be sure if she understood herself. “I have liver cancer. It got really bad, so… so now this means that I have to die.”

A fat raindrop plopped itself on her cheek.

“Why don’t you just go to a healer?”

Sarah cocked her head to the side. “A healer?”

He shook his head. “A doctor, I mean.”

She could almost laugh at his undue naivety. “I did. That’s how I know.”

His dark stare grew even darker. He set his jaw as he hunched over, staring right at her, his bushy brows having collided on his face. “Unacceptable. How can a doctor just leave you out here to die?”

Sarah pursed her lips, wondering if this had all been worth it in the first place. She felt selfish for burdening him with her own dredged up tragedy. “He didn’t leave me out here—.”

But she could see that something had begun to bubble up in Coel’s gut. His hands clenched into fists on either side of him and his chest swelled with his every breath. “I will not accept this.”

Sarah pressed her palm onto his chest. “Coel, calm down.”

But he wrapped his hand around her hand, squeezing far too tightly for comfort.

She winced. “Ouch. Coel, you’re hurting me.”

“You have to demand treatment!”

Sarah ripped her hand out of his grip, shaking it to drive away the ache. “There is no treatment for me!” She said with a heavy voice. For all the thinking and adjusting she had done, she still had not come to terms with it.

“What stupid, human doctors.” Coel turned away from her, huffing out breath after breath as he paced back and forth.

A wave of guilt washed over Sarah as she watched this. A small branch came crashing down right beside her, having been severed from the tree. “I’m sorry, Coel. I really am.”

He turned his sight on her, eyes wide with wonder. He shook his head vigorously as he approached her. “No. No. No. This isn’t your fault.” He placed a hand on either one of her shoulders. “This isn’t your concern. You have done nothing wrong.”

Sarah knew she should have looked away, taken herself out of the influence of his gaze, but she just couldn’t manage it. “I burdened you with this.”

“How would you leave me without telling me?” Wrinkles of anger covered his face, the creases deep as canyons.

“How can you be so angry?”

“Because you’re my only friend here.”

Sarah wanted to cry from happiness or sorrow, she couldn’t decide which. “Why did I have to meet you now?”

But when she looked back up at him, he seemed removed, his eyes staring off into the distance. “How long?”

Sarah bit her lip. She wanted to kiss him, as crazy as it sounded. She wanted to forget all about her obligations and all about staying away from him and just wanted to let loose with him. To forget with him. “Two months maybe? It’s hard to tell. For some reason, it’s always been hard to tell with me and doctors.”

“Of course not. Doctors can’t understand your kind.”

Sarah furrowed her brow. He had struck a chord, ignited a long since dormant part of her mind, the part of her that questioned her own identity. How could he do that when he barely knew her? “What do you mean: ‘your kind’?” She asked, training her eyes right at him.

His eyes flashed wide for a short second, as if he hadn’t expected her to question his words. Then his face fell, as if with some kind of understanding.

“Coel?”

It was clear that he didn’t want to explain himself. He just pressed his hand into her cheek, a desperate grip.

“What did you mean by that?”

As if to shut her up, or satisfy some urge, he pressed his lips against hers. Sarah melted.

Her whole body lost its form, sliding into his. He pressed her against the trunk of the tree as she received him, her hands on the back of his neck, her breast jammed against his chest. The grass grew a little thicker where she stood.

He drew away from her, far too soon, then looked down at her. “I’m sorry.”

But Sarah had grown tired of apologies and being careful and being afraid and being tired, so she reached up for him and she kissed him. This time, his arms snaked around her waist as his tongue slipped inside her lips.

Her chest heaved, a sigh slipping out of her. It had been months, almost a year, since she had had a chance to be intimate with anyone. Yet, here this man stood, gorgeous as ever, encasing her with his perfect body. His lips slipped down to her neck. Her eyes rolled back as she placed her hands on his shoulder.

“What is all of this?” She whispered.

He sucked on her skin, the suction of his lips tearing at her flesh. The burn made her yearn from him. It no longer felt like an option. He lifted his head up just as Sarah took it in both of her hands. “I can’t let you go.”

A single, dry sob, heaved from the Sarah’s gut, found its way out of her mouth. “You don’t have to.”

Then he kissed her again.

She pulled at his jacket, peeling it off of him and letting it pool around his feet.

He slammed her against the bark of a tree. Another branch fell. It crumpled into ash as soon as it hit the ground. “I can’t let you go.” He croaked, taking off her jacket and throwing it out of the way.

Sarah felt exposed in all of the best ways. The downpour soaked her blouse almost immediately, her nipples poking out through the green cloth. He grabbed her breast, his finger flicking at her nipples.

She bit her lip, her hands clutching the neck of his sweater, ripping it off of him. She traced the side of his neck with her tongue, taking his ear into her mouth.

She felt the tremble travel up his body before he slammed her against the wood yet again.

Her head spun. “I can’t let you go.”

His kisses covered her face and neck. He knelt in front of her, the mud and soggy ash pooling around him. The stuff rained from the sky, along with water, the fog and the steam covering everything.

He lifted her shirt from over her head and her breasts bobbed out, her wet bra offering little to no support. He pressed his lips against her belly, his tongue trialing a path. Sarah ran her fingers through his thick hair as he ripped her pants off, taking her underwear with it. She spread her legs just as he shoved his face in between them. Her whole body shuddered at the sensation.

Her heart pounded against her chest. Goosebumps covered her skin. Her spine shook with ecstasy. He continued, her leg hitched on his shoulder as he took her into his mouth. Spasm after spasm shot through her as she stared right over his head and into the mist that had surrounded them. She pulled him up and kissed him again, tasting him, tasting herself.

While their tongues danced together, she reached down and unbuckled his belt, then undid his button, then his zipper. His pants fell of their own accord. She felt his warm, throbbing penis poking out, jabbing her in the belly.

Sarah grabbed it, jerking him off while he tugged at her soaked hair. He hitched her on his waist, his penis sliding in between her legs. She drove her teeth into his shoulder, reveling in the shudder it caused.

He lowered the both of them onto the soft grass and mud. No sooner had her back begun to sink into the ground did he enter her. The piercing pleasure shot right through her as he rammed himself into her over and over and over again.

Her heart thudded irregularly as her blood ran hot, the thin liquid sloshing through her veins. A film of sweat appeared on her forehead. It covered every inch of her body, making her chest slick as it slid up against his over and over again.

He rammed himself into her, deeper and harder every time.

Her nails found the skin on his back, digging deep, drawing thick red blood.

He used his free hand to grab at her face, pushing her down into the mud. Her legs wrapped tightly around him, as tight as she could get it. Her groans matched his grunts as she felt the pressure in between her legs reach a charged climax. She felt it deep in her gut and as far as the tips of her toes.

He ripped himself out of her almost as soon as it happened.

And all of the sudden, Sarah couldn’t feel a thing.

His image grew blurry, mixing as his hands shook and she felt a warm liquid splatter across her chest.

Her eyes flicker shut just as he began to shake her.

Chapter Four

Coel carried her naked body over his shoulder. There was no time for the polite gesture of putting her clothes back on. He needed to get her to his raider so that he could figure out what had just happened to her. His time with her had rapidly begun to wane and he felt like nothing more than a fool if he just stood by while she died. He only hoped no one would see him on his way there.

He burst through his door and dropped her onto the bed, rushing to his small kitchen and lab without missing a beat. He needed his x-ray scanner and his AED. He came back into the room, part of him hoping she would spontaneously awaken, but he disappointed to find her just as lifeless as ever.