“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “But I promise when I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
***Stephanie***
It had been almost a week since the news story had aired and the campus had erupted into chaos, but Dean Proctor had finally taken control and shut it all down with some help from the local police. They still had security in place, but she’d be a fool not to play it safe. There hadn’t been any problems from the public or the students, but to her great regret, there also hadn’t been much progress unlocking the site’s secrets. With only two weeks until the initial survey of the site had to be complete, she was beginning to think they weren’t going to find anything, and it was getting harder and harder to hide her disappointment.
The only good thing about the time slowly running out was the possibility of what might happen with Cooper, but that was also tinged with disappointment. This, like all her assignments, would be temporary, especially if they didn’t find anything more at the site, and she’d have to leave. A part of her wondered if it wouldn’t be best just to leave things the way they were. Gettinginvolved with him, no matter how short the time, might only end with her getting hurt.
Her feelings for him were even stronger than they’d been only a week ago. She’d gotten to know him, learned to trust him. Taking the next step might be a mistake, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to resist when the time came. The decision has been keeping her up at night, and when she did sleep, Cooper managed to invade her dreams, making it even harder to distance herself.
She’d finally decided that no matter what she did, she’d end up losing; either she’d miss out on something wonderful, or she’d walk away hurt and missing him. The choice didn’t seem fair. Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen when Cooper’s internship was over, the choice was tangling her up inside and she wasn’t sure how to sort it out, only that she was going to have to choose soon.
The sound of footsteps snapped her out of her reflections, and she looked around guiltily, wondering how long she’d been standing there staring into space. A second later, the front door of the house she’d been surveying opened and the footsteps began to echo through the empty house eerily. Telling herself it was one of the team, she stood in the kitchen staring at the doorway, her heart pounding with anticipation.
“Stephanie, are you in here?” Cooper finally called, and she instantly relaxed.
“I’m in here,” she said, remembering the sketch book in her hands. “In the kitchen.”
Cooper appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, a look of relief on his face, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, you really need to remember your radio,” he said, holding it up. “Everyone left half an hour ago, I waited for you, but you never showed, so I started looking.”
Startled that it was that late, she looked down at the sketch book in her hands, “I’m sorry, I lost track of time, but you’re right, I should have remembered my radio,” she said, then hesitated. “Cooper, it’s been almost a week, and nothing’s happened. Maybe we can relax a little. Maybe Sebastian isn’t going to cause trouble after all.”
“I wish I could believe that, I really do, but I think he’s just biding his time, hoping we’ll let our guard down,” Cooper said, walking over to her. “We can’t get sloppy now, that’s just what he’s waiting for, and you staying here after hours is a really bad idea, so let’s get out of here.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she said, getting annoyed. “And I don’t need a lecture about safety.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lecture you, I just worry about you and I can’t help it, so don’t give me that look,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re important to me, even more so now that we’ve spent some time getting to know each other. We only have a few weeks to go until we’ll be free to see where this leads. Right this moment that feels like forever.”
“Cooper, you know I might have to leave soon, right?” she asked, trying to pull away, but his arms were like a vise around her, and she gave up. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea to…well…start something.”
Cooper looked down at her, and she felt her cheeks turning pink. “Sweetheart, we’ve already started something. I don’t think I could stop it now, even if I wanted to,” he said, then reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, his thumb caressing her cheek. “I know what we’re risking, I know you might have to leave. I’ve thought about that a lot, but it doesn’t change anything. I want you. I’ll take what I can get, a day, a week, a month, a year, it doesn’t matter, I just want to be with you.”
Before she could say anything, he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, sending delicious waves of pleasure rushing through her. She gasped, then looked up at him, every cell in her body wanting more, especially when she saw the look in his eyes. Telling herself that she needed to pull away, she shifted in his arms, the sketch book and pencil fell to the floor, then his lips were on hers again.
This time, the kiss was more demanding, and she found herself giving in despite the warning bells in her head. Sliding her arms up around his neck, she kissed him back for the first time, making him groan deep in his throat, and she felt a surge of power flow through her. Emboldened by her success, she slipped her tongue into his mouth. Suddenly he growled and crushed her up against him, pressing her sensitive breasts against his hard chest.
It was the feel of his hands slowly beginning to explore her body that brought her back down to earth and she gasped, then pulled away from him. “Cooper, you’re not supposed to do that,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “We could have beencaught.”
CHAPTER 11
***COOPER***
“Dang it, I’m sorry, Stephanie,” Cooper said, taking another step away from her. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far, I just lose control when I’m around you, and this cave, this place, it does things to me…”
He wished he’d left the last part out, as a surprised look appeared on Stephanie’s face. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What does it do?”
“I just meant…well, it’s hard to explain…there’s a lot of energy, I guess you could say,” he stammered, hoping that would be enough. “I’m probably imagining it, wishful thinking or something.”
“Didn’t Sebastian say something about power the other day when he tried to crash the gate?” she asked. “I think he said you were hogging it all for yourself.”
“I don’t think he was talking about actual power,” he said, desperate to end the conversation. “Let’s get out of here, it’s late, and I’m sure you’re hungry. I am. Hattie’s cooking tonight if you want to come over, although considering what just happened, maybe that’s not a good idea.”
Stephanie’s cheeks turned pink, and she let out a gasp. “Cooper, stop that, we agreed, remember,” she stammered. “Maybe we should get out of here.”
Hands shaking from the pleasure still lingering from the kiss, she grabbed her sketch book from where it had fallen on the rough pine floor, sending the pencil rolling across the floor. It finally came to rest in a deep groove between the wooden planks. Then, before she could grab it, the pencil disappeared, and in the silence that followed, she could hear it bouncing down a flight of steps. Wondering if she was imagining what she’d just heard, she looked up to find Cooper staring down at where the pencil had disappeared, an astonished look on her face.
“Good, you heard that too,” she said, crossing the room and staring down at the groove on the floor. “There’s something under this floor. It sounded like steps.”
Cooper stepped up next to her. “That’s what it sounded like,” he said. “But how do we get under there? We can’t tear up the floor.”
