Read The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) for Free Online

painkillers tonight. ”
    “ Oh. ”
    “ You gonna sit? ”
    Prodded into motion, she fished in the cooler by her table. “ Normally after breaking ground on a dig, I finish up the day with a beer. Sort of an opening ceremony. ”
    “ Don ’ t let me stop you. ”
    She offered him a drink. He took a water, even though he would rather have downed a six pack in one shot. She got a beer for herself, then sat with a long sigh in the table ’ s opposite chair. “ I hope it doesn ’ t rain tomorrow. I ’ d like to get further than we did today. ”
    He recognized the nervous chatter for what it was. He knew what she was. She knew he knew it. His good manners prodded him just enough to push out some conversation, while they were stuck here. “ What got you into all this, anyway? ”
    The rumble and hiss of the storm filled the silence for a minute. “ My father. ” She smiled, and Ian found his gaze locked on it. “ Dad was an archaeologist. He taught at the university, and they sent him all over the world on assignments. I used to love it when he came home with stories about where he ’ d been and what he saw. Archaeology seemed like such an adventure. He was brilliant. ”
    “ Was? ”
    She took the cap off her beer. The bright look in her eyes faded, taking something indefinable with it, and Ian wished it hadn ’ t right up until she added, “ He ’ s dead. ”
    He went rigid. “ So ’ s mine. ”
    “ Oh. ” She fidgeted with her beer bottle. “ How? ”
    “ I don ’ t want to get into it. What happened to yours? ”
    Her expression cooled. For the first time, he saw why people back at the college called her Shark Markham. “ I don ’ t want to get into it. ” She took a long drink of beer. “ I don ’ t suppose you want to tell me how you just happened to choose Hvitmar for your birding project. ”
    He opened his water bottle. “ I had to come to Shetland, anyway. ” When she gave him a get-real look, he raised his hands. “ I swear to God. My assignment was to study the coastal birds of Shetland. You want to see my proposal? ”
    “ Lucky for you, Hvitmar ’ s in Shetland. ”
    “ Yeah, lucky me. ”
    She took another drink. The silence stretched out some more, and he tried not to fidget. He wanted to leave. To hell with the storm. But then he caught another whiff of her earthy-spicy scent, and his body refused to move from the seat.
    A crash of thunder made them both flinch. “ God, the weather ’ s in rare form tonight, ” she murmured.
    “ This is nothing compared to Maine during a good summer storm. ”
    “ Oh? ”
    “ My first internship was at a wildlife preserve in Maine. Stormed practically the entire time I was there. We had to bail out our tent with a coffee can the last night. ”
    Thunder boomed again. “ I think we might be in for a repeat performance, ” she said over the rain beating on the tent canvas. He thought he saw her cheeks flush. “ I hope you don ’ t mind being here for a while. ”
    He stared at her across the table. Did he?
    She got up and pulled a blanket from the foot of her cot, then draped it over her shoulders. “ Are you sure you don ’ t want me to find a dry shirt for you? If we don ’ t get you out of that stuff— ”
    Whatever she was, she had a way with words. He broke into a grin. “ What ’ s it gonna take to get you to quit asking me to take my clothes off? ”
    She jerked the blanket tighter around her shoulders, iron-faced. He marshaled his expression into order, but it was too late to stop the visuals playing in his head of both of them shedding their clothes. It was a bitch, and it was unfair as hell, but Sara Markham had a body that could start a four-alarm fire. He cleared his throat and shifted in the seat. “ I ’ m all right. Sit down. ”
    A few seconds passed, then she dropped back into her chair and snatched up her beer bottle.
    He watched her for a while. Her body—all woman, all distracting—started sucking up more