Callan: Outback Shifters #2 Read online

  “Maybe,” Ella said, and was about to say more, when she noticed that Callan was undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. Her mouth popped open, and she could feel blood rushing to her face as the skin of his chest was revealed. “What’re you doing?!”

  Callan glanced down. “Uh. Changing my shirt. This one’s a bit… milky. Doesn’t seem like a big deal now, but believe me, you won’t like it after we’ve been riding in the sun for a couple of hours.”

  “You’re changing… here, though?” Ella said, realizing her voice was coming out as a squeak, but not sure what she was supposed to do about it.

  Callan paused. “Oh. Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to, uh, embarrass you. I wasn’t thinking. I can go into the toilets, if you like.”

  “No, no, there’s no need for that,” Ella said, trying to calm her hammering heart. Could he see the way she was blushing? God, she hoped he couldn’t see the way she was blushing. She needed to stop making this seem like it was some kind of a big deal.

  It’s not a big deal! Who cares if I see his chest? Just what the hell is wrong with me?!

  “I’ll – I’ll turn away,” Ella said.

  So now he’ll just think you’re an insanely uptight prude, she thought as she turned on her heel, looking back toward the shop. That’s great.

  She wasn’t sure why she should even care what Callan thought about her attitude toward nudity – it wasn’t like it was relevant to their relationship at all! – but she couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated with herself.

  She already knew she wasn’t cool, but that didn’t mean everyone else had to know!

  Swallowing, Ella took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth.

  Okay. Cool. Calm. Collec– oh my God.

  Clearly, Ella hadn’t really thought this through. The sun on the large windows of the service station meant the reflection of what was behind her was clear as daylight. In other words, she could see everything. Every rippling muscle of Callan’s chest and arms as he stripped off his shirt. The tight grid of his abdominal muscles as he leaned down to get a fresh shirt from one of the saddlebags on his bike. The dusting of hair over his broad, flat pecs, the trail leading down into the waistband of his pants…

  Ella swallowed, her face heating.

  Holy shit.

  She wasn’t aware men could look like that. She’d seen the gorgeous, tanned beefcakes in fashion magazines and the superhero movies Priyanka had occasionally dragged her to, but she’d assumed that was mostly Photoshop and special effects. Ella was pretty sure, however, that what she was looking at now was real life, and not just computer-generated perfection.

  Stop it right now, or you’re actually going to start drooling.

  Ella forced herself to avert her eyes. She wasn’t about to have her judgment even more clouded than it already was by the sight of his ridiculous body.

  “You can turn around, I’m decent again.”

  Ella wasn’t sure that mattered, since the sight of his abs was probably burned onto her retinas forever now. Every time she closed her eyes, there they’d be.

  She decided she could probably live with that.

  Seeking distraction, she pointed to her own car, sitting sadly by the petrol pump.

  “What should we do about this?”

  “I spoke to Johnno – his friend Daz works at a wrecker’s, so they’re going to come and tow it and keep it on their lot for us. We can pick it up once this is all squared away.”

  Ella raised an eyebrow. “Johnno?”

  “The kid behind the counter. He’s a good kid.”

  Clearly, Callan had a knack with people, Ella thought. Which she definitely didn’t.

  “Oh. Right. Well, if he sells it for scrap, it was on its last legs anyway,” she said.

  Callan cocked his head. “Well, hopefully it won’t come to that. Like I said, they’re good kids.”

  Ella was about to say something pessimistic about her not having that much faith in people, but, thinking twice, she swallowed her words down again. For someone who wasn’t in the habit of trusting people, she realized she was about to take a pretty huge leap of faith with Callan.

  “We should get going,” she said, licking her lips. Ella could feel her blood surge within her as she walked toward him, and resisted the urge to shake her head to clear it.

  “Any hint as to where I should be taking you?”

  Oh, right – I haven’t actually told him. But… what should I actually say? That I got a mystery phone call from someone I don’t even know but who knew my father, telling me where to go?

  Her head had been in a complete mess from the moment she’d turned up at the university this morning. She hadn’t been thinking straight. Her lab, her home, the phone call, the way she’d been followed by the van – not to mention the fact she was totally sleep deprived after working hard on her thesis – all of it had made her act in a way she could now see was, perhaps, a little irrational.

  And yet…

  Maybe Callan could sense her hesitation, because he said, “You don’t have to tell me why, if you don’t want to – not right now, anyway. Just tell me where.”

  Relief flooded Ella. “I have the co-ordinates here,” she said, reaching into her handbag and pulling out her GPS. She’d taken it off her windscreen when she’d gotten out of the car. Callan took it from her, and Ella suppressed a gasp and a shiver as their fingers brushed against each other.

  What is with that?!

  She clenched her fist, telling herself to ignore it. It didn’t mean anything.

  Callan turned the GPS on, examining it. “This’ll take us out to the middle of nowhere,” he said, glancing up at her.

  “I know,” she said. “But… I think that’s the point. I think we’re supposed to be finding something someone hid there.”

  Or I’m going nuts. That’s also a distinct possibility.

  Callan’s eyebrows drew together slightly. “All right. But this is pretty rugged country. Were you really planning to get out there all by yourself?”

  “I – I don’t know,” Ella admitted, feeling foolish. “I’m a pretty experienced hiker. I just thought – I mean, I just felt I needed to –” She trailed off, not sure how to explain.

  “Ella.” Callan’s voice was soft. “You don’t have to tell me right now. Let’s just get on the road, and save the talking for later.”

  She could do that, Ella decided. Her desire to trust Callan and tell him everything right now was at war with her knowledge that everything she had to say sounded completely insane.

  Maybe I should just let him take me back to Canberra, she thought. Just give up on this. Why the hell am I running around looking for something the father who couldn’t have given less of a shit about me may or may not have left lying around? Why do I even care? Let the cops handle whoever messed up my lab and my home.

  But even as she thought it, she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it. It might be dangerous – or it might turn out to be nothing. But Ella knew her curiosity wouldn’t let her rest until she’d found out.

  And now, here was a man who was saying he’d help her. That he was willing to put the questions aside for another time, and simply take her at her word that she needed him.

  It’s too good to be true, Ella thought, as she looked into his deep, dark eyes. Isn’t it?

  Callan held out a riding helmet to her. “Ready to go?”

  Taking a deep breath, Ella nodded. She took the helmet from him, putting it on her own head, strapping it under her chin. “Ready.”

  Or at least, she thought she was, until the sudden realization she’d be riding pillion hit her.

  Which means I’ll be – I’ll have to –

  Ella swallowed, feeling her face coloring yet again.

  I’ll have to sit behind him, and put my arms around him to hang on.

  Callan seemed to have had the same realization, because he glanced at her apologetically. “Sorry, but I don’t have a side-car. You’ll be al
l right back there, yeah?”

  No! No, I won’t! Not because I’ll fall off, but because I’ll spontaneously combust at making that much contact with you!

  “Sure, I’ll be fine,” Ella snapped. “Let’s get going.”

  Callan hesitated, but then nodded. “Right. Let’s go.”

  He swung one of his long, muscular legs over the side of the bike, gesturing for her to follow. Steeling herself, Ella climbed on behind him, swinging her leg over and settling on the saddle. She felt his spine stiffen a little as her breasts brushed against the warm solidity of his back, and Ella had to take a deep breath as sparks danced over her skin.

  Okay. I’ll have to watch that.

  Taking another deep breath, she raised her hands to his sides, her palms resting against his waist. She tried to grab onto his shirt rather than pressing them too firmly against him – her head was spinning enough as it was. Any more and she wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t fall off.

  “Ready?”

  Ella only nodded, since she didn’t think she could trust her voice enough to speak. She realized after a moment that Callan couldn’t see her, but somehow, he seemed to have sensed her agreement, since he kicked the bike to life, and then made his way out of the drive.

  Turning onto the highway, he sped up, and Ella gasped as the wind suddenly rushed past her, rippling through her clothes and hair. Unconsciously, she gripped Callan’s sides tighter, leaning into his back – warm and firmly muscled.

  It was so, so tempting to lean her cheek against it and breathe in, letting the faint, masculine scent of his sweat and skin fill her, but she forced herself not to give in to the urge.

  You only just met him. Trusting him is a gamble. You can’t just sniff him.

  But the temptation was there, and it was harder than Ella wanted to admit to resist it. And she was extremely aware of the press of her inner thighs against him, the way his sides moved with his breath, and the way the cycling of the motorbike engine was vibrating her against him.

  Not the time!!

  Gritting her teeth, Ella leaned back as far away from him as she dared, and hoped that this motorbike ride wasn’t going to be too long.

  Chapter 5

  In the end, Ella had to give up – her leg muscles just weren’t strong enough to stop her from constantly sliding forward against Callan’s back and thighs, and she realized she was just going to have to control herself somehow as she pressed against him.

  Easier said than done, she thought, as she closed her eyes, breathing in.

  It’d been a long, long time since she’d been this close to anyone. The last time she’d shared a bed with someone had been the last time she had gone out drinking with her officemates – Priyanka, Dave, Gin and Toshi – to celebrate some milestone Dave had reached in his thesis, and she’d ended up overestimating her tolerance for alcohol and crashing at Priyanka’s place.

  As for the last time she’d felt this kind of skin-tingling, gut-clenching, heart-pounding attraction to someone…

  Well. That had been precisely never.

  Ella swallowed again. Was Callan really completely oblivious to how she’d been practically drooling over him at the servo? He’d certainly started taking off his shirt without so much as a second thought – did that mean he hadn’t noticed? Or did it mean he didn’t think of her as a sexual being at all, so taking his clothes off in front of her meant nothing?

  Why the hell would he think of you as a sexual being?! she berated herself. You just met! He came to find you after you disappeared, and then offered to help you on this idiot mission you’ve given yourself!

  God, her head must have been more messed up by everything than she’d thought, Ella decided. She was cracking.

  No. No, I’m not. I know everything that’s happened to me in the last few hours is real. And that’s why I have to see it through.

  Ella shook her head a little. She wasn’t about to succumb to that kind of thinking. Something bizarre was going on here, but she wasn’t going crazy.

  She’d finally managed to reconvince herself of the fact when she felt Callan’s body tense against hers. Unease spread through her – somehow, it was almost as if she could sense the sudden, rising tension he felt. She glanced up at him as he turned his head, lifting his hand to raise the visor of his helmet.

  “Ella, behind us.”

  His voice was barely audible over the whipping of the wind, but Ella could still make out his words. She turned her head, a ripple of fear coursing through her stomach.

  A black van.

  She sucked in a breath.

  “Is that the same one that followed you?”

  At this distance, Ella couldn’t be certain, but it would’ve been a pretty big coincidence if it hadn’t been. Squinting, Ella tried to make out the number plate, and – there. It was battered and bent, and pretty much illegible.

  Same one.

  Looking back at Callan, she nodded. She saw the narrowing of his eyes.

  “All right. We’ll lose them when we have the chance. But let’s not provoke them.”

  Fear pounded in Ella’s heart, but she knew Callan was right. Her fingers tightened, digging into his sides, and she closed her eyes. Was whoever was in the van the arsehole who’d destroyed her work and her home? Or was it just an innocent black van, out for a peaceful, if extremely suspicious-looking, Saturday drive?

  Ella knew which one she’d put her money on, but she also knew she had a tendency toward pessimism.

  And, as she heard the roar of a car engine behind them, she knew that while some people might have called it pessimism, she personally called it normal common sense.

  Shit.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see the van gaining on them, roaring down the highway toward them. She clung even more tightly to Callan’s back, tugging a little at his shirt to get his attention in case he’d somehow missed the van barreling toward them.

  He gave her a short nod in return, letting her know that he definitely knew about it.

  “Hold on.”

  His words were brief, and the next thing Ella knew, the bike had sped up, zooming forward at a breathtaking speed. Ella shuddered, pressing herself against Callan’s back.

  Surely, we’d have to be outpacing them?

  She risked another glance over her shoulder, and her heart sank.

  The van was still there, keeping pace with them. Gaining on them, if anything. The van didn’t look like much, but clearly it was a souped-up machine, built for speed.

  It was obviously going to take more than a burst of speed to shake them loose.

  Wasn’t smashing up my lab and my home enough for them? And what the hell do they even want?!

  It was with a sinking feeling that Ella realized that if whoever was in the van really was following them – and it’d be stupid to deny it at this point – then she already knew the answer to that question.

  Me. They want me.

  Maybe they’d gone to her lab expecting to find her there, but she’d gone in late and hadn’t been there that morning. Not finding her, they’d gone to her house – and only just missed her as she’d left for the university. Maybe smashing up her things had just been the temper tantrum of a frustrated kidnapper.

  But why me?!

  Whatever the answer to that question, Ella realized they didn’t exactly have time to ponder it right now.

  Right now, we have to focus on getting away.

  Almost despite herself, a wave of relief washed over her that Callan had found her when he did. Perhaps the van had just been waiting for her to leave the service station before coming after her again. Whatever Callan’s reasons, and whyever it was that she felt she could trust him, Ella knew she was better off with him than trying to face them down alone.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the van that was still speeding toward them, swerving as it tried to overtake them, as Callan gunned the engine of the motorbike again. Ella gripped tightly to his sides.

  “This is going to b
e a rough ride, Ella. Hang on as hard as you can.”

  Ella nodded, and, taking a deep breath, wound her arms around Callan’s body. Even in these circumstances it made her heart pound to be so close to him, but she really didn’t have much choice. If she flew off the bike at this speed, she was pretty much doomed.

  The bike shuddered beneath them as Callan accelerated. Clearly, he was pushing the machine to its limits. Ella didn’t think she’d ever gone so fast before in her life – the fields and trees that surrounded them were nothing but blurs as they whipped past.

  Behind them, she heard the roar of the van, and then a dark shape sped into her peripheral vision.

  Ella glanced over at the van. Its windows were tinted, so she couldn’t see inside. It was keeping pace with them now, speeding alongside them over the deserted country road.

  “They might try to force us off the road,” Callan said, raising his voice over the wind and glancing back at her. “No matter what, I’ll need you to hold on, okay?”

  “I will, don’t worry,” Ella shouted back, hoping he couldn’t hear the slight shake in her voice.

  Callan nodded.

  All right. I hope you know what you’re doing, Ella thought – though even as she thought it, she felt a surge of confidence run through her. Callan was clearly an experienced rider and could handle the bike expertly. Even with all the quick accelerating he’d been doing, the bike hadn’t so much as wobbled.

  Ella looked again at the van, looming ominously beside them. It hadn’t made any move except to come alongside them, but she wondered how long that would last.

  Just as she thought it, the van suddenly lurched to the left, cutting across the road toward them. Ella gasped as Callan swerved away from it, coming dangerously close to the edge of the road to avoid the van. She dug her fingers into the firm muscle of his flanks, and held on.

  The brown fields that had surrounded the road had given way now to densely-growing, pale-barked, dark-leaved gum trees. In the distance, Ella could see the mountains rising up against the blue of the sky.