by J P Books
When he looks back up, all Jessica is wearing is her sports bra and pair of green boy shorts that don’t quite cover the curve of her ass as it meets her long, lean legs. Luckily, Dan is wearing boxers, and his cock’s twitching goes unnoticed in the extra fabric.
“On the count of three?” he says with a smile.
Jessica’s eyes are lingering on his abs and his smile grows.
“Yeah,” she says, suddenly remembering where she is and who she’s with. “On three.”
“One! Two! THREE!” Dan shouts and they leap over the edge, all their worries forgotten as they plunge into the deep turquoise waters of the pool.
“Oh my god!” Jessica squeals as she surfaces. “This is amazing! I can’t believe how deep it is.”
Dan smiles, floating on his back and looking up at the sky. “Yeah, Weston and I found it on our first trip here. Coming here is one of my favorite parts of this trip.”
Jessica swims up next to him, treading water lazily as he floats. “Thanks for sharing it with me,” she says.
“My pleasure,” he replies. Their faces are so close together he can see all the specks of gold in her green eyes. Their shoulders brush against each other, a shock of warmth in the cool water.
“I never want to go home,” Jessica admits softly. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever done.”
Dan goes back to treading water so that he can look at her properly. “Really?” he asks.
“Yeah. After my parents died…well, there wasn’t that much money and my aunt and uncle never had the time to take vacations. The furthest I’ve ever traveled was flying from New York, where I used to live, to California to move in with my aunt and uncle.”
“Jessica…” Dan bites his lip. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea your parents…”
She shrugs, smiling a sad half-smile. “It was a long time ago. I was just a kid.” Then she shakes her head. “Sorry. I’m so sorry, Dan. You bring me to this amazing place, and I get all sad and emotional on you! I’m killing the vibe!”
“No, Jessica, never,” he says, his eyes meeting hers. “You can tell me anything you want. Whenever you want.”
Jessica smiles, though her expression is still a little sad. “Thank you,” she tells him, coming closer to put an arm around his neck. One arm still keeping her afloat, she hugs him. Without hesitating, Dan wraps an arm around her bare waist, pressing her close and leaning his cheek on her cool hair. “That’s very sweet of you,” she says softly.
For a moment, they just stay there, holding each other.
And that’s enough for me, Dan thinks.
CHAPTER 6
Jessica can’t believe that the trip is already coming to an end. Only two more weeks to go. And so many thousands and thousands of words to write before that.
Now that they’ve collected most of the data they’re going to need, the three researchers have moved on to interpreting the data and writing the (very long) report. But, so far, what they’ve seen is fascinating: the complexity with which their spider monkeys communicate is unprecedented. Jessica is having an amazing time working with the new information they’ve collected from the video feed of their camera traps.
But, no matter how fascinating the work she’s doing is, she can only sit still for so long. Taking a deep breath, Jessica pushes away from her laptop and reaches above her head, taking a huge, and much needed, stretch.
She can feel her t-shirt rising, exposing her midriff, but she just keeps stretching, arching her back over the chair. Her spine pops a couple of times and she sighs. As she comes back down, she catches Dan and Weston’s eyes whipping away from her torso and she has to bite her lip to keep from smiling.
If she’s honest with herself, she’d been hoping for that reaction. Throughout the trip, she’s noticed Dan and Weston letting their eyes linger on her. And she knows she’s been doing the same.
And why not? After all, there’s no harm in looking, right? Besides, it’s nice to know that it’s mutual. May as well enjoy it for the few weeks we have left. After all, this is the real world and, no matter what Breeze says, nothing’s going to happen between us.
Weston clears his throat, interrupting Jessica’s thoughts. “Well, I’m going to head to Sirena before it gets too late to make a round trip. You guys okay here on your own?”
Dan rolls his eyes. “Yes, mom. We’ll make it through.”
Weston smacks Dan’s shoulder good-naturedly. “Brat,” he says. “Anything else come to mind since we made the supply list?”
Jessica and Dan both shake their head. “Just make sure not to forget the coffee,” Dan says, grinning. “Or the toilet paper.”
Weston groans. “It was one time, Dan. One time.”
“One very crucial time,” Dan replies.
Jessica giggles softly as she scans the Excel spreadsheet she’s working on. Last night over dinner, they had told Jessica the hilarious but gross story of the time Weston had done a supply run to the Sirena Ranger Station and forgot the toilet paper. Only to come back to the hut to find Dan in the middle of a bout of food poisoning. It hadn’t been good.
“Okay. Coffee, toilet paper. I’m underlining them,” Weston teases, bringing out their supply list and making a show of drawing thick lines under those entries. “Nothing else? Jessica?”
“All good,” Jessica replies.
“Okay. See you guys in like four hours. Be good. Don’t forget to eat!”
“Bye, mom!” Dan calls, shaking his head without looking away from his laptop.
The sound of the Range Rover’s engine disturbs the peace of the jungle as Weston rolls away from camp, back down the thin dirt road that connects them to the rest of the world.
“For someone who’s such a goofy, macho jokester, he can get very caught up in minutiae,” Dan comments fondly as the sounds of the truck fade.
“Probably what makes him such a good scientist,” Jessica replies.
“Very true,” Dan agrees. For a moment, their eyes meet over their laptops and they share a smile. Then it’s back to work.
But they don’t get far. An hour later, an alarm starts beeping on Dan’s phone.
“What the—” Dan mutters, leaning over to check his phone. “What? Seriously?” he sighs, making a face.
“What is it?” Jessica asks, pausing her work and looking over. Dan isn’t somebody who gets upset about things.
“Two of our camera traps have stopped working,” he says. “The one right by the watering hole and the next one just past that up the mountain. Man, now of all times.”
“They’ve stopped working? Why would that happen?” Jessica asks. They’d linked all the cameras to an app on Dan’s phone for exactly this purpose, but she still isn’t sure exactly what would cause the cameras to shut down.
Dan shrugs and gives her a half-smile. “Best case scenario: the batteries died. Worst case scenario: some animal took umbrage and had a tussle with them. It happens from time to time. We lost two cameras that way our first year, actually. God, I hope the equipment will be salvageable when we get there.” Dan pushes away from the table and stands. Looking at his phone, he runs a hand through his black hair in agitation. “Talk about timing, though. We’ve got to get all these Excel sheets done before we can start writing.”
“Hey, why don’t I just go?” Jessica offers, also standing up. “You can keep working on the report and I’ll go check the camera. That’s what I’m here for, right? To do the grunt work.”
Dan shakes his head with a smile. “You know that’s not true,” he says. “And you know we don’t go into the jungle alone. Safety in numbers.”
“Dan, it’ll be fine. I know where the cameras are. Besides, this one is really close by. It’ll be a half-hour walk there, max. And I’ll bring my walkie-talkie in case anything happens. That way at least one of us can stay here and work.”
Dan doesn’t look pleased. “If anything were to happen to you—”
“No
thing will happen to me, Dan. I’ll be gone for an hour, tops. And I’ll have the walkie-talkie,” Jessica cajoles.
Her professor sighs. “Okay. You’re amazing, Jessica. Please don’t take any risks.”
Jessica laughs. “Me? I’m the least risky person I know.”
Dan chuckles and helps her fill a bag with a few supplies. “Come back soon,” he tells her as she swings onto the wooden ladder.
“I will,” she smiles. “Stop worrying. I thought Weston was the mom in this relationship?”
He laughs again, his handsome face breaking into an easy grin. “True,” he says. “Of course. You’re right. As always.”
Jessica gives him one last grin and starts climbing down the ladder.
CHAPTER 7
“I’m ho-ome!”
Dan looks up, startled back to reality by the sound of Weston’s voice.
“You’re here,” Dan says, blinking at his colleague and friend.
Weston grins as he drops two large bags of supplies on the bed. “Yeah. Man, you must have been really into it. I’ve been gone for almost four hours.”
“You have?” Dan says, still feeling out of sorts.
“Yeah. Hey, where’s Jess?”
“She’s—oh shit,” Dan says, as he realizes what’s going on. “She’s not back.”
“Back? Back from where?” Weston frowns.
Dan stands up, adrenaline coursing through him. She should have been back by now! “Two of our cameras went down and she went to check them. They’re close, though. By the watering hole and then just past. She should have been back by now.”
“You let her go alone?” Weston gapes.
Dan groans. “She wanted to. She said it would be better if one of us could stay here and keep working on the report.”
Weston swears. “You know, there have been reports of poachers near here lately.”
Dan’s head jerks up. “No, obviously I did not know!” he replies, feeling more and more frantic. “Jesus Christ, what have I done? If they catch her out there on her own who knows what they might do. They might kidnap her for ransom!”
“If we’re lucky,” Weston replies grimly. “They were all talking about it down at the station. Apparently, they’re hunting big cats for the fur.”
“Jesus Christ,” Dan swears again, running his hands through his hair. Then he straightens up. “The walkie-talkie! She took her walkie-talkie with her. We can call her to check in. She’s probably fine. I mean, she would have called us if anything had happened, right?”
Weston doesn’t look convinced, but he agrees to call her. Dan grabs the walkie-talkie, desperately pressing the talk button. The radio crackles to life. “Jessica? Jessica, this is Dan and Weston, do you copy?”
But the radio’s crackle is the only answer they get.
“Fuck,” Dan whispers. He tries again. “Jessica? Jessica, can you hear us?”
Again, nothing but silence.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Dan growls.
“Fuck this. We should go out and find her,” Weston says, heading for the door.
“Wait,” Dan says, making his headstrong partner pause halfway out the door. “Let’s at least go prepared.” Without waiting for Weston to reply, he grabs a first aid kit, a flashlight and then, after a moment’s hesitation, a Taser and puts them all into a backpack with a bottle of water.
Weston raises his eyes. “You think that’s going to do much good against a bunch of poachers?”
“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Dan shoots back. “Now, are we going?”
Weston nods and flings himself down the ladder.
The hike to the first camera, near the monkey’s watering hole, seems to take forever. They walk in silence, each man absorbed in his own thoughts. For Dan, that means worry, doubt, and guilt all whirling around in his head, making him feel nauseous. And whenever he looks over at his partner, he knows Weston’s thoughts are no brighter.
What if something has happened to Jessica? The thought makes Dan feel like he’s swallowed glass. I won’t be able to live myself.
When they reach the first photo trap, there’s no sign of Jessica.
“The trap is working again, though,” Dan points out, investigating the tiny machine. “So, she must have been here.”
“Yeah, but where is she now?”
“Maybe she’s up with the second camera?” Dan offers, feeling the worry knot his stomach even as he tries to calm Weston down.
Weston shakes his head, clearly unconvinced. “Well, let’s hope so,” he says, and they set off in the direction of the second broken camera.
As they walk, Dan can’t keep his thoughts to himself any longer.
“Weston…” he says softly. “I know…I know we’ve joked about Jessica but, seriously, if anything has happened to her…I feel…”
“Me too,” says Weston. “I would rip those fucking poachers limb from limb.”
Dan swallows. “That’s not really how a professor should feel about their student.”
Weston snorts, pushing a low-hanging vine out of his way. “No,” he agrees finally. “No, I guess it isn’t. It’s certainly not how I feel about the rest of my students.”
“Me neither,” Dan admits.
“Well, then, I hope this all ends well and we get the chance to tell her,” Weston says grimly.
“Yeah,” Dan answers. “If it doesn’t…”
Weston glances at his friend. “Hey. It’s not your fault, Dan.”
“Well…I mean, it sort of is,” Dan replies, fully aware of his duties as Jessica’s mentor. “She was in my care and I was more worried about the report than about her safety.”
“You didn’t know about the poachers, man. You couldn’t have known,” Weston replies, trying to make him feel better.
“The jungle is always a dangerous place to be alone,” Dan shoots back, shaking his head in self-loathing. “That, I do know. I should never have let her into it go alone.”
Before Weston can reply, the two men hear a shout.
“Weston! Dan!” Up ahead on the trail, they see the unmistakable figure of Jessica appearing through the dark green foliage. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, thank fucking Christ,” Weston whispers.
“Jessica!” Dan shouts, and he runs towards her, Weston hot on his heels.
When they reach her, they both wrap her in their arms, squeezing her in a tight group hug.
“Hey,” she giggles. “What’s up?”
“Are you okay?” Dan asks, looking down at her. There’s a smear of mud over her eyebrow and he lets go of her just long enough to gently wipe it off.
“What? Yeah, of course, I am!” Jessica grins. “What’s wrong? You two look so tense.”
Dan and Weston share a look, both torn between shaking the oblivious girl and kissing her. They settle for hugging her again.
“You’ve been for hours,” Weston points out as they start to walk back to their hut.
“When you told me, you would be right back,” Dan adds.
“Oh no, have I made you guys worry?” Jessica makes a face. “I’m so sorry, guys. I didn’t think—it was just the batteries that were out on those two cameras. So, I figured, while I was here, I would do the circuit and replace the batteries in all of them to save time. That way we’ll be able to concentrate on the report.”
Dan groans, looking up at the sky and shaking his head. “Of course, you did,” he says. “Never satisfied doing the minimum requirements, are you?”
“Why didn’t you answer when we called you on the walkie-talkie?” Weston asks. “When we realized how long you’d been gone we tried calling, but when you didn’t answer we thought maybe you’d been kidnapped by poachers or something.”
“What? Oh, no, guys. I’m so sorry to stress you out.” Jessica looks guilt-stricken. “I didn’t hear the walkie-talkie. I must have…” she trails off, looking down at where the walkie-talkie should be
clipped to her belt. “Ummmm…I must have lost it in the jungle,” she finishes, biting her lip. “Crap. I really screwed up, didn’t I?”
But the two men are too overjoyed at seeing her again to worry about a lost walkie-talkie and each take turns to hug her again.
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Weston says. “But please, next time you decide to do way more work than you have to, let us know beforehand, okay? Otherwise, Dan here is going to lose all his lovely hair.”
Dan rolls his eyes and Jessica giggles. “That would be a shame,” she says.
Weston chuckles. “It would, wouldn’t it?”
Chapter 8
When they get back to the hut, Dan and Jessica drop their bags with a relieved sigh. Massaging her neck, Jessica leans gratefully on the side of the worktable. She feels like she’s been in the jungle for days. I can’t believe I made them worry so much! she thinks, feeling guilty. After all they’ve done for me, this is how I repay them? Jeez. Why can’t I ever just do what I’m told?
Weston takes a deep breath. “Jessica,” he says softly. “There’s something we’d like to tell you.”
Jessica blinks. Oh god, here we go. The relief has worn off. “Weston, about the walkie-talkie. I’ll pay the university for the loss of equipment and whatever other—”
“What?” Weston interrupts her. “The walkie—no, Jessica. We don’t care about the walkie-talkie. Don’t worry about it. Accidents happen.”
“Oh, that’s really generous of you,” she says. “But then what do you want to tell me?”
Dan and Weston share a look that she doesn’t know how to interpret.
“While we were coming to find you…” Dan begins, looking sheepish. “God, Jessica, we were so worried about you. If anything had happened to you, I’d—we’d never have been able to forgive ourselves.”
“You’re not like our other students, Jessica,” Weston continues. “You’re…god, I don’t know. You’re special. You’re so smart, and generous, and brave, for heaven’s sake.”
Jessica blushes. “Well, I mean, anyone would do what I did during this trip.”