Fatal Pursuit (The Aegis Series)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  “It’s rude in their culture to say no,” Darla whispered on his other side. “Take a few puffs and hand it back.”

  He’d said yes to food and drink way too much already tonight. Reluctantly, Jake forced a smile and took the pipe. On the third puff, he pulled the wood from his mouth and coughed until his eyes watered.

  The males on his left laughed and took the pipe back. Blinking rapidly at the sting in his throat, Jake glanced toward Darla. “Thanks a lot.”

  Darla grinned. “They’ll make you a native Puketi yet, just wait.”

  Clearing the smoke from his throat, Jake went back to watching Marley. “I think I’ll pass. If I stay much longer, I’m pretty sure I’ll wind up as dinner at some point.” He nodded toward the warrior on the far side of camp, standing stoic with his spear, watching Jake as a predator watches his prey. “That one over there doesn’t like me.”

  “Manaus is just protective of his village. Once he gets to know you, you’ll be fine. The Puketi people lean toward peace and harmony with nature, rather than war.”

  Jake huffed. “I’ll remember that the next time they’re trying to shove a spear into my side.”

  “You scared them,” Darla said. “They don’t like to be scared.”

  Another male took Marley’s hand and pushed the first out of the way so he could dance with her. “They don’t seem scared of her.”

  “No,” Darla said with a sigh. “They are not. She is special.”

  Marley glanced Jake’s way and grinned, and his belly did that weird flip thing again as he watched her shake and move to the thump of the drums.

  The man on Jake’s left tapped his elbow. Halfheartedly, he tore his gaze from Marley once more and looked down at the bowl of liquid in the man’s hand. “No, I’m not thirsty.”

  Darla nudged him from the other side.

  “Shit,” Jake muttered. “Okay, yeah.” He reached for the bowl and lifted it to his mouth with a begrudging half grin. “It better not be jaguar urine.”

  Darla smiled. “Be sure to take a large drink.”

  The scent of something heavily fermented wafted to Jake’s nose. Wincing at the smell, he opened his mouth and took a mouthful. The liquid was both sweet and bitter at the same time, and he coughed after swallowing, then handed the bowl back to the man at his side. “Holy hell, that’s awful.”

  The elderly men next to him laughed again and pointed, speaking rapidly in their native language.

  Jake swiped the back of his arm over his mouth and wished like hell for a beer to wash the nasty taste away. On his other side, Darla said, “It’s ayahuasca. A very special drink used during ceremonies. A little goes a long way.”

  “I can see why. No one could drink more than a few sips of that without getting violently ill.”

  “You are more right than you know,” Darla muttered. “Though it has other effects that are much more pleasant.” Then louder, she said, “You do not wear a ring. Why are you not married?”

  Startled by the change in topic, Jake glanced her way and realized she was staring at the fire and dancers and Marley.

  His gaze followed, and he watched Marley brace her hands on her knees and bend forward, shaking her breasts and ass at the same time, her hair falling down around her face as she dropped her head and then lifted it again.

  His belly flipped once more and then heated.

  “Mr. Ryder?”

  Jake blinked several times at the sound of Darla’s voice. His head felt light. His skin hot. And every time he looked at Marley, he couldn’t stop his mind from drifting back to that kiss. To the way her lips had felt against his, to the brush of her breasts across his chest, to the soft groan that had rumbled from her throat, and the way her fingers had drifted into his hair and her nails had scratched his scalp as if she’d wanted more.

  That warmth in his belly drifted lower, sending tingles across his flesh.

  “Hello?”

  “Um.” Married. Darla was asking why he and Marley weren’t married. She still thought they were a couple.

  Unable to look away, he watched as Marley turned in a circle. Damn, but the woman had incredible moves. She’d certainly never shimmied like that in the office. He’d have definitely noticed if she had.

  “Mr. Ryder?”

  Darla’s voice cut through the haze sliding over every inch of Jake’s body. He looked in her direction. “Yeah?”

  One side of Darla’s lips curled. “Feeling relaxed, are you?”

  “A little.”

  The truth was he felt really relaxed. And hot as hell all at the same time. He focused on Marley. She flicked her gaze his way, smiled a sheepish, sexy little grin, then turned once more. And the way she swayed, the way her hips shook, the way she kept looking at him as if to see if he were watching, it sent the heat and tingles in his belly rushing lower, straight into his groin.

  “And her?” Darla nodded toward Marley.

  “I don’t know.” His blood pounded hard as Marley watched him, licked her bottom lip, then sank her teeth into the fleshy mass. And his mind flipped back to that kiss again. To the way she’d tasted. To the other parts of her he suddenly wanted to lick and sample and devour. “Just haven’t found the right time, I guess.”

  “Time always gets in the way in the modern world.” Darla folded her hands in her lap. “You should go dance with her. Something tells me she’s waiting for that.”

  Dance. Yeah. That was a good idea. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

  Jake pushed to his feet and swiped his hands against the thighs of his cargo pants. “I think I’ll do that.”

  “Have fun,” Darla said at his back as he headed toward the fire.

  The drums beat heavy in the air. The canopy slowly swayed above as if the trees too were dancing to the rhythm. Marley’s gaze locked on his as he drew close, and the same spark of awareness, of arousal that he’d seen when she’d looked at him from across the fire flared hot in her sky-blue eyes.

  He stopped in front of her and fingered the fabric tied at her shoulder. “I’m not sure this is appropriate work attire, Ms. Addison.”

  She swayed closer to him, her familiar scents of musk, sandalwood, vanilla, and some fragrant flower he couldn’t name drifting toward his nose. Resting one slim hand on his chest, she tipped her eyes up and smiled that same sexy, for-his-eyes-only grin she’d cast him only moments ago. “And I think you are way overdressed for this party, Mr. Ryder.”

  He had just enough time to open his mouth before she grasped his shirt at the waist and pulled it from his pants. His adrenaline spiked. Every inch of his skin burst to life. He thought about stopping her but suddenly didn’t want to. Her fingers shifted to the button at his chest, and she flicked him a challenging look. “Trust me?”

  Heat and lust and need churned inside him, three things he never expected to feel around her, making him even more lightheaded, making him desperate to see what she would do next. “Not for a second.”

  A sexy, seductive smile toyed with her lips. Her eyes were glassy, her skin luminescent in the firelight. And when she looked at him like that, like she wanted him, all he could think about was kissing her all over again. Everywhere.

  She grasped both sides of his shirt and yanked, sending buttons flying into the fire.

  Surprised, Jake glanced down at his naked chest, then to her victorious grin. “I might have to note that on your next performance evaluation, Ms. Addison.”

  She stepped closer and pushed the two halves of his shirt apart, then slid her palms over his bare skin. Electricity vibrated everywhere she touched. “Then I’d better do something to make that note memorable.”

  She lifted to her toes, her lips a breath from his, and stilled.

  Blood rushed into his groin and made him hard in an instant. His skin trembled beneath her soft hands. Unable to hold back, he trailed his fingers down
her arms and then to the bare skin of her waist, needing to touch her too. Somewhere in the back of his head he knew this wasn’t right. She was flirting with him, something she never did, and he was letting her, something he wouldn’t do if he were thinking straight. And they were in the middle of a strange village, with people dancing and chanting all around them, watching their every movement. But as her shallow breaths lifted her breasts so they skimmed his bare chest and her thighs brushed his, bringing their bodies into even closer contact, he suddenly didn’t care. Fire flared inside him, making him ache, making him need, making him focus on only one thing.

  He closed his arms around her slim waist and jerked her in even tighter. She gasped, just enough to open her mouth in a sexy little O. And before she could protest, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her as he’d wanted to kiss her since the moment she’d started to dance.

  She groaned, opened at the first touch, slid her tongue along his, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She tasted of sin, of salvation, of something a little voice in the back of his head warned he wasn’t ready for. But he ignored it. The same way he ignored the voices around him and the jungle and the fire and drank in only her.

  He tipped his head the other way, kissed her deeper, reveled in the way she rubbed against him. One hand slid down her lower spine, over the swell of her sexy ass, and closed over her cheek, tugging her in harder against him. His erection pressed into her belly as he kissed her again and again, as her hardened nipples skimmed his chest through the thin fabric of her top. As her tongue turned frantic and hungry against his.

  Hands landed on his shoulders, gripped the fabric and tugged. His hands dropped from Marley’s waist, and the garment slipped free of his arms, but he barely noticed. All he could think about was Marley. How soft she was against him. How warm and perfect. How sweet and sinful she tasted in his mouth. How it would feel to have her legs closing around him, drawing him in.

  She eased back from his mouth, stepped away from his body. Muttered, “Wait.”

  Unwilling to let her go, he opened his eyes and reached for her, only to realize a native woman had a hold of her arm and was tugging her away from the fire. Away from him. “Hey. Let her go.”

  The native woman mumbled something Jake didn’t understand and pulled Marley toward a hut on the far side of camp. Marley stumbled as she was tugged along and tried to wriggle away, but another woman—the one who’d been teaching her to dance—rushed up and took her other arm.

  Jake stepped forward. “Hold on—”

  Two males grasped each of his arms. Startled, he looked down and tried to jerk back, especially now, when the camp seemed to be spinning around him.

  “Akuten. Amalu matenku.”

  He had no freaking idea what they were saying, but they were dragging him in the direction the women had taken Marley, so he let them. For now.

  They let go of him near the threshold of the hut. He had to duck down to enter so he didn’t hit his head. Looking up, he stopped dead in his tracks.

  Torches were set all around the perimeter of the hut, illuminating the space in a warm glow. A few women milled around the room, grabbing items he couldn’t see. But what held his riveted attention was Marley, in the center of the hut facing away from him, her blonde hair hanging in a wavy mass down her back while the two women untied the strips of fabric from her shoulders.

  The fabric fell to her feet. Jake’s gaze slid down the supple line of her naked spine. The women brushed her hair to the side and reached for a bowl on the floor. Then they began rubbing some kind of oil all over her skin.

  Blood pounded through every vein in his body. The room spun around him. In the corner, a woman lit some kind of incense and began chanting. Drums beat a thumping rhythm from outside. The men pushed him forward. As if in a trance, Jake stepped farther into the hut and stopped behind Marley.

  The women slowly turned her to face him. And when they did all the blood in Jake’s body rushed right into his groin. Her skin glistened in the torchlight. Her breasts were plump. Perky. Perfect. The tips of her nipples like pink erasers, straining for his touch. And the look in her shimmering eyes as her gaze locked on his told him loud and clear that she was as gone as he was.

  The people, the village, the voices and drums all slid to the wayside. He fingered the edge of her hair hanging above her breast, felt the way she sucked in a breath and held it, and knew there was no holding back.

  His hand slid up into her hair. He cupped the back of her head and pulled her in to him. Her mouth opened to his kiss, and her tongue brushed his without hesitation. A groan rumbled from her chest. Her hands gripped his elbows, tiptoed around his back, and tugged him in closer to her heat.

  He wanted her. Needed her. Couldn’t remember wanting or needing anyone the way he did now. He changed the angle of the kiss, slid his hand down her shoulder across her chest and cupped her breast in his palm. She sighed and kissed him deeper. He found her nipple and rolled the tip between his thumb and forefinger. She gasped and pressed her hips against his. His cock grew harder, hotter, pulsed with an urgency to get inside her.

  Hands landed on his back and pushed. He stepped forward, forcing Marley backward. She pulled away from his mouth and hands before he was ready to let her go. He opened his eyes only to realize she was looking down at a pile of blankets near her feet.

  Her gaze lifted back to his. Fire flared hot and wicked in her eyes. Footsteps faded away, but he didn’t turn to look to see who was leaving. Because he couldn’t. The only thing he could see was Marley.

  She stepped back into him, lifted her mouth to his, and kissed him hard. Tingles rushed over every inch of his skin. He cupped both sides of her face and kissed her back, tangling his tongue with hers while her hands slid to the snap at his waistband.

  “Marley . . .”

  “Don’t stop kissing me. Don’t ever stop kissing me. I’ve wanted this for so long.”

  God, that sounded good. Sounded right. He kissed her again and again as she flicked the snap free and pushed her hand inside his pants. Her silky fingers skimmed his lower belly then brushed his cock. He groaned into her mouth and trailed his hands down her back then pulled her in tight. She moaned. Wrapped her hand around his cock and pumped. Fire and electricity raced down his spine. He kissed her harder and tugged her to the ground.

  Lights danced behind his eyes. The thump thump thump of drums outside the hut pounded in time with his pulse. She let go of him and dragged her hands up his chest then trailed her fingers into his hair as he kissed her and rolled her to her back.

  Her legs opened. He pressed his weight into her, rubbed his erection against her core. Kissed her again and again. Needed to taste her everywhere. Needed to make her as hot as he was.

  His lips found her jaw, moved down the sexy column of her throat and across her chest. Cupping her right breast, he brought the tip to his mouth, licked and laved. She arched, dropped her head back, and moaned. Groaning himself, he moved to her other breast and did the same, then kissed his way down her ribs and over the soft indent of her belly button until he reached the waistband of her skirt.

  His hand skimmed the skirt until he found the bottom edge. Pulling away from her mouth, he looked down as he slid the skirt up, baring every inch of her sex to his view.

  He groaned again at the sight. She was naked. Sexy. Already swollen from her arousal.

  “Jake . . .” She pushed up on her elbows.

  He trailed his hand over her sex, parted her, then leaned in and licked.

  She groaned. Dropped back to the floor, and pressed up against his mouth.

  She was dripping. On fire. And she tasted like honey. He laved his tongue over her again and again, loving the sounds she made, the way she moved her hips against him, loving everything she did.

  “More.”

  The word was a command, an order, a demand, and it only made him hotte
r. She gripped the blanket at her hips and lifted to his mouth, her body undulating beneath him. Sliding his fingers lower, he pressed inside her and twisted up, stroking her wetness exactly where he knew it would feel best.

  She cried out. He swallowed her release as it washed over her, drawing it out as long as he could, savoring every shudder, every shiver, every single soul-shattering tremble. His cock throbbed, but he pushed his own need to the side, wanting only this. Relishing her pleasure as long as it lasted.

  When her muscles relaxed, he kissed his way back up her belly and chest and captured her mouth. Her hands grasped the sides of his face. She moaned and slid her tongue along his, and then her leg hooked over his hip, and she rolled him to his back.

  She pulled back from his mouth. His hands landed on her arms. He blinked up at her. Firelight made her skin glow and her gleaming eyes dance with arousal. She pushed away from him, crawled backward, and stripped his pants from his legs in one quick movement.

  A tiny voice in the back of his head screamed this had gone way further than it should, but he didn’t listen. Couldn’t. Because suddenly she was crawling back over him, completely naked. Glimmering with the oil the women had spread over her skin. Her eyes blazing with the same heat and need erupting inside him.

  “Come here.” He lifted his torso from the floor, captured her face, drew her lips back to his. Kissed her with everything he had in him. She climbed over him, grasped his cock in her hand, and lowered her hot, tight, slick sheath, taking him deep.

  Stars exploded behind his eyes. He thrust up inside her, needing to get deeper, needing to feel her everywhere. She lifted her hips and lowered, sliding along his cock, creating the most incredible friction. Her hands grasped his shoulders, her breasts rubbed against his chest. She rocked her hips against him as she pulled her body closer to his, taking him with long, deep, slow strokes that made him absolutely wild.

  But he needed more. Needed all of her. He flipped her to her back and pressed her against the blanket.

  “Jake . . .” She pulled her mouth from his and groaned.