by Kaylea Cross
Having another close friend literally stab you in the back made you reevaluate your friends.
Javan had been there for him. He’s the one that had nursed him back to health until he was well enough to fly home. He’d actually thought about retiring then, but had stuck it out a few more years. He’d been sick then and had slept for a week. Now he felt like he could sleep at least that long, which was totally throwing him off. His head hurt, his back hurt, his feet hurt. Hell, everything hurt. He frowned and tried to assess why he wasn’t feeling so hot. He quickly tore off his clothes and started checking himself.
“Not that I’m going to complain about you getting naked, but what’s with the strip show?”
“Help me check for small bites.” He motioned to his back. “They’ll be two small red spots, maybe with a white circle around it.”
She started running her hands over his shoulders slowly. “Nothing,” she said and he stood up and dropped his pants quickly. She gasped and said, “Here.” She circled a small section on his upper thigh. “But it’s red and swollen, not white.”
He relaxed a little. “Okay, whew. That was a close one.” He started to pull up his pants.
“What? What does that mean? Shouldn’t you put something on it? Do I need to suck out the poison?” She tried to keep him from pulling his pants back up.
“No,” he chuckled, “it’s just a small snake bite.” He pulled the pants up.
“What would it have been if it was white?”
“Spider bite,” he said and zipped his pants.
“So, snakes are better than spiders?”
He frowned. “No, not normally.”
She crossed her arms and looked at him, obviously waiting for more information. “I was bit by a snake a few years back. Same kind of thing, I felt achy for a day or two then was back to normal. Most likely it’s the same thing this time. But once I was bit by a poisonous spider, and I spent almost a month in the hospital. Almost lost my foot.”
She gasped, and he could see her cringing, trying to make herself smaller and looking around.
“Don’t worry, Princess. It’s very rare to get bit. I just happened to sit on a nest while I was on lookout a few years back. The guys in my group never let me hear the end of it, though.”
He bent to pick up his shirt and shook it out, then put it back on. He thought he heard her sigh when he was fully covered again.
“Let’s see what else you’ve got in this bag to eat.”
He sat next to the bag on the soft sand and started rummaging through the items she’d grabbed from Javan’s shelves.
“This will come in handy.” He pulled out a small medical box and opened it. Then he popped two aspirin into his mouth and swallowed quickly. Hopefully they’d take care of the aches. Then his hand hit another box and when he pulled out the silver case, he was shocked and happy. He’d lost his weapon when his bag sank to the bottom of the river. “Wow, I’m impressed, Princess.” He smiled at her as she sat next to him.
He opened the small case and smiled at the .45 and was even happier when he noticed a box of bullets sitting beside it in the waterproof case.
She reached past him and dug into the bag and pulled out a sealed bag of energy bars. Handing him one, she ripped one open and bit into it. Her eyes closed and she actually moaned.
How could he go from protection mode to horny in under five seconds flat? Damn, she was doing something to him. Even though they both looked a mess, having worn the same clothes for two days now, and her hair was in knots and she sad some mud on her cheek, she still looked beautiful.
He lifted his hand and wiped the dry dirt from her face. She stopped and looked at him with questioning eyes.
“I’m sorry you have to go through all this. You were made to sleep in fancy hotels, not on the hard ground. For eating at the best restaurants, not eating energy bars like this,” he said, waving the energy bar.”
“Why do you say stuff like that? Did you know that some of my fondest memories as a child are of camping with my dad?” She pouted a little which only made him look at her lips, making him realize how kissable they were.
He smiled and ate his energy bar.
“You think I’m joking or you just don’t believe me.” She frowned even more. “Have you heard one complaint from me since we started this journey?”
He thought about it and couldn’t remember her saying anything other than asking to stop for the night. He knew she wasn’t used to hiking round the clock like he was. He did what he had to in order to get the job done. If it meant having a few sleepless nights, then he’d catch up on his sleep later.
But she hadn’t complained once. He smiled over at her. She really was a lot tougher than she looked.
“We’d better get moving. Tonight we’ll make it through the outskirts of town. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we’ll be on a plane to Peru.”
“Why Peru?” She took a deep drink of her water and he noticed that they were low on fluids.
“I’ve got connections in Lima. We can book safe passage to the States without raising any flags.” He stood and dusted off his pants, then reached to help her up. Just for his pleasure, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her until he felt her body melting against his.
They walked for a few hours, and he made sure they weren’t being followed, constantly looking over his shoulder and listening for anyone else around. So far all he could hear were the sounds of the jungle. They’d just walked into a small clearing when Ann gasped and he went on guard. He was ready to grab her and run when she started laughing.
“Oh, look at them, there are so many!” Her face was turned to the sky and when he looked up he saw hundreds of birds. The green, yellow, and blue colored parrots hopped from limb to limb. He could hear their calls as they flew around enjoying the nuts and berries from the trees high above.
He watched Ann’s face light up and couldn’t help but smile as she watched the display.
“They are so beautiful. I can’t believe how many there are.”
He enjoyed seeing the birds, but he enjoyed watching her enjoyment even more. Her whole face lit up. Her smile was contagious and by the time they started walking again, he had forgotten about the aches and pains from the snake bite.
They walked for another hour and then stopped at a stream to eat a lunch consisting of another power bar each. They rested for a while, enjoying the quiet of their surroundings.
“We have about two more hours before we’re going to have to stop until dark, then we can sneak into town.”
“How are we going to fly to Peru? If there are lookouts all over, won’t we be spotted at the airports?”
He smiled. “Not this airport. Trust me, they won’t be looking for us where we’re going.”
They made it to the edge of town without any problems. He made a makeshift lookout in one of the trees and helped Ann climb up so they would be hidden if anyone should pass by.
Just after midnight, they climbed down and quickly made their way down the sidewalks past all the small closed shops. The crumbled storefronts were gated and chained up for the night. The streets were made of dirt and full of large holes that would have wrecked even the largest truck tires.
They didn’t see another soul the entire two dozen blocks they walked. Passing the stores, they made it to the outskirts of all the small huts where he knew they might run into problems. They had had it easy so far, since all the shops were closed. But here, where the small brick and clay buildings had been erected as if thrown together by a roll of the dice, the streets were littered with men.
“Stay close,” he whispered as he pulled her closer.
He knew they had another dozen blocks to go through the huts before they’d reach the outskirts of the São Paulo International Airport. They’d made it almost eight blocks before two men started following them. He doubted they were specifically looking for them, just trouble. Maybe they’d try to steal his bag, maybe they just wanted a fight, or maybe they wanted
something worse. He pulled Ann closer.
“Sorry, looks like tonight is going to be a little exciting after all. Don’t run when it starts. Stay close no matter what.” She nodded and he could feel the tension in her body next to his.
Less than a block later, the men made their move and it was exactly what he’d counted on. They’d had another buddy run ahead and come out in front of them with a knife. When the skinny man jumped out from the corner, his two buddies quickly came up behind and tried to grab Ann’s arm.
Ethan was shocked when he saw Ann dip and turn. She kicked out and hit the man square in his chest, knocking him to the ground. He gasped for breath, holding his chest, while rolling around in the dirt.
It took Ethan a few seconds to recover, but he blocked the skinny man’s attempt to stab him by breaking his nose with his fist. The man dropped the knife and grabbed his face, then took off running in the opposite direction from where they’d just come from.
The third man was a lot bigger, more Ethan’s size, and when he tried to reach for Ann, she dropped to the ground and rolled away from him like a stealthy ninja.
The man didn’t see Ethan coming. It took two blows to the side of his head to have him lying in a heap on the dirt road.
The conscious man on the ground was still gasping for breath as Ethan walked over and picked him up by the front of his shirt.
“Hurts doesn’t it?” he asked the man. Ethan held him still by holding the front of his shirt in his fist. “Breathe, take deep breaths.” He smiled over at Ann as she crossed her arms and looked like she was trying to decide if he was crazy.
“What? I need to ask him some questions. If he can’t breathe, how is he supposed to answer me?”
He looked back at the man and saw that his coloring was coming back. “The woman can kick, huh?” he asked his assailant. When the man just nodded, he continued. “What were you trying to do? Rob us?” The man nodded again. “Did anyone send you?” The man looked up at him like he was crazy, then shook his head no. “Good, okay. You can go.” He pushed the man down the street. He stopped, then looked at his friend and back at Ethan. “You can have him, we’re done.” Ethan grabbed Ann’s hand and started walking again.
When they reached the chain link fence around the airport a few blocks later, they walked around to the guard tower and he saw his good buddy sitting where he knew he’d be.
Felipe was easily three hundred pounds. His body mass ate up most of the small booth. Ethan walked up to him and gave him a big hug as he greeted him.
“Felipe, this is Ann. Ann, Felipe.” He pulled Ann to his side and smiled at Felipe. His friends eyes lit up and he could see the situation register in his face.
“Nice to meet you, Ann.” He smiled at Ethan. “What are you doing back here? I thought after the last time, Javan told you to stay out of Brazil.”
Ethan laughed. “We made up. I need transport to Peru and it has to be on the down low.”
His friend thought for a minute. “How low?”
Ethan held his hand flat and motioned to below his knees.
Felipe whistled. “I don’t know, man. There hasn’t been anything like that come through in weeks. I do have something. You may not like the accommodations, though.”
“We’ll take it.”
Felipe looked at Ann, then back at him. “Are you sure? Your girl here might not like that she can’t sit in first class.”
Ethan smiled. He liked that that Felipe had called Ann his girl. “My girl here can handle whatever you throw at her.”
* * *
“I’m sorry, sir, they seem to have slipped through our hands again. We thought we had them in the jungle, but they disappeared down the river. Jumped from a hundred-foot cliff.” The phone call was cutting in and out and he could barely make out all the words. “You were right to have us checking the trails. We’ll keep watch. The last we saw them, they were heading north. We’ll have them, there aren’t too many places they can hide. Plus they were traveling light. There is no way they had enough supplies to last too long in the jungle.”
He didn’t even look up when someone walked into the room.
“Just take care of it, I’m tired of this thing looming over my head. I’ll expect you to deal with this.”
He hung up the phone and looked at his employer.
“Have you got my speech finalized yet?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll print it out for you right now and bring it in to you.”
He stood and walked down the hall to the copy room, loathing and hatred in his heart. His boss deserved everything that was coming to him. If they didn’t find the girl, then he’d have to come up with another plan. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t good at thinking on his feet, it’s just that he knew the right buttons to push and he’d picked the best possible method to obtain his and his boss’s goals.
Chapter Eight
Ann sat uncomfortably in the large wooden crate. The open slats allowed for the cold air to flow through from the cargo hold of the airplane. Ethan sat across from her like he was comfortable.
“How long do we have to sit in this box?” she yelled over the loud noises of the engines.
“The whole trip to Lima. Come over here.” He motioned to the side he was sitting on and smiled.
She couldn’t refuse him. That smile did something to her insides. He put his arm around her and she snuggled into his chest. He was so warm she immediately realized how cold she was and started shivering.
“Aren’t we going to suffocate or something? I know in regular airplanes they have to keep pumping air into the cabins.”
He chuckled at her.
“That’s why we’re on this small cargo plane instead of a bigger one. It won’t reach that high of an altitude. The downside of it is it will take us twice as long to get where we are going.”
He started rubbing his hand over her hair and she realized how wonderfully normal it felt, how right she felt in his arms. Looking up at him, she realized he’d been watching her, and when she looked at him, he pulled her up and kissed her lightly. His mouth caused sparks all the way down to her toes.
There wasn’t a lot of room in the crate they were in, only enough that they’d laid out a sleeping bag to sit on. His legs could stretch across without being bent and she could have easily curled up and fallen asleep comfortably. But when the kiss deepened, she rose above him, straddling him as he took her hips in his hands.
She’d been burning for him since the waterfall. It was hard to explain, but she’d actually felt hollow since that encounter. She’d never experienced anything quite like the feeling of Ethan inside her. In every relationship in the past, she’d always been the one in control. She’d prided herself on that. She’d never really needed or wanted someone as badly as she wanted him right now. Even with the circumstances being what they were, she wanted him. Taking her time, she inched her hands down his chest and slowly removed his shirt. When his hands hit the top of the box, they both chuckled.
“Ann, what are we doing?” he asked when his shirt hit the ground.
She smiled. “I would think that was rather obvious.”
He smiled in return, “You know what I mean,” he said as she trailed kisses down his neck.
“We have hours and hours we’re going to be stuck in this box. We’re just going to enjoy ourselves and take our minds off the fact that it’s cold and uncomfortable in here.”
When he smiled and started to pull her shirt off, she knew he was on board with her plan. They worked out a system for removing each other’s clothes and soon they were skin to skin as she straddled his hips again.
His hands were running over her back as he pulled her closer to kiss every inch of her face and neck. When she tried to trail kisses down his chest, her feet hit the other side of the box and she had to bend herself so she could continue her downward path, exploring and enjoying every inch of his tan muscular body.
“Ann, you’re killing me,” he moaned when she flicked her tongue over hi
s flat nipple. Then she had him moaning when she lightly ran her fingernails over his skin and trailed kisses after them. His hands balled into fists, and she could tell he was trying not to take over. She wanted control now and she was going to drive him mad.
Her fingers traveled down the light trail of hair that went to his sex and she enjoyed seeing him flinch when she ran a finger over him. Next, she ran her mouth down the same path and his hands fisted in her hair when her tongue touched him.
She was good at this. She’d prided herself on the fact that she’d always enjoyed giving pleasure as much as she enjoyed getting it. But when she moved to take him completely in her mouth, he pulled her up and growled at her.
“You little vixen.” He smiled as he pulled her down, so she was under him. As he hovered over her he said, “I know what you’re doing.” He chuckled. “Not this time, Princess.” Then he was kissing the same path on her and she forgot her plan of controlling the situation. And for the first time, she enjoyed the feeling of losing herself in the moment.
He ran his hands and his mouth down her heated skin, leaving a trail that tingled. She felt like putty under his hands as they molded her curves, and when he ran a finger gently over her, she arched up, seeking more contact.
He chuckled and she realized what he was doing. He’d taken complete control of her and she hadn’t minded. The smirk on his face told her that he knew it, but the heat in his eyes told her he wasn’t unaffected.
He was moving slow, running his hands over her, circling when she wanted him to touch her again.
She tried to move and get him to speed things up, but he just smiled down at her and said, “We have all the time in the world. I just want to enjoy you, Princess.”
She groaned, not knowing how much more she could stand of his torture.
“Ethan, you’re killing me.”
Finally, he touched her where she wanted and she almost came undone in his hands. How had it come to this? She’d wanted to show him pleasure. But now as she felt herself building up, she watched his eyes and realized she was. The look on his face told her everything.