“Is the water safe?” she asked. Sudden images of old Tarzan movies she had seen with crocodiles and snakes nipping at Jane’s heels suddenly popped into her mind. The thought of washing off in a cool stream of water was heavenly, but she didn’t want to become some animal’s dinner doing so.
Trevor suppressed a smile. “Yeah, it’s safe. I’ve checked out both sides of the stream. But if you’d like, I can always forget about standing guard and join you in that dip if you’re afraid.”
Corinthians tilted her chin up and glared at him. “I’m not afraid.” She turned and walked off toward the stream.
Stella Grant looked up when the tinkling of the bell over the door of her store signaled she had a customer. She shook her head to clear it in utter disbelief. Maurice had just entered. In the five years since Stella’s Books and Gifts had opened, he had never patronized her store.
As always, she thought Maurice Grant was a good-looking man. Over the years, age had only added distinctive grace and maturity to his overall appearance. His bone structure had strong, defined lines, and his dark figure was tall and powerful. His looks were classically handsome. Those prominent attributes had been passed on to their son.
She straightened her shoulders when he came nearer. His expression, she noted, appeared tense and serious. “Maurice, this is a pleasant surprise,” she said truthfully, when he reached the counter. She tried keeping her features deceptively calm and composed.
“Hello, Stella. Is there someplace where we can talk privately?”
She lifted a brow before replying. “Sure. We can go into my office. Just give me a moment to let Amos know where I am.”
“Amos?”
“Yes. You probably don’t remember him, but he’s Sarah Fields’s grandson.”
Maurice nodded. Sarah Fields had been their neighbor when he and Stella were married. He drew in a deep breath upon remembering that legally, they were still married. During the twenty years of their separation, neither of them had bothered to file for a divorce.
He followed Stella as she led him toward the back of the store. At any other time, he would have stopped and taken the opportunity to admire the place that had been a fulfillment of her lifelong dream. But now, he couldn’t. Today he had news to share with her. It was news that would possibly shatter her.
He paused as he watched her stop and speak briefly to a young man who appeared to be around the age of sixteen. The youth smiled and nodded him a greeting before heading toward the front of the store.
“My office is this way,” Stella said as they continued walking toward the back of the store. “I need to warn you that it’s kind of junky right now. I haven’t had a chance to put out the new stock yet.” They entered the cluttered room and Maurice closed the door behind them.
Stella turned to face him. “What is it, Maurice? What is it that you want to talk to me about?” A part of her couldn’t help wondering if he was finally getting around to asking her for a divorce. She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for the pain that would come if that was the reason for his unexpected visit. Her lack of trust and faith in him had destroyed their marriage, and she had spent every day of her life since regretting it.
She braced herself as Maurice walked toward her and stopped when he stood directly in front of her. He slowly bowed his head for a few seconds before finally lifting his head to meet her questioning gaze.
“It’s Trevor, Stella.”
A bemused frown covered her face. “Trevor? What about Trevor?”
“It’s been all over the news. The hotel he was staying in while in South America was hit by terrorists last night. From all accounts, around six to eight Americans were taken as hostages. There’s a strong possibility he was one of those taken.”
Stella stood shocked and emotionless in the room as the weight of Maurice’s words hit her. “Our Trevor?” she finally asked quietly, not wanting to believe what she’d just been told.
Maurice’s body ached at the sight of the tears that began forming in her eyes. “Yes, our Trevor. But we have to believe he’s okay.”
Stella nodded slowly just moments before her body broke down with racking, heart-wrenching sobs. Immediately, Maurice pulled her into his arms. He held her tight, closer to him, absorbing her trembles with his body and sharing her pain. He took a deep, unsteady breath as he continued to hold her.
He suddenly realized that this was the first time he had held his wife in his arms in more than twenty years.
“Excuse me, senhor.”
Major Lawton Snow looked up from the pile of paperwork on his desk. The boy who was standing on the other side of it looked rather nervous about something. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to see Colonel Sinclair. I have a message for him.”
Major Snow’s brows raised questioningly. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of message this kid could possibly have for the colonel. “Colonel Sinclair isn’t here.”
“He isn’t here?” the young boy asked in surprise.
“No, he left the country to return to North America.”
“Will he be returning, senhor?”
“Yes, we expect him back late tomorrow.”
Major Snow saw the worried expression that appeared on the boy’s face and couldn’t help but wonder the reason for it. “You can leave the message with me and I’ll pass it on to him.”
Giovano remembered the explicit instructions the American had given to him. He was supposed to deliver the message and the ring to Colonel Sinclair, and no one else. He had been detained in coming here because the Brazilian police had questioned him intensely about the terrorist attack at the hotel. “No, thank you. I need to see Colonel Sinclair.”
“I work for him. You can leave the message with me. I’ll make sure he gets it,” Major Snow said, trying again to assure the young boy.
“No,” Giovano said. “But thank you anyway. I’ll be back when I think Colonel Sinclair is here.”
Major Snow watched as the boy turned and quickly left the embassy.
Chapter 10
Trevor told himself not to look…but he couldn’t help himself and looked anyway.
Feeling defeated, he emitted a tiny, hopeless sigh when he turned toward the area where the stream was located. He glanced across the thicket of trees and watched while a fully clothed Corinthians stood in the stream and bent to cup water in her hands to wash her face.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the tree. He was well aware of the blood rushing through his veins when she splashed water over the top part of her body. Evidently that didn’t satisfy her need for cleanliness, and she dropped to her knees, making the water completely cover her body up to her shoulders.
When she stood again Trevor’s mouth went completely dry. It didn’t matter to him that she was fully clothed. The sight of the wet clothes clinging to her body aroused him to a degree that he hadn’t known was possible. He never knew a man could be driven to want a woman so badly. But over the past two years, he had come to discover just how much that was possible. There seemed to be some kind of a powerful, invisible force that drew him to her whenever they were in close proximity to each other.
As he continued to watch her, in his mind he imagined joining her in the stream and undressing her. He imagined how it would feel to remove every stitch of her clothing, piece by piece, by slow degree; and how it would feel when his mouth touched every inch of her wet skin.
He inhaled deeply as thoughts floated through his mind of how it would feel to caress her breasts and other parts of her body, and how it would feel to lay down with her and sink his flesh into hers, merging their bodies as one.
Trevor jerked his gaze away at the same time that an angry sound rumbled deep in his throat. Every instinct he possessed once again warned him that he was headed down a dangerous path with such mental activities, and the best thing to do was to get rid of them once and for all. Getting involved with Corinthians Avery would only complicate his
life. She was completely wrong for him. There was nothing right about her.
And to make matters worse, he knew she had not gotten over Dex. But even knowing that, he still wanted her. And although he fervently wished he didn’t, he had to face the truth and admit that he was deeply attracted to her.
With his back resting against the tree, Trevor considered the possibility that the only thing he felt for Corinthians was a deep case of lust, pure and simple. But he knew that was not true. He wanted her for a number of reasons, and he wished he could say sex was foremost in his mind…but it wasn’t. What he felt went deeper than just sex. Even if she weren’t capable of stimulating his male hormones like she could so effortlessly do, he would still want her.
He wished he could even say that he wanted her because she was a challenge to him. And he enjoyed challenges. He had never encountered a woman who could get next to him as Corinthians could. It was hard just being in the same room with her. Although she had the ability to ruffle his feathers like no other woman could, that wasn’t it, either. That was not the reason he wanted her.
Trevor rubbed the palm of his hand across his face. Although he wished he could, he found no excuses for what he was feeling. Nor could he find the reason he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. But he knew what he had to do. He had to stay strong and to continue to do what he’d been doing for the past two years, and that was to fight whatever feelings he was developing for her every step of the way. There was no way he would allow himself to be a substitute for another man. He refused to let any woman invade his heart, knowing she would end up breaking it and destroying him.
In all his thirty-seven years, no woman had ever held any power over him, and no woman ever would.
Rasheed Valdemon angrily paced the floor of his study. News of the terrorist attack in Rio had dominated all of the major television networks throughout the morning. He was furious. How had such a thing happened? He had given Santini explicit instructions not to draw attention to Corinthians Avery’s abduction. Not only had attention been drawn, but now the entire United States government was in a complete uproar with the news that a number of Americans were missing and presumed taken as hostages.
“Mr. Valdemon, Mr. Santini is here.”
Swalar’s voice interrupted Rasheed’s thoughts. “Send him in immediately.”
Rasheed stood rigid with his feet braced apart. His expression was hard and derisive when Santini entered the room. Before he could speak, Raul Santini’s words stopped him.
“We had nothing to do with what went down in Rio last night, Monty. Those were not my men who attacked that hotel.”
At first Rasheed was too startled by Santini’s statement to speak. He soon recovered his voice. “If they weren’t your men, whose were they?”
“I don’t know, but I have some of my people finding out. It was our plan to snatch Ms. Avery from her hotel room last night. But my men reached the hotel just moments after the terrorists had forced their way inside by gunpoint. When they saw what was happening, my men escaped through the jungle without being seen.”
“And they have no idea what happened to Corinthians Avery?”
“No. They didn’t stick around to find out. I can only assume she’s been taken as a hostage.”
Rasheed took a deep breath. His nostrils flared with fury and Arabic curses fell from his mouth. “As soon as you find out who’s behind that attack in Rio, I want to know.”
After making sure Trevor was taking a dip in the stream, Corinthians quickly began removing the wet clothes from her body. Although the hour was moving into the late afternoon, it was hot and the humidity remained relatively high. At least for the moment she no longer felt sticky and dirty.
Once she had removed all of her clothing, except for her underthings, she leaned down and opened Trevor’s overnight bag in search of her lingerie. She frowned. Other than her comb, hairbrush, toothbrush and deodorant, everything else in the bag were items belonging to Trevor. Surely her things were somewhere. By the looks of all the items in the bag, Trevor had looked out for his own needs, but not hers. He hadn’t even bothered to pack her makeup. And for crying out loud, she didn’t see any of her underthings!
She willed herself to stay calm and not to panic. The rest of her belongings had to be here somewhere. Thinking that Trevor had possibly packed them in another compartment, she calmed herself and continued her search. She released a sigh of relief when she saw that there was another compartment, nearly hidden.
With eager fingers Corinthians unzipped the compartment and opened it. Reaching inside, she pulled out a pack of condoms.
She went speechless as she stared at them. She couldn’t help but notice the pack’s distinct designer label. These could only be purchased from an exclusive lingerie boutique. It was the same boutique where she had purchased the negligee she had worn the night she had planned to seduce Dex.
Something elemental picked at her brain as she continued to stare at the pack. Then it hit her. They were the same ones she had purchased nearly two years ago that were guaranteed to last a lifetime with no expiration date; the same ones Trevor had taken out of her robe when she’d fainted.
Suddenly, his threatening words of that night came back to her…
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Corinthians turned around. “What?” she snapped.
“These.” He held up the pack of condoms.
She tinted furiously, but not to let him get the best of her, she lifted her chin and gave him her haughtiest glare. “You can have them.”
Trevor smiled and Corinthians thought she would melt then and there. He had the sexiest smile.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll be saving them to use one day. Maybe when I see you again.”
Corinthians’s thoughts returned to the present. She shivered upon realizing that although her and Trevor’s paths crossed a number of times since that night, their encounters had always been business related. Out here in the jungle with him was actually the first time they had ever been alone together for any length of time in a totally secluded environment.
Angry lines formed on Corinthians’s face. Did he think he would take advantage of their situation and make good on his threat about the condoms? Did he think for one minute that he would be using them on her?
Whirling around, she stomped off toward the stream then stopped upon realizing she only had on her bra and panties. Walking quickly back to the overnight bag, she pulled out one of Trevor’s T-shirts and slipped it on. The shirt covered her to midthigh. Satisfied for now that she was sufficiently covered, she once again stomped off toward the stream and didn’t stop walking until she had reached the water’s edge.
“Trevor Grant, how could you?”
Trevor looked up. Corinthians was standing on the bank wearing his T-shirt. Although it fit large on her, his shirt clearly defined her body’s nubile curves, agilely firmed hips and rounded breasts. And it didn’t help matters that the wet underclothes under the T-shirt were nearly transparent. Seeing the angered look on her face, he thought better of devoting his full concentration to her body, and shifted his attention to whatever had gotten her all riled up.
“How could I do what?”
“You didn’t pack any of my things. Just what am I supposed to wear?”
He looked at her from head to toe, pinning her with a long, silent scrutiny. “What you’re wearing now looks good to me.”
Corinthians’s anger flared. “You had no right!”
Trevor released an exasperated sigh. “I had every right. Like most women, you don’t know the meaning of traveling light. I only brought along those things I deemed necessary.”
Corinthians sputtered, bristling with indignation. “Only those things you deemed necessary? Then how do you explain these?” she asked furiously, holding up the pack of condoms for him to see.
Trevor stared first at her, then the condoms, then back at her before calmly saying. “There’s nothing to explain.”
<
br /> Corinthians’s expression became thunderous. “In that case, these definitely aren’t necessary, either,” she stormed. With a pitch that would have impressed even baseball great Hank Aaron, she sent the pack of condoms flying out of her hand and over Trevor’s head. The pack hit the water and disappeared underneath. Satisfied with what she had done and pleased with the look of surprise and anger on Trevor’s face, she turned and walked off.
Trevor’s anger had not cooled by the time he’d gotten out of the water and found Corinthians. He leaned against a huge rock and watched her as she sat under a tree, pouting. She glanced up when she saw him. The look she gave him was cold and deadly. Instead of turning around and leaving her alone like any man with an ounce of common sense would have done, he walked toward her.
Mindless of the fact that he was soaking wet, he dropped down on the ground beside her. He laid a restraining hand on her arm when she made a move to get up.
“What you did back there was pretty childish, Corinthians.”
His words made something inside Corinthians snap. “Childish! You think what I did was childish? You have a lot of nerve. Just who do you think you are to assume that we—”
Trevor held up a hand to silence her. “Will you listen to what I have to say? There’s no way I could have carried both bags.”
“I didn’t ask you to. I could have carried my own bag.”
“No, you couldn’t have. I’m capable of handling a lot more weight than you, and I could barely pick up your bag back at the hotel when I was in your room. I had to do what was needed to lighten our load. I did what I thought was best for the both of us.”
“And you thought you would be accomplishing that by leaving all my stuff behind?”
“I didn’t leave all of your stuff. I brought what I considered were your necessities.”
Fire and Desire (Arabesque) Page 10