“What? On foot?! Do you even know where we are?” Marie complained. The area was nothing but dark jungle above them and on both sides of the relatively clear-cut valley they were in, and she had no idea what kind of animals roamed São Tomè at night. “Can’t you get this thing running again?”
When she slammed the door, all the wheels simultaneously popped off and the chassis thunked solidly into the ground. The car was utterly totaled.
“Sure!” Ethan said with dry sarcasm, “Just let me go get a new engine and four more wheels.”
“This is serious, Ethan. What are we going to do?”
He looked up into the forest and then farther down towards the southern end of the ravine. Nothing stuck out to him except lots of trees and the musical, warbling calls of the São Tomè White-eye and the melodic noises of the indigenous orioles that nested up above. The moon was shining, full and bright, visible now that the tremendous overgrowth of the jungle had been left behind, and the creatures of the forest called out to it. There was no sign of the people after them, and for the time being, they appeared to be hidden in relative safety, lodged in the stunning valley between two steep hills.
“What do we do? We walk,” Ethan answered bluntly. “I think we lost those guys, but I can tell you one thing, we aren’t driving out of here, that’s for sure.”
“Which way should we go?” Marie asked. She felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack and kept patting her hand against her chest. Her heart still pounded, even though the roller coaster had stopped. “I mean, I know we shouldn’t go back the way we came, right? Is there a village around here or a telephone?”
Ethan just shook his head and blew out. Gingerly, he put one hand on her shoulder to try and calm her. “Just take a deep breath, Marie. We’re alive, that’s all that matters right now. I have no idea how far south we went through this mess. Only the larger towns have phones around here, and good luck finding someone with a cell phone out in the country. It’s going to take hours to hoof it out of here. We should probably just set up for the night, let those guys blow past us. We can pick back up in the morning.”
Marie felt a heat rush into her cheeks. The thought of staying out here in the wilderness for the night with a man she barely knew made her mind wander. He didn’t seem dangerous, but he wasn’t exactly a gentleman either. The dull throb of pain in her arm snapped her out of the meandering thoughts and when she placed a finger there, it felt warm and wet. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was blood.
“Ethan, I…my arm,” She said weakly, feeling faint. Marie’s knees buckled and she felt limp and boneless all over. Thankfully, Ethan had been close by and assisted her carefully down.
“Let me see,” he said, and squatted down beside her. “Just try to hold still, ok?” It didn’t look too bad, just a scrape really, but the broken glass had managed to cut through her sleeve and leave a small laceration on Marie’s upper arm. “It doesn’t look that bad, really, but it needs to be bandaged. I’m going to light us a fire so I can see what I’m doing.”
Marie’s head swam. She’d never liked the sight of blood. It made her feel dizzy, like she was going to pass out. “Ugh. Why did I have to look at it?” she wondered, and felt queasy all over again. In a few minutes, Ethan had assembled enough dry twigs to get a fire going and the warmth from it made her feel a little better. Once he’d spread out a blanket across the ground, it almost felt like camping.
“There we go. Now let me see your arm again.” She held out her arm and looked up at Ethan, who quickly tore off the clean white bottom of his shirt into a makeshift bandage. He uncorked the glass bottle of brown-tinted spirits which sat beside her and held it over the cut.
“We can’t let that get infected. This is probably going to hurt…a lot,” He said regretfully, and splashed the liquid onto the wound.
On fire was the only way to describe the feeling as the pungent-smelling liquor made contact with her slashed skin. Marie sucked in through her teeth and scrunched up her face, only exhaling once the stinging burn retreated. When she opened her eyes, Ethan was staring back at her with a concerned look and holding onto her wrist. He tenderly wrapped the bandage around her arm and sat down beside her, reclining against the muddy sidewall of the cab.
She felt entranced by him all of a sudden, like she was privy to the secret side of him that no one else ever got to see. He could handle a dangerous situation and be a real ass, but he also knew how to be sweet and gentle.
“Hell of a day, huh?” He said and tipped the bottle up to his lips. Ethan slugged back a shot and sighed deeply. The concern left his face and he took up his usual smile and loose demeanor.
“Buy a girl a drink?” Marie asked, tilting her head over and letting one of her long blonde curls fall across her face. The band she’d used to hold it up into the usual ponytail had become detached and lost, somewhere. She didn’t care. He could try all he wanted, but he’d never hide who he really was from her.
Ethan passed her the bottle. “Be careful. That’s some strong stuff right there.”
“I can handle it,” Marie said. She tilted the bottle up and took a belt, something she hadn’t done in years. Liquid heat burned her throat and caught half-way down. She sputtered and pulled the bottle away, coughing and gagging like a highschooler tasting vodka for the first time.
“I tried to tell you.”
“God, what is this stuff?” Marie asked, wiping her chin. “It’s awful.”
“It’s called cacharamba. It’s sort of the local microbrew. Tastes like shit, but it gets you there,” Ethan answered and took another shot. When he was done, he held the bottle out to Marie, who looked at it reluctantly before giving it another go.
“Down the hatch, I guess.”
The pleasant alcohol buzz crept up on Marie before she even realized it. Everything felt so much better after a while. The pain in her arm had faded into nothing and her cheeks felt hot and turned a bright shade of crimson. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Ethan, either, who became more charming by the minute.
He thoughtfully stared out into the night sky, which was fully revealed in the thin overhead cover of the ravine. Stars shone, winking back at them, and little dots of light glowed in the villages at the bottom of another ridge several miles away.
“This makes me think about the cabin I was telling you about. It’s hard to believe anything could be as peaceful as it is up here.” Ethan said and looked over at her. “…or as beautiful.”
Marie almost turned away from his gaze, but something held her there. A familiar sensation began to swirl in her abdomen, the kind of thing that only happened when she was thinking about her dream lover while lying in the bed at night. “What the heck is happening to me? A few sips of booze and I’m…just ready to jump on him,” She thought. “Is he feeling the same way or am I just going crazy?”
“I like it,” Marie said. She playfully bumped her boot into Ethan’s and scooted a little closer. “You think maybe I can come visit you after you move into your lonely cabin in the woods?”
Ethan smiled and a wave of shyness passed over him. He definitely wasn’t used to it. Normally around women he was confident and sure. Something was intriguing about this mature and extraordinary woman that he still didn’t understand.
There was no way he could deny a physical attraction to her, and he longed to just to pull open her shirt and cover her body with kisses, tasting her as he went. He wanted to smell the light, fragrant scent of her hair and massage her breasts under his hands.
There was more to it than raw lust, though. Ethan looked down for a moment to their boots, which were still touching each other. Marie was the type of woman that he probably had no business being with, yet she was putting out all the signals informing him that was exactly what she wanted.
Ethan turned back to Marie, who was still smiling demurely, obviously just a bit tipsy from the alcohol. He leaned over to her slowly and she advanced as well. Their lips met with the faintest t
ouch at first, a consequence of the nervous uncertainty that always accompanies first kisses.
Marie sighed and felt a buzz tickle around in her midsection. Everything else about the day became foggy and less important. She closed her eyes and felt Ethan’s hands brush back her hair and caress her face. As she breathed in she could smell him; earthy and rich, and she could taste the alcohol on his lips even though she was drinking too.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Marie said, coaxing another smile out of Ethan.
The urge to experience him further took Marie and she stroked her hands across his chest. It was hard and muscular, and his shirt was damp with the humid air of the jungle and his sweat. Boldly, she grabbed the open flap in the middle and tore the shirt open, revealing more of him. Marie didn’t know what had come over her; she felt like an animal that had been caged its whole life and finally set free.
They were like a tornado of rising passion; hands and mouths exploring while their twisting bodies snaked around each other. Ethan grunted when Marie pushed him back against the car and straddled him. The delectable heat and closeness of her sex to his brought him to full, rigid arousal.
Ethan really didn’t know what to think anymore. He almost wanted to inspect the bottle of chacaramba to make sure there wasn’t some sort of Spanish fly in it. Second thoughts about what they were doing raged through his mind until finally he found the will to speak.
“Are…are you sure?” he asked.
Marie stopped for a moment, nodded, and cooed, “Very, very sure,” before kissing him again, harder, and pulling him down on top of her.
The cold light of the lantern cast their shadows in relief against the side of the crashed car, where they melded together as one, then warped and stretched across each other. The night sounds of the jungle became a chirping, singing background accompaniment to Ethan and Marie’s low groans and rustling breaths.
Marie relished the luscious heat of his body touching hers and basked in the warmth of the air between them. Everything was tingling now, not just her belly. A deep-seated need to be pleasured hummed from within her innermost confines, creeping up and out across her skin. She tightened the muscles in her legs and arched her back under him, struggling to unbutton and unzip her shorts. By the time she accomplished this normally simple task, Ethan had already removed his clothing and his hard length was against her.
His firm manhood pressed harder and Marie had only enough time to pull one leg out of her panties before he smothered her again, pressing her backwards into the blanket he’d laid out for them and spreading her legs wide.
As he penetrated her silken folds, a wondrous sensation ran all through her. Up and down her thighs it went, crossing over her lower back and then shooting down to the tips of her fingers and toes. Then, she saw him; the mysterious man from her lusty dreams. It was as if she could feel Ethan’s hands and the hands of the man from her imagination on her body at the same time. She writhed and clawed at the blanket in rapture at their touch. They were one and inside her. When she had the wherewithal to open her eyes again, it dawned on her that the blurry veil of her fantasy lover had been lifted, supplanted by Ethan’s face.
“Oh, man,” Marie whispered lightly into his ear. “What are you doing to me? You’ve got me so turned on right now.”
Ethan’s answer was to moan at the intense pleasure of Marie’s warm opening as it stretched around his member. He drove forward slowly, advancing past her entrance, until he was buried inside her completely. Marie’s breasts heaved with each breath and he kneaded them with one hand while supporting his weight with the other. Tendrils of erotic energy coursed around Marie’s nipples with every squeeze, making her pulse quicken into a thrumming beat that she could feel through her chest and in her ears.
They coupled that way for a while, leisurely at first, until Ethan gripped both hands under the bends of Marie’s knees and raised her legs higher into the air. His thrusts then became hard and fast, each time making her body shudder and drawing out the beads of tingling ecstasy from her abdomen more and more.
Just as the insane pleasure grew to its peak for Marie, her lover groaned out in a sharp gasp and began making his final thrusts before his climax overtook him. She reached down and felt her folds parting around him and let her head fall back against the blanket. Something inside her seemed to burst and suddenly she was experiencing waves of pleasure unlike anything she’d ever felt before in her entire life. Her orgasm continued unabated as Ethan withdrew and expended his warm seed across her stomach and into the valley between her breasts.
He covered Marie’s neck with kisses and gusts of steaming breath, which blew up the hair on the back of her neck and sent a tingle down her arms. Her lips met his once more and they both reveled in a lingering moment of passion as the tropical night-time winds blew up from the coast and the temperature cooled between them. There were no feelings of guilt or second guesses shared by either of them. It felt perfect and right and intensely satisfying.
Ethan rolled over onto his side next to Marie and propped up on his elbow. His mouth had drawn up into a quirky little grin and he said, “Well, I guess if anybody ever asks you to name an exciting adventure in your life again, you got one hell of a story now.”
Chapter Six
When she woke up the next morning wrapped snugly in Ethan’s arms, Marie was easily able to silence the hazy disquiet of her mind that last night was all just a dream. At some point after their unexpected and wild sexual escapade, they’d crawled into the backseat of the wrecked car and fallen asleep together. Whether it was to escape the mosquitoes or just an excuse to stay close to each other, it didn’t matter.
Blearily, Marie rubbed her eyes and ground her body against his. He was warm and felt so good that she hardly wanted to leave that spot, but she knew they’d have to, and soon. Marie placed her head against Ethan’s chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.
The t-shirt bandage around her arm still looked pretty good and the pain had reduced significantly. Only a mild headache reminded her of the alcohol she’d drunk the night before. Loosening her inhibitions while being pursued by a group of armed killers probably wasn’t the best idea, but it did the trick, giving her the intestinal fortitude to make a move on a man she’d really only just met.
Ethan stirred, stretching out his arm under her neck and letting out a big, sleepy yawn. When he was finished, one eye popped open and he looked over at her. When he saw the contentment in Marie’s eyes, he knew that she had no regrets about what had happened between them. With one hand he brushed the hair away from her forehead kissed her there.
“Mmmm. Good morning, handsome,” Marie whispered.
“It’s starting out a lot better than yesterday isn’t it?”
“I’ll say.”
“I’ve never done anything quite like that before. You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Ethan said and kissed her on the neck. “I think maybe I underestimated you.”
Marie giggled at the tickling sensation. “Just because I have a boring job doesn’t mean I don’t know how to have some fun.”
Ethan laughed and swept his hand underneath the thick blanket that covered them. His fingers rounded the curve of one breast and he squeezed, sending a fresh impulse of arousal through Marie.
“Ooh, you’re gonna get in trouble doing stuff like that,” Marie whispered and then inhaled sharply as his touch moved down her abdomen and to her entrance. “Big trouble.”
The temperature under the blanket steadily rose as Ethan’s fingers danced around and across her clitoris. Soon, he’d dip one finger inside her and all bets would be off.
Just as Ethan was about to advance their morning foreplay to the next level, a noise from outside greeted them through the shattered passenger window. Both of them paused and listened; it was the distinctive sound of an engine.
Ethan craned his neck and peered through the window. At the top of the ravine where their car had plummeted off, he could see the roof o
f a black car roll to a stop, followed closely behind by a green and brown camouflaged jeep.
“Oh shit,” Ethan said, and tossed the blanket off of them. He began to button his pants frantically.
“Marco and his men,” jolted through Marie’s mind. “How could I have let my guard down so easily?!” Then, the realization that she was completely butt-naked dawned on her.
“We gotta go, now!” Ethan exclaimed, and swung open the door. He looked back in at Marie and tossed her clothes in to her. “Come on! Get dressed! Hurry!”
As quickly as she could, Marie donned the same grimy clothes she’d had on the day before. Just as she was pulling on her shirt, she heard a loud voice call out above them in Portuguese, “Ali em baixo! Abrir fogo!” followed by the riotous hammering booms of the jeep’s mounted machine gun opening fire on their position.
Marie screamed and dropped into the floorboard as bullets whizzed overhead or smacked into the nearby trees, which partially shielded their position.
“Ethan!” she yelled out, still covering her head and her ears in both hands. A hand thrust out at her from the lower half of the open door and she grabbed it.
“Get out of the car!” Ethan replied, and pulled her out. Marie scrambled to the wet ground and looked up at him, unsure what to do next. “Get down on and take cover!”
He didn’t need to tell Marie twice. Machine gun rounds dinged and popped against the metal on the opposing sidewall of the vehicle. Meanwhile, Ethan rummaged around, in the front seat, looking for something.
“What are you doing? They’re coming!”
“Opening the trunk,” Ethan replied stoically and pulled on a lever by the clutch. The trunk lid opened and he moved around to the back carefully. When the hail of gunfire stopped for a moment, he pulled out the sack of snakes and held it aloft. “Can’t forget these guys.”
“Snakes?! Who cares about snakes at a time like this? Didn’t I tell you to get rid of them?”
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