by Inez Kelley
There had to be some way to get her to understand without coming across as the villain. He didn’t want to be the villain in her eyes. His jaw wobbled as he realized that he very much wanted to be something else. The attraction between them was fraught with difficulties and she was probably smart to keep him at arm’s distance. But he wanted to be closer.
The passion and enthusiasm in her appealed to him as much as her hips and her face. So strong, she always went toe-to-toe with him in arguments, never cutting him any slack. He’d had more fun tonight just talking to her than he’d had with any empty piece of ass he’d ever known.
To his left, the bedsprings creaked and he turned his head, trying to see in the pitch black. There was no sound of her gentle snores and he wondered if she was still awake.
“G’night, Zury.”
Silence echoed back to him. Thoughts and ideas tumbled in his head, flashes of her in the sunshine, until his eyes grew heavy. In the last seconds before sleep descended, when everything was slowed and weighted, a gentle voice whispered,
“Buenas noches, Jonah. Sleep well.”
Chapter Five
Appalachian children are often threatened with “a dose of hickory tea,” which is not a medication or a refreshing drink, but a whipping with a hickory switch.
The proposed cross-country trip silenced every attendee of their monthly meeting.
Eric was livid. His own organization was shutting him down. Fuck them. He didn’t need their permission to target any company who desecrated the earth. They’d been enthusiastic when they thought he wanted to protest outside the small Californian satellite office of Hawkins Hardwood. That tiny office staffed no more than a couple of salesmen who sold lumber to Asian countries and specialty dealers on the West Coast. That was stupid. They couldn’t do anything from such a remote location. They needed to be where the raping and pillaging of the earth’s bounty was happening.
Not even the gray-haired Sunbeam Luna would join him. The ex-hippie hadn’t missed one of his protests since she’d left the Green Wave with him. But her wrinkled face turned to stone at the mention of driving to West Virginia.
“They shoot people there,” she complained. “Bunch of rifle-carrying backwoods rednecks who never leave the mountains and marry their sisters.”
Eric didn’t bother biting his tongue. “The Hatfields and the McCoys were a long time ago.”
“I can’t take off for a trip that long,” called out another formerly loyal follower. “I’d lose my job.”
Another traitor agreed. “There’s plenty of companies out here who are destroying the planet. Why do we have to go across the country to fight one? Aren’t there any groups on the East Coast?”
More grumbling, more dissent and more whining. Eric fisted his hands and shut them all out. Wannabes, every last one of them. They didn’t have the stones to do the right thing. There might be a few people on the newsletter mailing list from that side of the country who’d join him, but maybe not.
Fine, he’d do it himself if he had to. It’d be harder but that only meant he’d have to be stronger.
His nails dug into his freckled skin as he scratched furiously at an itch on his arm. It was happening. His destiny. Back when he’d first started getting sick, he’d sought out a shaman. He’d always identified more with the Native American naturalistic spirituality than he ever had with any modern religion.
Although he didn’t have an ounce of Native American blood in his diseased body, his soul was of an ancient warrior. The shaman had chanted the songs and banged his medicine drum and Eric had been transported. The vision walk resonated so strongly with him, lifting him from his physical body and freeing his mind. Through the swirling haze of the steam lodge, gently rolling hills and majestic mountaintops had emerged. He’d seen himself as a great red bear walking in lush green forests, felt the crisp air ripple through his pelt and the sweet honeysuckle flare his nostrils.
Around him, birds, rabbits, deer and flowers had bowed their heads as he lumbered through tall grasses. Their spirits cried to him for protection, and he’d answered with a mighty bellow. He’d assumed that guiding vision had been metaphorical until Zureyden Castellano emailed those amazing pictures.
The land of his spirit walk existed in West Virginia, and no one was going to stop him from going there.
* * *
The rushing water at the top of Black Cherry Falls was loud. The power of the crashing cascades seemed to vibrate the air. With three tiered plateaus, the river gained momentum with each drop until the final ledge spilled the churning water down with a thunderous roar. The spray from the Falls caught the sunlight and created rainbows at every angle. Jonah leaned over the observation railing, his camera shutter clicking as he captured multiple shots.
Along the side of the Falls, a set of weather-treated steps led them to each descending level where he repeated the snap-click. Tourists did the same, and they had to dodge children and families sharing their view. It was far different from the solitude of yesterday but Zury needed that.
If she could force Jonah back into his trim suits and bright-colored shirts, she’d do it. She’d erase the images of wind fluttering his hair and water trickling down his bare stomach. She’d forget the feel of his fingers on her cheek and the sound of his laugh ringing in her ears. She’d never think about what his mouth might feel like gliding across her shoulder or his hands cupping her bare hips.
Last night blurred the lines between enemies and friends and something more. That stupid game had showed her things she’d be better off not knowing about him. It opened up questions she longed to find answers to. Despite his playboy demeanor, he had a soft heart, one that she suspected had been badly bruised. There was such a deep hurt in his eyes when he’d spoken of his family, but he’d bristled like a cat so she hadn’t prodded. He was a loyal friend to those he deemed worthy and a stubborn thorn to those he disliked. His humor was often tinged in innocent flirtation but when his gaze simmered with true desire, there was no laughter. It was all tingling danger and sizzling promise.
Her throat tightened, recalling the warmth of his lips hovering a fraction above hers, their breaths mingled and temptation whispering between them. She’d wanted his kiss, wanted more. The momentary lapse she could have forgiven herself for but she’d woken up this morning and still wanted it. Her hand slapped the wet railing. No more. “Let’s go.”
“Go?” He looked from behind the camera. “Go where?”
She headed up the stairs they’d just descended. “Trespassing.”
“What?”
The throng of tourists slowed him but she didn’t wait. He wouldn’t let her get too far out of his sight. At the upper level, she veered from the posted trail and into the forests. A muttered curse in a deep masculine tone followed her.
“Zury, slow down.” She left a worn path and cut through a dense patch of pine. The roar of the Falls faded beneath Jonah’s crunching boots. “If we’re breaking the law together, shouldn’t I know where I’m headed?”
“To hell, most likely.”
“Known that for years.” A snort of laughter barked from him, sharper than she’d expected. She stopped and sent him a questioning look that he ignored. “Seriously, where are we going?”
“Top of that ridge.” She nudged her chin high.
The treetops were dense and varying shades of green, from dark pine to light sage. Canopy shade shielded them from the most brutal of the sun’s rays, providing a welcome respite to the back of her neck as they climbed the steep knoll. It irritated her that he wasn’t out of breath. She wanted, she needed, to think of him as some paper-pushing dweeb who couldn’t stand the outdoors, who couldn’t appreciate the sprawling glory of the mountains and valleys below.
Soon the canopy fell away, the trees becoming sparser and sparser. Raw boulders and rock pushed through
the soil to provide natural resting spots, creating places called balds, but she didn’t slow. “FYI, Slick, you are now breaking the law. We’re not on the Falls land anymore, we’re on Hawkins’s acreage.”
“Oh.” Jonah chuckled. “Well, I know the owner. We’re fine unless you set fire to something.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“I could list the number of ways that forest fires actually aid forestry by increasing nutrients in the soil and clearing out disease infestations, but somehow I think you’d probably hit me.”
“And I wouldn’t even feel bad when you bruised.”
The landscape exploded into view as she cleared the ridge. Without the mountains to soften the wind, her hair blew back and her cheeks stung. On many of the opposite peaks, windmills turned silently, like pinwheels in a child’s hand. Up close they were massive, but from a distance they were slender and graceful.
All around them, the mountain heights cradled the low-lying valleys like cathedral walls. A cap of brilliant blue sky atop a blanket of green stretched as far as she could see. She felt small and mortal, privileged to see the glory of nature from this bird’s-eye view
“Fuck, this is beautiful.”
The reverence in Jonah’s whisper stung like fire. How could he see everything she saw, feel the same awe, and still want to destroy it?
“It will change. Once the logging hits this section, nothing will be the same.” She pointed to the windmills. “Those are bad enough.”
“The turbines? What about them?”
“They’re eyesores.”
His dark brows angled down, and a vee formed between his eyes. “They’re not that bad.”
“Not now. They’ve been up for a couple years, but when they were going in, it was a mess. Muddy roads cutting up the ridges, heavy equipment beeping and groaning, all the noise from saws and cranes. There’s a three-hundred-foot metal tower on nearly every hill.”
“It’s progress, Zury, you can’t stop it.” The thick camera strap flapped in the wind. He wrapped it around the camera and tucked it into his case, jerking the zipper closed. His eyes borrowed the blue from the sky and seemed endlessly deep when he looked at her. “The turbines went in before Hawkins bought the land. We’re working with the power company to guarantee easements and things. That’s what we do. We work with others so everyone benefits. Can’t you work with me?
“I shouldn’t have to. The Falls is a protected state park. This land shouldn’t have been leased to the electric companies and it shouldn’t have been sold for profit.”
The exhale he let loose sounded tired. “It wasn’t. The state retained the Falls and its protected status. Hawkins bought the surrounding canyon and will honor all the environmental regulations to make sure Black Cherry Falls remains the same.”
“It won’t be the same. They bought everything that makes the Falls special and are going to tear it up and leave their mark just like those windmills.”
“Right. God forbid thousands of people get affordable, eco-friendly electricity,” he said with a sneer. A tick jumped along his jaw line. “God forbid hundreds of local people have decent jobs that’ll last for years. God forbid the timber be thinned and harvested, making the forests thrive and flourish. Can’t have any of that.”
“This is our heritage, Jonah. The people should own this. God never intended one man to make a profit at the expense of the entire population.”
His teeth clamped so hard she heard the snap. “Well, I personally don’t know what God wants and neither do you.”
Zury fumed. He didn’t care. He couldn’t see the potential loss past the almighty dollar. Frustration pounded in her head until it ached. With no marked trail, she homed into her surroundings based on sheer terrain familiarity. She was twenty yards down the east side of the mountain when he called out, “Zury, wait up.”
The east side of the ridge was steeper, with far less greenery and more balds. Her boots dislodged small pebbles as irritation fueled her descent. A spray of tiny rocks peppered her calf as Jonah slid to a stop behind her and grabbed her elbow. “Look, I’m sorry. I got a little hot up there.”
She wrenched from his hold. “Comemierda.”
“When I get internet service, my first stop is Google translate.”
Her middle finger pointed skyward.
“That I understood loud and clear.”
It was impossible to ignore him as he followed her down the mountain. She managed to ignore the singing birds and buzzing bees, the blooming flowers and swaying grasses, the rustling leaves and streaming sunshine, but Jonah Alcott defied her best efforts. She was far too aware of him.
“Wait.” His hand gripped her arm again.
She spun and shoved it aside. “Stop mauling me.”
“You are the stubbornest...” A growl powered from his chest. He raked his fingers through his hair, then sat on a rock outcrop. “Tell me what you want from me. I can’t stop the harvesting, wouldn’t if I could. But what do you want us to do?”
“Just look. Really look, Jonah.”
For a long minute, he didn’t move. He stared at her, his eyes tapered and his mouth thinned. Then his shoulders drew back and he faced out across the canyon. “I’m looking.”
She stepped beside him. “What do you see?”
“I get it, okay? I’m not blind. I see how beautiful it is.”
“No.” Gentling her voice, she inched closer, until she could feel the heat of his skin against her arm. Some undefined force lifted her hand and rested it on his biceps. Smooth lines sculpted valleys and swells in his arm, nature of a different kind at work in his body. Her fingers glided along the hard expanse that was more fitting for a lumberjack in bygone days than a suit-wearing public relations guy of today.
Inch by inch, his head turned. His eyes landed on her hand curled around his arm, then slowly rose until they captured hers. So pristine blue, his gaze stirred something buried deep in her chest. Her throat tightened. “It’s not just beautiful, it’s a priceless gift. This view and hundreds like it are what make this place special.”
His palm cupped her face and she sucked in a swift breath. His hands were rough and warm but so tender. She had to fight to keep her eyes from closing, to stop from nuzzling at his hand. Why did he have so much power over her with a simple touch?
His thumb stroked her cheek. “What do you want me to do?”
Kiss me. Hold me. Let me feel your mouth. Make me forget that we’re on opposite sides of this fight.
Slicking her lips with her tongue drew his focus to her mouth, and his pupils dilated. She was aware of every breath that lifted his chest, every strand of hair that fluttered in the wind, every lash that rimmed his eyes. He had a tiny scar no bigger than a pencil eraser under his chin. The sudden need to know where that tiny imperfection had come from gripped her. Had he fallen off his bike as a boy? Caught it shaving the first time he used a razor? Got it in a scuffle with a teenage rival?
She struggled to whisper. “Don’t cut roads into the hills. Don’t bring backhoes and bulldozers and eighteen-wheelers in here. Don’t change the land that has stood for generations. This is beautiful and untamed. The state slogan is ‘Wild and Wonderful.’ Leave it alone.”
“I can’t do that.”
Tears stung her eyes and her chin quivered. “Please?”
“I’m sorry.”
Zury closed her eyes. It made the first brush of his mouth twice as sweet. It wasn’t a kiss. It was too soft, too light, too gentle. But she opened her lips and it became a kiss. A kiss that seared into her bones with a raw, aching need that surged from her belly.
He nibbled at her mouth, tasting each curve and corner, before letting his tongue slide inside. The rough skin of his palm skimmed along her neck as his hand sank into the back of her hair. Her slight inhale breathed his scent d
eep into her lungs. A shudder tickled at her spine, the temptation to melt into him nearly overwhelming.
She pulled back a half centimeter. “Jonah—”
“Don’t,” he said against her lips. “Don’t fight this.”
All they did was fight. They fought over land usage and coffee. They fought over moral rights and potatoes. They fought over trees and popcorn. But beneath all the fight was passion, a passion that had simmered for weeks and now threatened to burn them.
But only a fool touched a flame.
“It’s not smart.”
“Zury, I’m not asking you to get married. I’m asking you to spend time with me, have fun, laugh and have some good times. I like you and, deny it all you want, but you like me.” His forehead rested on hers, his eyes boring into hers with a simmering heat. “We could be good together.”
The slow, teasing circles his thumb traced against her neck muddled her mind. Her lips tingled from his kiss and her skin prickled in want. Good together? They’d shared one kiss and it was explosive, like TNT and nitroglycerin. That kind of chemistry was dangerous.
“Our jobs...it won’t work between us.”
“Bullshit.” The denial burst from him, hot against her mouth. “This can work. Both the Canyon project and us, and I’m going to prove it to you.”
His mouth branded hers, burning his determination into her bloodstream. Surrendering, she thrust her fingers into his hair. Jonah moaned her name. His huge hands circled her waist, pulling her close and fitting her breasts against his chest. She nipped his lips, dipped her tongue into his mouth, drank from him until she was hooked. ¡Ay Dios! He was delicious. His kisses carried a kick like the strongest tequila, and she wanted more.