The Pleasures of Winter

by Evie Hunter

  It was impossible to judge distance in the jungle. Not only did they have to clear every foot of path before they could pass through it, they had to stop and try to shelter during the frequent downpours. Abbie’s shirt dried quickly once the rain stopped, but her jeans and boots were a soggy torture.

  She was also tormented by an awareness that the eyes of all three men were magnetically drawn to her chest. Now that she was braless, her breasts moved with every step she took. And of course when it rained her shirt stuck to her like a second skin and her nipples protruded. She decided to pretend it wasn’t happening. It was the only way she could deal with it.

  Finally Jack called a halt. Deep beneath the canopy of the forest, it was impossible to see the position of the sun in the sky, but she could detect a slight difference in the angle of the light. He said it was four thirty so they had about an hour before sunset.

  Zeke was so spaced out she had to guide him down to a sitting position before checking him over. ‘Mostly exhaustion, I think,’ she told the other two.

  ‘Where did you learn that?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Peace corps. And yes, OK, I was a candy-striper.’ She felt herself flushing.

  ‘What’s that?’ Kevin asked. Jack looked just as confused.

  ‘If you don’t know, you don’t need to know,’ she said and refused to elaborate. She just wasn’t in the mood for the Florence Nightingale jokes if she told them she had done volunteer work in hospitals during high school and college.

  She sat down under a tree, and realized that she must look nearly as bad as Zeke when neither Jack nor Kevin made any wisecracks.

  ‘Sit there and have a rest,’ Jack said. ‘I think I saw some berries that I recognize. I’ll pick some and we can have them for dessert.’

  ‘Oh gee, which would I rather, live larvae or juicy berries? Decisions, decisions,’ she said. But in spite of her jibe, she was relieved that he was being gentle with her. She closed her eyes and leaned back.

  She allowed herself to drift. Kevin was starting to set up the camp for the night. He had unpacked the hammocks and was tying one end up to a tree. That was good – she couldn’t wait for another long, deep sleep. She heard Jack’s footsteps coming back and she stirred and yawned, stretching widely.

  There was a movement beside her head. She opened her eyes, turned her head and found herself looking at the biggest set of snake fangs she had ever seen.

  6

  Jack’s brain hadn’t even processed the flash of brown when his body moved. The long snake was poised above Abbie in mid-strike when his stick hit it, knocking it sideways. It turned its attention from Abbie to him, whipping round so fast he didn’t have time to blink. The fangs were barely three feet away from him.

  ‘Jack!’ Abbie’s scream and movement distracted the snake for a vital fraction of a second. He hit it with the stick again. This time, he followed up by stepping forwards and standing on its head.

  It thrashed and fought, nearly ten feet of muscle and viciousness. The skin was rough and the ridge along its back was sharp as a knife. One blow of its tail tore through his jeans and sliced his skin.

  ‘Kev. Knife.’ He barely got the words out while he fought. Then he had to take his attention off it for long enough to grab the knife Kev threw him. He fumbled the catch, but managed to get a grip before it fell. One solid downward plunge into the snake’s spine and it could only manage one last strike before it died. Jack panted and tried to drag air into his labouring lungs before straightening up.

  ‘Abbie, did it bite you?’

  She shook her head, clearly too stunned to speak.

  ‘Man, what the fuck was that?’ Kev asked, coming over to examine the creature.

  Jack took another look at it, hoping he was wrong, but he knew. Those reddish-brown triangular marks and the sharp ridge on its back were distinctive.

  ‘It’s a bushmaster. Largest venomous snake in the rainforest. Also known as a bull killer. One bite will kill in about ten minutes.’

  Jack checked himself over for bites, but he knew he had escaped. If that monster had bitten him, he would be half-dead by now. No one walked away from a bushmaster bite. It was sheer chance that he had a stick when he came back to the camp. He had kept the stick he cut to reach the pokenoboy grapes so that Abbie could use it as a walking stick. If he hadn’t had it she would probably be dead by now.

  He looked longingly at the last mouthful of tequila. This called for a drink, but Zeke needed it more. Besides, he preferred Black Bush.

  Ignoring Abbie’s protests, he cooked the snake for their dinner. She was sufficiently recovered from the shock to ask if bushmasters weren’t an endangered species.

  He could hardly believe what he was hearing. ‘So they are. I do apologize. Next time a poisonous snake is about to take a bite out of you, I’ll let it.’ He picked up its head and showed her the vicious fangs. ‘This doesn’t bother you at all, of course.’

  ‘Reminds me of some of my relatives.’ Abbie shuddered, but managed a small smile. She even ate a few pokenoboy grapes for dessert.

  By the time darkness was falling, his sweat had cooled and his heart rate had slowed, but he was still riding the adrenalin high. That was the closest he had come to death in a long time. And it had been too damn close for Abbie. He shuddered again when he remembered the sight of the snake lunging for her arm. He doubted he would ever forget that.

  He tucked her into the hammock beside him, determined to ignore her warmth and softness against his body, but the faint tremors that wracked her played havoc with his good intentions. He pulled her tightly to him. ‘It’s OK, baby. It’s over.’

  He held her, rubbing her back gently, allowing her to recover from the fright in her own time. He ruthlessly clamped down on those impulses that made him want to distract and comfort her in a completely different way.

  For what seemed like an eternity, she shook in his arms, her curves pressed against him, her scent teasing his nostrils. He wrestled his demons, the part of him that wanted to drag her underneath him and unleash a different kind of adrenalin high on her unprepared body.

  Then she tipped him over the edge. Abbie put her arm around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him. It was a light, fleeting kiss that even he recognized as thanks, but his inner beast didn’t care.

  At the first brush of her lips against his, he took over, pulled her harder against him, and plundered her mouth. This wasn’t a gentle getting-to-know-you first kiss, it was possessive and raw. She had offered and, by god, he was going to take. He kissed her ravenously, unable to get enough of the taste of her.

  She moaned, a tiny sound at the back of her throat, and it was like a flame to tinder. His control exploded. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, dominating her, giving her no room to retreat. She was his; he had won her by right of conquest. And when Abbie touched her tongue tentatively to his, he was lost.

  He slid his hand from her back around to cup the fullness of her breast. She was so soft. Shoving his fingers under her shirt, he could feel the silkiness of her skin. He would never get enough of this.

  He kneaded her breast gently and ran his thumb over her nipple. It tightened to a hard point that grazed his palm. She moaned again, twisting to press it more firmly into his hands. Oh god, she was as aroused as he was. He shifted, allowing her to feel his erection. Her hips bumped eagerly against his.

  ‘Hey, Jack?’ Kev’s voice in the darkness was like being doused with cold water. ‘Do those big snakes of yours climb trees?’

  Abbie stiffened.

  It was a moment before Jack could force his vocal cords to work, and collect his thoughts enough to answer. ‘Not as far as I know.’

  ‘As far as you know? Man, you don’t know that they can’t? Oh fuck!’ Even Zeke managed a drowsy protest.

  The moment was ruined. Abbie had moved as far away from him as she could get in a hammock. With a bit of coaxing, Jack thought that he could bring back that passionate woman who had kissed him so eagerly, but t
he interruption had given him a chance to remember why that would be a really bad idea. She might kiss like a dream and smell like distilled sex, but Abbie Marshall was still a reporter. He mustn’t forget that.

  She turned her back on him and clung to the edge of the hammock for the rest of the night. It was just as well.

  I kissed Jack Winter. Oh sweet god, I can’t believe I actually did that. Not only that, but I started it. That was one headline she definitely didn’t want to see. She took a deep breath. It was a one-off. She was traumatized by the killer snake. She would have kissed anyone, and it wouldn’t matter. The kiss could almost be considered medicinal.

  She tried to ignore the small teasing voice that reminded her that she hadn’t kissed Kevin or Zeke. Who was she trying to fool? Since the moment she had laid eyes on him, Abbie hadn’t been able to ignore the sexual magnetism of Jack Winter. She had never felt anything like it.

  She was a journalist – used to staying detached in extreme situations – so she had tried to treat him as an interesting phenomenon, worthy of study but not important to her. And she had tried to distract herself with the hour-by-hour struggle to get through the jungle. She had even tried to channel every feisty, independent heroine she could think of – from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Veronica Mars. But in the end, there was always one man that got through the defences of the feisty heroine.

  Abbie rolled over, trying not to wake him. The stubble shadowing his cheeks made him look dangerous and even more striking. It wasn’t fair. She looked filthy and smelled rank. If she didn’t find some way of washing soon, she would go crazy.

  Abbie slithered out of the hammock and went to fetch her rucksack. The laptop was still safe in its waterproof cover. The battery hadn’t died yet. Once they got to somewhere half civilized, she would get to work on the story.

  ‘Morning, Abbie.’ Kevin stretched and yawned. ‘I don’t suppose you have anything edible in that bag?’

  ‘I wish.’ She smiled ruefully. Abbie was struck by a sudden memory of the airport at Toncontín. She had broken a five-hundred lempira banknote to get change for the phone. She patted the front pouch of the bag. Please let it be there. She gave a small whoop of triumph when her hand fastened on the packet of gum.

  She handed a stick of gum to Kevin.

  He took it eagerly. ‘Abbie Marshall, I love you and I want you to have my babies.’

  Abbie batted her eyelashes. ‘Why, Mr O’Malley, I didn’t know you cared. Just how many little rug rats are we talking about?’

  Kevin gave her an impish grin. ‘About a dozen. I like big families. Of course we’d have to practise a lot, but I’d have no problem with that.’

  ‘I would.’ Jack’s comment was almost a snarl.

  Abbie glanced at him and then quickly back to Kevin. If anything, Jack looked even more dangerous than the night before and she didn’t like the thunderous expression on his face. She offered him a stick of gum and said nothing.

  Following a breakfast of berries and chewing gum, they set out on their way. Kevin took point, slashing his way through the undergrowth, whistling as he worked. Jack fell into step beside her. ‘Cheerful bastard, isn’t he?’

  ‘And you’re not?’ She couldn’t resist snapping back at him.

  He slid an arm around her waist. ‘Baby, if that’s what does it for you, I can do cheerful.’

  Abbie slapped his hand away. ‘Please don’t bother on my account. I wouldn’t want you to get a pain in the face.’

  Jack patted the rucksack. ‘What the hell have you got in that thing?’

  ‘Nothing. Just some water.’

  Up ahead, Kevin stopped to catch his breath. ‘Your turn, buddy.’

  Abbie breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow she knew that Jack Winter wouldn’t be a bit happy if he discovered that she had ignored his order to leave the laptop behind on the plane.

  Within a couple of hours her shoulders were aching. She hadn’t realized how much the straps of her bra had protected her shoulders. Sweat rolled down her back. Could it possibly get any hotter?

  Jack’s shirt was dark with sweat. ‘OK, water break.’

  Abbie kicked at the undergrowth to check for creatures before sitting on a fallen tree. She eased the rucksack from her shoulders, pulled out a water bottle and handed it to Jack.

  ‘Good girl, thanks, I could do with that.’

  Who the hell did he think he was? Good girl, my ass. She was sick of the jungle, sick of him and sick of being addressed like some kind of pet. ‘Will you stop with the good girl thing, what do you think I am? A dog?’

  Jack stopped drinking and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘What’s up with you? I only said thanks.’

  ‘Keep your patronizing comments for your fans. I’m sure that they don’t mind when you call them girl or pet.’

  Jack moved closer, until he was towering over her. ‘I seem to remember that you didn’t complain last night.’

  Kevin and Zeke were watching so Abbie resisted the urge to slap him. Bloody hell, if it got out that she had been up close and personal in a hammock with Jack Winter, she would never live it down. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Really?’ His blue eyes blazed with annoyance and a hint of something else. ‘Would you like me to refresh your memory?’

  Abbie stood up and smiled sweetly at him. ‘No thanks, I’d rather have a date with the snake.’

  They pressed on for another hour. Eventually Jack called a halt for lunch. Everyone was starving and even Zeke didn’t complain about the prospect of another meal of cold snake. It was better than larvae. Abbie groaned as she pulled the rucksack off her shoulders. Jack caught her wincing and came over to her.

  ‘OK, what’s in the bag?’

  ‘Nothing. I told you –’

  Jack grabbed the rucksack and tipped the contents on to the ground. One bottle of water. One packet of water-purifying tablets. A small washbag. A plastic bag with used underwear. A Kindle, her cell phone and the heavy rubber case that protected her precious laptop. The digital recorder slid from the bag and landed at Jack’s feet. He picked it up and shoved it into his pocket.

  Abbie stared at the ground. She couldn’t meet Jack’s eyes, but she could feel the anger radiating from him as he loomed over her. ‘What did I tell you?’

  His tone was deadly calm and somehow that was worse than if he had yelled.

  ‘Abbie.’ His hand snaked out and he grasped her chin, tilting her head back. She had no choice but to stare at him.

  ‘It is my laptop. I’m carrying it and it’s none of your business.’

  His grim expression told her that was the wrong answer.

  ‘Hey, Jack, leave Abbie alone. If she wants to carry her –’

  Jack silenced Kevin with a look and turned his attention back to her. The hand that caressed her neck was gentle. He brushed her hair away from her neck and, before she could protest, he had opened two buttons of her shirt and eased it off her shoulder. Her skin was raw where the strap of the bag had chaffed her.

  ‘Look at me, Abbie.’

  She raised her eyes to meet his piercing blue ones.

  ‘Even a minor injury in this terrain can turn nasty very quickly. A laptop can be replaced, you can’t. If you disobey me again there will be consequences. Do you understand?’

  Abbie swallowed and nodded.

  ‘You can have it back when we get out of here.’ Jack released her, repacked the bag and walked away with it.

  Abbie started after him. The nerve of him. Who did he think he was to take her bag and threaten her? Consequences indeed. She would show him consequences when they got back to civilization. ‘Arrogant bastard …’ she muttered under her breath.

  Kevin smirked but she couldn’t respond to his smile. Mixed up with her anger was an annoying and confusing sense of hurt. Jack was disappointed with her. She had let him down. She hadn’t felt so wretched since she’d accidentally broken a window in sixth grade.

  Abbie ate a misera
ble lunch in silence. She could barely choke down the roasted larvae and even Kevin’s handful of berries didn’t cheer her up. Jack took point and they followed his path, moving steadily through the intermittent rain. After a couple of miles, the usual sounds of the jungle were replaced by something else. Falling water.

  Kevin’s face lit up. ‘Do you hear that?’

  Even the taciturn Zeke managed a smile. ‘I vote that we investigate.’

  ‘Seconded.’ Abbie raised her arm, caught the scent of unwashed flesh and quickly lowered it.

  ‘Hey, Jack,’ Kevin called after him. ‘We’re going to take a detour.’

  They diverted off the rough trail and followed a narrow meandering path through the forest. As the sound of the water grew louder, Abbie’s spirits rose.

  They broke through the cover of trees into the open area and a lagoon beyond. ‘Oh wow.’ Kevin began to unbutton his shirt.

  Zeke sat down. ‘I think I’m going to need a hand to get undressed.’ He looked at Abbie.

  ‘Not a chance,’ she said, with a meaningful glance at his arm, still strapped up with her bra. ‘You’ve exhausted my goodwill as far as clothing is concerned.’

  She checked around her. Despite the enforced intimacy of their living arrangements over the last couple of days, she had no intention of stripping off in front of the men. She struck out on her own, following the edge of the lagoon.

  ‘Abbie, don’t go too far,’ Jack called after her. ‘And be careful where you bathe.’

  Abbie ignored him. She heard Kevin’s whoop of joy followed by a loud splash. Seconds later Zeke roared his disapproval when he was splashed. Jack was silent.

  The shallow pool was several feet away from the main lagoon. The water was crystal clear. Abbie looked behind her. She could still hear the guys horsing around in the water. There was plenty of time to have a quick dip.