Woman of Innocence

by Lindsay McKenna

  “You know what?” he murmured as he held her tender gaze. “I like you just the way you are.” Giving her hand a final squeeze, he released it. “Just don’t find any grenades to go throw yourself on. I want you around me for a long, long time.”

  Shaken by his smoldering look and the grazing touch of his thumb upon her tingling palm, Jenny tried to smile, and failed miserably. “A ’fraidy cat? You want a mouse like me around? I don’t believe it.” She had said it partly in jest, part seriously.

  “Then,” Matt growled warningly, “believe this…” And he stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. Jenny looked up at him, surprise and desire written clearly in her eyes. Automatically, she placed her hands on his arms. Leaning down, he nuzzled her soft, silky hair, which smelled of wild ginger. “I want to kiss you so damn badly I ache, Jenny. But I won’t do it…can’t do it, unless you want me to.” He rested his lips against her hair and felt her sudden intake of breath. Her hands hesitantly slid up to his elbows and she shyly leaned closer to him. There were scant inches between them now. Matt could feel the feminine heat of her body, the courageous heart beating beneath her small breasts.

  Her world spun to a halt. Jenny hadn’t expected Matt to do this—to take her into his arms, to draw her so agonizingly close to his hard, male body. To press his mouth against her hair, so close to her left ear. She released the breath of trapped air from her lungs.

  “I want you,” he rasped unsteadily. “For all the right reasons, darlin’. You’re precious to me, do you hear?” He slid his hands across her shoulders and forced himself not to pull her hard against him. This had to be mutual or it would never work. His heart was spilling over and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was Cam’s tortured story. Maybe he was fearful of losing Jenny because she was such an idealist. She’d give her life in a moment if need be, and he knew it. And then she’d be gone. Ripped out of his life forever. As a mercenary, as a SEAL, Matt knew how quickly life could be snuffed out. How fast it could be taken away from a person. His heart thundered in his chest with his desire to make her his now, immediately.

  Jenny felt Matt’s warm breath against the side of her face. She hungrily absorbed the feel of his roughened hands against her blouse. Her body was swept with a fire of intense longing. With a need so overwhelming that it consumed whatever fear or hesitancy lingered from her past. Matt deserved a woman who was as brave and courageous as he was being right now. Jenny understood the cost to him to admit what lay in his heart. More than anything, she believed him.

  Lifting her chin, she met and drowned in his stormy gray gaze. Shivering with anticipation, she whispered unsteadily, “You’re a man of honor, Matt. I know you mean it when you tell me you want me for all the right reasons.” Lifting her hand, Jenny placed her palm against the side of his recently shaved face. There were so many small scars across his flesh. It hurt her to think how he’d received them. She knew there had to be some traumatic story behind each one, and that made her stomach clench in hurt.

  When she touched him, his face grew tender…with love? What was she seeing in his eyes? Gulping, she couldn’t be sure. Could he love her? Was she worth loving? Judging from his intent expression, the answer was an undeniable yes. She saw his strong lips part. His hands ranged upward from her shoulders to her face and framed it gently.

  “I’ll never be the warrior that you are, Matt.”

  “In my eyes, my heart, Jenny, you’re already a heroine, a survivor, and I admire and respect the hell out of you for that. I don’t care how you see yourself. What matters is how you really are. Do you understand that, darlin’?”

  She closed her eyes and nodded slightly. His hands were so warm and comforting against her cheeks. “You deserve someone brave. Someone you can count on, Matt. You’ve helped me be stronger, and believe more in myself. You’ve been such a wonderful friend to me that I don’t know where to begin—”

  “Shh,” he rasped, “don’t tell me, Jenny. Show me how you feel about me. That’s the place to start. We have a friendship. We respect and admire one another. Let’s build on that. What do you say?” He held his breath as he saw the effect his roughly spoken words had on her. The languid desire in Jenny’s eyes as she opened them made him groan. Her lips were parted, and he saw the lower one tremble slightly as she boldly stepped forward, melted against him and placed her hands around his neck, drawing him downward…to kiss him.

  Matt whispered her name like a prayer as he felt the first, tentative brush of her lips against his. A groan ripped from him. Instantly, he drew her close. She was soft, rounded, and seemed to flow against the harder angles of his tense body. Her arms wound around his neck and she stretched upward, her mouth opening to his hungry, searching lips. She tasted of sweet cinnamon and coffee. Her breathing came in chaotic bursts, warm and tingling against his sensitized flesh.

  Inhaling deeply, Matt dragged in the gingery, womanly scent that was hers alone. Jenny was in his arms! She was kissing him! Wanting to reward her courage, her boldness, because he knew that she had to overcome a lot of fear to open herself up to him, Matt softened his mouth against hers. When he ran his tongue across her lower lip, a small moan trembled from her—a moan of pleasure. Satisfaction roared through him.

  Desperately wanting to make her part of him, Matt ranged his hands across her slender arms and shoulders. He wanted to cup his fingers around her breasts, but stopped himself. This was a kiss of introduction, of mutual exploration, he sternly reminded himself. Yet his body was hard with need. Hot like fire itself, Matt was sure that Jenny was more than a little aware of his aroused state as her hips brushed naively against his.

  Jenny drowned in the splendor of Matt’s mouth. She hungrily drank from him. He was strong and sure, and shared that with her. It gave her the courage to boldly return his ardor. Her lower body throbbed with a smoldering fire that exploded violently to life as his mouth glided commandingly against her waiting lips.

  Lost within the splintering sunlight and heat his mouth evoked, Jenny entrusted herself entirely to his strong, hard body. Matt’s arms felt incredibly secure around her. Pressed against him as she was, she was wildly aware of his need of her. Intense, melting heat flowed through her like a river of lava. Never had a kiss spun her into a realm of such beauty and joy as this one was.

  All too soon, he drew away. Jenny was confused. Her heart hammered violently in her chest as he reluctantly eased her away from him, his hands firm on her upper arms. Yet the predatory look in his silvery eyes sizzled through her, awakening her senses, and her mouth throbbed with the male power of him claiming her as his own.

  “Your next interview is in ten minutes,” he rasped. A deprecating smile pulled at one corner of his mouth as he reached out and tamed her hair back into place. “I think we need to get ourselves together for it, okay?”

  Matt was right. With a slight moan, Jenny held on to his arm for a moment more. “Y-you’re right…yes…” And she took a deep, shaky breath as she gazed up at him. “You kiss so wonderfully….”

  Matt’s returning grin was that of a peacock who was very pleased with himself, and she laughed breathlessly. She could still taste him on her lips. It was a heady discovery filled with promise.

  “Me? A good kisser?”

  “Yes, you,” she declared. Finally, Jenny let go of him and stepped away. She didn’t want to. She wanted to kiss Matt again and again, and explore him slowly. So slowly and deliciously, with her hands, her body, her lips. Matt was bringing out a decidedly sensual side of herself she’d never encountered before. Although surprising to Jenny, she reveled in it. “You make me feel intensely. I feel my body more than I ever have.”

  Her blush was demure and her honesty heart-wrenching to Matt. Sliding his hand along her jaw, he whispered, “You do the same thing to me, Jenny. I think there’s a lot we have in common, don’t you?”

  “Oh, yes,” she answered with a slight, embarrassed laugh. Moving awkwardly around the desk, she sat down before she fell down, her knees fee
ling suddenly mushy. Her mind and focus weren’t on the coming interview at all. She opened the desk and pulled out her purse. After brushing her hair, she tried to pat her blouse back into place, and hoped she looked unmussed and presentable.

  Matt sat on the edge of the desk, a predatory smile on his mouth and a gleam in his eyes that said You’re mine. All mine.

  It was late afternoon as they walked away from the helicopter pad and ambled down the dirt path parallel to the railroad tracks that would take them into Agua Caliente. This time Jenny slipped her hand into Matt’s. He carried her briefcase in his other hand.

  Jenny gave him a tender smile and Matt felt joy rise in his chest as never before. That one, perfect kiss had told her what lay in his heart. Matt knew he didn’t have fancy words. Women often did a great job of communicating, but he felt like he had two left hands and a tongue to match when he tried to tell someone how he felt. His feelings for Jenny had been translated through that life-altering kiss he’d shared with her earlier.

  As they walked along the path, Matt spotted bright yellow orchids with luscious red lips. One day, as Jenny had played in the shallow pool along the tributary, where all the children were safe from the strong, powerful currents, Maria had told Matt in a confidential voice about this flower. It was the marriage orchid, she’d whispered. She’d had a wicked glimmer in her chocolate-brown eyes as she looked pointedly downstream to where Jenny was crouched next to Daniel, playing with his dearly beloved red rubber ball. Maria confided conspiratorially to Matt that a man who was thinking of marrying the woman of his heart would always give her this orchid, for it was a symbol of his intent to ask her for her hand and heart, to be his wife someday soon. At the time, Matt had wondered if his feelings were that transparent. They must have been.

  Leaning down now, he pulled Jenny gently to a halt. “Hold on,” he told her as he snapped off the round, green stem of the orchid. Straightening, he turned and put the briefcase down beside him. Placing the orchid stem in the top buttonhole of her blouse, he arranged it so that the blossom lay against her shoulder, just beneath her chin.

  The orchid was fragrant, and Jenny closed her eyes and drew in a breath. “How beautiful,” she whispered in awe, and reached out, sliding her hand down his forearm. Opening her eyes, she said, “Thank you, Matt…that’s so sweet and thoughtful of you. I’ve never had a man give me flowers before.”

  He stared in shock at her comment, then swallowed his surprise. Picking up her briefcase, he turned and led her down a well-worn path to the tributary. “Well, expect them often from me.”

  Matt liked the daily schedule they’d fallen into. Jenny always saved her dessert from lunch at the base to bring back to Daniel. Maria was always down at the tributary this time of day, pounding the soapy clothes for her clients. Little Daniel, who always waited anxiously to spot them, would wave and jump up and down. He knew the dessert was coming.

  Jenny touched the orchid. “It’s beautiful, Matt. Thank you.” He was so tender. So thoughtful. And yet to look at him, at that hard, warrior’s face and mouth, no one would ever suspect he had such a romantic side to him. Jenny smiled. “This day is perfect, Matt. Perfect in every way.”

  As they made their way down the steep part of the path to the roaring tributary, he said, “The first day of the rest of our lives.”

  His meaning wasn’t lost on Jenny. She saw the burning desire in Matt’s eyes as he turned and looked at her on the path, which was only wide enough for one person to traverse at a time. Long, hip-high grass grew luxuriantly on either side of the trail. The sun was shining brightly between powder-puff white clouds. The constant, throaty roar of the Urubamba filled the air around them.

  Keeping a steadying grip on Jenny’s hand, Matt led her to the shelf of rock where at least twenty Peruvian women toiled away with their laundry. Halfway down the bank, little Daniel, dressed in a bright red shirt and shabby, brown cotton trousers, his feet bare and muddy, waved gleefully toward them. Matt grinned as Jenny moved ahead of him, waving gaily back at the youngster. He saw Maria down on her hands and knees at her favorite flat rock on the edge of the churning water, the clothes wet and soapy as she beat them methodically with the smooth, gray stone in her hands. She looked up and nodded, giving them a wide, welcoming smile.

  As they approached, Matt noted the long coil of white hemp rope near Maria. When she was finished washing the clothes, she’d string the hundred feet or so of rope from one spindly tree on the bank to another, and then hang the dripping garments there to dry overnight. In the morning, she’d come down and collect the clothes, fold them and carry them in baskets to her clients, who would give her a few soles for her efforts.

  Maria’s eyes danced as she saw Jenny approach. Her smile increased immensely and she called to her, commenting on the orchid she wore.

  Matt realized Jenny didn’t know what the orchid symbolized. That was all right. In time, he’d share that with her.

  The bank of the tributary was mostly rock, and a little grainy sand. Daniel ran brokenly along the edge of the roaring tributary, on small, brown, spindly legs, his ball in his left hand. His eyes were wide and he was calling Jenny’s name as he hopped and leaped over the gray, black and speckled boulders.

  Matt stopped near Maria to say hello. Then he put the briefcase down and looked up in time to see a horrifying sight.

  Daniel was hurrying across the rocky terrain toward Jenny when his muddy feet slipped on a smooth rock. The boy yelped and the red ball he carried in his hand flew out into the swirling water as he tried to regain his balance. Daniel turned and cried out, reaching for the ball, which bobbed only a few feet away in an eddy of icy water.

  Matt started to shout. Maria shrieked and leaped to her feet, her cry echoing over the noise of the river. But it was too late. Her son vaulted into the river to retrieve his ball. In seconds, he was swept out into the wicked current.

  Matt’s voice was drowned out by the roar of the Urubamba as he saw Jenny drop the cake plate she carried. Without hesitation, without even thinking, she leaped into the water to try and grab Daniel’s small, extended hand. Instead, the deadly undercurrent yanked her booted feet out from under her! In a split second she disappeared into the foaming blue-green water.

  Chapter Eleven

  The instant Jenny hit the water and felt her feet ripped from beneath her by the raging current, she screamed. It wasn’t a scream of fear as much as it was a response to the icy coldness of the water, which sucked her breath out of her in a millisecond.

  She heard Matt’s voice above the roar, the absolute fear in it. There wasn’t even time to look, for the current hurled her out into the frothing, twisting waves and into the path of a huge, ocher-colored boulder the size of a small car. To her horror, she saw little Daniel strike the side of it, bounce off and go under. Instinctively, because she couldn’t fight the raging, angry current, Jenny drew her feet up close to her body, wrapped her arms around herself and took a deep breath of air before she struck the looming boulder full force.

  Pain arced along the right side of Jenny’s body. The violent flow dragged her beneath the water as she ricocheted off the rock. An unseen but deadly whirlpool hauled her under again.

  No! Jenny kicked violently. Popping up to the surface with a gasp, she saw Daniel just ahead of her. He was shrieking and flailing awkwardly, his small mouth contorted. Fear made his eyes bulge. Jenny kicked outward and lunged for all she was worth, her hand stretched toward him.

  Yes! Her whitened fingers wrapped strongly around Daniel’s small wrist. As the tributary twisted her around and around, she hauled Daniel against her body with all her strength. The child stopped shrieking, his eyes pleading and anxious. His small arms clasped in a death grip around her neck.

  Jenny went under. No! Oh, no! Not like this! She lunged hard and resurfaced. Trying to get oriented, she heard Matt’s voice roaring above the river’s thundering. Flinging her head to get the hair out of her eyes, Jenny saw him running parallel to them, fifty
feet away. His face was set, his mouth a slash. In his hands he carried the hemp rope that Maria used to hang her clothes with. He was running hard, dodging the larger boulders, slipping and flailing as his booted feet hit the rocky, uneven surface of the bank. In an instant, Jenny realized what he was going to try and do. Wrenching around till she faced the upcoming opening in the Urubamba she realized there was less than a hundred yards to go before they were vomited into that relentless, unforgiving river.

  Daniel’s hand clawed in panic at her face. He was shrieking with terror. Jenny gripped him hard. She tried to pull his fingers away from her eyes so that she could see as the current spun them around once more.

  Going under again because the icy temperature was sucking the heat and strength out of her body, she found water flooding violently up into her flared nostrils and opened mouth. Darkness closed around her as she struggled to push upward once more, to the surface. To life-giving air. Her boots, now waterlogged, were becoming deadly weights on her feet. They tugged her downward. There was no time, no way to get them off, for they were laced tightly. If she tried, she might lose Daniel, and she couldn’t do that.

  As she shot to the surface, she grabbed Daniel under the arms and held him high so that he wouldn’t go under and drown. Everything was beginning to slow down. Jenny felt as if her life was a movie, being shot in sluggish, slow-motion frames. To her right, running hard and screaming, was Daniel’s mother. Behind her, about ten or fifteen villagers were hot on her heels. All of them were trying to catch up to Matt, who was well ahead of them.

  Daniel’s sobbing screams of unrelenting terror tore through Jenny. The river ripped at her, once again contorting her sense of direction and twisting her around. Without warning, because she couldn’t see it, she was smashed savagely into another boulder.