“I want to hear you say that again.”
Alex smiled. “I want to make love to you.”
There was a brief pause filled with a night-time symphony.
“We have no protection,” he warned. “We have God knows what type of creatures circling around us right now. I have tree bark scraping my ass, but just say the word, Alex, and I’m inside you.”
Heady from the declaration, Alex provoked him with another nudge of her hips. “I know I need to worry about protection, but we’ll probably be dead by morning.”
“I shouldn’t find that humorous,” he chuckled against her lips, “and yet somehow I do.”
It was impossible to stop now. Nature took over and reduced her to a primal female with the intention of mating with the alpha male of the pack.
“Tell me, Mitch.” Her whisper was hoarse. “Tell me that this may be our only opportunity to ever be together−and more than anything you want that.”
There was a lengthy silence, which as it grew filled Alex with insecurity. She was by no means a flirt. She couldn’t flirt if her life depended on it. She had just voiced her needs aloud.
Mitch caressed her lips and returned for another gentle pass. The exasperating friction repeated with shallow strokes that demanded more force. She clutched his shirt with inhuman strength, whimpering incoherent words, but his kisses continued to provoke her−to bait her.
“I want many more chances, Alex. And I want you to be sure,” his husky timbre made her heart race.
Blood thumped in her head, each pulse sending an erogenous message to the most wanton region of her body.
“Yes,” she gasped.
Against her mouth, he said, “I want you. Not just physically, Alex. I want you.”
The gravity of his words settled in. He was warning her that this was more than the release of two sexually compatible people with the distinct likelihood of death in their immediate future.
“Mitch,” she sobered. “It’s not just sex that I want…I want this.” She flattened her hand over his heart. She believed she felt his lips curl into a smile before they swept down to capture hers.
Alex was rewarded with a hard kiss. She felt Mitch’s hand inch up under her skirt, the course of his palm against her thigh evoking chills. A determined finger hooked onto her panties and dragged them down until she rose and assisted the path of that digit. As Mitch was busy, she took the opportunity to lean over and address the zipper on his pants. Once unfastened, she hauled them down enough to reach her goal, and in one fluid move, she was astride him. She hovered over the tip of that erect instrument of pleasure, torturing herself−torturing him, tempting him to dive into her midnight pond.
“Trust me,” he whispered.
Alex sank down and found paradise in the jungle.
***
A branch cracked nearby and the effect had no less impact than a gunshot. Disoriented from sleep, Alex vaulted off the ground and out of the cocoon offered by Mitch’s warm body. She heard him surge to his feet as he shoved her behind him with his arm out as a solid barrier. It was still night and there was nowhere to run. Not in this environment, under the peek-a-boo moon where the outline of the trees was indiscernible and the ground was nothing more than a black shroud. One wrong step could produce any number of misfortunes.
Motionless, they listened to the guttural sound of a howler monkey and the relentless chirp of crickets.
Snap.
Whatever it was, it moved in an arc around them, circling in tightening sweeps. The first thud had come to Alex’s right, and now it was straight ahead. A slight breeze caused the tree limbs to sway, and in that brief revelation of moonlight she caught a glimpse of the gold eye of their assailant. She squeezed Mitch’s hand in a signal to remain still. The undergrowth rustled to her left, and in another moment the motion dissipated, swallowed by the jungle.
“Ocelot,” she whispered.
“Lancelot?”
“Ocelot. A cat. It looks like a leopard, but is much smaller. Actually they’re referred to as dwarf leopards.”
“Will it eat us?”
Alex listened again, satisfied that the creature had moved on. “Nah. He might get mad if he thinks we’re staking claim on his territory, but he feasts on little guys.”
“I don’t do well with sounds at night, Alex.”
“I know.” She smiled in the dark.
Her big hero had flaws. So did she.
“It’s the human predators that you can’t account for, Mitch. These guys in the jungle−they just want food and their land. They are not complicated.”
“As long as I’m not the food, then we’re cool.”
Alex wasn’t going to take this opportunity to clue him in on the denizens of the night lurking in the shadows. Her biggest fear, much more than coral snakes, was the dreaded fer-de-lance, one of the most venomous snakes in the region−a predominant night-stalker. Every step in the dark had the potential to be your last. Though they fell asleep in a nook by the log, she had to remain alert to the creatures of the night. Never before had she been so anxious about them, but tonight she felt a newfound desire to live at all costs.
In the dark she located Mitch’s bulky profile and moved in towards it, reaching for his hand.
She brought her free hand up to his neck. “Mitch−”
“Please, Alex.” He broke her off. “Please tell me there are no doubts. I can face whatever tomorrow holds, but I can’t face you regretting what we just did.”
Tears filled in behind her eyes.
“I wanted to tell you that what we did tonight was one of the most special things to ever happen to me…”
She wished she could see him. All she could rely on was his touch, which she ached for. He had to use his hands to convey what his eyes could not. And right now as they locked with hers, they conveyed faith.
“Me too.” His fingers squeezed. “But that is not going to be the last time, Alex. We are going to get out of this and I am going to do that to you over and over−preferably without tree bark involved.”
“It didn’t inhibit your sex drive any.” she goaded.
“Not with you wiggling on top of me like that. Damn, woman. You make me feel more virile than any of these creatures.”
She drew him back towards the fallen tree and scooted on the ground next to it, hauling Mitch down with her. On the moist turf, she curled up at his side, so that her knees were resting against his thighs and her head was on his shoulder.
“It’s going to get colder,” she whispered. “We’ll have to snuggle, and we need to get some rest.”
“You think I’m going to sleep out here?” Mitch’s arm slipped around her shoulder. “With all this noise?”
“You just did.”
“That wasn’t sleep. I collapsed from indulgence.”
She was comfortable in this nook and cherished the thump of Mitch’s heart beneath her ear. She leaned back and looked up at the stars. “Do you know what the Mayans say about the leopard’s hide?”
Mitch’s lips dusted the top of her head. “No, tell me.”
“They say it represents the night sky. All the spots are stars.”
He rubbed her forearm to induce heat. “They are pretty damn smart, those Mayans.”
“That they are.” Alex yawned.
“But didn’t they predict the world was going to end when their calendar runs out?”
“Hollywood fodder. If anything, they predict we will transcend to a higher level and all have the ability to communicate telepathically.”
“Mmmm.” Mitch nuzzled her hair again. “What am I thinking, then?”
“That you are comfortable enough to sleep with me here.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mitch jerked awake. He was alone.
Motion set off a ripple of pain, but recollection made him smile at the source of those sore muscles. Intent on locating Alex, he tried to rise when he noticed the animal standing in front of him. It was a prehistoric rodent with shor
t, spindly legs. White spots marked the fur on both sides of its belly making it look like the cross between a fawn and a rat. It stared at Mitch with its head lowered as if to gauge his reaction.
“Paca.” Alex stepped out of the trees. “Isn’t he cute?”
“Adorable.” Mitch noticed what was in Alex’s hands and launched to his feet sending the paca scurrying into the underbrush.
“Breakfast.” He eyed the yellow boomerang-shaped fruits and reached for the woman holding them.
His arm wound around her back and he molded her against his chest, bending his head to lips that yielded beneath his with a soft gasp.
“You shouldn’t have gone off on your own,” he whispered.
She drew back and looked at him with eyes brimming with emotion. “If anything happens to me today, I will go out with a smile on my face, Mitch.”
The words were light, but shadows darkened her expression as the reality of dawn set in. “We’ve got another couple miles until we hit Ramonez,” she announced. “We’ll need our strength.”
It was a sobering warning. He took the bananas from her hand and held her closer, her head tucked just under his chin.
“If they touch you−” he murmured into her hair.
“Eat.” She stepped from his embrace.
The moment was over. Doctor Alexandra Langley was back again and she was a creature far more intimidating that anything the rainforest could produce.
***
Ramonez revealed itself as a toucan sitting idly on a dirt embankment. Between the tree limbs, pastel-painted buildings exposed vivid splashes of color as Mitch and Alex approached from inland to avoid the main road. The closest structure to them was a three-story motel with the words HOTEL DEL LAGO scripted in black on the white concrete facade. Why the name was Hotel of the Lake when there was no water nearby could probably account for the establishment’s evident lack of business. Beside it sat a thatched-roof cantina with a hand-painted sign for Gallo Cerveza, with the rooster logo painted on its side. A red golf cart with a red and white striped awning was parked crooked on the pebbled road before it.
“Well−” Mitch pulled back into the patch of allspice trees. “What is our most urgent need, a phone, or the police?”
“The police can be bought in this town,” Alex stated. “If Solis beat us here, rest assured the law is looking for us as well.”
“Splendid.” Mitch eyed the black rooster ad and thought that the cerveza sounded like the best option.
“We have to split up,” Alex continued. “I can run into the hotel and use their phone. They have one,” she pointed, “see the wire? At least if I get caught you’re still out here to find help.”
“No.”
“But−”
“We don’t split up, Alex.” He looked into her eyes.
She opened her mouth, but then nodded and focused through the leaves again. “Of course we would attract less attention in full-blown Mardi Gras regalia than in these stupid outfits.”
“Yeah, I kind of miss my chic style de guerilla. With the sunglasses and hat at least I could have walked through the town unnoticed.”
Alex sliced him a sideward glance. “You’re too tall, and you reek of gringo. But you did look rather sexy in the style de guerilla.”
Mitch grinned and then grabbed Alex as a Jeep drove by, hurling pebbles up at the leaves that concealed them. Through this obstructed view he studied the open-aired vehicle, discerning only one passenger, a male in a white T-shirt−not necessarily one of Solis’s soldiers.
“We could wait till nightfall.” Alex suggested. But the crease between her eyebrows meant she had the patience of a hungry dog next to an empty bowl.
A rusted chain-link fence ran behind the motel, cordoning it off from the concrete garage behind it. Between those two buildings ran a gravel driveway now occupied by a rusted pickup truck with a flat tire.
“If we follow these trees a bit farther we could cross over into that driveway and maybe sneak in from the rear. I don’t see any sign of Solis or his men…but the bar is active.”
A marimba tune wafted from under the thatched roof, blended with a chorus of laughter and revelry.
“It sounds lively enough in there, but so could a band of mercenaries if they’re looking to kill time.”
“We’re going to draw attention no matter how drunk they are.” Mitch observed. “But hopefully it will slow down their reaction. Let’s just pray the phone is in back somewhere.”
“My hands are shaking, Mitch.”
Mitch looked at Alex. Beneath the soft tan, her cheeks had gone pale and her eyes were riveted to the tavern, alert to any motion. She looked so natural with the halo of allspice leaves around her blond crown. She was a creature of the jungle afraid to venture into man’s habitat.
He reached under her chin to draw her eyes in his direction and once they were, he dropped his head down and touched his lips to hers, feeling a restriction in his chest when he did so. He brushed her mouth again and was just about to whisper words he thought he would never utter, when Alex pulled back.
“Okay,” she smiled hesitantly, “I’m ready now.”
No, he couldn’t let it go at that. If he was going to take a bullet now, he didn’t want to die having never told her, “Alex,” God, was he insane? “I’m falling in love with you.”
Sun-flecked eyes widened and Alex’s mouth formed a small circle of surprise as Mitch realized he’d gone ahead and said it. Hell, she was going to spring away as fast as that little deer-rat this morning.
“Why?” Her face contorted.
Well, damn.
“Why am I falling in love with you?”
“Why would you? I am not very affectionate. I am downright bossy−no, just say it. I’m a pain in the ass. And I have a father who is a deranged criminal. No−I have to get used to saying the word−murderer. He may not have pulled the trigger, but I know he is responsible for the deaths of those archeologists.”
“And the security guards on the dock in New Jersey.”
She cast her eyes to the ground as he thought perhaps that wasn’t the best time to validate her statement.
“Right,” she whispered. “So why would you love me?”
“I imagine that your mother was a very strong woman. She protected you in some of the most challenging environments.”
“She sat there and let herself die in the heat.”
“But she made sure you were cool, didn’t she, Alex? She made sure you survived.”
“You piss me off.” Her voice wavered.
“Aahhh.” He relaxed a notch. “You admit you like me, then?”
Alex reached for him and drew his mouth down hard on hers. She kissed him−each pass of her lips chronicling her emotions. Pain, gratitude, pleasure, and love.
“Let’s get this done.” Her eyes locked on his and dazzled him. Gold and jade flecks spliced through her irises as if all the art she had come across in life had been imprinted there. “Then I’ll tell you exactly what I feel.”
“Now that’s a motivational speech.” He chuckled and held her tight to his chest before letting go to start their trek along the tree line.
***
Still reeling from his declaration, Alex closed her eyes and cleared her thoughts. It was a short jog to the driveway and then they would be obscured from view again.
“Ready?” Mitch winked.
Bah! She was in love.
“Yeah, we’re doing this together, right?”
“Yep.” He grabbed her hand. “And we’re doing it now.”
They cleared the trees and stood exposed on the dirt road, but the lazy town of Ramonez ignored them.
In the alley behind Hotel del Lago the smell of trash was oppressive. A cat darted out from between a bank of overfilled garbage cans and a fan whirred fiercely inside a kitchen window, the smell of beef and grease pouring out into the alley.
“It’s safer to go in through the kitchen, don’t you think?” Mitch stopped at the woo
den door where a splintered hole served as the doorknob.
Alex stooped over to peek inside that gap and noticed a middle-aged portly woman with long black hair pulled back into a frizzy ponytail. She was ladling soup into a ceramic bowl which had a turkey leg sticking out of it. Water spewed from an unattended sink faucet onto a pile of grease-stained plates. Male voices could be heard arguing outside of Alex’s small scope of vision. Their quarrel was innocent, detailing a shipment of pigs that never arrived.
“Looks like one woman, two men as best I can gauge.” Alex stood upright as she looped her finger through the hole. “Let’s go.”
After a second of hesitation, Mitch nodded and she hauled open the door, seeing the woman spin and gape at her with wide brown eyes.
The two men in soiled aprons stopped their debate and also stared. One hollered that this was the kitchen and that they should go around to the front entrance.
“Telefono?” Alex smiled and formed the shape of a phone with her fingers, holding it up to her ear.
Still agitated, the shorter, stockier cook with a red bandana fastened to his head pointed around the corner. Alex wasted no time and progressed through the kitchen across a linoleum floor made slick with a combination of water and grease. She sensed Mitch behind her and then her eyes latched onto the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow−a payphone mounted on the concrete wall beside a door with the word, baño written in chalk on it.
“We have no money,” Mitch stated.
“I can get out via the operator. Just pray Phillip is around on the other end.”
Alex looked away from the phone, craning her head to glimpse into the restaurant. A man played an acoustic guitar and sang along in a somber tone. She had heard a marimba from outside, but it must have been the boom box on the floor next to the man’s sandaled feet. Beside the radio sat a half-full mug of beer. Her angle only afforded her a glimpse of the squat, dark-skinned performer, although she could hear the din of conversation from bar patrons. Only one table on the tiled floor was visible to her and it was vacant, already scavenged for chairs.
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