Jake moved up and squinted into the thick underbrush beneath the spindly trees. He saw a dark shape a hundred feet off the path, although he had a helluva time trying to figure out what it was. Ana grinned triumphantly up at him and leaped off the path into the tangled brush, heading directly for it.
The hut was very small, Jake discovered. The campesinos had, according to Ana, hauled each adobe block up here to make it. He wasn’t surprised that it was small, because those bricks weighed close to fifty pounds apiece. Ana hauled open the wooden door, which hung on leather hinges. She pulled out her flashlight and turned it on. Jake ducked inside the small doorway. The place smelled dank.
“This is nice,” Ana said as she went to an old kerosene lamp in the corner. Kneeling down next to where the lamp sat on the hard-packed dirt floor, she took out waterproof matches from her pack and lit the lamp. Jake closed the door. The soft, falling rain could be barely heard on the thatched roof. The place was tiny; there was scarcely enough room for two people to stretch out and sleep.
As the lamplight filled the inner room, Jake shrugged out of his pack and placed it next to Ana’s. He saw a small, rough-hewn table and two chairs in another corner. There was a large pile of dried grass to sleep on. Ana found a wooden box that had a huge rock on top of it, probably so no animal could get into it.
Jake leaned over. “Here, let me,” he said, hefting the boulder and setting it down on the floor.
“Thanks,” Ana said breathlessly. She flashed her light into the box. “Ohh, good—llama jerky. Great!” She pulled out the carefully wrapped dried meat. Looking up at Jake, she said, “Why don’t you get out a couple of our MREs—Meals Ready to Eat? We’ll supplement with this jerky. It will really fill us up and give us lots of protein for tomorrow’s trek.”
In no time they had spread their waterproof nylon sleeping bags together as a carpet to sit on as they enjoyed their meal. The rain increased, and in the distance, Ana could hear the thunder rolling and becoming stronger.
“I think it’s going to storm for a while,” she told him as she sipped the hot chicken soup he’d made for them.
In the dim light from the kerosene lamp, Jake thought the shadows did nothing but emphasize Ana’s classic Indian facial structure. She ate with gusto and enjoyed every morsel of the meal he’d prepared for her. Ana wasn’t like a lot of North American women, who picked at their food like birds in order to watch their weight. No, she enjoyed her food and ate a lot of it. But then, hiking at thirteen thousand feet would tend to burn off calories quickly in anyone.
“I’m glad the elder told us about this place,” Jake said, looking up at the deep shadows of the roof above them. “I’d hate to be bedding down out there in that cold rain.” At night, the temperature fell, sometimes to sixty degrees, even though it was jungle. When one was wet, sixty was very uncomfortable and cold.
“How’s your headache? Did chewing the coca leaves make it go away?”
“Yes,” Jake said, biting into the tough, dry llama jerky. He had had problems adjusting to the altitude, a nagging headache growing worse with each passing hour as they climbed higher and higher into the hill country. Ana had slipped him three dried leaves and told him to chew them and tuck them into his cheek. Within twenty minutes, his massive headache had disappeared.
“Good,” Ana murmured. She sighed, smiled and put the rest of her MRE into another bag to carry in her pack. “What a wonderful meal!”
Grinning, Jake said, “Somehow, I think you’re the kind of person who makes mud pies if she gets handed mud.”
“I’m a born optimist, that’s true.” She lay on her side and propped her head up on her elbow. Jake was so very handsome in a primal way. She enjoyed watching him eat. He sat on his sleeping bag, legs crossed, his massive arms resting on his knees. Every time he met her gaze, she felt a thrill of joy flitter through her heart. His eyes told her so much, including how much he desired her. Ana seesawed between wanting Jake equally and freezing with fear at the thought. Could she risk reaching out and loving once again?
For a campesino, sexuality went hand in hand with the grave responsibility of liking and loving a partner. Sex for sex’s sake wasn’t supported in Peru; a couple must undertake a serious, long-term relationship with one another, not just a night in bed. Ana moved her fingers across the soft alpaca wool of her chalina. How many times today had she had the spontaneous desire to pull it off her neck and gently settle it around Jake’s broad shoulders?
What would he do? Ana wondered. He knew now what the chalina meant. But he was from the north and she from the south. There was no way he would leave his country to stay here, with her. And Ana would never leave Peru, her family or friends to go north and live with Jake. Her spirit resided in Rainbow Valley. She’d been born of this land and had no desire to move away from her home. Still, in her heart of hearts, Ana fantasized about being in Jake’s strong arms, and once more feeling his mouth hotly covering hers.
Ana’s voice was soft. “So what about you? Have you ever thought of getting married?” She needed to know if their kiss was more than just danger and lust combined under the circumstances.
Wincing, Jake shook his head. “I was once…but not anymore….”
Hearing the pain in his voice, Ana sobered a little. “I’m sorry.”
“It happened about two years ago,” Jake managed to explain. “I was married…happily married…but I lost Carol in a car accident. There was an ice storm in South Carolina, where I was stationed. It was black ice, the kind you can’t see until you’re skidding out of control on it. Carol slammed into an oncoming truck.” Quirking his mouth, Jake added hoarsely, “At least she died instantly.”
Without thinking, Ana reached out and slid her fingers over his closed fist, which rested on his heavily muscled thigh. “I’m so sorry, Jake. So sorry.” Looking at him through her thick black lashes, Ana saw the pain and grief still lingering in his eyes and the hard, suffering line of his mouth. “You and I share a common bond, then.”
He frowned and tried to ignore the warmth, the tender touch of her fingers upon his closed fist. Jake made no move to touch her in return. If he did, it would be a helluva lot more than just clasping her fingers and giving them a polite squeeze in return. No, he wanted to turn around, put his arm around Ana’s shoulders, draw her hotly against him and capture that soft, haunting mouth of hers. To drown in her womanly heat and earthy sensuality.
“Oh?” His voice was a croak. Why wouldn’t she take her hand off his? Mentally, he was screaming at her to stop touching him. The heat in his loins was growing to a throbbing, unrelenting ache. Did Ana realize how she affected him? Probably not.
“As you know, I lost someone I loved with my life,” Ana told him quietly, her eyes downcast. Just touching Jake, draping her fingers casually over his balled fist, helped her go on. Closing her eyes, Ana whispered, “It was a year ago that he was murdered by drug smugglers…and on some days, it seems like yesterday. Other days…” she lifted her head and managed a wobbly smile as Jake looked darkly down at her “…it seems like years ago. I guess it’s the grief cycle.” She touched her chalina gently and with reverence. “I decided that I have grieved long enough for what will never be, though he will always remain in my heart. By wearing my chalina once again, I am allowing my heart to move on, though. Life must be lived.” Ana managed a broken smile. “Besides, I needed to wear this so the villagers will know me as one of their own.”
To hell with it, Jake decided, easing his hand open so that he could capture her smaller fingers in his. His need to console Ana overrode his mounting sexual hunger for her. Right now, from the look of devastation on her face, he knew he could comfort her, if only a little. “I don’t know about you, but there’re days when I feel like I’m cartwheeling completely out of control. I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know who I am anymore. I’m looking…but I don’t know for what. I just feel so damned lost….”
Without thinking, Ana squeezed his hand in return.
She felt him stiffen and then relax. Slipping her fingers through his short, dark hair, she whispered, “To lose someone you love is to stand naked, without any protection, in our world. I’m so sorry you lost your wife, Jake. I can tell she was your life….”
Realizing Ana’s reaction was one of compassion and not passion, Jake hungrily absorbed her touch, the feel of her fingers sliding gently across his sensitized flesh. Her lips were parted. She was so excruciatingly close. Jake wanted to kiss her once again. To drown in the soft fire of her mouth and lose himself within her in every possible way. But that wasn’t right and he knew it. Ana was comforting him, nurturing him against his loss and pain. It wasn’t a provocative or flirtatious gesture on her part, yet it made his loins ache like fire itself. No, she was comforting him and it felt damned good. How long had it been since he’d felt a woman’s touch like hers? Carol had touched him in such a way, but the feeling was different. Somehow, Ana was able to move like fog through his wall of armor and simply reach in and hold his heart like a precious gift in her hands. She was a healer, he realized, just like her mother.
Easing away from her, Jake met her tear-filled eyes, which glimmered with sympathetic anguish and pain. How long had it been since someone cried for him? For his loss? Jake couldn’t recall anyone doing that. Without thinking, he raised his other hand and, with his thumb, gently removed a tear that was trailing down her flushed cheek.
Yet his heart cringed in absolute terror of his desire. He couldn’t fall for any woman again. He just couldn’t. There was no way his heart could handle another loss like he’d had with Carol. No. Words jammed in his throat. He swallowed hard as he reluctantly removed his hand and released her.
“I hope Roberto knew what he had when you loved him,” Jake managed to murmur in a strangled tone. She was like a rainbow in his hands—scintillating, mysterious. Soft, alluring and loving. Jake had never met a woman like her in his life.
“Yes, he knew….” Giving him a gentle smile, Ana sniffed. “I’m easily touched, as you can tell.” She dug into her pocket for a tissue. The look on Jake’s face, his naked need for her as a woman, made her tremble with desire. Desire that Ana had thought was destroyed a year ago. As she blotted her eyes, she began to realize that by reaching out and grazing her aching heart, Jake was bringing it back to life. Just as Inti, the sun god, would share his warming rays with newly planted seedlings to help them grow on the land she’d cultivated as a child growing up. Only this time, Ana was the seed that had remained frozen and cold, in the dark of grief for so long. Jake was her Inti. Her sun god. Just the heated look swimming in his narrowed blue eyes made her heart beat faster. Made her want to lean over and kiss the thinned line of his mouth, which revealed the pain and hurt he still carried deep within him.
Somehow, Ana knew she could heal him. But what was the risk to her? To her own freshly healed heart? Did she have the strength, the spirit, to reach out without regard for herself, ignore the cost to her emotionally, and do that for him? Ana was torn as never before. As she stuffed the tissue back into her pocket, she could not look up at Jake. She felt his sun-warm gaze upon her, but she didn’t have the courage to meet and hold it, because if she did, she would be lost—forever. And right now, they had a mission to complete, a life to find and save. Their personal needs would have to be set aside.
Her heart protested her practical and unselfish decision, but Ana ignored it. At least for now…
She eased her hand from his and slowly rose. She opened up her sleeping bag and took off her boots, putting them to one side. She snuggled down into the sleeping bag, the dampness cooling to her. She heard Jake get up and move around. He was opening his sleeping bag and going to the other corner of the small hut. What she really wanted was Jake’s warmth, his heart against hers as they slept in one another’s arms. Closing her eyes, Ana knew the mission must come first. Tal must be found. There were no easy answers. Only questions with unacceptable answers. And one hard truth to swallow…
Tomorrow, they could die.
Later, after Jake had slid into his sleeping bag and turned out the kerosene lamp, Ana asked, “Do you think Rojas will have guards out around the villa?” The darkness in the hut was complete, their voices muted as they talked in low tones. He lay less than a foot away from her, and Ana wanted to reach out and touch him.
“I don’t know. Rojas is supposed to be a two-bit player trying to learn how to be a drug lord,” Jake said, turning on his back and staring up at the dark roof above them. He placed his hands behind his head, because if he didn’t, he was going to brazenly reach out and drag Ana close beside him.
“Don Hector said Rojas has four men who carry guns and are always with him.”
“Well,” Jake sighed, closing his eyes, “tomorrow morning early, right at dawn, we’ll make our move.”
“If they’ve got dogs, we’re in trouble.”
“Yes. But Don Hector said Rojas didn’t have any.”
Ana snuggled down in her sleeping bag, lying on her side facing Jake. She couldn’t see him in the darkness, for the hut had no windows. Above her, she could hear the soft plop, plop, plop of rain falling onto the thatched palm leaf roof. The thunder was coming closer, so she knew the storm was swinging their way. Jake sounded tired.
Compressing her lips, Ana curled her hands beneath the warm sleeping bag. How much she wanted to snuggle into Jake’s arms and warm herself—and him—with their bodies tucked beside one another. Tomorrow, they could die. Her heart fluttered over that thought. And how was Tal? Had Rojas hurt her? Ana knew Jake thought the world of his sister; she saw it in his eyes every time he spoke of her, and of their life growing up together.
“If we find Tal tomorrow,” Ana said softly, “we need to call Maya and get the Cobra helicopter in here to pick us all up.”
“Yeah,” Jake sighed. “I don’t want to try and outrun Rojas and his guards. A life flight would be good.”
Troubled, Ana asked, “What if Tal’s hurt?”
“Then we’ll do everything we can to help her.” Jake tried to blot out the possibility of rape. A cold chill worked through him. “I’ll be with her every step of the way, Ana. Morgan Trayhern said he’d help us, and I know he’s in touch with your commanding officer. We’ll get Tal whatever she needs.”
“Even flying her out of the country and stateside?” Ana said the words haltingly, not really wanting to face the fact that tomorrow, Jake could be gone. Forever. How much Ana wanted to love him! To kiss him, to lose herself in his strong, tender arms and mouth. A bittersweet feeling flooded her aching heart. Ana knew better. She was chasing a dream. Once Jake rescued his sister, he would be gone for good.
“I’ll do whatever we have to, Ana.” Hearing the concern and trepidation in her tone, Jake wanted to add, And I want you at my side—always…. But he didn’t say those words. He knew Ana would never leave Peru. Not for him, not for anything or anyone. It felt as if someone were drilling a hole directly into his heart, the way the pain radiated throughout his chest. In an effort to avoid it, he asked, “And what will you do after we get Tal to safety?”
Closing her eyes, Ana said, “Go back to the base. I’m needed. The pilots have been flying shorthanded without me.” For once, she wished she could just go off spontaneously with Jake. “Why?”
Groaning, Jake shut his eyes. Could he risk it all and say what lay in his heart? “I just wondered, is all. I know you have responsibilities, too.” She would make a wonderful mother. The way she’d held the children of the village, the way they adored her…yes, Ana was all those things he’d looked for in a woman. As a wife and partner for life. Still, he knew she was a warrior whose heart was with her mission in Peru, though he struggled to accept her in this role. He didn’t know many women who had a passion for combat. But then, didn’t he have the same passion? Why couldn’t he get over his prejudice?
Hearing the wistful tone in his voice, Ana rubbed her face and allowed his deep voice to soothe her raw emotions and needs. “I know…w
e all have responsibilities,” she whispered. Heart thudding in her breast, Ana realized she could not leave Maya and her sister pilots in the lurch just to be with Jake.
“Get some sleep, Ana. Tomorrow is going to come too soon, anyway….”
Chapter Seven
Ana’s heart pounded hard in her chest as they lay on a bush-covered slope just below Rojas’s villa. Wisps of fog came and went around the top of the mountain where the villa sat. From their vantage point, they could not be seen. Keeping her mouth open so her breathing couldn’t be heard, Ana scrunched her body tightly against Jake’s. She felt the dampness of the vegetation soaking into her jacket as she lay on her stomach. Jake peered cautiously over the bank and looked for guards. It was barely 9:00 a.m. and no one was stirring. They had been hiking since dawn on the cow path that led up the hillside toward the rear of the villa.
She watched as Jake silently scanned the grassy yard. Off to one side, the bulk of the hilltop had been bulldozed away and there was a round slab of concrete. He had no doubt that it was a helicopter landing pad. The villa was a one-story, dark gray adobe structure with a red, Spanish tile roof. Nothing fancy. Rojas was a drug lord in the making and he couldn’t yet afford the luxurious, two-or three-story villas such as Faro Valentino had.
Ana remained unmoving and let Jake do what he did best as a ranger. Her arms were scratched from making her way up the vine-choked cow path, badly overgrown during the season it was not in use. Her fingers were scraped and chilled. Both she and Jake were muddy from their climb. Jake had his gun drawn, as did she. They had silencers in place.
Jake eased back down and turned his head toward Ana’s. Keeping his voice low, he said, “I don’t see anything.” He saw the worry banked in her eyes as he gazed at her. This morning, she had fashioned her hair into two thick, long braids to keep it out of the way. The chalina was around her neck, but tucked beneath her jacket, barely visible. The colors against her golden flesh looked beautiful. Jake quenched his urge to kiss her.
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