“Can we talk?” Sara asked, sitting up and crossing her legs, “Like honestly?”
He nodded and she patted the mat beside her. He slowly moved toward her and sat next to her.
“If it wasn’t your job to look after me, what would you think of me?” she asked.
He evidently wasn’t expecting that question and hesitated, “But, this is my job Sara.”
“I know that, but that’s not what I am asking.” She asserted, “If it wasn’t your job, Eric, what would you think of me.”
He smiled, “Well, I would still think you’re absolutely beautiful, maybe the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I would still think you’re intelligent, and funny. And passionate, all of the things I think about you now.”
She couldn’t hold back her smile, “If this wasn’t your job, you know, to look after me. What would you want our relationship to be?”
Again he hesitated “Well, considering I wouldn’t have been stalking you … I would probably ask you on a date, take you out. I would …” he suddenly stopped and shook his head.
“Would you want to be with me?” She asked quietly.
He nodded slowly, “More than anything.”
“Then screw being professional.” Sara demanded, frustrated at his admissions yet thrilled at the same time.
“Let me tell you something about me,” Sara said firmly, his eyebrows arched in curiosity as she began, “I don’t like people easily. I don’t want people easily. It takes something special for me. For me, the amount that I want you, the amount that I want to be with you, it just doesn’t happen.” Sara’s voice was shaky, but at least she was being honest with both him and herself.
“If you want to be with me, my father doesn’t need to know right away. We can see where it goes. He may approve or he may not, but until that point who cares. And if you have to choose between me and your job, do you really think that someone with your skills can’t find another job?”
He looked at her thoughtfully, still grinning. His hand moved up to her cheek and softly caressed it before pulling her towards him. His lips brushed hers sending a jolt through both of them. It was a shocking feeling, but wonderful.
“I don’t do things half fast, Eric.” Sara whispered, “I need to know, are you in or are you out.”
“I’m all in.” he whispered, his voice sincere and matter of fact, before kissing her deeply.
Eric pushed her hair out of her face, as her mouth yielded to his own. Eric too had never felt this emotionally and physically connected to someone, and the time spent with her on this job had made his attachment cement. Sara, like Eric, was lost in the embrace. Her heart beating rapidly from within her chest.
His hands moved over her body, he gently lifted her shirt over hear head and ran his fingers down her back. He kissed her cheek, his mouth lingered at her ear “I have wanted you since the night we first met.”
Sara’s body was on fire as she pushed against him until he was on his back, she slid up his body and adjusted into a straddle. Sara lifted his shirt and he sat up to help her, her legs still tightly wrapped around him.
His torso was next to that of a Greek mythological god, large and muscular. His tanned skin emphasized the definition of his perfectly carved out muscles. Her hands ran over his chest as he pulled her close to kiss her neck and chest. His hands softly unclasping and removing her bra.
He kissed down to her breasts stopping at the vivid blue and purple bight mark from the horrendous event from a few nights prior. Pain and concern flashed in his eyes, and Sara hoped that it hadn’t made him change his mind. Unexpectedly he kissed the large bruise softly before gently caressing her nipple. Sara released an urgent gasp, as this sent tingles throughout her body.
She raise his head with her hands and stared into his eyes as he lifted her hand and softly kissed her hand and wrist. She tilted her head and kissed him intensely, pushing him back down onto his back. She shifted her weight to unbutton the top of his jeans and gently slide down the zipper, his pants were tossed aside as his mouth penetrated hers.
He rolled Sara over so that he was on top of her, this time without bringing their shelter down. His mouth searched hers with intense desperation, before continuing its fervent search down to her chin, and her throat. His hands joined in the search of her body, feeling every inch of her silky skin with a gentle touch that sent more shocks through her aroused body. His kisses moved to her belly button, and hovered over her panty-line. Not ready to remove them he kissed her over her panties until he reached the tip of her lips.
His mouth hovered over the slope covered by the cloth of her panties, his warm breath causing a fever within her. In a torturing move, he redeployed himself back up where he raised his knee putting a subtle but noticeable pressure against her the groin so that he could feel her damp warmth as he kissed her silken breasts deeply. His hand slid past her bellybutton, down underneath the protection of her panties to the small slope in the opening tip of her lips.
Guttural sounds escaped from Sara’s throat as his gentle caress awakened new pleasure. Still stroking and massaging, he sat up and pulled her panties down. Lowering himself, he spread her legs. His mouth once again resting over her clit. His tongue, with a pressure stroked just above the sensational spot causing a frenzy of physical consciousness throughout Sara, in response she let out an uncontrollable pant.
As he licked and caressed the swollen peak, Sara ran her hands through his soft hair, hoping for something to ground her as she fell into insanity. His one hand moved under his chin and he found her wet opening. His fingers slid inside as he continued to massage her clit with his tongue, her body convulsed as she let out a gentle whimper. Her heart pounded as she moved her hips against his mouth with the rhythm of his hands, his fingers moved easily in her warm wetness, welcoming more. He licked tenderly and increasingly until it began too much for her to take. She felt her body quivering at his touch, the electricity was overwhelming as she began to beg for more.
“Please. Eric, please,” came her guttural cries of complete and utter desperation.
She needed to feel him, all of him. She needed him to dominate every inch of her. Obliging her, he moved up and caressed her mouth with his before holding himself back and looking into her wide urgent eyes. His too held the look of need. The head of his hard shaft brushed against her reminding her of how badly she wanted to feel all of him inside her.
He reached to his jeans and pulled out his survival kit where he took out a condom.
Sara couldn’t help but giggle, “You keep a condom in your survival kit?” she asked in utter disbelief.
“I always believe in being safe Ms. Bexley.” He whispered humorously, rolling it down his shaft.
He adjusted his hips and his head slowly entered her opening, stretching her completely. Her eyes watered as she felt him impelling deeper inside of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her mouth against his shoulder to muffle a sob that escaped from deep within.
As he lowered himself, he covered her mouth with his, penetrating her from both ends of her body. Her tongue searched his, as her hands slid down to his toned rear end and she urged him to take her further, deeper. Understanding that she was ready, he lost all the self-control that he had been practicing up to that point. He pushed himself deep inside her, moving rhythmically within her, filling her with all of him.
Their kisses were deep and soothing as they muffled the desperate moans of intense pleasure escaping from each of them. The intensity increased as he began to thrust further and harder into her, Sara’s gasps and moans aggregating with his intensity.
As he moved faster and fiercer her cries grew louder. She grew extraordinarily tight around him as she climaxed, this movement causing his whole body to shiver as he too cried out and collapsed on to her in release.
He rolled off of her, removing the condom, and laid lifelessly beside her. Sara’s heart still pounded like a hammer through her chest. Eric pulled her close and breathed i
n the sweet smell of her hair while she trembled in his arms.
“I’ve wanted you too, since the day we met” Sara whispered quietly.
He kissed her in response, “I don’t think I could have worked this job without my desire eating me alive,” he admitted. “Looking at you, talking to you, being around you, seeing every guy look at you… it would have eventually destroyed me.”
Sara smiled in response to his admission, “It wouldn’t have happened, I’m a spoiled little rich girl remember? I always get what I want.”
He chuckled sleepily as he pulled her closer. The warmth of his body creating a protecting comfort and calm. For the first time in a long time she felt completely safe, and although she was in a village in the middle of a jungle in that moment there was nowhere she would rather be. She closed her heavy eyelids and fell into a peaceful sleep.
Chapter 7
“The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.”
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sunlight flooded the hut as Sara rolled onto her side, there he was, his large muscular frame naked beside her. Eric’s sleeping face was so innocent, so undeniably worry free. Sara loved to see him look so absolutely peaceful. She couldn’t resist kissing his tanned forehead before searching the hut for her discarded clothes that laid about in a mess on the floor. She snuck out of the hut, not wanting to wake Eric who was in need of rest.
Sara walked through the village and was surprised to find that everyone was already awake and had begun to about their work for the day. The men had gone out with their dogs for a boar hunt and must have left at first light, some of the elders who stayed behind were making offerings and praying for the safety of the hunters as well as for their success. Sara noticed how empty the village seemed, the women were mostly nowhere to be seen except for a handful of mother’s watching the village children play.
Sara noticed billows of smoke from behind some huts up ahead where she believed the gardens where. She quickly strode down to the smoke filled gardens where some of the women were working. Kaje saw her and waved, her long black wavy hair hanging down to her chest, the natural silver highlights that had come with maturity gleaming in the sunlight. Sara approached with a pleasant smile.
“What are you doing?” Sara asked curiously looking at the lines of fire and dirt.
“We burn so that there will be better growth.” Kaje explained, “It gives the earth new life.”
~
Eric awoke alone in the hut, his mind was flooded with memories of the previous night, and although he knew just how unprofessional his actions were he no longer cared. He was all in. He wanted her in so many ways since the moment he met her, he wasn’t going to hold himself back just because of his job.
He dressed quickly, concerned that Sara had left without waking him up. He was not used to sleeping in but the previous night had calmed his entirety. He walked through the surprisingly quiet village to the far end where smoke was billowing into the sky. His pace quickened as he approached the source of the smoke only to see Sara in the gardens helping to collect the slash to add to the fire.
Her hair was tied up in a loose large bun at the top of her head. Her face had perspiration from the hard work, her sweatshirt was tied around her waist, and her shirt and face was stained by the smoke creating a zebra like pattern of black against her much fairer skin. Sara looked up from her work and flashed Eric a large smile, he smiled warmly back as he crossed through the firebreak behind which the women were working. Some of the women were managing the burn, others were reinforcing the firebreak. Some of the areas had sky high flames, where other spots the flames where low and close to the black burnt ground.
When he reached Sara he bent down and helped her gather the sticks and other slash items that were to be added to the fire. It was a comfortable place to be, the work was hard but rewarding. The social component of the work made it almost fun, the women from the village were all cheerful as they worked together to reach an end goal.
After what must have been a few pleasant hours, work was disrupted by the sound of barking dogs. The men had returned from the hunt with happy dogs and a large boar. Those who had come to see and congratulate the hunters cheered as they saw the men had all come back in once piece, no one was injured. Kaje had explained the previous night of the dangers of boar hunting in the jungle, after seeing the boar’s tusk Sara understood just how dangerous they really were. She had heard stories of dogs and even men being fatally maimed by the tusks of the vicious pig.
Kaje recruited Sara to help prepare the boar for dinner that evening, and she reluctantly agreed. Sara had never really gotten her hands dirty, so to speak, as in she had never had to prepare the body of an animal so that they could eat it. She followed the other women behind Kaje’s hut where the boar was hung upside down over the very bucket she had bathed in the previous day. She felt her stomach twist as she looked at the large dead animal hanging across from her.
“We will teach you important skills.” Kaje explained, “Show you how to survive, see?”
Sara nodded obediently.
Kaje took a knife and commanded Sara’s attention, showing her how to blead out the boar. Sara cringed as she took the knife and slowly approached the recently deceased boar. She took a deep breath and held the knife to its throat. She looked up and the women nodded in encouragement while she followed Kaje’s instructions and slit. The boar immediately began to blead out, the smell of the blood wafted up into Sara’s nose and she stifled a gag.
It only took fifteen minutes for the animal to blead out. Next she was going to learn how to skin and gut it. Eric who had caught wind of what Sara was doing came to watch. He sat back a good distance with an amused grin on his face.
Sara was obviously apprehensive as she listened closely to Kaje’s instructions. She was pale and perspiring. Sara again took the knife, trembling she walked up to the thoroughly dead beast. Kaje stood close to her, instructing every move. Holding back angry heaves, Sara worked to remove the skin, Kaje held Sara’s hand as and helped pull the skin of the boar back and work the very sharp knife down the beast’s body slowly. The smell of the beast made her throat tighten and her stomach jump and turn. Her eyes watered with nausea as the on looking women were encouraging but certainly amused by her reaction.
“We don’t blah blah” Kaje said, imitating Sara’s gags, “We thank the boar for giving its life to us. For giving us life. We respect the boar.”
Sara nodded, trying to show her respect as the other women did. Her eyes were still fiercely watering as she re-approached the boar with Kaje who was going to help her gut the boar. This was evidently going to be the hardest part for Sara who no longer wanted any part in helping prepare the boar. Kaje held Sara’s hand to help control her movements, but as soon as she sliced into the boar she felt her control slipping. Rising bile stung her throat and whatever blood she had left in her face quickly drained.
She saw its entrails the world began to spin around her, she put the knife down, unable to continue and backed away. Kaje took the knife and began to continue the job that Sara couldn’t continue.
Unfortunately Sara couldn’t move away fast enough, and as she saw Kaje’s handy work the perspiration on Sara’s forehead intensified. The world around her began to bend and spin as she looked desperately around in hopes that something would bring her senses calm.
Her stomach swooshed from side to side, like a ship being tossed in the waves. She staggered a few steps back, trying to clear her head, and turned to see Eric quickly approaching her. Before he could reach her the world dropped and her sight went black.
Sara roused on the sleeping mat in the hut. Eric was cleaning the blood and hair off her hands with a torn off fragment of his shirt and a basin of water. He was grinning amusedly at her, as she laid dazed and confused with her stomach still in knots.
She sat up and looked around, one of the elder women who was watching her prepare the boa
r was in the doorway, also wearing an amused toothless grin. The old woman’s kind eyes were dancing as she held out a wooden cup with an earthy smelling substance that could be smelled from where she was sitting.
Sara was still shaking and did not dare to move any further. Eric, stood up and fetched the drink from the woman. He brought it to Sara who stared at it for a few moments, blinking uneasily.
“What is it?” Sara asked, not sure what to make of the strange brew.
The woman seemed to understand her, and answered in a friendly tone “Rripiarrirr”.
“It should help ease your stomach,” Eric explained, “One of the men told me they were brewing it for you when you first went down.”
Sara sniffed the drink and scrunched up her face. It didn’t smell bad, but definitely seemed to be unlike anything she ever drank before.
Eric cleared his throat warningly and she remembered she had an audience, the old woman who had kindly made her drink and delivered it watched eagerly. Sara flashed a police smile before slowly raising the cup to her mouth and sipping. It wasn’t a terrible taste, but it was nothing like anything she had ever drank in the past. Not sweet, but not really bitter either. The woman waited for Sara to finish the drink then took the cup with her as she left.
“Well that was new,” Sara said, referring to her fainting spell, “I have never done that before.”
“How do you feel?” Eric asked, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.
“Shaky, but, the drink is already settling my stomach.”
“Well, that’s why we have to save the rainforest. It has all of this natural medicine that’s been used for centuries.” Eric smiled, “So when we get you back to school, you can join the save the rainforest club or something.”
Sara grinned in return and happily took Eric’s outstretched hand.
“How long do you think before the runner returns from the next village?” Sara asked, feeling a spike of worry for her friend back in Manaus who was probably in the midst of a breakdown.
Can't Run (Danger and Desire Book 1) Page 8