by Anna del Mar
I wasn’t a big drinker, but I did love to dance. Sarah, Lara, and I went over to the pool deck, where Jamie had set up the dance floor. By the light of the flaming torches, he was playing his list, an eclectic mix that would’ve done the United Nations proud. Still, the floor was eerily empty.
“If we’re having a dance party, we might as well dance,” I said. “Come on, ladies. Let’s show these folks what they’re missing.”
Sarah and Lara followed me to the dance floor. From then on, the party really began. It was amazing, dancing under the stars, overlooking one of Africa’s iconic rivers, to tunes that combined every music genre in the world, rock, Latin beats, grunge, hip hop, reggae, African drums—anything and everything.
I danced with friends and strangers alike. My body flowed with the music and my heart pulsed with the beat. Music enlivened me, enthralled me, possessed me. Music made me forget my troubles. After sex, dancing was the best way I knew of burning off steam. Since I’d given up on the former, I gave myself to the later.
Somewhere after midnight, I was dancing a salsa with Peter Drake, who was surprisingly good at it, when I spotted Matthias among a group of new arrivals. My heartbeat quickened. My belly fluttered with bubbles of excitement and my head felt as light as a helium balloon.
His gaze swept the crowd. His eyes found mine. The brief contact jolted me to the core. I looked away, pretended I hadn’t seen him. But even with my back turned to him, I could feel the heat of his stare igniting the frissons that snaked up my spine and turned my nipples into burning flames.
I stole another look at him. He seemed tired. I could tell he’d probably just gotten back from a patrol. But he was smiling, and he had Claudette hanging from one arm and Mei, the Chinese cougar, hanging from the other. I clenched. God help me, but I wanted to rip her hands off his body.
“Do you need another drink?” Peter asked.
“Do I ever.”
Together, we made it to the bar, where he grabbed another beer and I asked Cara for a refill. She was busy with some ruggedly handsome guide, but she found a martini glass and handed over to one of the other volunteer bartenders, before she took off to dance with her latest conquest.
The bartender handed the drink to Peter, who in turn offered me the glass with a flamboyant bow. I downed my water in two gulps and did a visual check on my friends. Lara and Jamie stood nearby, having a scientific discussion about larvae, of all things. Clean cut Lara and the Goth research assistant made for an odd couple, but what the hell. On the other side of the dance floor, our enterprising little Sarah was networking with the manager of a nearby lodge. By the interest I detected on his face, I was sure she was going to get a sizable donation for the orphanage tonight.
Another glance at Matthias, surrounded by his court of admirers, set my gut into an acid churn. I hated my visceral reactions, but I didn’t have to look at him in the midst of his groupies, did I? I got back to the dance floor, where I suspected I’d never chance an encounter with Matthias, who stayed far away from the dancing action.
Screw Matthias. Screw Mei, who was rubbing herself all over him like the cougar she was, marking her territory. Or was she a leopard, since technically speaking we were in Africa and cougars, as Lara had informed me, were specific to the Americas?
I laughed at my scattered thoughts. I was all over the map tonight. Screw me and my complex emotions. Screw, yes. That’s what I really needed, a good screw to scrub Matthias out of my system.
The air was thick with pheromones. You’d think it was mating season at the lodge. I could feel the sexual energy cramming the room and tingling over my skin like a warm drizzle. I was warm, too warm. My brain felt wooly, but the music felt delicious to my body. It echoed in my hips, stirred in my lower belly and made my sex throb with the beat.
The night took a turn toward the surreal. Peter held me so tight I couldn’t breathe. My knees suddenly felt weak, my vision flickered, and people’s faces swam around me as if we were all dancing at the bottom of the sea. God help me. I rubbed my eyes. What was going on?
“I don’t feel very well,” I mumbled as Peter spun me, his face coming in and out of focus. “I’m leaving.”
“No problem.” Peter propped me up and led me through the dense crowd and down the back stairs. “I’ll help you home.”
I tried to push him away with a pair of gooey hands that wilted down his chest. “I don’t need help.”
“Oh, but you do need help.” He caught me as my knees gave way and hoisted me in his arms, sporting an odd leer. “And I’m gonna give it to you.”
That leer. It had my alarms blaring. I struggled in Peter’s arms only to realize that my limbs weighed a ton each. All the strength had ebbed from my body. Jesus help me. To make matters worse, Peter wasn’t going in the direction of my bungalow. Instead, he took the back way to the other side of the compound, over to the deserted docks, where the station’s flat-bottom aluminum boats bobbed quietly on the river.
I was in trouble. I’d never been sick a day in my life and not twenty minutes ago I’d been fine. Something was wrong. Really wrong.
Holy shit. I’d been drugged. But how? I was streetwise. I was a marine. I knew how to take care of myself, how to watch my own back. I’d never depended on anyone else for anything. And how could I’ve been drugged when I wasn’t even drinking?
I could feel obliviousness pulling at my senses, tugging at my heavy eyelids and rendering me useless. I felt as if I were falling down the rabbit hole. Danger screeched in my ears as I struggled to stay conscious. As Peter boarded one of the boats, I tried to scream, but not a sound made it through my throat.
The marine in me had the presence of mind to declare a state of emergency. I fought to stay awake. Peter laid me down on the bench and fondled me roughly, dipping his hands beneath my dress and grabbing at my breasts. Fight him. For God’s sake, I wasn’t some helpless chick. And yet I couldn’t make my body do what my brain said.
“Give it up, Jade. You’re not getting out of this one.” Peter’s voice was too close to my ear, his breath blustery and scented with alcohol, his eyes dull with menace. “But before the real fun begins, I’m gonna get my fill of you.”
The fear that iced my spine took me back to that day when my mother’s pimp had looked down on me with a similarly sick gleam in his eyes. It was worse now, because no matter how much I tried to resist Peter, I couldn’t move. He’d drugged me. It was the only explanation possible. I was nearly paralyzed, having trouble staying awake and totally at his mercy.
Helpless. The mere thought terrified me. I’d fought for my right to exist since the moment I’d been born. I’d survived my mother, her pimp, the projects, Afghanistan, Kumbuyo. And now I was about to be raped by the likes of Peter Drake?
“Jade?” A voice came from the dock, a voice that tugged on my waning senses. “What the hell is going on?”
I managed to open my eyes and swiveled my head in the voice’s direction. Matthias. Yes. It was him. I opened my mouth. It took all I had, but I managed to utter two words I’d never, ever said before. “Help me.”
Matthias
I groped for my Sig Sauer, but found my holster empty. Goddamnit. Since alcohol was involved, tonight I’d required everyone to check their weapons at the main lodge’s door, including my own. No matter. I had zero objections to using my fists on Drake.
I leaped from the dock and jumped on Drake, rocking the boat with the sheer impact of my landing. I ripped him away from Jade and threw him against the bow. How dare he put his filthy paws on my woman? With a savage growl, I grabbed him by the throat and stood him up so that I could deliver the vicious blow I landed on his stomach. One, two, three. Drake grunted with each punch. I was gonna kill the fucker.
Since the moment I’d arrived to the party, I’d been watching Jade. She was quite the sight, gorgeous, sexy, irresistible as her body worshipped the music with her hips. It was hard to concentrate on the conversation around me when Jade was dancing like that. I had to make a huge
effort to pretend to pay attention to Mei when all I wanted to do was slide my hands over Jade’s body and learn her every curve with my tongue.
God, she was driving me insane. After our last conversation, I was still pissed at her, furious that she thought I was the kind of man looking to play her, a jackass with no honor. I’d kept to myself, licking my wounds but also raking my brain, trying to come up with a way to show her how wrong she was about me. How the hell was I gonna earn her trust when she refused to trust anyone, especially me?
I right-hooked Drake on the jaw and was about to clobber him again, when he lifted his hands in the air in surrender.
“Wait, no more.” He spat out a tooth in a wad of blood. “What’s your problem? We’re all grownups here. She wanted it!”
“She wanted it?” My fist connected with his chin, a clash of knuckles and bone that sent a jolt up my elbow and Drake flying in the opposite direction. “Is that why she called out for help?”
Drake staggered backward and fell on his ass. He curled into a fetal position on the deck, hands lifted over his head, cowering like the coward he was. “Please! Let me explain. Jade’s drunk…”
“Jade’s NOT drunk,” I hissed the truth I’d seen with my own two eyes, shaking with rage, fighting the urge to tear Drake apart limb by bloody limb. “Jade was drinking water all night. And if you wanna stay alive for the next sixty seconds, don’t move. You got that?”
“Yes,” Drake whimpered, hugging his knees to his chest.
I crouched next to Jade and pressed my forefingers to her wrist, checking her pulse. It was slow but steady and even though she was out cold, she seemed to be okay.
Keeping my eyes on Drake, I ripped the radio from my belt and contacted dispatch. “Zeke, this is Matthias. I’m gonna need an assist at the docks.”
“Right away,” Zeke’s voice crackled over the radio.
My glare fell on Drake’s battered face. “It’s bad enough that you’re a drug pusher. But to take advantage of a woman when she’s down? That’s fucking twisted.”
Drake eyed me warily. “What are you talking about?”
“You think you’ve been flying under my radar?” I let out a bitter snort. “Fat chance. We’ve been monitoring you closely. We know you’ve been selling drugs to the staff here. We were only waiting to catch you in the act. I’m gonna put you in jail for a very long time.”
Jade stirred, her body shuddering, her eyes flickering open as she fought hard to keep her senses. “Matthias?” she murmured. “What’s…happening?”
“There’s a drug running through your system.” I cupped her cheek and caressed her face, trying to reassure her, hating the fear that tensed her mouth and glittered in her eyes. “But you’re gonna be okay. I’ll make sure of it. You’re safe.”
“Cold,” she murmured. “Why so cold?”
“The drug’s lowering your core temperature.” I took off my fleece and draped it over her. “But I’m gonna take care of you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“All week…” She reached up weakly and brushed her fingertips along the line of my jaw, a light, intimate touch. “I…I missed you.”
I wanted to kiss her so badly right now, to take her to my bed, cover her with my body and warm her with my heat.
“Jesus, Jade,” I rasped in a desperate bid to control the powerful emotions clouding my brain. “You’re gonna kill me. I swear. You, I won’t survive.” I took her hand, kissed her palm, and rubbed her cool fingers between mine. “I’ve got you. That’s a promise. Okay?”
Her eyelids fluttered, heavy with sleep, but she clung to my hand with typical Jade grit. She considered me with a weary gaze even as her consciousness waned. “Okay,” she mumbled, before her lips turned up and she lost her battle to stay aware.
I pushed her bangs away from her eyes. She looked so young and vulnerable with her eyes closed. It was the first time Jade had given herself to me, and even though the circumstances sucked all around, my heart swelled with the realization that she’d just trusted me with her most precious possession: her life.
I was deeply touched by the honor, but even dazed as I was, the operator in me was trained to never lower his guard. I sensed more than saw the furtive motion of Drake’s hand. The bastard moved quickly, pulling a Beretta Nano from his boot. But I was quicker. Before he could aim his gun at me, I kicked his arm and heard the cracks of his radius and ulna giving way. The weapon flew out of his hand. He screamed. The gun skittered on the aluminum deck toward the front of the boat. I dove after it and caught it just as the boat rocked violently and a splash echoed in my ears.
I whirled and spotted Drake cradling his arm to his chest as he jumped out of the boat and sprinted down the dock. My first instinct was to run after the creep and take him down. But before I went after him, I had to take care of Jade.
The bench where she’d been laying was empty. The vinyl cushion still retained the imprint of her body, but she was gone. Gone? How? Where? The splash. My gut turned into a solid block of ice.
I leaned over the gunwales and peered into the dark waters. A few yards away, a body floated in the river, bobbing slightly in the current. Jesus Christ. To throw me off his tail, Drake had pitched Jade into the murky, hippo and crocodile-infested water.
I pushed off the gunwales and dove headfirst in the river. Jade was helpless, unconscious and drowning. I’d promised her I’d take care of her. I wasn’t gonna let her down.
The water was dark and the visibility sucked. My heart hammered in my chest and my lungs struggled to support my frantic strokes. I ripped through the current scouring the wide flow, keenly aware of every bulge that broke the river’s smooth surface, of every sound, no matter how faint. Death could come at any time now, for me, for Jade.
My SEAL training propelled me through the river. The beams of several high intensity flashlights projected from the docks and slid over the water, showing me the way. A quick glance over my shoulder showed me that Zeke had arrived with backup. His shouts joined with the roar of a motor to cut through the night’s ominous silence. Thirty seconds later, I got my hands on Jade. Immediately, I turned her face up on the water. A sick, gurgling sound came from her airways, but she was alive and fighting to breathe.
“Matthias!”
I turned around to find Zeke perched at the bow of a boat several yards upriver. His flashlight illuminated the eyes of the monster veering silently toward me. A ripple of scales rode low in the water in a trajectory that led it straight to us. My promise to Jade? It was gonna be a hell of a lot harder to keep.
18
Jade
I woke up to the chattering of monkeys. The dominant colobus had come to visit with some of his troop. They perched along the deck’s railing as if modeling their stunning black and white coats on a New York runaway, staring intently into the bungalow. For a moment, I wondered what they found so interesting. I followed the monkey’s line of sight to Matthias, stretched out beside me on the bed, fully dressed in his usual cargos, long legs crossed over his ankles. His stare was fast on his tablet as he scrolled down his screen. I stared. Why was Matthias in my bed?
Memories of last night hit me in vivid detail, everything from the party, to Peter Drake, to Matthias coming to my rescue. God help me. What had happened since? I bolted up in bed.
“Don’t move…” Matthias tried to stop me but it was too late.
The pain split my skull in half. It was as if I’d been struck by a Viking ax. I clutched my head between my hands and slumped in Matthias’s arms, keening as he slowly lowered my head back on the pillow.
“Easy now,” he murmured.
A jolt of residual pain hit me. “Ow.”
“Give it a minute.” Matthias grabbed a bag of ice out of a bucket by the bed and pressed it to my forehead. “You need to stay very still.”
I shut my eyes and waited for the worst of the pain to pass. The ice clinked quietly in the plastic bag, cooling my forehead, spreading a pleasant numbness over my scalp. The p
ain slushed at the back of my head for a few moments then settled down into a quiet presence. As long as I didn’t move my head, I was okay. But the pain lay there in ambush, holding me hostage, waiting for me to stir it with a careless motion. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes cautiously.
“You’re okay.” Matthias shifted the bag of ice from my forehead and tucked it beneath the curve of my neck. “But your head is probably gonna hurt for a while.”
“No kidding.” I grimaced. “What happened after I went out?”
“It’s kind of a long story.” He sketched out what I soon came to believe were the grossly understated details of what sounded like a very hairy situation. “In the end, it’s all good. Zeke’s shots scared the croc, we got picked up from the water, and we brought you here.”
Wow. Not only had he arrived at the right time. He’d fought for me. He’d jumped into the river after me and had a near miss with a croc up close and personal. If all of that wasn’t enough, he’d stayed with me all night and taken care of me.
Matthias cupped the back of my head, lifted it gingerly from the pillow, and pressed some pills and a glass of water against my lips. “Here, take these.”
I swallowed. A surge of belated anger heated my cheeks. “Where’s Peter?”
“We’re looking for him right now,” Matthias said.
“But it was Peter, right?”
“All the evidence points his way,” he said. “But the ranger I’d assigned to watch him before I got to the party didn’t see him put anything in any of your drinks.”
“Wait…you had a man on Peter?” I reeled at that. “Why?”
“Never really trusted Drake. We never caught him doing anything illegal, but my gut told me from day one that he was up to no good. I suspected he was supplying drugs to some of our staff, but we didn’t catch him with the merchandise. Right now, we have him on the hook for assault. I’ve got people looking for him. Have no doubt, I’m gonna find him.”
For an instant, I felt sorry for Peter. He was doomed. I wouldn’t want to have Matthias hunting for me. Then all the semblance of compassion went away. I dug my nails in my palms. Peter was going to get it…from me.