"Hey," he said, "I get it.
You're one of these tree lovers, aren't
you?
You think those ape men in the forest ought to rule the world?"
"I think you ought to leave the rain forest alone," she said.
He shrugged.
"This little backwater country wants cash, lady.
I can help them make
the right deals.
I can open doors, and not just in the States.
Your
boyfriend likes the sound of that, even if you don't."
"Nicolas Schlemann is not my boyfriend," she said.
She pushed past
him.
"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do my rounds."
Curtis followed her into the corridor.
"So, I got the wrong words.
Nick's your boss, your master, what ever you like to call it.
Funny, I
wouldn't have put you down as the submissive type.
Dressed in leather,
and using a whip, that's how I see you."
He grinned.
"I don't mind a, bit of that myself.
Perhaps I can persuade you to
change?"
She ignored him, opened the door of her first patient's room and went
in, hoping Curtis Telford would be gone when she came out again.
He
wasn't.
He stayed with her during her rounds, pestering her to indulge
his sexual fantasies, and he was still close behind her when she
returned to her office.
"So how about it?"
He sat on her desk again.
"You and me, and a little bit of domination?
Or you and the ice
maiden, putting on a show?
Give me some sweet memories to take home
with me?"
"You mean you're going home?"
she asked, frigidly polite.
"That's splendid.
When?"
"Soon," he said.
"Next few days."
He stood up and came round the desk.
"I've just got a little business to finish up first."
"Then I suggest you get on with it," she said.
"And let me get on with mine."
"Part of it concerns you," he said.
His hands landed on her
shoulders.
"You and I have to nick, lady.
You and the ice maiden are the only two
I want, and haven't had."
He turned her round to face him.
"I'm willing to forget about the Swede.
She's a dyke anyway.
But I'm
not going to forget about you."
"Even if I fancied you, Mr.
Telford, which I don't," Jacey said
coolly, "I wouldn't even consider it.
Nicolas is the jealous type."
Curtis waved a finger under her nose.
"You'll have to do better than that.
Nick has already told me you're
hot stuff, and he's given me the go ahead to check you out."
He
grinned at her.
"If you don't believe me, just ask him."
He moved closer, and she felt
his hands tighten on her shoulders again.
"So feel free to enjoy yourself.
You've got the boss's permission.
We can start right now with a blow
job."
Jacey tried to evade him but he crowded her against the desk.
"And don't try and pretend you're shocked, lady, because I know you
like acting the whore.
And that's real good, because I like whores.
I
like the way they get down to business, and do as they're told."
He
was unzipping his trousers as he spoke.
"So get to work.
You know you really want to.
Do it now."
His cock was partially erect, and partially on view, when she lifted
her knee and caught him between his legs.
She hardly used any force,
but it still doubled him over with a yell of pain.
He clutched himself
and leant against the desk, his face contorted.
It took him several
minutes to recover.
"Bitch," he said.
"Fucking bitch.
What d'you do that for?"
"That's a very stupid question," she answered coolly.
"I don't give a fuck what Nicolas has told you, I choose my own
partners.
And you're not even in the running."
She went to the door
and opened it.
"And now get out.
I have work to do."
He left, his face flushed with rage.
She was pleased to see that he
had some difficulty walking.
Her anger that Nicolas had discussed her
sexual preferences with him, and offered her services to him, was
tempered by the fact that Curtis Telford had told her exactly what she
wanted to know.
Paulo seemed delighted to drive Jacey out to see Felix Connaught
again.
"If everyone was like Senor Connaught," he said, 'this would be a
wonderful country for the Indians.
Senor Connaught cares about us, and
he understands us.
That is unusual for a westerner."
"Did you know his parents?"
Jacey asked.
Paulo shook his head.
"No.
They died before I was born.
But my parents knew them.
They
were good people.
Senora Connaught went to a mochto to learn the
healing magic."
"And the mochto taught her?"
Jacey was surprised.
"I thought that kind of knowledge was secret?"
"It is," Paulo agreed.
"But Senora Connaught was here for many years.
The mochto trusted her, and accepted her as an apprentice."
"Would a mochto trust me?"
Jacey inquired.
"Maybe," Paulo said.
"If you lived here for many years."
He smiled at her.
"So perhaps you should stay with us?"
"Perhaps I will," she said lightly.
But she knew it was a lie.
She was already considering returning to
England.
She had all the information Major Fairhaven needed.
She was
glad that Leonardo still wanted to be friends, but her affair with him
was definitely over.
She thought of her feelings for Nicolas as a kind
of addiction.
When she saw him, she wanted him, but when she was back
in England that would not be a problem.
There's nothing left for me in
Guachtal, she thought, except to fulfill my promise to Felix
Connaught.
When they arrived at the bungalow, Felix greeted her like an old
friend, led her to a chair on the veranda, and poured her a cool
drink.
"So Telford's little business trip was successful," he said, when Jacey
gave him her news.
"Good."
"What's good about it?"
she inquired.
"He's made a deal with Nicolas to start logging."
"Not quite," Felix said.
"Curtis Telford is an intermediary.
He makes sure the businessmen will
be welcome.
He gets rid of any opposition.
And he takes a healthy cut of the profits when the deals are
completed."
"Well, he didn't have much opposition here," Jacey said.
"Less than he expected, probably," Felix agreed.
"I'm sure Nicolas was very obliging."
"So the road-building and the logging will go ahead," Jacey said
angrily.
"No one's going to stop it, are they?
Lohaquin will hide in the
forest, and do nothing."
Felix stared at her for a moment, then laughed.
"You do really care about the rain forest, don't you?"
"Of course I do," she said.
"And it makes me angry to think that Nicolas and Curtis Telford have
won."
"They haven't," Felix said.
"Trust me."
"Why should I trust you?"
she countered.
"I've a feeling you're not really trusting me."
"I want to," he said.
"Believe me, I want to."
"Does my association with Nicolas bother you?"
she asked.
"Because I think it's just about over."
She shrugged.
"It never was serious, anyway."
"It did bother me," he admitted.
"But only because I couldn't understand why a woman like you could get
involved with a man like that?"
"A woman like me?"
she teased gently.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"A caring woman," he said quietly.
"An intelligent woman."
He leant forward and took her hands.
"I know Schlemann is considered to be physically attractive, but I
couldn't believe that you didn't want something deeper than that."
"Well, you're wrong," she said.
"That's exactly what I did want.
A man with a good body, who could
give me good sex.
Nicolas was perfect."
Felix looked perplexed and she suddenly felt a perverse desire to hurt
him.
What right had he to judge her?
To decide what kind of a woman
she was, and what her needs were?
"Nicolas treated me like a whore," she said, 'and I enjoyed it.
Does
that shock you, Mr.
Connaught?"