“
It’s hard, Mitch.” She kept her face down. “It’s hard to look at what he’s become−and worse, to have almost expected it. We thought that it would be Phillip standing in that office, and yet when I saw my father, after that first second of shock−everything else fell into place. Wes used to work for my father, and he had told me once that during an exploration in the Philippines that my father had discovered some burial jars dating back to 5 BC. Three jars to be exact. But I looked up the manifest a year later and found that only one made it out through customs.”
“
I wish it had been different for you, Alex.” Mitch was just a faint outline now in the dark, but she could feel the heat of his body next to hers and loved listening to the husky timbre of his voice. It blended with the night sounds. “You deserved so much better.”
“
One could argue that I wouldn’t have achieved what I did without his opposition.”
“
I believe that,” he chuckled, “but you are a woman who is always going to land on her feet. You are a woman who commands respect−and it is justified.”
Mitch hesitated, but Alex held her tongue, sensing he was not done.
“
You know,” he added, “I was never in one place long enough to maintain a relationship. And then there was the incident in Kosovo. That woman has had such a profound impact−not only did she haunt me in my sleep, but she became the representation of all women to me. I actually feared relationships with them because I could see how vulnerable they could be−that they could be hurt.” He hesitated. “And although I would never in my life inflict any physical harm on a woman, I knew that I could probably hurt them in other ways.” There was another pause filled with the hum of the forest. “So even when I was back home…back in one place, I just didn’t want to have a serious relationship.”
“
Women don’t break, Mitch. There are weak ones, but for the most part we are very resilient.”
“
Yeah, recently I’ve learned that.”
Alex felt a pinch in her throat. “Well, now you can start to have relationships with women. You’ve seen the light.”
What was with her? Why was it critical to hear his response? They were not having a relationship. This was just a ridiculous situation with two people thrown together in a mutual effort to survive.
Alex waited out the silence with the pain in her throat persisting. She heard Mitch shift and felt his palm slide across her bare leg until it reached her clasped hands. He pried them apart and tangled his fingers with hers.
“
I wish I could see your face right now,” he whispered.
“
Why?”
“
I found a woman that I respect,” he said. “I found a woman that I am not afraid to be with. I found a woman that berates me when it’s needed and holds me when the nightmares arrive. Alex, it’s going to sound absurd, but I have found someone who I can have a relationship with−a woman I could love−” he stopped, but Alex’s breath was locked inside her chest, staving off all speech. “I found a partner, Alex, and that thought astounds me, and I’m afraid of it. I’m afraid of you−”
Her heart thumped against her ribcage in rhythm with a croaking frog.
He
was afraid. Weakness was the one foe she battled since she was old enough to recognize the adversary. She could never reveal that though−she could never surrender authority. And she could
never
trust.
Yet now more than ever she wanted to lie in a man’s arms. She wanted the fortification of his embrace−a muscular shield to hold the night at bay. Who the hell was this woman? Surely it wasn’t Alexandra Langley. Alex would never allow a man to protect her. Alex was not fragile.
With her vocal chords stuck in a spasm, it was impossible to communicate. She slid her hand up Mitch’s arm and across his collarbone towards the temptation of warm flesh at his neck. Her fingers kept climbing until she reached his cheek and felt the pleasant abrasion of stubble. She used that leverage to draw his head down. A hint of moonlight filtered through the trees, casting him in an azure glow. This dark creature of the night was here to steal the force behind her ribcage.
A rumble of need sounded deep in Mitch’s throat as he reached for her and kissed her hard. His hand cupped the back of her head, holding her for his passionate invasion. This was what she wanted−what she craved. She wanted heat and desperation. She wanted him to need this as much as she. She mated with his mouth and stamped a new impression in his brain of what a woman was.
“
Come closer,” he murmured against her lips.
Before she could ask how, he lifted her and guided her so that she straddled his lap−an arrangement that brought them chest to chest. She could feel the rigid length of him pressed against her now and she whimpered in need, riding that sensation.
“
Goddamnit, I want to see you.” He drew back.
“
Mitch.” The pause and the invasion of cool air between them revived her. “How are we going to do this out here?”
A sexy rumble sounded as he kissed the erotic juncture of her neck and shoulder. “Alex, I could be inside you in a minute, and I want that so bad right now, but baby I want to see you when I make love to you. I don’t want a shadow. I want
you
.”
It was impossible to restrain her hips. The temptation between her legs was too overwhelming. She rocked against it, seeking to fulfill a need that was as emotional as it was physical.
“
You’re not helping.” Mitch groaned out.
“
I want to make love to you.”
She said it so softly she thought the words were still locked in her head, unspoken. Mitch cupped her face and crushed his mouth on hers. His hands slipped to her fidgeting bottom where he locked on and hauled her tight against him. The pleasure was so intense she felt perspiration bubble on her forehead.
“
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.”