Cara found Rod with Jorge and Rafael. He was on the radiophone to Comitan trying to reach the pilot who worked for WHS Engineering. When he got through at last, he issued terse instructions. The pilot said little beyond acknowledgment of the orders to fly in to the airstrip in four days. Cara was surprised at the tight schedule. It would take them three days to return to camp, leaving only one to wrap up the project. If there was so little left to do, why couldn’t they simply abandon the equipment and leave from here? She knew better, though, than to ask Rod to explain while Rafael and Jorge were present.
With the immediate situation calmer now and tempers cooled, they spent an almost relaxing evening with the archaeologists and volunteers. Rafael and Jorge reiterated their objections to the dam. Ignoring Jorge’s disparaging looks, Maria gave an impassioned plea not only on behalf of the Lacandones, but of the rain forest itself.
“There has been so much destruction already,” she explained with the air of a fighter who is weary of the battle but not yet resigned to losing. Her eyes blazed with anger. “The ecological balance is imperiled. You have heard, perhaps, of the greenhouse effect. The earth already suffers from it. Last summer’s high temperatures and drought were symptoms.”
Cara recalled the devastating impact of the heat and lack of rain the previous year across the Midwest and into the Northeast. “You think this greenhouse effect is related to what’s happening here?”
“Almost certainly. Pollution is only one cause. Combined with this destruction—” She raised her hands in a helpless gesture. “If the destruction goes on, not just here, but in other places where rain forests are treated with similarly wanton disregard, there will be increasingly serious droughts. Rivers will dry up and vanish. Crops will continue to shrivel and die. The long-range implications are far-reaching, yet mankind is traditionally shortsighted.
“The mahogany is valuable. Take it,” she said with a snap of her fingers. “There could be oil. Explore for it. The land could pacify the peasants. Bring them in, let them settle it. It goes on and on. Thousands and thousands of acres of untouched rain forest only a few decades ago, and now there is less than half that.”
There was an ominous chill to Maria’s words that affected Cara as deeply as anything else she’d heard. Before the final decision was made about WHS involvement, she needed to speak with other environmental experts. Scottie, with his hard-nosed business acumen, would call it a waste of time, but she knew she could never live with herself if she involved the company in something potentially so destructive.
* * *
Hours later, unable to sleep, she slipped from her cot. On the way out of the tent, she noticed that Maria was not in bed, either. Perhaps, she thought with a smile, Maria was spending the night with Rafael.
Once outside in the still night air, Cara heard the soft murmur of voices coming from the direction of the work tent. Walking that way, she recognized the soft cadence of Maria’s voice, then Rafael’s.
“Do you think we have convinced them?” he asked.
“We have done all we can, querido. Cara is frightened. I think she will be most anxious to leave Mexico.”
“And what of your friend Rod?”
“He will go where she goes,” Maria said with a low laugh.
“I hope you’re right. I don’t like the violence.”
“Nor do I. But if it serves our purpose.”
“I still don’t like it. What if they are killed? Could you live with that?”
Cara’s heart stood still.
“Ah, querido, you worry too much. Let us concentrate on more pleasurable things for what is left of the night.”
Cara backed slowly away, afraid to take her eyes from the entrance to the tent for fear Maria and Rafael would emerge and discover her. When a hand clamped itself over her mouth, a scream began somewhere in the pit of her stomach. Against that effective silencer, it came out as no more than a soft yelp. Perspiration broke out across her brow as she was dragged into the brush.
She drew her arm forward and rammed the elbow back until it met with rock-solid flesh. There was a mild grunt, but the hand across her mouth never even twitched. She kicked backward, hoping to make contact with a shin. When that, too, missed the target, she brought her booted foot up, then stomped down on what she hoped would be a bare foot.
“Enough!” an all-too-familiar voice hissed in her ear. “Are you trying to let everybody in camp know we’re out here?”
Rod released her then and she whirled around. “As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I was doing, you idiot! I thought I was being kidnapped.”
He grinned at her, and her ridiculous heart flipped over. “Sorry,” he said, but the grin belied the apology. He didn’t appear one bit contrite about taking ten years off her life. “What are you doing skulking around out here?”
“I wasn’t skulking. I couldn’t sleep. I came out for some air. You ought to be damned thankful I did. I just overheard a conversation between Maria and Rafael that implicates them in everything that’s been happening.”
Rod sighed, the expression on his face tired and disillusioned. “I know. I heard it, too. Frankly, I can’t believe it. I would have trusted those two with my life.”
Cara suddenly recalled Maria’s comments to her earlier about how often Rod had been disappointed by those he’d trusted. How odd that a woman who recognized that and seemed to care about it would become a traitor herself. Perhaps she felt she owed a greater loyalty to her cause.
“I’m sorry,” Cara told Rod gently. “I know how much you like Maria.”
“Of all people, I should know that people are not always what they seem.”
Cara could think of no way to contradict him, not in light of what had just happened. She understood his bitterness all too well. “How did you happen to be out here?” she asked instead.
“I was going to use the radiophone. I wanted to call the pilot and change our arrangements.”
Cara nodded in sudden understanding. “So that’s it. You planned all along to make a change. I wondered why you’d been so open about the plans earlier. You wanted them to know what we were doing.”
“Exactly. I was hoping to set a trap and see who fell into it.”
“You can still do that.”
He shrugged. “There appears to be no need. If Rafael and Maria are satisfied that they’ve accomplished their goal, they will feel no further need to attack us.”
“What if it isn’t them? You heard Rafael. He’s worried someone will kill us. Apparently he’s not the one in control.”
Rod stared at her. “You could be right. I must not be thinking clearly. I hadn’t even stopped to consider that,” he conceded at last. “We have no choice. We have to go on with my plan.”
They went back to the work tent together. Rafael and Maria had gone. After several faulty tries that awakened some very indignant Mexicans, Rod was finally able to reach the sleepy pilot.
“You will meet us in five days, not four,” he instructed. “Is that clear?”
“Si, señor. In five days. You have more work to do?”
“I’ve learned some things I want to check out, but I want no one to know about it. If anyone asks, you intend to pick us up in four days as scheduled, okay?”
“Si. Si.”
When he’d hung up, Cara was staring at him. “What are you planning to check out?”
“Don’t worry about it. The less you know the better.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Rod Craig, if this is something serious that affects WHS Engineering, not to mention my life, then you’d better spill it right now.”
He grinned at her. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll stay right here and let you go back to the dam site alone.”
“You want to stay here with Jorge?” he inquired very, very softly. There was a coldness in his eyes that Cara had never seen before. It should have made her wary. Instead, it simply baffled her.
“Jorge? What does he have to do with this?”
/>
“I saw the way he looked at you earlier. Nothing would please him more than to have you all to himself.”
Cara bristled. “And what if that’s true? It’s none of your business.”
With a swiftness that set off alarm bells inside her, he hauled her against him. Fire had replaced the chill in his eyes. “It is very much my business, princess, and you know it.”
Before she could react, his lips, his touch claimed her with a savageness that robbed her of breath. His fingers tangled in her hair and held her head still for the demand of his kisses. The protest that had formed on her lips ended in a whimper of pleasure as her body yielded to his possessive touch. Her struggle stilled as he cupped her against the hard cradle of his thighs, his arousal hot and pulsing against her. Her blood raced, sending fire through her veins. Her legs shook as anticipation swept through her.
Rod responded to her trembling by sweeping her off the ground and carrying her through the camp. Cara buried her face against the hot flesh of his neck, her tongue daring to taste the saltiness, to savor the frantic pounding of his pulse. This was what she wanted, what she’d been waiting for, perhaps since the first moment she’d seen him.
“Where are we going?”
“Your tent.”
“But Maria...” she began with a frustrated groan.
He chuckled and brushed a consoling kiss across her lips. “I’m sure she is well occupied with Rafael.”
When they were inside the tent, he lowered her slowly to her feet, allowing her body to slide along his. Then he stood away from her, only his eyes searing her. With one finger he reached out and touched her breast, a caress so light it might never have been except for the agonizing pleasure it left behind. Cara gasped, her eyes wide. She waited for what seemed an eternity for him to reach out to her again.
This time he bent and claimed her throbbing nipple with his mouth, moistening her shirt and creating a tormenting friction that sent waves of ecstasy rippling through her to center between her legs. When both nipples were hard, he lifted her top and ran a finger from breast to waist. His eyes locked with hers, he unsnapped the waistband of her pants, then lowered the zipper so slowly that Cara thought she would scream from the agony of waiting. When he kissed her bare belly, the shock ripped through her. She dug her nails into his shoulders as her body arched into the kiss.
“Rod, please.”
“Not yet, princess. Not yet.” He reached for the moist core at her center, caressing with a relentless, devilish expertise that left her breathing ragged and her body limp and slick with perspiration. When the waves of ecstasy subsided, she regarded him with confusion.
“Why?”
“Because it’s been a very long time for me, princess, and I wanted to be sure this experience was everything it should be for you. Once I touch you, once I feel you around me, I might not be able to control myself long enough to give you the satisfaction you deserve.”
The implications of his words registered dimly in the back of her mind, and she promised herself she would think about them later. But for now she wanted to know the sensation of being filled by him, of becoming part of his strength, of riding with him to the ends of the universe and back. It was her turn to give unselfishly to him.
She cast aside the rest of her clothes, then reached for his. When her fingers grazed his chest, she heard his sharp intake of breath, felt the rise of heat in his flesh. She wanted to explore, to know every inch of his magnificent body, but Rod’s impatience took over.
“Sorry, princess,” he apologized as he laid her gently on her cot, then braced himself over her. “I have to have you now. I’ve wanted you for so long.” He entered her with one swift, sure thrust.
“For so long,” he murmured against her cheek as his strokes filled her. Her hips rose to meet each one, the rhythm wild, uncontrolled. With one final surge, he exploded inside her, lifting her to yet another peak from which she felt sure she could see the entire world in all its splendor.
They collapsed together, cramped on the uncomfortable cot, but unaware of anything but their own feeling of well-being. Fear, anger, disappointment and doubts had fled for a time, replaced by joy and hope.
“Are you okay?” he murmured at last.
“Okay?” she murmured incredulously. Her leg still draped intimately across his, her fingers resting where she could feel the steady rhythm of his heart, she said honestly, “I never expected to experience anything like this.”
The apparent awe in her voice seemed to amuse him. He lifted her hand and kissed each one of her fingers. “Not every jungle venture has this benefit, so I wouldn’t be too quick to give up your seat in the boardroom, if I were you.”
“I was referring to my entire lifetime. I thought these feelings only happened in books. Maybe in dreams.”
“I think I can promise that you’re not dreaming.”
“Care to prove it?”
“Not on this cot, princess. The whole time I was making love to you, I had one eye on you and the other on the floor, where I was certain we were headed.”
“And here I thought I had your undivided attention.”
Rod rolled over and settled her on top of him. “Maybe not undivided, but you certainly had all the best parts.”
“What arrogance!”
“Is it really? Didn’t I live up to all the gossip?”
“Don’t fish for compliments.” Cara suddenly recalled his earlier comment. “Speaking of gossip, though, you said something when we came in here about it having been a very long time for you.”
“So?”
“That doesn’t quite fit with the image. I was under the impression you had a woman waiting for you in every major city.”
“I guess I don’t get to major cities all that often.”
“I’m serious. Why did you let me believe that?”
“I thought it might get you to keep your distance.”
“Is there the tiniest suggestion in that statement that I’m the one who seduced you?” she inquired indignantly. She sat up, straddling his middle.
“Not for a minute,” Rod said, laughing at the menacing glare she’d feigned. “From the minute you stalked into the river the day you arrived, I knew I was in trouble. I figured my control was questionable, at best. I thought perhaps yours would be even better if you persisted in thinking I was an unrepentant rake.”
She leaned down and kissed him lightly. “I must say I’m rather relieved. I discovered with Maria that I’m not as immune to jealousy as I would have liked. It would have been a nasty business if I’d started roaming the world shooting down the competition.”
She caught the pleased gleam in his eyes before he could hide it. “You would have liked that, wouldn’t you?” she said in astonishment. He looked ever-so-slightly guilty.
“It would have been flattering,” he admitted.
“But costly. The legal fees would have been horrendous.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing we clarified things now.”
Her expression sobered with disgusting swiftness. “Have we, though?”
“Have we what?”
“Clarified things. It seems to me we might have only muddled them.”
Rod sighed and drew her down until she was tight against him again. His hands stoked her back and hips with devastating effect. “Ah, Cara, you still want simple answers, don’t you?”
“Is that so wrong?” she asked, her voice breathless.
“No. I’m just not so sure it’s possible.”
He kissed her then, with a slowness that inflamed her senses. But when she would have drawn out the moment until rapture claimed them again, he lifted her up and got to his feet.
“I think it’s time we both get some sleep. We have a long hike ahead of us. I want to get back to the dam site in two days.”
Knowing he was right didn’t make it any easier for her to watch him leave. Though she had never spent any more perfect hours, she was left with the disturbing sensation that tonig
ht could have been an end just as easily as a beginning.
CHAPTER NINE
They rose at dawn, joined the others for a light meal, then prepared to leave the archaeological site. For Cara the departure couldn’t come quickly enough. As they were packing up, Rafael attempted a subtle cross-examination.
“So, señorita, the visit has been useful to you?”
Thinking of the conversation she’d overheard the previous night, Cara found it difficult to be courteous. Swallowing a quick, angry retort, she merely said, “Yes. Very informative.”
The hint of sarcasm went unnoticed by everyone but Rod. He shot her a warning look as Rafael’s gaze turned speculative. Fortunately Rod was able to salvage the tense moment. Nothing in his own behavior hinted at any of the suspicions they had. When Rafael questioned him, he gave an impressively calm, noncommittal reply.
“As you know, there are many factors to be considered and the decision is not just in my hands or in Cara’s. The final decision will be made in Mexico City.”
Rafael pressed. “But you will make a recommendation?”
“Our report is not yet final.”
With a disappointed shrug, Rafael backed down.
Cara watched Maria’s face during the exchange. Maria seemed troubled, though whether by Rafael’s persistence or by Rod’s responses it was difficult to tell. Jorge, on the other hand, appeared oddly amused by his boss’s failure to get a commitment from them. Cara wondered if there was more of a rivalry between the two men than she’d previously guessed. Until last night, she had liked both men and felt that despite their very different personalities, they made an effective team. Perhaps Jorge’s intolerant attitude toward Maria’s idealism extended to Rafael as well.
Though Cara’s farewells were cool, Rod’s were astonishingly effusive—at least to Rafael, Maria and the other workers. In fact, he reserved his only scowl for Jorge, who admittedly prolonged his gallant kiss of Cara’s hand a moment or two longer than was necessary. Then, oblivious to Rod’s mounting irritation, he insisted on accompanying them for the first mile or so of the hike.
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