* * * * *
Sunlight broke through the green canopy of the trees as Jac awoke to the sounds of monkeys clamoring. She sat up, her body sore from the sexual workout. Mangos, bananas, breadfruit, and berries rose like a pyramid, piled high next to the now extinct fire. Her eyes immediately sought out Ares. He was nowhere to be found. Jac took a shaky breath, debating whether to dress and bail on him. She knew it would be taking the coward’s way out, if she didn’t stay to face him, but right now she wasn’t feeling too brave, at least when it came to her green-eyed Tarzan.
Jac threw on her clothes and hiking boots, then shoved a few pieces of fruit into her pockets for later. She bolted into the jungle. The heat and humidity had already started to climb to lethal heights, but she didn’t stop. Jac ran, ducking under low hanging vines, leaping over primordial ferns. A few parrots dispersed, their angry squawks ear shattering. But Jac pushed on, her heart heavy in her chest.
Damn it. She didn’t miss the big oaf at all.
The canopy of trees swayed gently, letting the dappled light shine down on the jungle floor. The breeze seemed to whisper Ares’s name. Jac’s eyes began to sting and her lungs burned. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, then glanced down at her fingers, which were now covered in wetness.
I am not crying…damn it.
* * * * *
Morning faded into afternoon, Jac had spent most of the time looking over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or disappointed that Ares hadn’t come after her. Maybe in the light of day it had dawned on him that what occurred last night was wonderful, but not something to build a lasting relationship on. Not that Jac knew what it took to do that—she’d had no firsthand experience to speak of.
Jac started around the palm tree, when she heard a twig snap. She froze, her heart slamming against her ribs. Had Ares caught up? Jac strained to hear, attempting to determine if what she’d heard was something or nothing more than her imagination. She pressed her body against the trunk of the liana infested tree and quieted her breathing. The sound came again, this time closer.
Jac grabbed the nearest liana and started to climb, her muscles strained as she hauled her weight up. She reached the top of a limb about fifteen feet above the rainforest floor. From her perch she could make out a man moving slowly toward her previous location. His eyes never wavered from the ground. He dressed in khaki pants and a matching shirt, with thick brown boots covering his feet. His skin was deeply tanned from over exposure to the sun. When he drew nearer, Jac recognized him and her eyes narrowed. He was the guide who had taken her pistols away the night she’d been captured.
Her gaze dropped. Holstered to his trim hips were Jac’s weapons.
Anger sliced through Jac, then she smiled wickedly. Paybacks are a bitch. And I’m the bitch to do it. She crouched, ready to pounce when the opportunity presented itself. The man wandered closer and closer still, until he was almost directly beneath Jac’s overhead position. He was about to take another step, when she sprung like a panther from the branch. The man’s head shot up and his cocoa colored eyes widened a fraction of a second before Jac landed on him, knocking the man to the ground.
She didn’t give the guide a minute to recover. Jac jumped to her feet. “Time to say goodnight,” she hissed, kicking him in the face as hard as she could.
His lip split and his head snapped back, stunned. She reached down and unfastened the holster. Groggy, the man started to rise. Jac backhanded him. Her skin slapped against the bone in his face with a sickening whack. She shook out her fingers, making sure she hadn’t broken anything. Her knuckles stung from the contact—punching hurt worse than she’d remembered. Jac pulled the pistols, along with the holster, from his body and fastened them on her hips.
She started to turn away when she spotted her knife sheathed at his side. Jac relieved the guide of her blade and slipped around the tree. She’d made it about twenty yards, when she spotted the guide’s tracking partner. Her hand stung, but she couldn’t resist getting a tiny bit even with her captors. She snaked around the brush, making her way from tree to tree. Jac took extra care not to step on any twigs or dead leaves. She wanted nothing to impede her attack.
Jac was within a foot of the second guide when she called out. “Hey, looking for me?”
He spun around, reaching for his rifle at the same time. Jac swept her leg out, knocking his knees to the side and sending him instantly to the ground. She followed the move with a series of frontal strikes, leaving the man incapacitated. Jac dusted off her hands and then bounded into the jungle.
Her work here was done.
She raced deeper through the dense canopy, her thoughts straying to her Navy SEAL father.
Dad would be proud, that I haven’t forgotten everything he taught me. God rest his soul.
No man Jac had ever encountered lived up to the honor, strength, and pride her father had possessed when he was alive.
Ares’s face floated into her mind. She quickly pushed it aside, choosing to ignore the obvious. She patted her guns. They were the only comfort she needed down here, at least until she was able to locate Rachel.
Where are you? She wondered.
Had the scouts been looking for her or something else? Jac knew she lacked a vital piece to this puzzle. Where had Ares come from? He didn’t seem to be part of any tribe down here. His skin was different, his eyes, his…well everything about him was—different.
And where did he get those abilities? Jac had seen plenty of weird movies in her time, but those weren’t special effects. They were real. Was that why the professor had come back down here? She’d assumed he’d fled to avoid possible prosecution, but that wasn’t likely since Jac had been unable to convince anyone back in New York that a crime had actually occurred. Well, anyone but Brigit.
Brigit had decided the whole incident had been written in the stars, including Jac’s impending journey to the jungle. Jac shook her head. She loved Brigit, but sometimes the girl was out and out kooky. Her thoughts returned to the professor and his motives.
Jac wasn’t sure what they were, but she was damn sure going to find out.
Chapter Six
Ares’s fury equaled the great disaster of Pompeii. By the time he’d returned to camp with more food and water, Jac had gone. Had he not proven that she needed him? Had he not convinced her that their bodies were meant to be joined? How could she leave him after all that he’d done for her? Anger surged through him, renewed by his visions of her. Was she laughing at his foolishness?
Ares crushed the fruit in his hand, sending sticky juice oozing over his palm and through his fingers. He sent an energy burst through his body, cleansing it instantly. When he found that little blonde sorceress he’d bind her and drive his cock into her until she was unable to reason.
He made sure to cover any trace of the fire and then proceeded deeper into the jungle. She’d hidden her trail well, but not well enough. After tracking Jac two times before, Ares had learned to look for the signs that she left behind…a crushed fern here, a snapped branch there, just enough clues. Little indications that he knew she was unaware of that alluded to her presence.
Ares had run some distance when he encountered two of the trackers from the red-devil’s expedition. They appeared bloodied and bruised a sure indicator that his fierceness had been here earlier. He smiled, feeling his chest swell with pride. She truly was a warrior at heart. The guides Jac had fallen stumbled to their feet, shaking their heads as if to clear them. Ares watched them from the cover of the trees, and then sent out a stunning energy burst knocking both men off their feet and out of commission for hours, if not days. They would not trouble her further.
The trail zigged and zagged, winding through lianas and vines, over ferns, through cats claw, and around ginger. His woman would pay when he caught up to her. Ares pictured her tied with the jade scarves he’d brought with him, her white skin glistening like a rare pearl under the moonlight as he lapped at her nether lips, brin
ging her to orgasm time after time. He could almost see her lithe muscles flex as she strained against the confines. Her slim hips bucking as he plunged his tongue into her wet chasm.
He growled. The rumbling sound rippled over his body going straight to his erect cock beneath his loincloth. Ares took a deep breath, scenting the air. Jac’s musky perfume flooded his system, drowning him. His rod pushed against the confines of his clothing, demanding her return.
“Soon,” he murmured.
* * * * *
Jac stopped to catch her breath. She’d been traveling for hours with no sign of Ares or anyone else for that matter. Jac couldn’t believe that there were no trails anywhere. How in the world did anyone make their way through this place? Shouldn’t she have spotted a sign that Rachel had been here before? There were always things left behind in the movies. Hell, right now, she’d be happy to have a sign anyone had been here before.
She scrubbed a hand over her face, her palm came back slicked with sweat. If the jungle floor got any hotter, Jac was convinced her blood would boil. The vegetation thickened and she proceeded forward at a slower pace. Her knife wasn’t made for slashing at vines. Jac stepped forward, searching for a place to sit and rest when a giant of a man stepped around a tree twenty yards in front of her. Her skin prickled and her heart rate picked up to maddening. She took a step back silently, hoping he hadn’t seen her. He wore a loincloth like Ares, but that was where the similarity ended.
Jac inched back once more, right into a snare trap. She shrieked as her feet were yanked out from under her, the knife flew from her hands, and the ground quickly slipped away. Jac twisted from her upside down position like a fish on a line, trying to keep her eyes on the approaching stranger. A smile quirked the corners of his lips as his gaze strayed from her feet to her breasts. Jac relaxed, bringing one hand to her side, until her palm rested on her gun.
He was as fair as Ares was dark and as strikingly handsome. His long blond hair hung to his trim waist like a Viking of old. His eyes were unusual, a rare shade of aqua that Jac had only seen in colored contacts. The man’s gaze locked onto her face and he inhaled deeply as if he could pick up her scent from across the distance. Jac raised her arm and smelled her pit. It wasn’t exactly roses, but she didn’t stink that bad.
The giant smiled then, as if he’d read her thoughts. Was this guy from the same tribe as Ares? Not that she knew what that tribe was exactly. If so, why was he so fair? Surely he wasn’t as old as Ares, he looked to be no more than twenty-eight.
God now Ares has me believing the three thousand five hundred year old crap.
The man raised his hand in what Jac took as a greeting, but she watched him closely, well as close as she could from her precarious position. She’d seen what Ares could do with his hands, not to mention the rest of his anatomy. The last thing she needed was to find another god-like man. She’d just gotten rid of the first Tarzan.
Her heart clenched at the thought of not seeing Ares again. She chose to ignore it.
Jac didn’t think she could pull her gun before he could send one of those funny glowy things at her. His eyes were too intent, watchful, knowing. She felt like a gunslinger from the old west, weighing in who was the faster draw. In the end, Jac eased away from her weapon, deciding diplomacy was probably a better call here. The blond giant visibly relaxed.
“Hello there, big fella.” Jac waved, trying to appear calm. “I could use a little help.”
The man’s smile widened and his eyes glowed. Jac pointed to the weapon.
“I can’t cut the rope with my knife on the ground.”
His gaze went to her blade and then to her snagged foot. He raised his hand once and his palm began to glow.
She wasn’t ready for another one of those energy bursts. Her body clenched, then began to tingle. Her nipples peaked, tightening into marbles beneath her t-shirt. Jac’s breathing deepened and her channel flooded in anticipation. She cursed beneath her breath. In a few short hours Ares had trained her body to respond. Damn it, she wasn’t like fucking Pavlov’s dog, but her body had different ideas as it readied itself for an orgasm. Jac clenched her legs together, fighting the overwhelming sensations.
The burst shot out. There was a loud pop. Birds squawked, taking to flight. The acrid smell of burning fiber assailed her nose. She glanced down, attempting to judge the distance, as the rope smoked and crackled. A second later it snapped. Jac found herself falling. She braced, readying for impact. Moments before striking the jungle floor she was snatched from the air into a pair of waiting arms. The giant had moved with lightning speed to catch her.
He held her cradled against his wide hairless chest. She inhaled. His body had the musky odor of sweat mixed with adrenaline, yet his breathing remained steady and deep. Jac’s hand rested on his flat disc-like nipple. His skin felt warm, heated to the touch. His strong heartbeat thumped beneath her fingertips.
Jac pushed herself away, not liking the soothing comfort of his strength. He set her on her feet and took a step back. She ran a trembling hand through her hair, slicking it off her face.
“Thanks for the help.”
She wiped her hands on the side of her shorts. It took Jac a moment before she could actually look him in the eye. When she finally did, Jac regretted it. This man looked amazing. His gaze locked to hers, holding her, caressing, challenging. Jac swallowed hard and put some distance between them. His brow cocked in that all too male, arrogant way, but he said nothing.
Jac brushed her clothes off. “I best be on my way.” She attempted to smile at the man, but it came out as a grimace.
“Why are you here?”
His questioned surprised Jac. She’d assumed he could speak English like Ares, but even as the thought swept through her mind, Jac hadn’t considered the strange response her body would have to his deep voice. What was it about the men down here? Jac gathered herself up to her full height. She tilted her head to look at the blond giant’s eyes.
“And you are…” She held out her hand.
He glanced to her hand, then back to her face. “I’m Coridan Antares.”
She dropped her hand to her side. “It’s nice to meet you Coridan Antares.” She nodded and pointed around them. “Have you been wandering around these parts for a while?”
He looked puzzled.
“Are you from here?” Jac restated.
“This is my home, if that ’tis what you ask.” He nodded.
Jac thought about her friend and figured what the hell. It couldn’t hurt to ask. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I can find a friend of mine; she’s about five foot two, dark wavy hair, answers to the name Rachel Evans?”
The man’s brows furrowed. “You search for Queen Rachel?”
Jac’s mouth dropped open. Surely she’d heard him wrong. Had he called Rachel, Queen? It only took her a moment to recover. She was so happy the stranger knew Rachel she didn’t care what he called her, as long as he took her to Rachel this instant.
“Do you know where I can find her?”
The man nodded in the affirmative.
Jac’s hands shook so badly she put them behind her back. “Can you tell me, or better yet, take me to her?”
“If that is your wish.” The man stepped forward. He towered over Jac, like Ares.
She forced herself to hold her ground. The man’s eyes wandered over Jac’s legs, along her body, resting on her breasts, before returning to her face. His smile devastated her insides. He took another deep breath and the grin slipped from his face, like wet paint sliding down a wall.
“I see you have met Ares.” It wasn’t a question.
Jac shifted her discomfort growing. She didn’t like the way the man’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Ares’s name. He inhaled again. The next thought hit Jac in the gut. He could smell Ares on her. Jac didn’t even want to consider that far too humiliating possibility. It had to be her imagination, anything else was unacceptable.
She considered the picture she must presen
t, disheveled, flushed, lips swollen, like she’d been having mind-blowing sex all night. The guy didn’t have to be a mind reader after all. Coridan scowled. Maybe Ares had been as much of a pain in the ass to this guy, as he’d been to her. Right now, Jac needed this man if she hoped to find Rachel.
So she did what Jac did best. She smiled and stepped closer into the man’s personal space, her lashes lowered to half mast when she held out her hand again to introduce herself. “Forgive my rudeness. My name is Jaclyn Ward, but you can call me Jac.”
His palm enveloped hers. “It ‘tis my pleasure, Jac.”
Coridan dropped to his knees and kissed her nipples through her shirt, before Jac realized what he was doing. His firm lips pressed against one, allowing the pressure to build, and then the other. He flicked his tongue over the latter and gently nipped, leaving a trace of moisture behind. The buds beaded instantly against his mouth’s assail. All Jac could do was gape. Coridan smiled then rose to his feet.
“Why did you do that?”
He looked confused. “’Tis proper Atlantean greeting.”
“Of course it is, sunshine. I don’t even know why I asked.” Jac made no attempt to hide her sarcasm.
His lips kicked up at the sides. “Let me take you to your friend.” He grabbed Jac’s hand as if she were a child, to lead her through the jungle.
She steadied her voice as they hiked along. “Has Ares ever met Rachel?”
Coridan nodded. “He prepared her the day of the mating ceremony.”
“Prepared?” Jac yanked her hand from his and swallowed down her anger. “Forget it, I don’t want to know.” She needed the truth, but it wouldn’t help her cause if she sounded like a jealous female. “Let me get this straight, Ares knows how to get back to the village, where Rachel is located?”
Coridan looked at Jac as if she were dense. “Of course.”
That no good, son-of-a-bitch has been lying to me the whole time.
Jac recalled the conversation she’d had with Ares. No not lying, deceiving, this was just as bad in her book. Jac clenched her fists so tight she could almost feel her skin tear. A red haze clouded her vision. If she ever saw Ares again, she’d kick is tight ass all the way to Brooklyn.
Exodus Page 7
