by Entangled
She smiled to herself. In many ways, that could be considered a benefit.
As Jonathan crossed the room to the lift that would take him and Jane to the ground, he glanced at Kellan Darkdale. A measured, meaningful look passed between the two men, but neither of them spoke. Kellan turned to pick up a book and was settling in a chair as Jane followed her fiancé onto the lift. She wondered what their exchange meant.
To her knowledge, the two men had hardly interacted since Jonathan’s arrival, and she was curious as to whether there might be some sort of discord between them. After all, Jonathan could blame Kellan for not looking hard enough to find him when he disappeared three years ago, and Kellan could be upset with his partner for doing such a foolhardy thing as going after his pack and ruining their trip.
On a previous moonlit walk, Kellan had told her about the map that originally brought the two men to this Madagascar jungle. It was a charter that led to a discovered but untapped diamond mine. Whatever had happened to the map, its loss could be a bone of contention between them.
Or perhaps she was being fanciful. She hadn’t noticed any tension between them. The two men had been friends and business partners. They’d been so close that Jonathan had, according to Kellan, talked often and in detail about the intimate relationship he’d had with Jane. Kellan had used that information as an attempt to court her…if one could call attempting to seduce her in her bedchamber courting.
For that reason, Jane was relieved Jonathan hadn’t invited his friend to join them for a walk. She’d never been wholly comfortable with Darkdale and the way he looked at her. Even though he apologized for the incident in her chamber, she still felt self-conscious about what had passed between them.
“I don’t know as you have to watch for snakes tonight Miss Jane,” Efremina said with a nod. “Not when y’got Mr. Kent with you.”
“What a beautiful breeze coming from the ocean,” Jane said as she stepped onto the ground a moment later. She slid her hand around Jonathan’s arm, suddenly boisterously, deliriously happy to be here with him.
It was a miracle.
“Come, Jane. I’d like to show you something.”
A little squiggle of anticipation whipped through her, and Jane smiled up at him. Her gaze went of its own accord up and beyond his head, focusing on the tall dark treetops swaying above them.
Was he up there somewhere? Watching from a shadowy perch?
Jane forced herself to look away, back to ground level. Whoever or wherever the wild man was, she had no reason to care any longer. She’d never see him again, and it was just fine with her.
“What is it?” she asked, turning her whole attention onto Jonathan.
“Remember back in London, how after dinner the men and women would separate? The men would go into the study and smoke their cigars and pipes, and drink whiskey and brandy?”
“Of course,” she told him with a laugh. “It must seem like forever for you, but I’ve only been gone from London for three months. Yes, we women were relegated to the parlor with, if we were lucky, a tiny glass of sherry. We’d have to wait until you males were finished with your masculine pursuits, and then you might join us for cards or games.”
“I always thought that an absurd tradition,” Jonathan told her. “For why would we want to be separated from the women? There are so many more interesting pastimes with the fair gender. I mention this because the native tribe that I’ve been living with has a completely different tradition after the meals.” He looked down at her and she could see the gleam of his teeth in the moonlight.
“And what might that be?” she asked.
“I’m looking forward to showing you.”
Her heart pounding in anticipation, Jane allowed him to lead her away from the treehouse and camp, deeper into the jungle. After their brief interlude earlier today, they hadn’t had any further opportunity to be alone. Jane ached to have his hands on her.
Moments later, Jonathan brought her to a clearing in the thick jungle. A bed-sized pool glistened in the moonlight, and off to the side was a small glow on the ground. Jane recognized it as smoldering coals and as she stepped closer, she saw that they were enclosed in a shallow stone bowl.
A soft rumble that sounded like a waterfall drew her attention, and she realized it was coming from the pool of water. It rumbled and bubbled like a massive soup pot.
“Hot springs?” she said, thinking of the Roman spa she’d visited in Bath, England. The water there was rusty and green, staining the stone and marble walls red. Here it was a very different, completely natural setting. She waved her hand over the water and felt heat from the steam.
“Yes, my love, this pool is fed by hot springs,” Jonathan told her. She turned to see that he’d begun to unbutton his shirt.
Jane’s pulse spiked as anticipation and a spark of pleasure darted down through her belly. Not for the first time, she was appreciative that her clothing here in the jungle was much less complicated than what she wore back home. She could undress herself.
A mere week ago, Jane would never have imagined stripping her clothing off anywhere other than in the privacy of her chamber. But since she walked down the gangplank of the ship that brought her here, many things had changed. Two days ago, she wanted to bathe so badly she undressed in the middle of the sunshine and swam beneath a waterfall, reveling in the privacy of the jungle.
As she untied the simple drawstring around her skirt, Jane shivered at the memory of that aborted bath. She had been enjoying the sluice of water over her skin when a large rodent-like creature appeared, startling her, and causing her to flee into the jungle…where she’d been caught in a trap made by the wild man.
He’d freed her, but only after seeing her completely naked, trussed up in a tangle of vines. Jane felt hot all over again, remembering how he’d looked at her…how the mere expression on his face, the heat and desire and wonder had made her body tingle as if he actually touched her.
“Do you need some help, darling?” Jonathan’s voice broke into her thoughts.
She looked over to see him tall and lean and completely naked, gilded by the moonlight. He stood near the glowing coals, holding a handful of palm-sized leaves. “No,” she told him with a smile, noticing that his cock had begun to swell, jutting out in a gentle arc silhouetted by the low light. “Jungle attire is much easier to remove than what you’ve been used to.”
“Come over here,” he said. She stepped out of her skirt and, as she unbuttoned her shirtwaist, Jane made her way to his side.
He laid the leaves over the smoldering coals, blanketing them lightly. Instead of putting the fire out, however, they began to smoke, and their ends curled then burst into flames. A heavy, pungent odor wafted from the burning leaves, sweet and yet bitter.
“Breathe,” Jonathan said, and leaned over the shallow bowl filled with smoking leaves. He took Jane’s hand and drew her close.
As she inhaled the heavy scent, she became aware of his hands sliding down her arms and torso, reaching around to pluck the last of her blouse buttons. She made no protest as he pulled the remainder of her clothing off, unlacing her simple corset and untying the chemise beneath. That final flimsy garment ended up caught in the delicate branches of a bush, like a cloud of white cotton.
By now, her senses clogged with the sweetly bitter aroma, Jane was feeling both drowsy and very much awake. Her pulse sang through her veins, her knees were weak, and her skin felt as if it had come alive. Jonathan smiled and led her to the bubbling pool, and just as she made to step in, she noticed him peering into the darkness behind her. He made a sharp gesture and she turned to look.
“What is it?” Her heart skipped a beat. A tiger? A snake?
The wild man?
“It’s nothing to be worried about, darling,” he replied, urging her forward. “Come, tell me what you think of the water.”
She saw nothing in the jungle behind her, and she trusted Jonathan, so Jane poked a toe into the pool. “It’s hot,” she said, the
n stuck her foot all the way in. “Ahhhh,” she sighed. “It feels…wonderful.” She couldn’t remember ever being in such warm water—the baths at home were hardly more than tepid, even in the winter.
Despite the heavy humidity of the jungle air, she found the steaming pool’s heat welcome. By the time she settled, naked, in the water, Jane’s cheeks and throat glistened with perspiration and her face was hot. Her muscles relaxed and she became languorous, half-reclining against a slick rock.
The underwater spray of the hot springs caused the water to rumble and bubble, surging over Jane’s skin in little licks of heat. Jonathan hardly stepped into the pool across from her before he reached for her, settling deep in the water.
Jane went into his arms willingly, the hot water rushing over her shoulders and nearly to her chin as she sank lower, fitting into his embrace. Her breasts bobbed in the rumbling water, tossed and caressed by the hot waves. Jonathan kissed her, deep and long, with warm, damp lips and a strong sleek tongue.
She couldn’t breathe—it was hot and steamy, their mouths crashing together, his teeth sharp and firm against her lips. He found her hand and closed it around his cock, holding it beneath the water as he sighed against her throat.
Jane curled her fingers tightly, sliding along the length of him, her legs straddling the outside of his thighs. A rough stone scraped her as she knelt, and her quim spreading wide, open to the hot water and its bubbling, surging motion. Jonathan found one of her breasts, his fingers gently pinching the bud of her nipple. Jane sighed with pleasure, feeling the little tugging throb of her tiny clit. She shifted to press into the top of his thigh, rolling her hips as she surged closer.
“Tighter,” Jonathan groaned, and she fisted her hand more tightly around his cock, sliding up to the velvety knob at the top. “Faster.” She complied, and the water splashed beneath her ministrations.
He found her other breast, flattening a hand over each one then pulling back to play with her nipples. Yes.
Her world was steamy and wet, and when she closed her eyes, everything tilted and swirled, everything felt close and hot and full. She smelled Jonathan, his male scent, the sweat clinging to his warm skin, sweet flowers and damp soil. She felt the coarseness of the hair on his legs, scraping against hers. The hard, smooth stones beneath her knees. The heat of his cock, hotter even than the steaming water.
Jane couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t speak. She felt as if she floated on some hot cloud, and at the same time, she felt heavy and expectant. She rocked and shifted, moving her hips to find a way to join with him. She wanted his cock inside her. She wanted to fill the heat, the length, slamming up into her—
Then all at once, he lifted her at the hips, positioning her over him. With a sharp jerk, he jolted up into her and she cried out at the sudden shock of pleasure.
He was deep inside her, and she wanted to move, fast and hard…but he grasped her tightly by the hips and held her in place. He filled her, throbbed deeply inside her. She was tight around him, quivering with desire, her tiny pearl full and aching….
“Please,” she whispered, jolting against him in desperation. The pressure of his body against her sent a short, sharp stab of pleasure deep inside, but it wasn’t enough. Her world was a maelstrom… steamy heat, the waves surging over her skin, his thick rod penetrating her, pleasure and need rolling through her lust-fogged brain….
Jonathan held her hips, allowing her to rock gently over him. His breathing was short and harsh against her cheek as she sagged against him, her hair plastering to their bodies. She moaned again, her hands on his shoulders, the entirety of her consciousness focused on the throbbing, insistent pearl between her legs.
Jane hardly realized when two hands reached from behind and covered her breasts. Someone hard and warm pressed against her back, the unmistakable length of a full cock slid along the crevice of her arse.
She tried to peel her eyes open, but her lids were heavy and the pleasure…it was intense and it dragged her deeper into the slow, hot vortex of desire.
Someone pulled her hair out of the way, someone’s hands fondled her breasts—rough, callused hands. She was aware of a deep, low groan in her ear, aware of Jonathan’s breathing speeding up and his hands pumping her up and over him, lifting and lowering.
Her own passion rose, spiraling faster and harder as Jonathan moved her with greater speed. The heavy hands from behind became harsher, pinching, twisting, kneading…a guttural grunt, hot breath….
Jonathan cried out and jacked his cock up, high and deep, inside her and Jane felt her own body shudder into completion just after. She gasped for air, collapsing against him, hardly aware of the second hard body pressing into her from behind. The hands, probing and grasping and fondling. She didn’t even have the strength to open her eyes, to look behind her.
Perhaps it was a dream. Perhaps she imagined it. Perhaps it was the wild man….
She forced her eyes open at last, and found that she was still in a shadowy, steamy, sweet-smelling world. A glow to her right was the shallow stone bowl of burning leaves, settled now on a rock next to the pool. The sweetly bitter scent curled from the coals more strongly than ever and the world spun. Had someone added more leaves?
“And now,” Jonathan said, easing her away from him. He glanced over her shoulder as she slipped free of his cock, floating in the water…back into the embrace of two strong arms.
“Ah, Jane,” said a familiar voice in her ear. “At last.”
Her insides scattered and her limbs were heavy and yet she was able to look over her shoulder. “Kellan,” she said. She thought she said. Perhaps she just thought it.
“Yes,” he said, and his hands slid from her breasts down over her hips. She felt the thrust of his cock brush against her arse once again, the strength of his thighs beneath hers.
“Jonathan,” she managed to say, frantically looking around for him. Where was he? Where had he gone? She could hardly focus. Her mind was overwhelmed by the glow of coals…the waft of smoke…the last bit of throbbing in her tiny nub…the tight pull of her nipples.
“Jane,” he said. Jonathan. She opened her eyes and he was there, right in front of her. His face was so close she could feel his breath against her skin.
He took her face in his hands and brought her to him, covering her mouth with his. She scrabbled in the water, off-balance, and at last her palms settled against the smooth bottom of the pool.
His lips took hers, his tongue thrusting deep and long into her mouth, and she had no choice but to try to balance on her hands as her legs rose in the water behind her. Kellan moved between her legs, his warm thighs against her, his hands on her hips.
Jane began to breathe harder, smothered against Jonathan’s mouth. Her legs were spread, her hips shifting and floating in the churning pool. She couldn’t pull away, she wanted to protest…Kellan rose behind her, his hand sliding down to her swollen quim. He found her full labia, touched the sensitive bud hooded therein. She jolted as pleasure and pain speared her. He pushed and stroked and she felt the throbbing return, a tight, sharp lust. Reluctant, bitter, but needy, nevertheless.
She twisted her lips away and gasped, “Jonathan?” It was a question…her mind was foggy…surely he didn’t mean….
“Jane, Jane,” he said against her lips. “Trust me. You must trust me. Do you love me? Do you trust me?”
But she couldn’t respond, for his mouth covered hers again, crushing away any protests. Any arguments.
Her world spun, weighing her down. Hands shifted, grasping her, pulling her legs wider. Hot strong pressure from behind.
“Jon…you gave your word,” said someone dark and deep behind her ear.
“You have my blessing,” Jonathan muttered against her mouth.
Kellan gripped her arse and all at once she felt his cock, strong and insistent, pressing against….No!
She tensed, jerking against the hands gripping her, but they held firm.
“Jane, easy,” Jonathan said, rel
easing her face to grab her arms. “Look at me,” he said, his face damp and glistening in the low dusk. His eyes, the glowing coals reflected in them, burned bright as he stared into hers.
Kellan pulled her arse cheeks apart, his fingers strong but not hurtful. The steamy water burned over the tender ribbons of her exposed flesh, and then she felt something slender slide up inside her. Jane gasped and struggled, but the discomfort eased. She felt full and tight, uncomfortable…and yet strangely aroused.
The finger withdrew, accompanied by a guttural sound from Kellan as he shifted behind her once again. Then she felt a different sort of pressure, there, at her tight arse. His hands spread her wide and she felt him pushing against her.
“Jonathan,” she breathed as the pressure became stronger…there….Kellan positioned himself at the tiny hole of her arse, his cock easing in…and in…and in.
“Jane, relax yourself,” Jonathan told her. “Relax.”
Now Kellan’s fingers curved into the soft flesh of her hips, and she felt the pulse of his cock as it sank deeper, slowly, excruciatingly slowly. Thick. Hard. Insistent. Pain warred with unfamiliar sensation. Jane closed her eyes, horrified and yet…titillated.
In and in…slowly, deeply…and then suddenly he shoved himself against her, sliding completely inside. Jane cried out in shock as much as pain, and tried once again to twist away, but Jonathan was there. His face close to hers, his eyes burning into hers.
“Jane…trust me…it will be good….” He devoured her mouth again, cutting off her breath as Kellan began to move against her. She felt full and uncomfortable, raw and ravaged…but as he picked up rhythm, the discomfort, the strangeness began to ebb into awkward pleasure.
Jonathan was breathing, short and hard, against her, and before she realized what was happening, he pulled her closer to him. Kellan followed, shoving into her from behind as Jonathan eased halfway beneath her in the water. She struggled to steady herself, her knees scraping the bottom of the pool, slipping into a flattened position against Jonathan.
