Page 31

She crawled out the opening in the end of their makeshift tent and sighed in relief as a stirring of cooler air caressed her skin. Alex was chopping up what looked like a papaya with the same sort of machete she’d seen those men carrying last night.

“Where’d you get that?” she exclaimed under her breath.

“From the tree over there. It fell over in the storm and the fruit wasn’t all blown away.”

“No, silly. The big-ass knife.”

“That road we were walking along last night used to be lined with houses. All sorts of household goods are snagged in the rubble. I picked this up.”

Personally, she’d been too absorbed in her misery to notice such things.

He passed her a dripping slice of orange papaya and she bit into it with a moan of pleasure. She’d never tasted anything so sweet and refreshing in all her life.

“I saved this for last,” he announced some minutes later. He hoisted a big green, roughly triangular fruit onto a big rock and raised the machete over it.

“What’s that?”

“Coconut.

“No way. They’re round, brown, hairy things.”

He grinned at her and took a whack at it. “The brown bit is the seed. This is the entire fruit.” It split open to reveal what sheknew as a coconut nestled inside. He dug it out of the mushy pulp.

He gave the coconut a sharp rap with the machete and it split open. He dropped the knife and caught the two halves in his hand. “Drink the coconut water. We need the fluid.”

It didn’t taste bad, but it wasn’t that great, either. It was wet, though, and her body craved the moisture. They scooped out the coconut flesh with their fingers and ate that, as well. She liked hers sweetened, but hey. It could be a worse meal. Alex could be asking her to eat raw fish. Or bugs.

As the morning heated up, Alex stripped off his t-shirt to reveal a glistening chest rippling with muscle. “Are you looking to get jumped, sailor?” she murmured.

“By you? Bring it, baby.”

Her gaze narrowed. She did need to get naked anyway and shake the sand out of her clothes. She wiggled out of her jeans, which had dried tightly to her body. “I’m going to have to do some serious twerking to get those back on,” she declared.

He grinned. “I can’t wait to see the show.”

Speaking of which, she stripped off her shirt and made a production of reaching behind her back to unhook her bra. She brushed the sand off her breasts sensuously, enjoying the feel of her fingertips sweeping across the sensitive peaks.

Abruptly other fingers were there, pushing hers aside. They brushed the sand off her entire body, in fact, leaving her moaning and gasping with pleasure. And when she didn’t think she could take any more, Alex pushed her back against a fallen tree trunk, arching her backward until her body was taut. When he had her immobilized and at his mercy, he finally unzipped his jeans, freed himself, and plunged into her.

She cried out and he pressed his hand over her mouth fast. Good call. She never did have any restraint once he took control of her body. She arched up into him, matching him thrust forthrust, sprawled across the giant log, while he took her fast, then slow, rough, then gentle. He closed his eyes today, lost in his own pleasure. But that was fine with her. Any second now, she was going to….

…explode. She screamed against his hand. Like that. Ohmigosh. The orgasm had taken her by surprise, ripping through her like Giselle had gone through this end of Cuba.

Alex collapsed against her with a low, shuddering groan, pressing her uncomfortably into the rough tree bark. But nearly as quickly, he pushed away lifting her up and gently brushing off her backside. “Did we get all the sand off?” he asked wryly.

“I’m pretty sure we shook it all off,” she managed to reply without panting too audibly. She pulled her clothes on with unsteady hands while he efficiently dismantled their shelter, folded the tarps, and stowed them in his pack.

He announced, “It’s time for us to get moving. We have a ways to go before night. Wait here, and I’ll do a little reconnaissance.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“Good lord, no!”

Whether he was concerned for her safety or for the burden she would be to him, she couldn’t tell. Either way, he whirled and disappeared into the brush quickly, as if worried she might follow him, anyway.

She sighed. The man was such a loner, sometimes. Darned if that wasn’t part of his appeal, though. The fact that he’d chosen to let her inside his personal fortress of solitude was sexy as all get out to her. Were they not fugitives who’d be arrested or shot on sight, and were there not boa constrictors out here, this wouldn’t be a bad little spot to stay for another day or two and have lots of hot monkey sex.

But after that, she would want a hot shower in a real bathroom in a decent hotel.