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Kris had spent five years of his youth training in the jungle that surrounded the temple the woman spoke of, which was merely a legend to most of the natives.

His teachers had taken him to the edge of the surrounding jungle, given him supplies, and told him when he found the temple, his teachers would find him.

It took him a month the first time. Then two weeks when they made him take the second trip, even though every path he’d followed before seemed to have been destroyed—consumed by the jungle entirely.

Those five years of his training were mostly spent learning the outlying landscape and the different points of access to the temple itself.

His teachers would always send him to it via different routes.

Like the hidden temple was the pole to his tether, soon he would always feel himself drawn to it, being led back to it, even if that weren’t his original destination.

It finally got to the point where he could find the place in his sleep, and he had one night.

He’d woken up with his hands resting against hard stone and an even harder pressure throbbing between his thighs, uncertain why he was there and with no recollection of having made the journey.

Now he would finally begin his last journey into that jungle.

“It would be my pleasure,” he said to the woman with a wide grin.

“Terrific! I’m Erika, the leader of this motley crew.” She tilted her head to the large table where the others sat. Three men and two other women, all young and attractive, watched eagerly.

“Kris,” he said, ignoring Erika’s proffered hand, but waving amiably at the others, who all smiled and waved back.

Once the trek began, he was unprepared for the shock of being exposed to the brash attitudes of the Westerners who had hired him.

He remained on the periphery of the group and they tended to give him space, which was expected, but he often found himself in conversation with them and discovered he enjoyed their camaraderie.

He was particularly fascinated by the level of sexual energy they all possessed—something he rarely encountered growing up, but that he could sense from them as prevalent as the sounds of the jungle.

Only two of them seemed to be giving in to it: Erika, the group’s leader, and Eben, the older of the two blond men in the group.

Erika seemed to be the instigator on the nights when the pair coupled.

The rest of the group would head into their own tents rather than sit and have to communally bear witness to the sounds coming from the tent the couple shared that night.

Some nights Kris might even hear furtive sounds from the others as they each saw to their own needs in the dark, the noises of the jungle obscuring the noises from all but Kris, who had learned to discern the sounds of carnal pleasure from the cacophony of the wildness that surrounded them.

He understood the frustration of being witness to a pair of lovers, doubly so having no outlet himself.

In the seven years since the night he’d first seen his teachers together, he’d learned better mental discipline, so he was able to appreciate the dynamics of the party he now served as guide to without becoming overly aroused.

Not even the very graphic noises coming from Erika’s tent in the evening bothered him, nor did the generally uninhibited behavior of most of them.

Whenever they reached a suitable bathing spot, women and men both stripped to nothing and dove in, with the exception of the pretty blonde, Camille, who preferred to wait until the men were gone before tentatively slipping into the water in her very demure underthings.

Kris also preferred to bathe alone, choosing the early mornings to take advantage of the cooler water that would help slake the burn of carnal need that he’d been afflicted with most of his life.

After regaining control of his libido, he always felt revived and even more excited to lead them closer.

He didn’t dwell much on what might lay at the end of his journey, preferring to focus on the task at hand.

Instead, he let his subconscious revel in the gradual approach and play out his fantasies while he slept.

One such morning, he’d finished bathing and lay naked, drying in the morning sun on a large stone near the pool they’d found the evening before.

Soft splashing reached his ears, and he opened his eyes to see a single figure, partially obscured by a mossy outcropping several yards away.

He raised up on his elbows and watched while the dark-haired Hallie dove beneath the water and came up again, water sluicing over her very naked breasts.

Heat flushed his cheeks and he swiftly averted his eyes, but the image of her sleek globes, wet and tipped with hard, pink peaks, had already burned itself into his brain.

He gave in and looked again, too tempted not to.

Kris tried to decide if he should announce himself, but before he could, Hallie swiped her hands over her face and opened her eyes.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, Kris. I … ah … didn’t …” she stammered, and then broke out into an embarrassed laugh.

“I can go,” he said, but made no move to get up. Hallie swam a little closer, taking him in. He glanced down his torso, relieved to see his cock was mostly behaving, in spite of how enticing her glistening breasts appeared in the morning light.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s a big one. I’m impressed.”

His eyes shot back up. She stood a few feet away, her lips quirked in a sideways smile. “I meant your tattoo,” she said, filling in his stunned silence.

Of course she meant his tattoo, but a different part of him responded to the mistaken compliment.

“Though the rest of you is impressive, too,” she added. Her gaze swept over him again, lingering on his groin.

“Thank you,” he said, choosing to ignore the throb of his hard-on in favor of studying her reactions.

This was the first time he’d been naked and aroused in a woman’s presence.

It wasn’t like he could do anything about it, but what would she do?

Would she keep her distance the way every other human he encountered seemed to?

“You should come back in for a bit,” she said, her voice a low purr that reminded Kris of how his teachers occasionally spoke to each other when they thought he wasn’t listening. Once he’d discovered their relationship, that tone had always been a signal for Kris to leave the two men alone.

Oh, what he wouldn’t give to be able to accept her invitation and see it through to her desired conclusion.

Pushing aside his regret, he replied innocently, “But I just dried off. Maybe you should get out and join me here. The sun feels nice.”

Hallie seemed to ponder his suggestion and started toward the rock he reclined on. A few feet away from him, her determination faltered and a cloudy look passed across her face.

She raised both hands and buried her face in them. “What the fuck am I doing?” she asked in a muffled voice behind her palms. “I’m sorry, Kris. I can’t.”

“Can’t what? Get out of the water?”

“No, I can do that. Just not to do what I was about to.”

“Which would be …?” He continued playing dumb, even though he knew precisely what she’d been considering, because that was what had gone through his mind too, in vivid detail. He quickly quashed the thoughts before they caused more trouble than they already had.

With that, the palpable tension wilted and Hallie sighed.

She swam the last few feet to the rock and hoisted herself up beside him, close enough that the cooler temperature of the water radiating off her skin was tangible to his heightened senses.

She stayed just far enough to avoid touching him outright.

“Something completely inappropriate and unprofessional. That’s what I was about to do. Jump your boner … er … bones . Sheesh, I’m a mess.” She glanced sidelong at his lap. “You don’t look much better, come to that.”

“If I ignore it, it’ll go away,” he said, sitting up and giving his stiff prick an irritated look.

“True enough,” she said. “If only all of life’s little annoyances worked that way.” After a contemplative pause, she changed the subject. “So, Mr. Jungle Guide, how soon until we reach this fancy dragon burial ground, or whatever it is?”

“It’s a temple, not a grave. The dragons there are very much alive.”

“Ah. These dragons Erika’s so hot for. Don’t tell me you buy into her crazy ideas.”

“Not exactly.” Kris had taken the measure of the group’s leader and realized that in spite of Erika’s adherence to science, she was very much an acolyte of dragon lore.

Her ideas about what to expect were only half-correct, however.

She definitely wasn’t expecting the ritual he was diligently leading them to.

He hoped he’d be able to convince her of its value once inside the temple.

“?‘Not exactly’ … You don’t believe her? Or … Please do explain, because us sane people are a little outnumbered at the moment.”

“Do you believe in Fate, Hallie?”

Hallie didn’t answer for several beats, and Kris looked over at her. Her expression had grown even darker and she rested one hand lightly over her abdomen. In a shaky voice, she said, “If you had asked me that a year ago, I’d have said no, but now? Yeah, I think I do a little bit.”

“Good, because tomorrow we’re all going to meet our Fates. All seven of us.”