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Kontara shook her head. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.

I’ll invent something completely unique now that I’ve got the time.

It will be a relief to try to forget about that blasted village and what Zakira and Caldwell did to all of us.

” She added soberly, “And I’d think you’d want to try to do a little forgetting yourself, considering what I’ve heard you’ve gone through lately. ”

Celine shook her head. “To each her own. I don’t have your gourmet talents, so I won’t be able to lose myself in that kind of escapism.

All I can think of right now is Eve Duncan and her son, who are still being held by those bastards who killed my friend Barnaby.

I’m feeling very helpless at the moment.

There must be something I can do.” She looked back at the entrance of the cave beneath the waterfall.

“And I’m thinking about maybe exploring there if everything looks safe enough. ”

“Oops.” Kontara grimaced. “I believe that may be my exit line. You’ve got the same expression on your face that I see right before you take me down on the mat and get me in a headlock.

” She waved her hand as she turned away.

“I’m going to go get my supplies, and I’ll ask Rashid to help me set up my kitchen.

It’ll keep him busy for a little while, but not for long—then he’ll notice you’re gone and be on your trail.

He’ll catch up with you in no time because he’ll know where you’re heading.

” She shook her head at Celine. “If I thought there was any danger at all connected to this, I wouldn’t be doing it.

But since Dominic brought you with him, he doesn’t have the right to smother you just because he wants to take care of you.

We both know how well you’ve been trained to do that all by yourself.

” She turned on her heel and started toward Rashid. “Get moving!”

Celine got moving!

She was down the hill and around the cliff in seconds, heading for the cave opening she could see just beyond the mist of the waterfall.

She made her way through the first prickly patch of the maze bordering the cave, but then she was caught by the spray and had to cling with her back to the cliff as she carefully inched herself down the rocky pathway into the cave.

Where was Dominic? She could see a flashlight dimly glowing in the distance; she lit her own flashlight and headed toward it.

Cockroaches on the uneven stone floor… She hadn’t even known there were cockroaches in the African wilds. Of course there were, she thought impatiently. They were everywhere. Didn’t some scientists say that cockroaches would eventually supplant the human race?

But personally, she’d bet on the human race every time. As far as she knew, cockroaches had never painted a Mona Lisa or invented a new lifesaving operation to save anyone from brain disease.

But where there were cockroaches, could snakes be far behind? She had no fondness for reptiles. Enough was enough.

She stopped on the trail and shouted, “Are we going to play hide and seek all day, Dominic? I’m tired of this.”

“It’s no game, Celine.” Dominic was suddenly standing before her, a dark shadow outlined in the soft luminosity of his flashlight. “It was more of a demonstration to show you that you should have waited until I was ready to come back for you as I asked.”

“You didn’t ask, you just told me and then disappeared,” she said curtly.

“Demonstrations can be good if they teach something. The only thing I learned by having to follow you is that I dislike cockroaches almost as much as I do snakes. Also that I hated having to worry about you in here by yourself when I could have been watching your back.”

“You wanted to protect me?” He paused. “How unusual. Most people decide that I’m capable of taking care of myself. After all, it’s what I do for a living. I believe I’m touched.”

“Stop making fun of me. Did you find what you wanted in this cave or not?”

“I found it. I’ll show you in a few minutes, but right now I want to explore the fact that you were disappointed that you couldn’t watch my back.” He took a step closer to her. “Why?”

She could feel the heat from his body, and she was suddenly tense.

There was something different about him.

She could almost feel the electric excitement he was radiating.

Excitement and… something else. “Because we’ve become…

partners, and I’d never leave a partner to face people like Caldwell and Zakira alone.

I don’t care how well he thinks of himself. ”

She inhaled sharply as he bent forward and she could feel his breath on her ear.

Then his lips were on the hollow of her throat.

She shuddered and found herself pressing closer to him.

Where was the anger? Just the feel of him was making her dizzy.

Oh, to hell with it. This was more important…

“Though I don’t think… this is the right time to…

” He was unbuttoning her shirt, freeing her breasts, and rubbing her nipples slowly, sensuously, against his chest. She gasped as she arched up against him.

“No, you’re damn right, it’s not the right time.

” His hands were cupping her hips and bringing her to cradle tightly against him.

“But we both knew it was going to happen sometime, didn’t we…

?” He bent his head and pulled at her nipple with his teeth.

“Wrong time. Wrong place. But if I don’t get you out of here soon, it’s going to happen anyway. Because I have to be inside you.”

And she wanted him inside her. He had her pinned to the stone wall, and the muscular tension of his body combined with the surrounding darkness and the rhythmic sound of the waterfall outside was absolutely erotic.

“I don’t care if it’s the wrong time.” She was breathing hard, and every breath was another caress against him as she tried to move closer. “I need you to—”

He was pushing her away!

“No!” She tried to hold on to him, but he was picking her up and putting her back on the path.

She could see he was also trying to get his breath as he brushed his cheek once more back and forth against her breasts and then pushed her toward the cave opening.

“Get out of here. You may not care right now, but you might if you look back on it later. I refuse to be the man you’ll remember with the cockroaches and the snakes. Though I didn’t see any snakes.”

“Neither did I. Maybe there aren’t any.” She pushed her hair from her face as she looked back at him. Her body still felt on fire, and she didn’t want to leave him. She vaguely remembered something he’d said. “But didn’t you tell me you wanted to show me something?”

“Later. I promise. Everything later. Just get out of here. I can’t touch you right now. I’m trying to be the kind of guy whose back you’d like to watch tomorrow as well as today. I’m having dire trouble with the whole concept at the moment.”

“No, you aren’t,” she said quietly. “Even when I barely knew you, I realized that you were different from anyone else. From the moment you took me down to see Barnaby that night at the precinct and held my hand and didn’t let me face it alone.

How could I not know it?” She was heading back toward the cave opening.

“I was thinking that my father would have done something like that.”

“Dear God, don’t compare me to your father even mentally. I couldn’t stand the comparison.”

“No, you couldn’t.” She’d reached the waterfall.

“But you wouldn’t have to. You manage to set your own standard that works just fine for you and the people around you.

” She turned and said over her shoulder, “Kontara said she’s going to fix a special meal tonight.

You won’t want to miss it.” She smiled impishly.

“And you particularly won’t want to miss the dessert.

” She disappeared under the mist of the waterfall.

CAMPFIRE, ROXANNE FALLS

9:40 P.M.

The fireside dinner was everything that Kontara had promised it would be. A delicious beef bourguignon. For dessert, she’d prepared a special African dish that was delicate and yet totally and wonderfully cinnamon-spiced.

Dominic had a call from Joe Quinn that kept him busy after the first few courses, and he stopped by to tell Celine that Joe’s team had reached the estate and would be joining them soon.

But he also made a point of stopping beside where Celine was sitting by the fire after dessert was served.

He bent down and whispered, “This wasn’t the dessert you were talking about? ”

She chuckled and shook her head.

“Thank God.” He went on with his call as he strolled away from the fire.

Rashid took his place and knelt down beside Celine. “That wasn’t a good thing that you did, you know. I caught hell from Dominic about you slipping off to that cave. Did you get hell, too?”

“Something like that.” She was remembering that heated moment in the cave when it had seemed the entire world was turning upside down. Best not to elaborate on that particular reaction. “But he was happy with what he found in the cave, so I think that it ended up all right.”

“Just don’t do it again,” Rashid said, shaking his head. “I know he was worried that Caldwell might have left one of his men in the cave to pick off anyone they ran across who was obviously on the hunt. He’d be damn upset if anything happened to you.”

She wasn’t going to sit there and take that nonsense. “But he wasn’t so afraid that he’d take a team with him? You should have been worried about him. Someone should have been watching his back.”

Rashid frowned. “He wouldn’t thank me for tagging after him. Besides, he’s an expert sharpshooter. He almost always works alone.”

“Bullshit.” But she wanted this over. “Don’t lecture me, Rashid. Dominic and I might be able to work something out once we get a chance to talk. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Since when?” Rashid asked sarcastically. “You haven’t objected to trouble on the horizon since I first met you.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “But maybe you actually mean it this time.” He got to his feet. “We’ll see. May I walk you to your tent?”

“No, I think I’ve caused enough bother for one day. I’ll go by myself.” She stood up. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it? And the waterfall looks fantastic in the moonlight.”

He nodded. “That it does. And now Dominic won’t have to worry about trouble with any of Caldwell’s sharpshooters hanging out down there. He said he took care of the problem.”

How had he done that? Celine wondered. Then she dismissed the question—at the moment, she couldn’t have cared less.

She knew by now Dominic would be waiting for her, and that was all that was important “Yes, we wouldn’t want poor Dominic to have to worry.

” Then she walked swiftly away toward the spot Rashid had set up her tent in the trees overlooking the waterfall.

Her heart was starting to pound as she ran toward the tent.

Dominic was there waiting in the darkness of the tent as he’d been waiting for her in the shadows of the cave earlier today.

But it wasn’t the same. Because she knew exactly what was coming.

No more waiting. Her body was readying, preparing to receive him.

And she could feel him, hear the sound of his breathing.

Then he was pulling her into the tent.

“You took forever,” he said roughly. “I was about to come after you.”

“Rashid…”

But he wasn’t listening. Then she was in his arms and he was dragging her down to the bedroll on the floor as his hands moved over her, taking off her shirt and then swiftly, almost frantically, getting rid of the rest of her clothes.

She could feel his skin, the bristle of his cheek rubbing against her bare breasts that was a provocation in itself.

Then she could hear the pounding of his heart as he plunged deep inside her.

“I want you too much,” he muttered. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

She was full of him and trying to keep from screaming for more.

“You won’t… hurt me. I need…” Then she lunged upward and took what she needed.

Deeper. Faster. Harder. Deeper again. She couldn’t take it…

But she did, and it was hot and insane and sometimes she felt as if she couldn’t breathe but she still couldn’t let him stop.

Again.

Again.

Again!

Don’t stop.

Not now.

Not ever…

“I think I should be angry with you.” Celine yawned and moved closer to Dominic’s naked body. “But at the moment, I can’t remember why. It was something about the way you were so arrogant about leaving me waiting and making me track you to that cave. All I know was that it was important…”

“If you can’t remember why, maybe it wasn’t that important.” He moved her arm so that he could rub his lips over her nipple. “These are absolutely exquisite… You said I didn’t hurt you, that was all that was important at the time. It got a bit wild there for a minute.”

“For an hour,” she corrected. “Or three… I lost track of time. You were quite… adequate.”

“Ouch. You really know how to hurt a guy.”

She giggled. “As if you’d believe me? You’re much too confident to let a passing insult bother you. Besides, you must have noticed I’m a rank amateur compared with you. I’ve been too busy just surviving to get much experience.”

“Then you’re an incredible amateur. But if you want to work on anything particular for an advanced degree, I stand ready to oblige.

” He reached over and kissed her. Long, hard, yet somehow wonderfully sweet.

“You’re a masterpiece. Everything about you.

And don’t think I’m giving you bull because of that very lovely face and body.

It’s so dark in this tent I can’t even see anything but a shadow.

I repeat, a masterpiece. Every move you make, whatever you’re willing to give…

and take, your sense of humor, the way you perform a headlock. How could anyone resist you?”

She chuckled. “Particularly the headlock. You’re right, I’m a masterpiece.” She raised herself on one elbow. “And I’ve decided that practice makes perfect and I want to practice some more, if you don’t mind. I should take advantage of you before I remember why I’m angry.”

“By all means.” He lifted her on top of him, and she gasped as he came into her. “Let’s try a brisk little warm-up and then go for the wild frontier…”