He was…hard.
As in still fully, wonderfully, largely erect. Yep, there was no forgetting his rather…er…impressive girth. After all, she’d had her hand wrapped around him not five minutes ago when she’d come. Come! And then the afterglow had been cut frustratingly short by the ill-timed arrival of the elephant.
Her fingers twitched against the material of Carlos’s tank top, and it was then she realized the stupid appendages were itching to reach down and touch him again. And maybe this time we’ll both be able to get off. Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t it?
No, she admonished herself. Bad girl. Stupid girl. Horny girl… Damnit!
Glancing up, she raised an eyebrow in question. It was the facial equivalent of Really? At a time like this?
He frowned. It caused his delicious dimple to deepen, and her silly womb contracted like he’d stroked a finger into her center. She sighed as she realized there was no going back to the woman she’d been before she knew what it was like to be pleasured by Carlos. To have his lips on her lips. To feel his tongue teasing her tongue. To hear him demanding things that both thrilled and titillated her. To know that he—
“It’s the adrenaline,” he whispered.
“Huh?”
“Why I’m still hard,” he explained. “Adrenaline does that to a man’s body. Not that I’m not still terribly excited to have you snuggled tight like this, belleza.” To prove his point, he pulled her closer, rubbing himself against her hip. She could feel the heat of him through his cargo pants. It was enough to make her light-headed. “And as soon as we get out of this godforsaken jungle, I plan to show you exactly—”
He stopped when the elephant made one final attempt to find them with its trunk. Then the sound of snapping twigs and crackling leaves told them the bull had finally decided to move on.
He gently set her aside and peeked around the tree. But the elephant was now firmly planted at the very back of her mind. Because screaming at the front of her brain were Carlos’s words… As soon as we get out of this godforsaken jungle, I plan to show you exactly…
What?
She suspected she knew. He planned to show her exactly what they’d missed out on with the arrival of the elephant.
I have to tell him… Sorry, Dad, but it’s time to come clean.
“Carlos, I need to t—”
“We’re clear.” He turned to her, his dark eyes twinkling, his tan face creased in a wide smile that made his white teeth gleam, even in the shade of the canopy. “You were right!” He chuckled before bending to plant a smacking kiss on her lips. “He got bored and wandered off, eh?” He raked a big hand back through his mop of thick, black hair.
She now knew what it was to feel that hair between her fingers, so warm and sleek and alive. And although that last kiss was swift and platonic, try telling that to her lips. The silly things prickled like they’d been stung by a whole hive of bees.
Do it. Do it, now!
“There’s something that I need to t—”
“By my estimation, there are at least a dozen or so miles between us and the Thai border. Without my gear, and given the rough terrain, it’ll be one hell of a hike.” His eyes narrowed as he glanced at his big black watch, then at treetops overhead, and around at the dense, wet undergrowth. It was obvious by the two vertical creases pinching his eyebrows together that he was busy working through the ins and outs of their trip. “If we make sure to stay hydrated and keep up a steady clip, we might just make it by nightfall. Which would be my preference since the jungle is no place to navigate in the dark. And while there is something romantic about the idea of spending the night with you huddled in a slapdash lean-to”—he winked at her—“believe me when I say, the reality is far from sexy. Besides, staying in the jungle might make it difficult for our extraction team to get to us, and it just might give the militants time to catch up.”
The militants…
How could she have forgotten about them?
Um, probably something to do with Carlos’s kisses. Yep, so those things were hot enough to burn a girl’s brain down to ashes. And she was totally going to claim that as her excuse. Because…you know…militants! Not generally something one filed away under the category of No Big Deal.
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “What were you about to say?”
She swallowed and squared her shoulders, briefly closing her eyes in order to bolster her courage. Frickin’ sticks…here goes…
When she pried open her lids, she did her best to steadily hold his gaze. “There’s something we need to talk about,” she started, then stopped when his face became an instant mask of inscrutability. The change was so sudden, she frowned, tilting her head.