Immortal Unchained(39)

"Domitian?" Sarita interrupted as she stepped off the stairs and into the office.

"Si?" he asked.

"Stop looking at my butt," she ordered firmly.

He remained silent as they left the office, but as they entered the living room, murmured, "As you wish."

The words made Sarita whip around to eye him suspiciously. The last time he'd said that was in response to her lecture about no kissy, kissy, no gropey, gropey, and no sexo. And look how that had ended. She suspected the man wasn't as agreeable as he'd like her to believe, and that "as you wish" from him didn't mean what it would from everyone else. She just hadn't figured out what it did mean from him yet.

"Why do you not go take a shower and change into something a little less distracting? I will prepare a picnic for us while you do and we can eat out on the beach," Domitian said loudly, adding a wink in case she didn't understand that he was trying to buy them some time before Dressler would realize they were making an escape attempt.

"Sounds good," Sarita said just as loudly, but turned toward the kitchen instead, adding, "I'll just grab the first aid kit so I can put some antiseptic on the cuts on my legs after I shower."

"There is a first aid kit?" Domitian asked, following her.

Sarita nodded. She'd spotted it on one of her earlier searches through the kitchen. There was a sewing kit too, and she decided she'd take that to the bathroom with her as well. Sewing a sheet onto herself might be the only way for her to have something that would help her cover up against mosquitos and the other bugs here. She wasn't running through the jungle in a bikini or one of those ridiculous negligees. 

"All set?" Domitian asked when she straightened from collecting both kits.

"Yes." Sarita headed for the door adding, "Can you throw some bottled water in the picnic too? I'm pretty dehydrated after spending all afternoon in the sun."

"My pleasure," Domitian said, but he was beaming at her, and she knew he was pleased she'd just given him an excuse to pack the water. It might help keep Dressler from realizing too quickly what they were up to. She could only hope, anyway, Sarita thought.

The moment she stepped out of the kitchen, Sarita's mind turned to what they might need for this escape. The problem was they hadn't discussed how they meant to travel. Did he plan for them to traipse through the jungle or follow the beach?

Following the beach away from here would be easiest and probably safest, at least from whatever animals, reptiles, and insects might inhabit the jungle. On the other hand it left them out in the open and exposed should Dressler realize what they were up to and send men to search for them along the shoreline.

Then again, while heading straight out into the jungle might make for a shorter trip and one where they were less likely to be found again by their kidnapper, it also meant they might be walking into unknown peril. Sarita had lived in the city as a child here, she and her parents living in Caracas before moving to Canada. She had no idea what animals could be found in the jungle around this house, but knew there were tigers and jaguars in Venezuela's Amazonian jungle as well as bushmaster snakes. Yeah, the jungle didn't sound a good bet to her.

Hurrying back through the bedroom to the bathroom, Sarita turned on the shower taps and then went to fetch towels. She meant to grab one, but quickly changed her mind and grabbed four instead, tossing three on the makeup table before taking the other with her to sling over the shower. It had occurred to her that the large towels could come in handy. They could be useful just as towels, but could also be used to bundle everything up in and carry slung over their shoulders like Santa's sack. That was the reason for two of them. The third one was because she was considering turning it into a toga rather than using a sheet. The towels were quite big and should reach well below her knees. They were also thick, offering more protection from bugs and snakes. But aside from that it would demand the least effort. She could wear a swimsuit, wrap the towel around herself and then use one of the large safety pins in the sewing kit to pin the towel closed. She could even use a second one to secure it to her bikini top so that there would be no risk of the towel dropping and tripping her up.

Satisfied with that idea, Sarita stripped off her bikini and stepped quickly under the water.

She took care in washing the cuts along her upper legs as well as those on her feet. And was careful to scrub every last inch of her body to be sure she removed every trace of the dried blood she'd missed during her earlier shower. She even shampooed her hair again to ensure she removed any drops of blood that may have splattered there. With all of that, it still didn't take her more than three or four minutes to shower.