More Than Paradise (27 page)

Charlotte couldn’t help but feel that talking down to Nitro was a mistake. The guy was well over six feet, a hunk, armed, and had all his hair, qualities that probably didn’t endear him to Miles. But putting him down was no way to deal with jock envy. Miles was spoiling for a broken jaw.

“You’re making a mistake,” Nitro said with icy composure.

Charlotte thought,
Here we go
.

“What are you going to do?” Miles kept right on pushing his luck.

“Shoot me?”

Nitro looked tempted.

Charlotte decided it was time to defuse the situation. Politely, she interrupted. “Excuse me. I was wondering if Ash left a message for me with either of you.”

Both men stared at her blankly.

Miles said, “What kind of message?”

Charlotte shrugged. “It’s not important. We were supposed to have a quick chat before she left, but I got kind of lost coming back from my new sampling site.”

“Where’s Gunderson?” Nitro asked.

“Who?”

“Your bodyguard.”

“I don’t have a bodyguard.”

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Nitro looked past her and made some kind of hand signal. Both Charlotte and Miles turned around, and there was the warden, standing with her loaded-up sled, looking like she was itching to put Charlotte in solitary for a month.

Miles seemed just as taken aback as Charlotte was. He directed his wrath at Nitro. “Would you mind explaining what the fuck is going on?”

“In the light of the security lapse and Dr. Lascelles’s risk proÞ le as the immediate representative of Belton Pharmaceuticals, Major Evans revised Gunderson’s job description.”

“What does that mean?” Charlotte demanded.

“From now on Gunderson will be escorting you at all times.”

“Oh, no she won’t.” Charlotte wasn’t wearing
that
for a minute.

What was Ash thinking? “That will not be necessary. I can explain what happened. I fell asleep, that’s all. It was dark when I woke up, and I had trouble Þ nding my way back to the camp.”

“You’re lying,” Nitro asserted.

“Hey, pal.” Miles leapt gallantly to her defense. Sticking his unspectacular chest out, he rose to his full height, which was about Þ ve feet eight in hiking boots. “If Dr. Lascelles said she fell asleep,
she fell
asleep
!”

Nitro’s sphinx-like calm was unshaken. His response Þ red bullets through her story. “When the Major and I searched the area, we found one of our staff wandering in a disoriented manner. Billy Bob Woodcock. We did not, however, Þ nd you.”

Charlotte blinked. How much had Billy Bob told them? Had he seen anything? Ash must have known she was lying that night when she claimed she’d been lost. What must she think? Why had she really assigned a bodyguard? Was she spying on her because she knew something about Bruce? Charlotte made an effort to compose herself. She didn’t want the all-too-observant Nitro guessing there was something she needed to hide. If Bruce was right, all the Nagle security guards wanted to put a bullet in his head. Did that include Ash?

Bruce said she worked for a mongrel with the ethics of a death adder. Even if that were true, Charlotte could not believe Ash would kill anyone. She wished she’d trusted her with the truth about the cave.

Surely Ash deserved that much from her. She needed to convince Nitro that there was nothing to be paranoid about, and she needed not to have a Nagle person trailing her everywhere she went. She also had to get

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JENNIFER FULTON

ahold of Ash and explain what was in the cave. She could leave Bruce’s name out of it and just act like she found it herself. Ash obviously cared deeply about this land and its people. Charlotte could not believe she’d do anything to jeopardize the cave dwellers or their environment.

A plan took shape in her mind. She knew exactly how to create the smokescreen she needed and maybe even shake herself free of her new watchdog at the same time.

Producing a ß ustered sigh, she said, like the truth was being dragged out of her, “Okay. I was not
asleep
, exactly. For crying out loud, can’t a person have any privacy? I’m sick of sneaking about.

Simon and I didn’t want to create a situation, but obviously it was only a matter of time…”

Let them make of that outburst what they would. Her two companions seemed genuinely lost for words. Nitro showed rare signs of an emotion, humorous derision perhaps, and Miles was downright ß abbergasted. His ß ush extended right over the balding dome of his head.

“You’re talking about Simon Flight?” he marveled.

“At least have the decency to keep it to yourselves,” Charlotte said hufÞ ly. “We were hoping not to have the entire camp gossiping about us. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I have a tent to put up.”

Trying not to snort at her own performance, she stuck her head in the air and ß ounced off toward her grim-faced “bodyguard.” Within half an hour, the gossip would be all over the camp because Miles was incapable of keeping his mouth shut. And Charlotte had no doubt Nitro would keep his colleagues apprised of the situation. She wished she could see the shock on Billy Bob Woodcock’s face. He was always calling Simon a faggot behind his back and imitating his mannerisms.

Maybe now he’d keep his eyes off Charlotte and zip his mouth about her butterß y-obsessed colleague.

She hoped she would get to Simon before Miles did. If she was going to be able to blow off her minder long enough to connect with Bruce again, she needed for Simon to play along with her story.

Marching up the steep gradient toward the new campsite, she tried Ash’s number again. She was just going to keep calling until she got ahold of her. And when she did, there was a lot she wanted to say.

v

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At Þ rst, the faint patter of rain on the tent was comforting. Charlotte was having trouble sleeping. She could smell Ash on her sleeping bag, and the scent was making her restless for several reasons. Uppermost, she was despondent. She hadn’t been able to reach Ash on the cell phone and in the end she’d given up when several team members said the heavy cloud cover was interfering with the signal. Their phones weren’t working either.

Compounding her despondency, she felt strangely unanchored without Ash. Being single had never bothered Charlotte. She enjoyed her own company and she didn’t need a partner’s approval to feel good about herself. But this was different. Without Ash she felt strangely diminished. It made no sense and her logical mind harped on that all the time. She had only known Ash for a few weeks, including the gap in between, so it was impossible to be in love with her. And if Ash cared about her, surely she would have stayed. And even if they did get together, what could possibly come of it, long term? They were two very different people with very different lives.

Charlotte let the constant clatter wash over her. Since her time in the cloud forest, she had a whole new perspective on her emotions, one she wanted to share with Ash. Being apart from her had only magniÞ ed that desire—and every other one. Her body was in a state of readiness she could not ignore. Her nipples were tight with neglect.

Her limbs were twitchy. And every time she thought about last night’s wild coupling, her stomach nose-dived. Inhaling Ash’s scent for the past hour had made it impossible to think about anything else.

As the straining tension between her legs tugged tighter, Charlotte crossed one leg over the other, which only succeeded in making her thighs slippery and adding more pressure exactly where she needed the relief of Ash’s mouth. Miserably aroused and unrequited, she peered across her tent and cursed the lousy timing of Ash’s ß ight to Kwerba.

They should have been together tonight, talking, making love, clearing the air so they could move forward with a new understanding. But no, she had to be lying next to a stranger sleeping ß at on her back, fully clothed, and snoring in raspy little hitches.

Charlotte wondered what it would take to wake Renee Gunderson.

The dour Minnesotan didn’t sound like a light sleeper. Would she notice if the woman she was guarding quietly had an orgasm? Charlotte had never been much good at reaching a climax single-handed, and it

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JENNIFER FULTON

usually took ages. But she knew that would be different now, with her body still in a state of tender thrall from Ash’s touch.

She caught her breath. She wanted Ash so badly she felt like crying. The swelling volume of the rain had intensiÞ ed, and she opened her sleeping bag to enjoy the unusual cooling of the air. Beneath her, the ground reverberated with the rolling drumbeat of thunder. Rain hammered down, making the tent panels ß ap. Condensation began to fall in splats.

Charlotte wiped at some of the water landing on her thighs, and the motion made the seam of her pajamas brush her clit. She reacted with a stiß ed gasp. The elemental din of the storm drowned out her next response, a small whine of relief as she slid a hand down inside her pants and let her middle Þ nger drift over the drenched parting of her ß esh. She imagined Ash, moving between her legs, sliding in and out of her. Those deep groans in her ear. Ash’s lips exploring her face and throat.

She stroked herself harder, arching her back, allowing herself the soft noises she couldn’t contain. Her muscles stiffened and her breathing changed. She closed her eyes and lifted her hips. Any moment now.

“Christ!” A voice exploded right next to her.

Charlotte stopped dead and guiltily jerked her hand away.

Disoriented and trembling, she stared around.

Fingers caught her arm. “We have to get out of here.”

The lamp abruptly bloomed pale gold, hurting Charlotte’s eyes.

Renee shoved a pair of boots at her and said, “Get your feet in these.

Just do it.”

“What’s happening?” Charlotte’s heightened preorgasmic focus was rapidly giving way to panicked awareness, but she was still a beat behind. She could hear thunder, louder and closer. The storm must be directly overhead.

Renee wasn’t waiting around. She pushed one of the boots onto Charlotte’s right foot and yelled at her, “Move!”

Charlotte shoved her left foot in the other boot and tied the laces as fast as she could with her hands shaking uncontrollably. Renee efÞ ciently tied her own boots, then grabbed one of her guns, her backpack, and Charlotte. She ripped the tent ß ap apart and they charged out into the heaviest rain Charlotte had ever seen, a wall of water slashing at all in its path.

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MORE THAN PARADISE

Renee paused and swung her gun in the air, Þ ring three shots. “Get out!” she yelled as a lamp came on in one of the other tents. “Run!”

Dragging Charlotte along with her, she tore open the fronts of the main tents and shouted at the occupants. Then they were running east and uphill, tripping over roots and slithering helplessly as the ground beneath their feet became a water-jammed slick. Charlotte fell behind when Renee let her loose so they could both keep their balance. Losing traction, she caught hold of a tree trunk and hauled herself upright, trying to see around her.

“I’m here.” Renee dropped back and took her hand. “Hang on tight.”

They continued steadily upward at an angle, getting distance from the campsite. Charlotte’s heart crashed against the walls of her chest.

She was breathing so hard her head spun.

She cried, “I have to stop.”

“It’s okay.” Renee was gasping for air, too. She steered Charlotte toward a tree and yelled through the thick tropical darkness. “We can rest here. I think we’re safe.”

They both sank down. Charlotte could hear nothing but a deafening, almost explosive crashing sound. “Is it always like this in the monsoon?” she shouted.

“It’s not the monsoon,” Renee yelled in her ear. “It’s the stream.”

They stayed where they were as the storm raged on. The ear-shattering boom subsided after a while, and Charlotte heard grunting sounds. A shape broke through the night just a few feet in front of them.

Renee called, “Hello?”

The Þ gure fell to the ground and crawled up. A male voice inquired,

“Gunderson?”

“Yeah, and I have Lascelles. What’s happening?”

It was Nitro. He said, “I have eight of them from the big tent.”

“What about the others?”

“No idea.”

“Fuck.” Renee repeated the expletive several more times, then said, “I left a Coral Sea cruise for this.”

A big hand found one of Charlotte’s and pressed something into it.

She felt a crinkly wrapper. Nitro said, “Eat.”

Charlotte didn’t argue. She was weak and shaky and the high-

• 187 •

JENNIFER FULTON

energy chocolate hit her bloodstream in a rush. A narrow beam of light played across the tree trunks around them. Renee had her ß ashlight on and was pulling stuff from her backpack. A moment later she passed her a small pile of dry clothes.

“There doesn’t seem much point in getting changed while it’s still raining,” Charlotte said, ß icking water from her face.

“I have a raincoat you can wear once you’re dry,” Renee said.

She and Nitro held the coat over her while she dressed, then helped her pull it on. Thankful to feel clean again, Charlotte sat back down and drew the hood over her head.

“Sunrise in three hours,” Nitro remarked.

All Charlotte could think about was Ash. She had to know if she was okay. “I left my phone behind,” she wailed, unable to stop several big sobs. “I need to call Ash.”

“We can use mine.” Renee foraged in her pack once more and produced their link to the outside world. “What do you know,” she said after dialing. “We have a signal.”

Charlotte took the phone from her and jammed it to her ear.

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MORE THAN PARADISE

Charlotte?” Ash elbowed herself up. Blood throbbed a martial tattoo in her temples. She checked the caller ID again, alarmed. “Where’s Renee?”

“She’s over by another tree with Nitro.” Disappointment infused Charlotte’s voice. “Do you want to talk to her?”