The Death Skull: Relic Defender, Book 2 (29 page)

After that, she had been the one to leave, to find her rest in one of the bedrooms. From the disappointed look on his face, it seemed he’d expected she’d join him in one room or stay beside him on that couch. Maybe for an encore performance. Or several. But that wasn’t going to happen. She’d had sex with him and while she wasn’t going to kick herself for succumbing, she wasn’t going to stay around for round two.

She’d needed the release. From the desire that had been there all along, smoldering like a banked fire—building between them since the day in the training center, just before the mission. It made sense to give in to it last night. They needed their minds focused on the skull and Beliel. Lust made humans, and fallen angels, weak.

A human saying that men tended to think with their little eye, meaning their penis, as she’d learned, seemed appropriate, but a distinction not only applied to men. She’d seen what lust could do to the strongest. While she hadn’t fallen due to lust, she knew many of her brothers and sisters who had. Including Mikos.

Back to Jackson. Not wishing to give him something to use against her, she simply curled her lips from her teeth.

The twist of his mouth grew into a smile. “Ah, I see.”

“Maybe you will, one day.”

“As long as you are there, darlin’, it will seem like Heaven to me,” he drawled.

Mari eyed the water moving sluggishly past the jetty. Wonder what would happen if she pushed him off? How calm and at ease would he be then? A splash farther out in the Columbia caught her attention just long enough to see the flip of a tail. She mentally shook her head. Despite her wishes, she needed him intact, not as crocodile food.

She sighed, her mind returning to their trip here. After the harrowing plane ride in a tiny six-seater, which was much worse than the big ones, she was
never
going to get into another plane, Michael’s threats be damned.

After departing San Pedro Town, they’d landed at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City. From the airport, she’d been forced to squeeze in next to Jackson in a clapped-out, old school bus, which lumbered along the bumpy road to the beginning of the swampy waterways that dominated the coast of Belize. It was a long, rough trip before they finally ended up in the central town of Belmopan, the capital of Belize.

Just like most things, he’d taken their predicament in stride and had struck up a conversation with a dark-skinned man who carried a basket containing bright-fuchsia-colored fruits he’d called
pitaya
, or dragon fruit.

She looked at Jackson again. Even as he appeared relaxed and calm, she noticed a dark shadow in his gaze that hadn’t been there before. It seemed to have arrived after the incident with Kat. After Mari had given Jackson a piece of paper with his name on it that had fallen out of Kat’s hands. When asked about it, he had shrugged and said it was just old business. Nothing to worry about. Yet she sensed he did worry. Quite a bit.

The thought that something had put that darkness in his eyes made her feel slightly uneasy. She didn’t like secrets. She especially didn’t like them kept by someone she worked closely with. Or had the kind of past he had.

“Hola, senorita!”

Mari turned to face in the direction from which the heavily accented Spanish had come. The older man wore black-striped white pants cut off at the knees with a plaid shirt over a grimy white T-shirt. His broad-brimmed hat hid his brow but highlighted the dark eyes and tanned, heavily lined face. He beamed at her, his lips hidden by a bushy mustache.

“You wish to go to Lubaantun?”

His English, while accented, was clear and strong, with no hesitation.

“Yes, we do,” she answered. “Today.”

The man’s eyes narrowed as he focused on her. Feeling as if she were under a microscope, she lifted her chin, meeting his intense stare straight on. A few seconds later, he smiled and nodded.

“
Si.
No problem.” He gestured to the sky. “Plenty of time to get there and back before dark. It is not good to be out after dark. Many
banditos
prey during the night.”

The threat of bandits did not bother her. But she didn’t want the interruption. The sooner they got to the skull, the better. Especially if it put them there before Beliel and Jahi with their hostage.

Jackson had inquired around town and no one seemed to recall a tall blond man and woman with a shorter, blonde-haired woman asking about the City of Fallen Stones. But then, this time of the year, there were many tourists in the country and on the Cayes, the various tiny islands dotting the coastline.

“Thank you,” she said. “I am Marisol.” She gestured to Jackson. “This is Jackson.”

“Very good to meet you. I am Yaluk. Come.” He gestured to a young boy standing next to him.

Mari hadn’t noticed the child until the old man had drawn her attention to him. The little boy appeared to be ten years old. When he lifted large, coffee-colored eyes to meet hers, she saw something else. Regardless of the age of his body, his eyes held an old wisdom. Despite his youth, the boy had seen and understood much more than many.

“This is my grandson, Kanek. He’ll fetch and carry for you during the trip.” Yaluk patted the boy’s shoulder. “He’s strong. Fit. Works hard.”

Unnerved by the boy’s intense stare, Mari smiled, a slight lift of her lips. Kanek’s eyes widened. Tugging on his grandfather’s sleeve, he whispered into the old man’s ear, his solemn gaze never leaving her face.

Despite knowing all languages, she could not follow the conversation between Kanek and Yaluk, even with the few Spanish similarities. Odd that she didn’t recognize their language.

She did catch one word that sounded familiar. Mayans didn’t have a word that specifically meant demon, but she recognized the reference to evil spirit. The boy must think she was some sort of Mayan evil spirit.

How did that make her feel?

Lifting her chin again, she stared at Yaluk and Kanek, who had their gazes locked on her. She would not hide from them who she was. Let them think she was an evil spirit. It was simpler that way.

Yaluk looked away first but she sensed he did it for expedience, not because he felt she was above him. He gestured to the other two men talking with Jackson, who apparently hadn’t witnessed the exchange.

“Acan and Vulun. They will protect.”

She studied both men, not liking the gleam of avarice behind their brown eyes. They would bear watching.

The boat trip through the swamp was uneventful but worthwhile in that the slight breeze over the water helped her forget the oppressive heat, if only for a short while. At another banana plantation jetty, they got into an open four-wheel-drive vehicle. Acan drove, weaving a spine-jolting path through the jungle. Mari held on to the roll bar as her body was thrown from side to side.

They drove through small Mayan villages filled with wooden huts, their vehicle scattering chickens. As they passed, children laughed and raced after them. Women washed clothing in the river. Despite the hard and menial nature of the work, smiles wreathed the faces and crinkled their eyes. Many waved at the vehicle and Yaluk waved back. Kanek chattered in rapid-fire Mayan, which she knew, to the children who ran along the vehicle.

Yaluk turned and shouted over the cough of the Jeep’s engine and jangle of metal. “We be there about one hour. Soon.”

Mari’s teeth rattled so hard she couldn’t force open her mouth to respond so she simply nodded.

Jackson leaned near. “Bet you wish you were back on a plane,” he drawled, laughter edging his voice.

She turned to him to give him a caustic reply when she was catapulted into his lap by a bone-shattering dip of tire into what had to be a vehicle-swallowing hole. She squeaked. Jackson’s arms came around her waist to hold her in place as the back wheel hit the same hole.

Afraid to move, she looked up into his lean, handsome face and into his laughing green eyes. Flecks of gold radiated outward that appeared brighter under the sun. As the Jeep continued to jolt over the road, she found she couldn’t move to go back to her seat. All she could do was lay there, half-in, half-out of Jackson’s lap, his warm arms surrounding her with the impression of safety and comfort.

His laugh lines and smile slowly faded as he noted her intense stare. The gold darkened, pupils overtaking the color of the iris. Her breath caught, and her tongue came out to lick her lips. She leaned into him, feeling the solid strength of his muscles and lean, but not skinny, form.

She inhaled, pulling in the scent of hot male mixed with the humidity of the air that brought the aromas of ripe vegetation and a tangy hint of the citrus grown in small groves throughout the jungle. Her gaze dropped to his mouth and she shuddered.

“Darlin’,” he purred, his voice a husky rasp, “as much as I’m lovin’ you in my arms, I’m thinking this is the wrong place to be having this type of conversation.”

Mari stared up at him. In the next instant, his words registered on her overheated emotions. She scrabbled off his lap, not caring when she pushed too hard on his leg near a certain part of him. He let out a soft grunt. Served him right. The bumping of the vehicle over the roads kept trying to toss her right back into his lap. Chuckles filled the air as he tried to help. He grabbed her upper arms, then pushed her upright and over to her side of the seat.

Once there, she moved to the edge as far away from him as she could get. Which was not
that
far and, despite her best efforts, her left thigh stayed pressed against his. A solid reminder of her weak state.

Hellfire, what was wrong with her? She was no stranger to the idea of lust and although she lacked experience, she’d seen enough males and females together to see the pleasure each took. Yet, she’d never felt the thing that caused flushed cheeks, wet mouths and dilated pupils. Until Jackson.

She cast him a sideways glance. If she felt this way after having sex with him one time, how much better would it be to have regular sex with him and even sleep with him beside her? At the thought of spending all that time with him, heat flushed through her and she shifted.

“You okay?” Jackson asked as his lips twisted into a crooked grin that only made him more attractive.

“I’m fine. Just tired of being bounced around.”

The dancing light in his eyes told her he knew that wasn’t the problem. “Guess civilization hasn’t made it this far yet.”

She nodded and looked out the side of the vehicle into the thick jungle. Around the makeshift road, vines and tangled branches reached out, trying to snag the Jeep’s passengers as they made their way into the deep areas. Occasionally, she’d see a flash of color as parrots and toucans flitted within the green canopy. Despite having to deal with the heavy moisture in the air clinging to her skin and weighing down her clothes and hair, she could see the beauty in the land.

The Jeep passed under a tangle of lianas—long-stemmed, woody vines that stretched across the road connecting the trees on either side. Once through, the jungle then opened into a large clearing. In the center, several dark-gray and crumbling structures built with stone blocks dotted the green carpet.

Acan brought the Jeep to a shuddering halt in an empty parking lot. Kanek scrambled out and grabbed two of the backpacks. Yaluk pointed to the other side of the lot. “We must go there. Lubaantun is up that ridge. Farther into the jungle.”

Mari climbed out of the Jeep and jumped to the hard pavement. The sound of her heels on the surface brought her gaze to her feet. The black dress boots, even with their low heels, were not made for traipsing around in a jungle.

She couldn’t apport in and out of the place, but were all her powers gone? She looked around. No one appeared to be paying any attention to her. She held an image in her mind and passed her hands over her feet.

The boots shimmered and changed, becoming a pair of midcalf-high, brown hiking boots with sturdy soles. She wiggled her toes and smiled. Much better. They didn’t go with her outfit, but what’s style in the jungle? And she was glad to see that something of her abilities worked, even something as small as changing her footwear. Maybe it meant that once inside Belize, some of her powers were available to her.

At a soft sound, she looked over and caught the gaze of the boy, Kanek. His eyes were wide, the brown dominating the white. She touched a finger to her lips then winked at him. He jerked back a bit, then cocked his head like a bird. He held her gaze for a few seconds before a smile broke out on his brown face and he laughed. With a nod, he bent down and picked up her backpack, shouldered it and set off after Yaluk, who waited for them at the start of the trail.

“Looks like you found yourself a friend, Mari.” Jackson had come up and stood by her.

“A child? I don’t know anything about children.” She cast him a sideways glance. “Well, except for a certain human adult who acts likes a child.”

Jackson put a hand on his chest and staggered backward. “Me? You wound me.”

“I could only be so fortunate,” she muttered and strode off, hearing the scrape of his boots on the stones as he followed. A smile tugged at her lips. Despite the arrogance and know-it-all attitude, and beyond the attraction that simmered below the surface, she found him much too charming.

When they reached Yaluk, the old man gestured. “Come. We go through here.”