Trent chuckles softly. “I guess that would make me Tarzan. I can deal with that.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, the Lord of the Apes part certainly fits. But there’s one key difference.”
“What’s that?”
“Even Tarzan knew better than to run around the jungle with his dork hanging out.”
Trent stirs, and we both sit up, all thoughts of sleep flown as our laughter echoes through the forest. “What did you call it? My dork?”
“What about it?”
“I’ve never heard a dick referred to as a dork before. Is that a New York thing?”
“It’s a shut your face thing.” Our laughter fades, and I sigh. “I don’t think I can sleep, Trent, even with your leg as a pillow.”
“Well, you could lay across me, sort of, and use my shoulder as a pillow instead, but I probably reek.”
“That’s okay.”
Ugh, why do I have to sound so eager?
Trent rolls onto his back and I gingerly lay on my side, draping my head on his shoulder and resting a hand on his chest. It’s more comfortable than before, but now I have a different distraction from slumber. Trent’s body feels as good as it looks, and his smell is intense this close.
“Is your life always this interesting?” he asks softly.
“What? No, not at all. I don’t normally get chased by mercenaries with guns.” A distant roar reaches our ears. “What was that?”
“Jaguar. South American version of a tiger, only probably a lot smarter. Definitely sneakier.”
I shudder and snuggle closer. Trent laughs gently and puts an arm around my shoulder. “Try and get some sleep, Heather. It’ll be all right. Poachers have made jaguars afraid of humans.”
I do feel safer than I would have thought possible in the jungle, but I won’t get any sleep tonight. I’ll have to catch up on sleep during our plane ride to Macapá.
It does feel nice to snuggle next to Trent, though. Real nice.
TRENT
My eyes snap open as the rainforest canopy comes into focus. How long was I out? The darkness remains thick on the forest floor. Dawn has yet to begin its approach.
I become aware of Heather’s sublime softness nestling against me. Looking at her full lips fills me with the urge to kiss them. I can’t stop thinking about it. I wonder if there were some set of circumstances where she might want to kiss me back…
I swear I caught Heather checking out my butt and my package more than a few times during our hike. Then there was the way she’d looked at me when she caught me staring at her chest. It wasn’t a gaze full of condemnation, just…acknowledgment? Sort of a not-quite invitation to act on the naked desires I’d put on full display.
I’d given in to cowardice and the moment had passed. Heather awakened something inside me, something I’d thought dead for a long time. I don’t resent her for it like I’d thought I would.
The thing is, with the anniversary of my parent’s death coming up, can I afford to get emotionally entangled with anyone? Should I just come clean and tell her the truth?
The unmistakable snap of a branch makes my blood freeze. Holding stock still, afraid to even exhale for fear of drawing attention to us, I lay there straining my ears for another sound.
The rainforest is full of predators. Besides the caiman and the jaguars, there are predators of the human variety. Whether they crawl on four or more legs or creep about on only two, such predators would find Heather and I interesting targets if not a ready meal.
I think about my available weapons and realize all I have is the trench knife. Not worth a damn against a caiman, or a jaguar for that matter. And I know that most human predators in the Amazon rainforest come equipped with firearms…
My knife might as well be a toy. Our only hope is to lay stock still and hope that the predator—however many legs it has—continues on by.
Ten long, tense minutes pass until I hear the snap of wings. Probably a spectacled owl making off with a carcass in its crooked talons. I heave a sigh of relief. I’d only heard the death of the prey in its claws, not the approach of a larger creature.
My relief does not extend far enough to allow me to slumber again. I don’t want to wake Heather, anyway. Not yet. She’s sleeping hard.
