Her fingers find mine, and she carefully draws circles on my wrist. Gentle, delicate loops that ease my anxiety. Hot blood around my body. I tip in closer, studying the freckles scattering the bridge of her fine nose.
“This is why you’re leaving,” I confirm, holding back the urge to dot kisses on her flushed cheeks.
She nods quietly, never taking her hand away. The rush of tingles spreads over every inch of my flesh. I can smell her salty skin and decide that kissing her is the wrong thing to do, for the both of us. Slowly, I pull away and drag a palm over the scratchy hairs on my jaw. “Can we go now?”
“I’d like to bring him with us to the medical facility.” She twists toward the bloodied cub, oblivious to the cracks in my foundations. “I’ll clean him up so he will have a chance at least. That’s all I’m asking.”
“Fine.” I sigh through my nose and move away, peeling my T-shirt off. She looks over at me, muted, but every bit aware of my naked chest. The tip of her tongue slips between her lips, and I resist the impulse to fuck her pretty little mouth.
The sooner I drop her off with Sal and go back to business, the better.
With the cotton pulled wide, I trample over fresh shoots to reach the animal that’s caused more harm than it’s aware of and cover its body fully. This is a very bad idea. Women attach themselves to babies and kittens and anything remotely cute or vulnerable. An odd twinge of jealousy curdles in my stomach.
Scooping up the cub brings me dangerously close to her again. I hear her every breath and sense her thrumming pulse. The cub squirms until I’m upright. Her eyes sparkle when they find mine, making my heart pinch. “He’s your responsibility. Once you’ve tended to his injuries, we’ll go to the boundary fencing together and let him loose.”
“Absolutely,” she agrees, scrambling to a stand. “I’ve named him Laoch.” Her fingers twist the tips of her hair. “It means warrior. Like a champion.”
I groan, carefully maneuvering the cub so its jaw rests comfortably on my forearm. “No pet names.”
“Why?” Her face scrunches.
“Once you name something, you open the door to attachment.” I walk away, knowing she’ll follow.
“Really?” She laughs lightly, trotting up beside me. “You call me beija flor. That’s a pet name, is it not?”
I side eye her, finding an expression I’m unfamiliar with. She grins up at me with entitlement. “I gave you a new name. That’s completely different. Iris Kitson washed away in the river, remember? I offered you a whole new identity and a second chance.”
Bumping her elbow into my arm, she doesn’t hide her appreciation. “You saved me, and I’ll always be grateful to you. However, you can’t deny it. Beija flor is totally a pet name, and we both know it. You could have called me Sharon or Sadie.” Her chuckle sails through me and ignites heat in my heart. “Instead, you named me after a beautiful bird.” The laughter disappears, and she whispers, “Or maybe I was just a bird trapped in an aviary.” She doesn’t wait for an answer and continues. “Anyway, he’s got a name now. So we have to save him too.”
I take her all in, utterly consumed with every minor detail and exquisite feature. I’d give anything for this moment to be normal. For beija flor to christen her cub and protect the rainforest as she wishes. I would hand over billions to fix this unfair situation. But the truth is, caring bandages won’t help bullet holes, and my macabre thirst for revenge won’t be satiated after blood coats my hands.
“You were never a pet,” I confirm, even if the lines around it are hazy. “You're an ecologist who needs a safer environment to carry out your important research.” I shrug. She opens her mouth to speak and thinks better of it. “Even if I agreed to let you stay,” I say with a lowered breath. “I can’t promise to be there if you need me. From now on, I need complete concentration with no distractions. If you get in my way, it won’t be my enemies who we will fear––it will be me.”
She doesn’t reply. Her face blanches with sickly understanding. I stiffen, hardening my posture, staying stoic in the justified decision. The wounded cub doesn’t argue or strain to break away. Instead, its legs drape over my arm, swinging listlessly. We’re both responsible for its fading life. The irony isn’t missed when I hug him closer to make sure he’s warm. I’m the guy who reluctantly accepted the role of savior rather than exterminator. And now I’ll do anything to save it from death just to prevent her heart from breaking.
The track I’ve trodden from my home to the Oasis over the years meets partially cleared terrain. Sunlight pours through the canopy in thin columns, fringing the adjacent timbre pathway ahead of us.
Her tiny hand lands on my lower back. “Just so you know, after everything we’ve been through together, I don’t believe you’d ever hurt me. I understand why I’m not welcome here anymore.”
I swallow down lumps of irritation. Miguel is the one who isn’t welcome in my Oasis. If it wasn’t for him, then maybe… it’s not worth dwelling on.
I’m not a callous man by nature. Deception has carved out this new version of me––this cold-hearted character. Bitterness and heartache have dulled the need for affection, only thinking of it as weakness.
“Good,” I add with a sharp bite. The patch on my skin where her hand settled cools once it slips away. I continue to cover the track and jump onto sunny planks. “If Jackson is too busy, we’ll have to treat the cub ourselves.” Her short strides keep up with my naturally quick pace. “And if the injury is infected or too bad to mend, I’ll put him out of his misery right away. Okay?” Iris withers back a step, her amble reducing in speed. “He’ll get torn apart out there if he shows any sign of helplessness. Isn’t it better to be cruel in order to be kind?”
I look back to find her arms folded and eyebrows raised with worry. “Let’s take a closer look at him first.” She softens her tone to pacify me. “It might not be all doom and gloom. Life doesn’t always end in death and destruction, Dante. Sometimes there’s hope and—happy endings.”
Instincts tell me to run from the very thing she calls hope. There’s every likelihood this runt won’t see a new sunrise, and after that his lifeless carcass will be fodder for the river rats.
We reach the glass fronted medical facility together. She jogs ahead and opens the door for us. Sticky heat meets a refreshing cool breeze. Goosebumps chase the hairs on my nape when she brushes past me, accidentally nudging her breast into my elbow. That one thoughtless accident has me on high alert for more opportunities to touch her inadvertently.
“Iris?” Sal shoves out from under the desk and stands to greet her with a big fucking grin on his face.
“Sal!” The over friendliness in her tone pecks at my last nerve. I’m not the only one she’s bonded with during her stay. I can’t quite fathom the seething possessiveness burning under my skin. I barely contain it when she announces, “Look, we found a little jaguar. He’s called Laoch.”
As if the two were best buddies, she closes in and throws her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a motherfucking hug. The embrace only lasts for a single racing heartbeat, but it pisses me off.
I growl out my displeasure, alerting them to my volatile mood. I’m seconds away from dragging her to my hip, where she should be.
