They stopped to rest around noon on the trunk of a fallen palm. Thad passed her the water and eyed her pink cheeks and sweat-slicked forehead. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m melting.”
“Me too.” He swiped the back of his hand over his brow. “You’re a tough chick. Tougher than most.”
“That’s me. Resilient, as my mother always says. The Craemer women are all resilient. She loves to point out I get that trait from her side of the family, not Patrick’s.” She took a sip of water, then glanced around the jungle. “I feel like we’re in a lost episode of Survivor. Minus the naked gay guy and the million dollars.”
The corner of Thad’s lips curled. “Richard was like…a dozen years ago. I don’t think they’ve had many more naked guys on the show.”
“No?” She feigned disappointment. “Bummer. That was the best part. Naked guys, hot jungles, lots of cash. What woman wouldn’t love that?”
His smile widened, and that arousal he’d fought back most of the day came raging to the surface once more. “Say the word, Blondie, and I’ll get naked for you.”
She shot him a yeah-right look and took another sip of water. “We’re professional colleagues, remember?” She handed him the water and pushed to her feet. “Plus we’re too smart to get wrapped up in something like that again.”
Whether she was purposely baiting him or not, he’d never know, but he wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass.
He grasped her hand before she got two steps away and tugged her back. The movement knocked her off-balance, and she yelped as she went down. He caught her in his lap and tugged her close. “I was never very good at the whole professional thing.”
Her soft fingers landed against his chest, and her startled eyes grew wide. And he knew he probably shouldn’t, but he’d been dying for a taste of those lips since he’d picked her up at the airstrip.
He lowered his head and brushed his mouth over hers. A gasp slipped from her lips, and she tensed in his arms. But she didn’t push him away. And that was all the encouragement he needed.
He kissed her again. Ran his tongue over the seam of her lips. Waited for her to open. Her mouth was just as he’d remembered. Soft, lush, perfect. But he wanted to taste her. And if she didn’t let him in soon, he was pretty sure he might go mad.
He changed the angle of the kiss, licked her again, and slowly, gently tugged her bottom lip between his teeth.
She gasped. Or maybe she moaned, he wasn’t sure which, but it was enough to part her lips just a millimeter. And he didn’t hesitate. He dipped inside and slid his tongue along hers, tasting, savoring, reliving the warm, wet perfection of her mouth as if it was the first time.
Her fingers curled against the bare skin of his chest, and she opened wider, slowly stroking her tongue against his as her fingers found the hair at the nape of his neck. Gently, she combed through the locks as he kissed her again and again, as he drew her in and took everything he’d been dreaming about for way too long.
Oh yeah. This was what he’d been missing. This was what he wanted. His hand trailed down her side to the bare skin just beneath her breasts. He wanted her naked. Wanted to feel the weight of her breasts in the palms of his hands. He reached back for the tie on her bikini top.
Maren pulled away from his mouth and stared up at him with wide eyes. “What are you doing?”
She was definitely no longer a virgin, but she played one really well. Amusement trickled through him. “I don’t think I need to draw you a map.”
She pushed off his lap and stumbled but caught herself before she hit the jungle floor, then whipped around to face him. “Don’t do that.”
Don’t do that? The woman was sending him all kinds of mixed signals. “I think you liked that. Come on, Blondie.” He reached for her hand. “It’s kind of stupid to keep ignoring the chemistry still sizzling between us.”
She pulled out of his grip and stepped back. “We’re professional colleagues.”
He rose to his feet and stepped toward her. “We were that once before. That didn’t stop us.”
A blush rose up her cheeks as she stepped back again. “Well, we’re older now.”
He moved closer. “Just think of how much better it’ll be.”
She shifted back again, then stopped abruptly when her spine hit the trunk of a palm tree. “Thad, wait.”
He hesitated with one hand on the trunk above her head, the other centimeters from touching her, and looked into her eyes. “You still want me, Maren. I know you do. I can feel it. I want you too. Just as much.” His gaze flicked to her chest. “And you’re still wearing my locket.”
Her hand covered the small gold heart hanging between her breasts, and her cheeks turned pink. “It’s just a piece of jewelry. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His gaze lifted to hers. “I think it means something.”
Her chest rose and fell with her shallow breaths, but she met his gaze, and in her light blue eyes, he saw the hesitation. “I’m not the same girl I was nine years ago, Thad.”
“That’s okay. I’m not the same guy. And I don’t want the girl you were, I want the woman you’ve become.”
He rested a hand on her slim hip and leaned close. Her sweet scent mixed with the jungle heat and made him lightheaded. He breathed hot over her ear in a way he knew she’d loved once. Just as he’d hoped, her entire body softened.
“Thad…” She rested her hand on his bare chest but didn’t push him away. Electrical arcs shot from the spot straight to his cock.
“God, Blondie. You’re so sexy.” He pressed his lips to the soft skin behind her ear, felt his pulse race being so close to her. “You had a great body before, but I always wondered how it had changed over the years. It’s even better than I imagined.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. He skimmed his lips over her earlobe, then down the silky column of her neck. His stomach tightened with anticipation as he trailed his hand up her rib cage to the underside of her breast.
Her other hand landed against his chest. “Thad…”
He kissed her throat, then gently sucked the spot. “Yeah, baby. I’m right here. Tell me what you want.”
“Thad. Stop.”
She pushed against his chest, hard enough to force him back a step. His eyes came up, but this time when he focused on her face, he didn’t see hesitation, he saw fear.
“Please stop,” she said in a breathless voice. “I can’t go through this again with you.”
She was afraid she was going to get hurt again. She couldn’t possibly know that was the furthest thing from his mind. “Maren, this isn’t then. As you said, we’re both older now. And I learned a long time ago, I’m not a happily-ever-after kind of guy. But I’m not opposed to being happily-for-now. With you.”
He moved back in again. Kissed the other side of her throat. She swallowed hard and pressed her hand against his chest, but this time not with any real force, and he took that as a good sign. “So, you’re only talking about sex.”
Just hearing her say the word sent a rush of blood straight into his cock. “We’re both still totally hot for each other, you can’t deny that.” He pushed her feet apart and moved between her legs, letting her feel his growing erection against her belly. Then he nipped at her jaw. “And we had really amazing sex. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
The tiny groan from her lips told him she remembered loud and clear. And oh, he wanted her right here, against this tree. All he had to do was slide those bikini bottoms down her legs, free his cock, and sink inside all her lush, sweet heat.
“I…” She groaned as his mouth found hers again. As he stroked his tongue over hers and tasted her deeply. But before he could take his fill, she pushed away and stepped out from beneath his arm.
She held up a hand to keep him back. “No, don’t.”
“Maren—”
“No, Thad. I’m too busy to do happily-for-now with anyone, even you.” Her chest rose and fell with her shallow breaths
. “Yes, I’ll admit there’s still…something…between us, but I’m not a kid who takes whatever she wants anymore. Everything has consequences. I learned that the hard way.”
He had no idea what she was talking about, but the icy chill suddenly racing down his spine said it didn’t have a thing to with their dig, and everything to do with the secret he knew she was hiding.
“Maren—”
She turned for the path, carefully averting her eyes. “Let’s just keep going. The sooner we get back to camp, the better. People are waiting for us. We’ll just…forget this ever happened.”
He stared after her as she stalked into the jungle, unsure what to do next. There was no way he could forget that had just happened. The way she’d kissed him back... The sounds she’d made...
Yeah, he wanted her. Ached for her. His ever-present hard-on was a clear indicator of that. But there was something else too. A tingle. A feeling deep in his chest that he didn’t want to acknowledge. An emotion he’d buried long ago that tried to claw its way free.
His skin grew tight, and in an instant, he knew what the feeling was. Regret. Regret over the way things had ended between them. Over the years he’d stayed away. Over the fact he couldn’t give her what he knew she really wanted.
Tomorrow. Every woman wanted the promise of tomorrow, but he’d decided long ago that he wasn’t that kind of guy. And he wasn’t about to break Maren’s heart again. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy each other in the meantime. They were both adults, as she’d pointed out. And she did still want him, dammit. He’d felt it. All he had to do was give her a little time to warm up to the idea. Hell, she hadn’t wanted to work with him at first, and look where they were now.
Confidence swelled in his chest, forcing out the regret he refused to let suck him under. Been there. Done that. Not going back. But finding a way to convince Maren to crawl back into his bed…
Now that idea sounded like more fun than he’d had in years. And it would keep him from wondering what the hell she’d seen in that cenote. Or what she was hiding.
The key was coming up with a way to make her think a superhot fling was all her idea.
CHAPTER NINE
Sex. Just sex. He’d actually proposed that.
Maren picked her way around a thorny bush, swiped at the sweat dripping from her forehead, and worked to keep her temper under control. He wanted to have a sex-only relationship. Did the man not know what she’d been through because of him?
She eyed Thad’s muscular back through the vines ahead and ground her teeth. Of course he didn’t know, and she wasn’t about to tell him. Not a happily-ever-after kind of guy? No, he clearly wasn’t, and she was suddenly glad she’d never tracked him down and told him about Isabel. Maren had no doubt now that he’d be the kind of father she’d lived with—always running off when a new project popped up, barely caring who he left behind. The fact Thad had so casually proposed a fling after everything they’d been through proved just how shallow he’d become.
You know you want it too.
Tingles rushed all through Maren’s body at just the thought, and she stopped, breathed deep, and tried to get her crazy hormones under control. It had taken every ounce of self-control she had to back away from Thad when he’d had her pinned against that tree, because she did want that. No matter what had happened between them in the past, they did still have incredible chemistry, and her body was vibrating at just the thought of being beneath him, on top of him, in any position he wanted. But there was too much at stake for her to fall into a carefree affair with him. And she was too afraid of slipping up and giving everything away. It was safer to keep her distance, even if doing so was pure torture for her body in the meantime.
They hiked through the afternoon. Thad didn’t speak a whole lot to her, and she was grateful for that. If she’d pissed him off, well…that would just make things easier, wouldn’t it?
Yeah. Telling herself that and convincing herself of it were two very different things.
To keep her mind off his hard body in front of her, Maren tried to keep track of time as the sun tracked west across the sky, but dark clouds rolling in made it hard to follow. Maybe they’d open up and unleash on her. That, at least, would cool her down.
They stopped again for water and to eat a few bananas, but this time, thankfully—or not depending on which way Maren’s mood was tilting at that moment—Thad kept his hands to himself. By late afternoon, Maren was sure they had to be getting close to the ocean. The trees were spreading out a little, but she couldn’t be sure. The jungle was still dense, the humidity was stifling, and her mind was playing tricks on her. And the lack of real food wasn’t helping her steadily declining resistance where Thad was concerned.
“Maren!”
Thad’s frantic voice cut through her thoughts. He’d gone ahead to take a look around while she’d sat to rest her aching feet. Irritated, she glanced up. What the hell did he want now? Couldn’t he give her a five-minute break?
He jogged toward her out of the palm trees. A wide grin cut across his tanned and rugged face. “Get up.”
She went back to rubbing her bruised and battered feet. “I’m too tired to keep going right now.”
He pulled her to stand. “Trust me, Blondie. You want to get up.”
Blondie… Why did her insides turn to mush when he called her that? He probably called a lot of girls that.
Irritated, she shoved her feet back in the makeshift shoes and growled under her breath as he dragged her along, cursing him for having unending energy. Cursing herself as well because he felt way too good against her, and when his hands were on her—anywhere—she started to forget all those reasons a sex-only fling was a bad idea.
But when he pulled her through the trees and the breeze blasted across her face, everything else faded away. Salt wafted in the air. Ahead were more palms, flowering tropical plants, and in the distance, the unmistakable blue of water.
“Please tell me that’s not a mirage.”
“Not a mirage,” he said with a smile in his voice. “I told you we’d make it.”
When her toes hit the soft, white sand, she nearly collapsed in pure relief. “Oh, baby.”
Thad dropped the tanks he’d strapped to his back, kicked off his makeshift shoes, grasped her hand, and pulled her toward the crashing waves. “Come on.”
She went with him easily, kicking off her own shoes as she ran. The fresh, cool liquid against her feet felt like heaven. She sank into the surf on a moan and let the water cradle her sore and aching muscles, then bubble over her head.
Thad’s hand closed around hers, and he pulled her toward him. When her head broke the surface, she flipped wet hair out of her eyes, saw the smile on his face, and laughed.
They’d made it.
He tugged her against his body, moved them farther out past the breakers, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was so tired and thankful and—for the moment—happy, she didn’t even care that he was holding her too close, that she was leaning into him. Didn’t even care that he might get the wrong idea. Resting her cheek against his shoulder, she sighed. “East was a good idea.”
“You bet your ass it was.”
She smiled against him, and for a moment wished he’d grab her ass. But a rumble above brought her head around, and she looked up.
The dark clouds she’d noticed in the jungle were thicker here, more angry, and for the first time she noticed how rough the surf was. Water sprayed in her face and crashed against the shore.
“I think that’s Patrick’s storm coming in,” Thad said next to her.
Patrick’s storm… She tried to remember what her father had told her about the incoming weather but drew a blank. At the time, she’d been so worried about the dive, she hadn’t cared what was happening on land.
Thad tugged on her hand and pulled her back toward the beach. “We need to keep moving. That’s gonna reach us soon, and we’re going to need shelter.”
Maren knew h
e was right, but she didn’t want to leave. And though it went against every one of her resolutions where he was concerned, she only wanted to go on feeling his arms around her.
Reluctantly, she followed him out of the surf and brushed her wet hair away from her face. Thad hefted the tanks back on, then grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. They stayed on the beach, heading north. The rain hit, and a shiver raced down Maren’s spine. For the first time she started to wonder if maybe the jungle heat wasn’t so bad after all.
They moved into the trees to try to get away from the steadily increasing wind. Rain ran down Thad’s face and dripped onto his chest. Maren continually wiped the water from her eyes and tried to keep up. This wasn’t just a tropical depression. This storm had morphed into something bigger, and as the trees whipped and howled above them, fear started to slither in. She’d thought their biggest threat was below water. Now it seemed even Mother Nature was against them.
“Maren, look.”
Thad drew Maren to a halt about two miles up the beach. She peered through the blinding rain and zipping palm fronds toward what looked like…a beach resort. A series of small, similar-looking casitas were set back from the sand.
Relief teased the edge of her mind. Shelter. A place to get out of the wind and rain.
Thad tugged on her arm. “This way.”
They ran toward the buildings. There was no way to tell where the main office was, but the place looked deserted. People had obviously evacuated for the storm. He dragged her around the back of one of the buildings toward a door, then dropped his tanks on the ground. Gripping the rusted door handle, he shoved his hip against the solid wood.
The wood groaned but didn’t budge. Thad did it again. Shivering, Maren wiped more water out of her eyes and prayed the damn door wasn’t dead bolted.