He pulled her from him seconds before coming on his stomach. Miri stayed kneeling in front of him as he relaxed his breathing, his hand still in her hair, and then he pulled her up beside him.
“Come here,” he said, bringing her mouth to his.
They sank deep into their kiss, not worrying about the expedition or Vautour. Or anything other than each other.
Chapter
Sixteen
Miri had been wrong. Wrongabout needing to find the Moon City. Wrong about what would happen if she didn’t succeed.
What did any of it matter? So maybe she made an important discovery. Maybe she got her name in some prestigious archaeological digest. Sure, it would be pretty rad. But would it prove to everyone she was enough? Would it make her happy?
Possibly.
But was it worth dragging her team along on this wild goose chase? No.
She only wished she’d come to that realization earlier.
WWCMD?
She never would have been in this situation in the first place, that’s what. Corrie would have recognized their failure weeks ago. And she’d have admitted when she was wrong.
So at breakfast the next morning, Miri made an announcement.
“I spent some time thinking last night, and it’s time for us to head home,” she said.
Felix and Logan dropped their forks, the loud clacking on their plates immediately causing Anissa to put her hands on her head as she nursed a hangover. They clearly weren’t worried about the noise, however, while they bombarded Miri with questions.
When?
Why?
But what about the Moon City?
What about Pierre Vautour?
She wished she could give them quick, easy answers, but how was she supposed to explain the epiphany she’d had the night before? It wouldn’t make sense to them. How Rafa had helped her see her worth. She didn’t need awards and accolades to prove herself. Even without any actual discovery in the Amazon, she’d already proved to herself that she was a badass. She’d finally given herself permission to let all her tension, all her insecurities, go, and damn, was it liberating.
When she glanced over at Rafa, however, she was surprised to see that he wasn’t elated. Instead, he hung his head, staring at her with apologetic eyes. Like he’d done something wrong. After trying to convince her to leave for the last three weeks, why did he suddenly look…disappointed?
Was it last night? Regret? She tried to read behind his eyes, but he gave her nothing.
“With everything that’s happened, I think it’s time we cut our losses. Like Dr. Mejía said in the recording—there was a very real chance that we’d never find the Cidade da Lua, but no one can say it’s because we didn’t try. So I want to pack up and head to the airport in Boa Vista tomorrow. Anissa, can you book us plane tickets?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Anissa said with her head face down on the table and waving her hand in the air.
“What should we do today?” Felix asked.
Miri shrugged. “Do whatever you want. Just don’t get bitten by a poisonous spider or get crunched by a boa constrictor.”
“I’ll be in my room,” Anissa said, standing up and shuffling toward her cabin. “Donotknock on my door.”
“So that’s it?” Rafa asked once the others left the dining cabana. There was an edginess in his tone that Miri couldn’t quite place.
“It is. I thought you’d be pleased that I was finally giving up?” She said it like it was a question.
“I mean, I am, I suppose.”Hmm…that didn’t sound very convincing.“You’re not doing it because of me, are you? Because of last night?”
