“The divine mother, goddess of water, life, and weaving.”
He chewed thoughtfully. “It was close to that river. Could it have been an altar to her?”
“It’s possible.” She poked at her noodles and sighed. “I wish I could talk to Dr. Banks about this. She’d probably know exactly what it was.”
“Hey.” He ran a hand over the back of her head. “You have the pictures. You’ll see her soon and you’ll have so much to share with her.”
She smiled and leaned closer, giving him a soft kiss. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said softly.
Several hours later, Kinley was wide awake in the dim light cast by the glow stick Shane had snapped earlier. Her mind wouldn’t shut off, even though her body was exhausted. She kept picturing the stelae, then visualizing the layout of the city based on the LIDAR imagery and trying to picture where they would enter. Realistically, she knew the jungle would have overtaken the ruins decades ago, but still she envisioned reaching the ruins as they would have been thousands of years ago when they were still in use.
Shane pulled her back against his front, but she stopped his hand from traveling to the juncture of her thighs.
His head lifted from behind her. “You okay?”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Will you get angry if I say no?”
“Angry?”
She could hear the confusion in his voice. “Not angry…upset.”
He pushed up onto his elbow and turned her onto her back. “Kinley, I’m not going to be anything other than horny and disappointed if you don’t want to have sex.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I do. It’s just…”
“Just?”
She took a deep breath. “I felt funky all day and I know I stink and need a real shower. With soap and not just water.” Heat gathered on her cheeks as she remembered how unbath-like her time in the river had been.
A wide, teasing grin spread across his face. “So you’re saying you have a serious case of swamp ass?”
“Of what?”
“Swamp ass. When it’s hot and your ass is sweaty and kind of ferments in your drawers.”
“Eww. That’s disgusting and entirely too accurate.”
Shane chuckled as he lay back down and pulled her close to his side. “It’s worse when it’s a barracks full of guys.”
Kinley wrinkled her nose. She didn’t even want to imagine.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said. “Plenty of time tomorrow to worry about tomorrow.”
CHAPTER12
Shane eased his arm from under Kinley’s head. She snuffled a little but didn’t wake up. Not that he expected her to—she was exhausted.
He shoved his feet into his boots and laced them tight. Grabbing the GPS and night vision goggles that had been an unexpected surprise, he eased out of the tent and crouched outside after zipping it closed to make sure Kinley stayed asleep.
Adjusting the head strap for the NVGs, he switched on the power and infrared illuminator. The jungle lit up like the Las Vegas strip. Maybe not quite as bright, but he could see as well as he could during the day. He quietly moved away from the tent.
Twenty minutes later, a bright spot appeared ahead of him and he slowed his pace, taking care where he set his feet. The jungle would probably cover any inadvertent sounds he made, but it was better to be careful.
A few meters closer to the light, he hit a break in the jungle and crouched down, taking in the scene before him. Someone had cleared a large swath and set up camp. Four large tents circled a fire and he could see at least two people walking around.
Through the jungle overgrowth, Shane could make out the silhouette of a large pyramid rising above the camp. He pictured Kinley’s excitement and regretted not sharing the initial moment with her, but he needed to know what they were walking into before he led her there.
