19
Forty-eight hours later. . .
Reaper’s eyes snapped open, his vision clearer than before. Oppressive heat penetrated his senses, but this time it wasn’t generated from the inside out, rather the outside in. Howler monkeys screeched in the distance, and birds chirped from the open window to his right. Thick, hard ropes dug into his back through a worn quilt thrown over his cot.
How long had he been out? Surely, it couldn’t have been for more than half a day. He leaned up and looked out the window, trying to judge the time by the sun’s location, but the thick canopy of trees surrounding the hut blocked his view. He’d have to get outside and find a clearing to determine whether it was morning or afternoon.
He swung his legs around with caution and let them dangle over the edge of the bed, his feet on the floor. No dizziness or weakness assaulted his senses. He rolled his neck and did a quick scan of his surroundings.
His field medical kit lay open near the head of the bed, supplies in disarray. The energy bars he’d had stashed in one of his pockets were stacked neatly in a line down the wall next to it, only two missing from the five he brought with him. His other supplies—his knife, pistol, and various other small items—lay in a pile right beside that.
Dirt and dried leaves covered the floor and Caroline’s hospital gown still lay crumpled in the corner. The only thing missing from this picture was Caroline.
Reaper jerked to his feet, and a twinge of pain pinched his shoulder. He needed to check the wound, but not until he found Caroline.
There was a chance that she’d simply gone outside to get some fresh air, but there was an even higher chance that she’d been taken.
Reaper went for his gun, grabbing his sidearm off the floor. He stared at it for a moment, realizing that if they’d taken Caroline, they probably would’ve taken his weapon and him too. Either that or they would have killed him. It would have been easy in his helpless state.
Still, he couldn’t wait around tending to his injury if there was even the remotest possibility that she’d been kidnapped or injured. Reaper loaded his pistol and jammed it into his waistband. The thought of any harm coming to her sent a coil of fury ripping through him. If any one of those fuckers had laid a hand on her, he’d rip their heads from their shoulders.
Shirtless and barefoot, Reaper crept through the doorway and into the jungle. His ears immediately pricked at the sound of water splashing about a hundred yards to the south.
What the hell?
He crept around the side of the hut, ready to spring at a moment’s notice. The splashing grew louder as he walked, and when he finally located the source of the noise, his body went numb.
Caroline was treading water in a perfectly round aquamarine lagoon, the back of her head and shoulders just visible above the surface.
Was she crazy? The piranhas found in this area could pick an animal’s flesh clean off the bone within seconds. But she wasn’t screaming in pain or struggling. Instead, she cupped the water in her hands and let it gently fall over her head in a cascade of liquid delight.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
She looked like a woodland fairy straight out of his dreams with her wet skin glowing in the sunlight.
And then she disappeared beneath the surface so quickly that he lunged to the bank, ready to dive in after her. But she reemerged seconds later, giggling, and flipped onto her back, spread out her arms and floated on the water’s surface with her eyes closed.
Reaper’s stomach constricted and his cock swelled.
She was completely naked.
The hospital gown had given him tantalizing glimpses of her perfect ass and the slick folds of her sex, and he’d felt those soft curves under his hands, but this was different. Her entire body was on glorious display. Her breasts formed perfectly proportioned mounds, and their beautiful rose-colored nipples begged for his touch. He’d known she had a tiny waist, but now he saw that her hips rounded out into a perfect hourglass figure that left his mouth dry and his mind blank.
And then his eyes landed on the blonde curls at the juncture of her thighs and his knees almost gave out right there.
He stumbled forward, his hand on the fly of his pants before he reached the water’s edge. He needed to get the hell out of here, run as fast and as far from her as he possibly could, but there was no force on Earth that could stop him from approaching her.
Naked, he eased into the water, uncaring of the fact that it would soak his bandage or even possibly infect his wound. His entire world was focused on her.
She was beautiful. She was perfect. And she was his.
A warning flickered somewhere distantly in the back of his mind that he had no right to take her. But then Caroline’s bright blue eyes flew open, her gaze landed on him, and any second thoughts vanished.
Caroline gaspedand then fell beneath the surface of the water, almost gulping in a large swallow and choking on it. When she surfaced again, Reaper was less than a foot from her, his midnight eyes blasting with such intensity it stole her breath.
“How long have you been here?” she cried out, all at once embarrassed and turned on by the fact he’d seen her completely naked, which was totally screwed up. She should be furious or at least alarmed . . .
Onlyhewas naked, too, and she’d never seen a more glorious sight. Her breasts were tingling and achy, and she wanted to reach out to him. She’d seen his exposed chest before, but he’d been weak and ill. Now, he was in complete control of his body, and the glory of seeing him this way—all power and strength and raw masculine energy—was something she’d never forget.
