She delighted in his climax just as much as her own. What pure pleasure to feel him lose his cool as he emptied himself inside her. They trembled together like leaves buffeted by the wind. She thought about how some birds, like swifts and falcons, mated in midair.
The air had brought this man to her, and here they were. Mating.
The thought made her laugh. He collapsed onto his back and held her to him. “What’s funny? Did I make weird sounds?”
“No, I was just thinking about bird sex. Don’t you think it’s interesting that you love flying and I love birds?”
She could barely see his smile in the dark. “I think everything about you is interesting.”
That might be the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her. They were quiet for a long enough time that she thought maybe he’d finally gone to sleep. Then he lifted himself on one elbow.
“Lincoln’s awake.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s…himself. He knows what happened, he knows what’s going on. He wants to leave right away. He doesn’t think it’s safe for either of us here. That’s why I came here, to say goodbye.”
“What?” She sat bolt upright. “You’re leaving right now, in the middle of the night? That’s crazy.”
“I told him the same thing. But he doesn’t listen to me. Another one for the ‘I told you so’ files.” He caressed her face. “I just wanted to see you one last time. But he’s waiting for me. I told him I needed some time to get my stuff together, pack some food and water, that sort of thing.”
He swung his legs over the side of the bed.
“Rory.” Her voice sounded like a wail. “This is a bad idea. Give me a few minutes, I’ll get dressed and come with you guys.”
“He doesn’t want anyone else to come. He’s worried there’s an informant here. He might be a little paranoid, or maybe not. I don’t know.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Although now that she thought about it, how had those kidnappers found him so quickly? Maybe someone in the camp had seen the chance to cash in on Lincoln’s surprise appearance.
“Yeah. Maybe.” He was already pulling on his clothes, his body hard and beautiful in the dim light.
She scrambled out of bed. “You don’t even know the way. I’ll talk to him. I rescued him, after all.”
“I can’t stop you, but Lincoln is a stubborn man.”
“I’m stubborn too, everyone says so. Besides, he doesn’t care about you. He’s looking out for himself. Who’s going to watch your back?”
He caught her to him and gave her such a passionate look that her knees went wobbly. “I…You know I…care about you.”
She knew without a doubt that he wanted to say something different. Something more.
“I need you to be safe, Mathilda.”
“We’re safer together.” With that, she dodged under his arm, stuck her feet into her boots, and headed out of the tent.
23
When they got to the guest tent, they found Lincoln pacing from one cot to the next. Limping. And he wanted to hike out of the jungle?
Rory agreed with Mathilda’s skepticism about Lincoln’s plan. But try telling a billionaire anything he didn’t want to hear. That never seemed to go very well.
“Jesus, what took you so long?” Lincoln demanded.
“I was hoping you’d go back to sleep.” Rory eyed his boss. “Honestly, I can’t understand how you’re even standing after plane crush number two.”
“You know how much effort I put into staying fit.”
Rory had to hand it to him; maybe all those trainers were onto something. “Maybe you should give your longevity team a raise.”
