Can't Run (Danger and Desire Book 1) (5 page)

“Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.” -
Oscar Wilde

The third day of the river cruise was fairly unexciting, the group was confined to the boat as the captain pushed further up the river and further away from people. From the deck of the boat the group viewed the beautiful forests of trees closely spaced reaching straight up into the high canopy where they seemed to join into one. The sounds of birds surrounded the boat, hidden in the trees they chattered amongst themselves rhythmically blending with the soft sound of the river to create a beautiful harmony.

Sara, Carrie, and Amanda lounged together on the upper deck enjoyed the humid heat of the amazon rainforest, enjoying cold cervejarias. Eric was on the bottom deck giving Sara a little space, which she was very thankful for. Gabriel was in his room where he hadn’t left all day. He was becoming noticeably distant from the group, which was worrying Carrie, but at that moment some girl time was definitely welcomed. It was the first time in many days that they were together, just the three of them, which gave them a rare opportunity to catch up on gossip.

“So, you’re not really into Eric anymore right?” Amanda asked diffidently.

Sara wasn’t expecting to be asked that, she stammered for a moment unsure how to answer “N…no, of course not!” Sara lied, “I have no tolerance for liars,” she explained firmly.

She was happy that she was wearing sunglasses because she was pretty sure that her eyes gave away her true emotions.

“Don’t want that fine-ness to go to waste now do we…” Carrie said coyly, “Because damn is he fine.”

“So, you wouldn’t mind, then, if I…” Amanda began to ask before Carrie, not one to be ignored, interjected.

“Fuck him!” Carrie was obviously amused, while Amanda and Sara both flushed, “Because you’re not into him anymore right?” Carrie finished.

Amanda smiled, “What my translator said.”

Sara felt her gut tighten and her ears begin to burn.

“Um, no, it’s totally cool if you want to… um,” Sara couldn’t finish the sentence. Thankfully she didn’t have to.

“Great, thanks!” Amanda said with a smile, “I mean one of us should get some use out of him.”

Sara didn’t answer, as she leaned back and pretended to be fully focused on relaxing. She, however, didn’t want Amanda to be hooking up with Eric. The idea sparked jealousy through her in a manner that she found to be incredibly disturbing. She tried her best to put it out of her mind until that evening at dinner when Amanda sat next to Eric and spoke with him in low whispers.

Watching Amanda flirt with Eric seriously ruined Sara’s appetite. She couldn’t help but watch as this mating ritual took place before her eyes, and he didn’t even brush Amanda off which fed into Sara’s irritation.

What made things worse was that he actually seemed to be enjoying Amanda’s attention, and even leaned in and laughed at Amanda’s jokes.

Sara tried to turn her attention to something else, and looked over at Carrie who was in a quiet but obviously serious discussion or disagreement with Gabriel. Sara was sure that Carrie already regretted taking Gabriel on the boat trip,
too much too soon,
Sara thought to herself. She also felt a little sad for Carrie who had dozens of flings in the time that they had been friends, but had never had an actual relationship. Carrie seemed to have wanted that with Gabriel, but Sara couldn’t see how it could have ever worked.

Sara’s concentration was disrupted by Amanda’s flirtatious giggle. The sound ate through her, and she couldn’t take it anymore. She was sure that she was turning a shade of green when she stood up and excused herself.

She walked quickly to her bedroom where she stripped into a t-shirt and climbed to bed without even brushing her teeth. She was too frustrated to think about doing anything.
This isn’t supposed to happen
, Sara thought to herself, as she tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep. She felt defeated, betrayed, and angry.

Sara laid awake until Eric entered the room, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she quietly watched him remove his holster before taking off his shirt and laying down on the floor.

“Well, that was pretty unprofessional, wasn’t it?” Sara blurted out, silently swearing at herself when she heard the envy in her voice.

Sara’s voice was first answered with silence in the darkness, but she heard Eric shifting uncomfortably before he let out a sigh.

“I was just being friendly, Sara.”

“Oh and who could deny that you were being very friendly,” Sara’s voice was harsh, harsher than she meant for it to sound.

He didn’t respond, there was nothing to say. It didn’t change the fact that Sara was stricken with jealousy that she didn’t want to feel. It didn’t change the fact that he lied to her about who he was, or that he was her father’s employee. It didn’t change the fact that she still wanted him, and she hated it.

~

The next morning Sara awoke with a feeling of utter embarrassment. She lashed out at Eric, and she realized she really had no right. Still, the idea of him with her friend made her feel sick. She couldn’t allow it, but she wasn’t sure how.

Breakfast that morning was quiet, there was tension throughout the entire group, but Sara didn’t know why. No one but Eric knew about her outburst the previous night, Amanda sat quietly sipping on coffee while Carrie silently picked at her food and Gabriel kept to himself while he ate. Eric, of course, was quiet; Sarah realized he had probably taken her outburst to heart.

After breakfast the group got ready for their day trip. On deck Sara was applying sunscreen and bug repellent with Amanda. She fought with herself to ask about what happened between them.

“So,” Sara finally said, trying to keep her voice even “Did you guys have a fun night?”

“Who… oh, you mean Eric?” Amanda’s voice wasn’t about to give anything away.

“Yeah, I mean, you looked like you hit it off…”

Amanda shook her head and gave a weak smile, “No, I got shot down. I have zero game.”

Although Amanda sounded completely embarrassed, Sara realized that she felt completely relieved. Happy even. Nothing happened between Eric and Amanda. Not only had nothing happened, but Eric actually turned down Amanda’s advancements. Untamed excitement crept into her stomach.

For the excursion, the group took the little dingy from the boat to the damp land where they wandered around looking at plant life. 

“I hope I see a Jaguar!” Carrie chirped as she stepped over a large root tying a tall tree into the ground.

“Don’t ever wish for that!” Gabriel snapped, drawing the attention of the group, “They’re not some house cat that just looks cute! … Americans!”

Sara and Amanda immediately walked over to Carrie, concerned about Gabriel’s outbreak and his distant behavior leading up to.

“You okay?” Amanda asked, reaching out to Carrie’s arm.

Sara frowned and looked off in the direction Gabriel stormed off, “What the heck was that about?”

Carrie shook her head, “I don’t know, he’s been distant since … well, I guess since Eric showed up.”

Sara frowned, “I wonder why, it’s not like they’ve been interacting with each other at all. It really shouldn’t make any difference to him”

Amanda shrugged, her attention was drawn back to the natural surroundings. Carrie too seemed less shaken then only a moment before.

“Boys will be boys, can’t ever understand them.” Carrie said calmly before going after Gabriel. Amanda slowly followed, keeping her distance to give them some privacy.

Eric, who had been standing in the background, moved silently towards Sara. She didn’t know where he was until he put his hand on her shoulder. Startled, she turned to face him.

“I don’t trust him.” Eric whispered into Sara’s.

“It’s your job to not trust him, Eric!” Sara pointed out, trying to ignore the feeling lingering in her gut that she too did not trust him either. Trying to forget about the deepened concern she was feeling, she began to explore again. Eric trailed closely behind her keeping an eye on her and the surroundings.

“Have you been to Brazil before?” Sara asked as she moved through the trees, keeping a paranoid eye out for snakes and scorpions.

“No, this is a first.” Eric answered.

“So why don’t you enjoy this experience a little more?” Sara asked, “I mean, if you’ve never been to the Amazon before you may as well enjoy it.”

“I never said that I haven’t seen the Amazon before, I haven’t been to Brazil but I have been to other parts of the Amazon.” Eric countered.

“Well, if that’s the case…” Sara began but was distracted by something meandering on the ground. “SNAKE!” she screamed, miss-stepping and falling forward towards the long creature.

A strong arm grabbed her and pulled her up. She found herself cradled like a baby in Eric’s arms. She was surprised that she didn’t even care as long as she didn’t have to be on the ground near the snake. That was, until Eric began to jiggle about suppressing giggles, which soon turned into a roar of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Sara asked, perplexed at what could possibly be funny about a snake.

Eric set Sara back down on the ground, “It’s not a snake…” he was still laughing and hardly able to speak, “...it’s… it’s …it’s a vine!”

Sara looked back where she saw the snake and felt her face begin to burn with red hot embarrassment, but she too could not hold back the giggles that were erupting from her throat. The two boomed with laughter, loud enough to frighten any nearby animals.

“Guys,” Gabriel’s voice interrupted, Carrie and Amanda stood behind him looking anxious, “We got to go back now.”

Eric’s expression sobered as he looked around, “Damn,” he said under his breath.

Sara slowly realized that it seemed as though a shadow had covered the forest, as she had come to this realization a rumble shook the skies followed by a loud crack.

The group quickly moved towards the water where the crewman was waiting the dingy anxiously. When he saw them he began beckoning for them to move faster. The sky was layers of grey, dark blue, and black- it was ominous. As soon as they reached the small rubber boat the rain began to downpour upon them. Within seconds everyone was completely drenched.

Sara who was wearing a white tank top wrapped her arms around her chest, unsuccessfully shielding her breasts from the view of the rest of the passengers. Eric looked over at Sara, wordlessly removed his worn leather jacket and laid it over her shoulders. Although she was already soaking wet it did wonders for covering her from the view of the others, more essentially from Gabriel and the crewman.

As soon as Sara got on board the awaiting boat she ran to her cabin, the others ran to the warmth of their cabins in similar fashion. Sara had ripped off her wet clothes and threw them on the floor in a sopping pile and wrapped herself with the quilt from the bed, she was too wet to put on a fresh pair of clothes and decided she would take some time to dry in her room. There was a light tapping on the door, Sara realized Eric wasn’t in the room. She picked his jacket up from the wet pile, wrapping the quilt firmly around her body she opened the door.

Eric quietly walked inside looking like a drowned rat, he looked at Sara huddled in her quilt holding out his jacket.

“Thanks,” she said slowly.

He shrugged, taking his jacket and walked over to his bag where he began to dig around.

“My towel is still damp from showering this morning or I would offer you mine.” Sara said sitting back down on the bed.

‘”I must have left mine in town, I didn’t realize how long it was since I last showered.” He said, straightening himself.

Sara pulled the top sheet from the bed and threw it at him, “Strip down and warm up before you catch your death.”

He chuckled, “You sound like my grandmother.”

“That’s me,” Sara said, readjusting a piece of the quilt that had begun to slip, “an old soul. Though… I really hope that your grandmother didn’t tell you to strip down.”

She could see the contour of his incredibly chiseled abs through his wet shirt, but when he pulled it over his head Sara felt her body tighten.
He really was beautiful
.  He covered himself with the sheet before removing his jeans and boxers, then just stood awkwardly not knowing what to do next.

“You can sit, you know.” Sara welcomed, shuffling over to make a spot for him to sit on the bed.

He nodded and sat next to her. Her body had electricity charging throughout, and although she was so excited she had a sudden wave of exhaustion.

She yawned uncontrollably, “Do you ever get that?’ she asked.

He looked at her like she was crazy, obviously having no clue what she was talking about.

“You know, where you get cold, then you can’t really warm up you get really tired.” She finished, yawning again.

He shook his head, “It doesn’t make me tired, just cold.” He grinned at Sara who was wearing a devious grin herself. 

“Well,” she said, “There is one thing that my grandma taught me to fight the feeling of cold, it doesn’t help with staying awake though.”