Fatal Pursuit (The Aegis Series) (10 page)

“A
what
?” Marley twisted away from the woman on her left who was still trying to pull her shirt up and off.

“There is an old myth in their culture about a woman born of the earth who rose from the mud to rule the rainforest. They think that’s you.”

“Do I look like Princess Leia or something?” Marley frowned at the woman reaching for her sleeve and pushed her hand away. “Stop that.”

The woman didn’t let go of Marley’s arm, but focused on her mouth. “Lay-ah.”

“What?” Oh, good God. Marley shook her head. “No, that’s not my name.” She tried to wriggle out of the woman’s grip. “And stop trying to take my clothes off.”

Darla laughed. “I forgot all about Princess Leia. Ah, I do miss movies. That Harrison Ford was such a stud.” To the women she said,
“Pahali motalu. Asa kobeeli tan fu pa.”

The women let go of Marley and pushed to their feet.

Relief rushed through Marley, but before she could even sigh, both women grabbed her arms and hauled her up. “What the heck did you say to them?”

“I told them you didn’t need a sponge bath. They’re taking you to the river. They need to make you presentable for the celebration tonight.”

The women dragged her toward the door.

“Celebration?” Worry rippled down Marley’s spine. “What kind of celebration?”

Darla stepped aside. “The one welcoming you, of course. Do not fret. There will only be a few dozen suitors in attendance anxious to be chosen as your mate. The Puketi people value love and family over anything else.”

“My
wha
t
?” Marley pulled back, but the women had grips of steel and dragged her along as if she were nothing but a child. “Oh, I don’t think so
.
”

Darla’s laughter echoed at her back. “This is going to be more fun than I’ve had in years.”

Marley disagreed as she hobbled through the village toward the water with the women. Native men dressed in loincloths with their faces painted turned as she walked by. And every single one held a spear as tall as her.

Suddenly Grayson McKnight, snakes, caimans, and paramilitary troops were the least of her worries. All she could think about was Jake.

“Dammit, Jake,” she mumbled. “If you’re still alive, you better come and rescue me.”

Because she’d lied when she said she didn’t need him. Right now she needed him more than she’d ever needed anyone else.

Ever.

Jake swiped the sweat out of his eyes and peered through the foliage with his binoculars. He’d found the natives’ village, a hundred yards in the distance down the embankment, but he hadn’t seen any sign of Marley yet.

Worst-case scenarios filled his head, but he pushed them aside. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be dead. That wasn’t even an option. She had to be in one of those huts. He just had to figure out which.

He glanced up at the sky. The village sat in a small clearing near a river, just down the hill from where he’d stopped. The canopy was sparse here, enough so he could see the filter of sunlight from above. It had stopped raining about two hours ago, but it was still hot as hell. He guessed it had to be close to late afternoon now. Rubbing his hand over his face, he lifted the binoculars again and took another look.

Natives hauled wood into the middle of the camp for what looked like a bonfire. Several warriors, complete with war paint and spears, milled around the central space. Naked children ran through the village. Women wearing only mid-thigh cotton skirts carried baskets and jugs.

His best bet would be to wait until dark. When they were all occupied with whatever ritual they had planned. Sneak into the huts one by one until he found her, then get them both the hell out. From the looks of those spears, he didn’t want to go marching into their village unannounced. And he wasn’t about to do anything to put Marley in more danger.

Plan made, he stuffed the binoculars back into his pack, threw it on his back, and inched away from the ridgeline. He’d wait until dark on the other side, where he had a better view of the huts, then he’d make his move.

His foot hit something solid as he was moving backward. He turned to look, then froze.

“Oh, shit.”

At least ten native males covered in war paint stood around him, pointing deadly sharp spears right at his heart.

“
No, I really don’t need flowers in my hair.” Marley reached up to remove the wreath the elderly native woman had set on the top her head. “Sorry, but I’m just not a flowery kind of girl.”

The woman swatted at her hand. “
Notuli. A fusak,
Lay-ah
.”

Marley jerked her hand back and frowned. “Jeez. Fine. I won’t touch it again.” She might not speak the Puketi language, but she was quickly learning that
notuli
meant no. She glared up at the women standing above her. “But for the record, my name is not Leia. It’s Marley.”

“
Atuki mahatek
, Lay-ah,” the woman painting red stripes on Marley’s right arm muttered.

“
Ah, sutef
, Lay-ah,” the elderly woman said in agreement.

Good lord. She was giving up. Marley sighed and focused on the far wall of the hut while the women continued to decorate her.

The second one, kneeling at Marley’s side, laughed and tapped Marley’s bare ankle, then went back to painting the geometric shapes on Marley’s arm. Marley’s gaze strayed to the decorated leather band strapped to the woman’s ankle. Several of the women in the village wore them. As did a number of men. But Marley had no idea what they were for or why some wore them and others didn’t.

Telling herself it really didn’t matter, she glanced down at the bracelets on her wrists, then to the leather skirt and wrap top which crossed over her breasts and tied behind her neck that the women had dressed her in. It might not be her style, but at least she wasn’t on full display. After she’d bathed in the river, she’d tried to get someone to bring her pack so she could grab her change of clothes, but they’d refused. Instead they’d covered her in a blanket, then brought her back to the hut where they’d been “working” on her ever since. For a while, she’d been a little worried they were going to make her parade around in nothing but the short skirt most of the women seemed to be wearing, but thankfully Darla had intervened and suggested something a little more appropriate for their new “princess.”

Princess. Yeah, there was a laugh. Marley had tried to correct them on that point several times, but no one had seemed to want to listen to her, so she’d finally shut up.

The old woman shifted her feet, and her saggy breasts flashed in Marley’s peripheral vision. Wincing, Marley closed her eyes so she didn’t have to look and sat still while they stuck more flowers in the wreath on her head. An image of Jake, smiling that obnoxious, sexy grin of his, flickered behind her eyelids.

He’d get quite a kick out of this if he could see her now. Where was he? She’d expected him to follow her. He’d come all the way to Colombia and refused to leave her even though she’d repeatedly tried to get him to go home. He wouldn’t just walk away if they got separated. So the fact he hadn’t already shown up meant either he hadn’t tracked her yet or he couldn’t because he was injured.

Another knot of fear wedged its way inside her chest. She’d heard him calling her name when the landslide had taken her out, but she didn’t know if he’d been pulled down with it or if something worse had happened to him. She’d been lucky her injuries had been minor—bruises, scrapes, a knock on the head—but what if he’d broken his leg? What if a branch had speared him? What if he’d been buried in all that mud?

Voices echoed from outside, dragging Marley’s eyes open. The women around her turned toward the open door of the hut. One rose and rushed over to look. In an excited voice, she exclaimed,
“Motani. Apukala tet.”

The women all let go of Marley and hurried for the door. Curious about what was going on, Marley pushed to her feet and followed, looking over their dark heads toward the group of warriors entering the village.

There were at least ten of them, all decked out in war paint and carrying nasty looking spears she did not want to be on the receiving end of. They moved in a pack. Several in the middle looked to be carrying something tied to a pole, which was perched on their shoulders. It had to be a hunting party. She’d noticed the bonfire they were building in the middle of the camp. They’d probably killed a boar or—her stomach rolled—she really hoped it wasn’t a giant snake.

The men at the front of the pack stopped near the branch of a giant tree on the far side of camp and yelled something to the men at the back. One hastily moved over and threw a rope over the thick branch, then tied it off. Bodies shifted. Marley squinted to see better. They unhooked something from the pole and tied it to the rope. Something she couldn’t quite see. Something that—

“Son of a bitch. Do not put me up there!”

Her pulse shot up. Eyes wide, she watched as one of the natives planted his feet in the dirt and pulled on the end of the rope. The warriors in the front moved back. Boots appeared over their heads, then familiar cargo pants, and finally Jake’s arms and shoulders and face as he dangled upside down from the rope.

“Oh my God.” Marley pushed past the native women in the doorway and ran across the camp toward the warriors. “Jake!”

“Marley!” He swiveled in the air and looked her way, but his momentum kept spinning him around. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m not hurt. I’m okay. Oh my God, Jake.”

Footsteps pounded in the dirt behind her. She lurched for him but two warriors stepped in her way, blocking her path. “Wait. What are you doing? Get out of my way.”

She reached past them for Jake, but they pushed her back and let off a string of words she couldn’t follow.

Voices echoed all around her. Several other warriors moved in her way.

At their backs, Jake’s frantic voice rose up. “Marley!”

She tried to see past the mass of bodies. Jake was still spinning in the air, his arms flying out to the side, trying to stop his movements. She struggled against the hands and arms trying to pull her back. “He’s with me, you idiots. Let me go.”

“Pahali acutef,”
Darla’s voice rang out.

The warriors stilled and looked toward the voice, but Marley’s gaze didn’t follow. She rushed past the men toward Jake. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

“Fine, except for being strung up like a piece of meat.”

She grasped his shoulders, hanging six feet off the ground, and pulled him around to hold him still. “What the hell happened?”

“What does it look like happened? I nearly got speared trying to rescue you.”

Warmth filled her chest, and a silly smile she couldn’t stop tugged at the corner of her mouth. “It looks to me like you’re the one who needs rescuing.”

“No thanks to—”

“Notuli aku tamen!”
One of the warriors stepped close and drew his spear, pointing it right at Jake’s side.

Jake tensed and reached out to grasp Marley’s hand. “Stop gloating and do something, would you? I’m not in the mood to be dinner.”

Marley let go of Jake’s hand and moved between him and the warrior. “Whoa. Wait.”

The warrior lifted his sword and yelled,
“Notuli aku tamen!”

Two other warriors moved up on Jake’s other side.

“Um. Addison.”

From the corner of Marley’s vision she could see Jake spinning at her back. Her adrenaline spiked. She held up her hands in a nonthreatening way. “He’s with me. He’s totally harmless, I promise.”

The warriors looked at each other, then refocused on Jake, their eyes narrowing, spears lowering.

“That’s not working.” Jake reached out for her arm, catching himself to slow his spinning. “If you’ve got any other bright ideas, use them. Like,
now
.”

Marley’s frantic mind caught on something Darla had told her about the Puketi people valuing family. Her heart rate shot up. Her hands grew sweaty. It was a long shot, but they were obviously out of options. “I’ve got one.”

She whipped around and captured Jake’s upside down face in her hands. “Hold still.”

“Why? What—?”

She pressed her lips against his.

“Mar—”

“Just go with it,” she whispered before kissing him again. Quick. Easy. Just a brush of lips against lips. But enough to make her belly warm and her fingers tingle against the scruff on his jaw.

Ignoring her body’s stupid reaction, she drew back and glanced over the crowd, searching for Darla. “He’s not a threat. Darla, he’s with me. We’re together. Tell them he’s with me.”

The crowd looking on parted. Darla stood at the back of the group with a perplexed expression and nodded toward Jake. “This is your mate?”

Mate?
Whoa. That was a little more than she’d expected.

“I’ll be your damn anything,” Jake mumbled. “Just get me down from here.”

“Um, boyfriend,” Marley lied. “Yes. We’re together.”

Darla didn’t respond. The warriors looked from Darla to Marley and back again. Tense seconds passed.

Finally, Darla said.
“Akutami peli aten fu maku.”

Two warriors stepped up on each side of Jake. Wide-eyed, Marley shifted back toward Jake to see what they were doing. Her heart beat hard as the males stared at her and then looked at Jake.

“Marley.” Jake reached his hand out to her.

“I’m right here.” She closed her fingers around his and squeezed. The warrior on her right pulled a knife from the strap on his bare thigh.

“They don’t believe you.” Jake tensed. His hand grew damp against hers.

Marley’s heart shot into her throat. Jake was right. They didn’t believe her. Fear jerked her forward. “Wait—”

The warrior reached up and sliced through the rope holding Jake’s left leg. The one on the other side did the same to the second rope. Jake’s “Fuck me!” echoed in the air as both warriors stepped back. He landed with a thud against the dirt.

Hands shaking, Marley dropped to her knees next to him. “Shit. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Groaning, he rolled to his side and pushed up, then pressed a hand to his forehead. “Dizzy, but fine.”

Relief swept through Marley like a tidal wave. She grasped his hands and helped pull him to his feet. “You scared me.”

“I scared you? What the hell were you thinking stepping close to that edge? When I saw you go down that hillside, I thought—”

His mouth closed. His jaw clenched, and he shook his head.

Was that fear she heard in his voice? The usually calm, take-charge man she knew so well sounded rattled in a way she hadn’t expected.

He turned those dark, intense eyes her way. “Are you hurt?”

Her pulse picked up speed all over again. And as the worry in his eyes registered, a new set of nerves lit off in her belly. Except these weren’t rooted in fear. These rolled and churned and vibrated with an awareness she knew she shouldn’t be feeling. “Um. No. Not hurt. Not really. Just a little bruised.”

His dirt-streaked features relaxed, and he reached for her hand. “Thank God.”

Before she realized what he was doing, he tugged her into the warmth of his body, then closed his arms around her and lowered his face into her hair.

Surprise made her draw in a quick breath. Her muscles tensed. Her hands opened against his pecs. The scents of dirt and sweat and
him
filled her senses until she felt lightheaded.

In all the years she’d worked for him, he’d never once hugged her. Her mind tumbled with an explanation, and then she realized it had to be the stress of the situation. They’d also never been lost in the jungle together, she’d never been swept away in a landslide, and he probably hadn’t been dragged into a native village and strung up in the trees like lunch before either.

Relief came raging back. Along with a warmth that rippled through every part of her and eased the knot of worry inside. One she liked. More than she should. Sinking into him for just a minute, she closed her eyes and let him hold her. She wasn’t one to need coddling, but this she didn’t mind. Because it reaffirmed that he wasn’t hurt. That they were both alive. And though she’d never admit it to him, this felt better than anything had in a really long time.

“So you told them we were a couple,” he said into her hair.

His words popped the cozy bubble of relief. Marley blinked and looked up at the tree Jake had just been hanging from. “Um, yeah. Sorry. The Puketi people are sorta hopeless romantics as a culture. It was either that or watch them flay you. I figured this was the lesser of two evils.”

“I definitely don’t want to get flayed,” he mumbled. “And since they’re all still staring at me as if I might club you over the head and drag you off into the jungle, we better make this convincing.”

“Make what convincing?”

Jake drew back. Confused, she looked up, then sucked in a quick breath when she caught the look in his dark eyes. A look that was soft, mischievous, and downright
hot
all at the same time.

He lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers. Gentler than she’d kissed him but more intense. More real. More
there
. Her whole body stiffened. Her head grew light, and her knees wobbled. Unsure if she should react, if she should kiss him back, she moved her hands from his pecs to his biceps and squeezed to hold herself upright so her legs didn’t go out from under her.