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October 3 - October 11, 2024
At that tender age, it had never occurred to Ellie that the life she wanted was an impossibility—that no amount of intelligence and determination would ever overcome the handicap of her gender.
Ellie imagined pushing her way through the virgin rainforest, following the winding path of a game trail as the orchids bloomed around her and tropical birds chattered overhead.
“Is it about a man? Do tell me that it’s a man.”
“Yes, well… It’s all moot now,”
This doesnt mean now what it meant back then lol
“But I don’t see why you’re running. I can confront the fellow with my jiu jitsu.”
The little islets were lined with stretches of golden sand that bordered thick green forests dotted with colorful flowers and towering palms.
“Nobody goes in your room. Not after the crocodile fell out of the closet.”
“He is a barbarian, but he is harmless,”
Love it lol
Nothing was ever that easy for a woman trying to blaze her own path in the world.
Adam went on before she took it in mind to express her feelings in the form of a kick to his balls.
He was near enough for her to feel the warmth that radiated off his very big, very solid body as he reached around her head and gently untied the knot that held her gag in place.
I don’t exactly maintain friends in high places, but if it’s a matter of beating a guy like that out of the idea of wanting anything to do with you or your map—I might find a certain kind of pleasure in that.” There was a rough and delicious edge to his voice.
She slipped a bit on the tiles. Adam caught her. She fit against him nicely.
When I get to the end of my day, I don’t want to worry about what connections I should be making or which of my friends might be out to get me. I just want to take off my boots and watch the sky change for a little while.”
“I know a thing or two about having dreams the rest of the world thinks are madness,”
All of him was tanned—the broad line of his shoulders, the rigid planes of his chest, the well-muscled curve of his arms.
“Ready to throw ourselves into a big black hole?” he asked cheerfully. “Sorry?” Ellie blurted. “The cave, Princess,” Bates replied with just a glint of mischief in his eyes.
The space looked like a fairy Atlantis emerging from the silent waters.
“You love telling men when they’re wrong about things,”
Ellie only half listened to it as her eyes settled on the way that the firelight flickered along the strong angle of his jaw.
Ellie’s gaze locked onto the place where the curve of his well-muscled forearm was revealed by the rolled-up sleeve of his shirt. There was something deeply, wildly appealing about that forearm. Her mouth was dry. She needed… she wanted… She wanted. The realization struck her with all the force of a blow to the head. She wanted him.
and then her wretched thoughts shifted to vividly imagining what it would feel like to trace her fingers over every delicious angle.
Here Ellie was, just partway through that bottle of liquid gold, and she had turned from a rational, modern woman into a savage beast.
All it had taken was a few sips of rum to send her moral fiber shrieking into the abyss.
He’d pegged the priest for more of a rationalist, but here the guy was casually sharing stories of soul-sucking evil dead as though they were talking about lousy weather.
Ellie gritted her teeth as she fought back the ferocious urge to throw something at the man in front of her, knowing it would be utterly foolish. He was lucky she didn’t have a towel rack.
Don’t get killed, he reminded himself again. The phrase was becoming something of a mantra.
“Princess… you fell on me from a balcony with a gag on,” Adam pointed out. “I’m pretty sure I knew how much trouble I was getting into.”
He tasted like summer rain and fire. Ellie opened herself instinctively, burning with the knowledge that lips weren’t enough—weren’t even close to enough. She wanted more.
“If I’m going to take you… every perfect, infuriating inch of you,” he elaborated as his eyes moved over her in a way that felt as intense as a touch. “I’m not going to do it like this.”
“Knife, needle, thread, lens, and booze,” Adam listed. He shrugged. “Pretty sure I’ve made do with worse.”
“I have become inordinately fond of you, you know,” Ellie abruptly admitted. “Well, then, we’re gonna have to do our damnedest not to die,” Adam replied as he gazed down at her warmly—very warmly.
It tasted of forest, rain, and night—and then the pain was gone as the world around her went dark.
