Chapter Ten
Erika’s blood froze. “I’m his daughter.”
Emanuel cursed under his breath, shaking his head. He’d probably have some interesting words for her later, but she no longer cared. After all, he baited her into coming to talk to Raul’s family with no forewarning. Did he expect her to just stand there like a statue?
The woman narrowed her eyes. “You…his daughter?” She spoke quickly in Portuguese, no doubt explaining what she had just discovered, because the older woman—her mother—covered her mouth with her hand, and the older man raised his voice, his face tightening and fists curling.
The man puffed out his chest, but Emanuel stretched out his hand and lifted it in an obvious sign for him to stop. Emanuel began to speak quickly as well, although his voice, even in another language, exuded confidence and control.
Cold sweat slicked Erika’s palms, and she rubbed them on her shirt. Shit. The other daughters and the wife talked between them in a low chatter as Emanuel continued his case. Or, should she say, their case?
She felt like she watched a boxing match with a blindfold on—she heard the noise but couldn’t really understand what happened. “Emanuel,” she called, but he kept talking to the family. “Emanuel,” she repeated, louder. “Enough,” she shouted, and all of them finally shut up.
“What are you doing here?” the brunette woman asked.
“I’m looking for some answers. Trust me, I’m not your enemy,” Erika said, and flashed her a nervous smile, but the woman folded her arms in response, unimpressed. “I didn’t know my father could have done what you believe he did. My father sent his men to take me away, but instead of fleeing I stuck with Emanuel because I want to help.” I want to know, a small voice inside her said. Or rather, confirm. During the last few days, hadn’t she wondered about her father? Whenever doubts lurked around her, she redirected her focus elsewhere. For how much longer would she fool herself? And which one hurt less: knowing or faking?
“What your father did,” the brunette said. “My brother Raul was the only one in our household to attend college. When he applied to work for your father’s company and got hired, we couldn’t believe our luck. But after he started the project, we learned why. Your father thought someone from a poor background would be the perfect person to corrupt. But my brother didn’t accept any money. All he wanted was to warn him.”
“Your brother told you all this?”
“Yes. He also mentioned your father laughed at him when he didn’t accept the bribe, and said something about money.” She tapped her finger on her cheek and looked away. “What was it? Something about counting on money.”
“You can always count on money to show people’s true colors,” Erika said, enunciating every word. She blinked several times, but the blur in her vision didn’t go away, not until she admitted to herself, and others, her father was to blame. Her heart shrunk to the size of a peanut.
“Yes, that’s it. He expected my brother to agree with him.”
Erika swallowed the razors in her throat. If she didn’t say it, she would be as good as her father, as good as his lies, and the perfect world he built around them. She’d thought she did something special to honor her late mother when all she’d been was a pawn to his dirty work. How many times had he stolen from the foundation and endangered people’s lives to feed his endless greed? People without a voice. “I believe you. I’ll do whatever I can to help find your brother. You have my word.” She managed to sound steady and in control, and the woman’s features softened a bit.
Emanuel translated it to the rest of the group, and they all nodded. Maybe her promise plus whatever he had said before appeased them.
For the next thirty minutes they continued their chat. For some reason, they never invited them to sit on the beach chairs around the fire, even though the woman who spoke English warmed up a bit—Jussara was her name. She had worked as a tour guide, and therefore she spoke English. A fact that not even Emanuel knew, it seemed. Andre, Raul’s father, spoke of his son with pride, and Jussara translated most of it: His son had been so smart and studied so hard; he had secured a place in a government-funded university.
By the time they said good-bye and Emanuel turned on the flashlight again, her shoulders relaxed a bit.
“Why did you admit you were his daughter? I was trying to protect you,” he said, annoyed.
“Excuse me?” She snorted and quickened her pace. If their walk on the way there was anything to go by, she’d have to remember the one straight line back to the tribe. A straight line filled with lizards, bushes, and noises from indistinguishable animals. If she looked back, she could see several sets of bright eyes shining against the darkness of the woods. But now she had another problem to deal with. She shivered. “Why didn’t you tell me who we were meeting? I walked into the lion’s den completely oblivious.”
He caught up with her quickly, but she didn’t slow her rhythm. “My fault. I meant to talk about it on the way here, but then I enjoyed the peace and quiet.”
Everything came with a cost given their situation—even peace and quiet. “Well, I’m sorry to break this to you, but the walk back won’t be filled with tranquility,” she said.
“In a way, it’s better this way. Now you know.”
Irritation doused over her, but she willed her feet to keep going. “Yes, it’s wonderful. My father is no better than a con artist who used me and my charity to make an extra buck and put people’s lives at risk.”
“You don’t want to shout at the forest at night,” he said, and as if on cue, the leaves from a tall tree rustled against each other. Probably a monkey swinging from one branch to another.
She halted and turned to him. “I need to shout. Don’t you get it? I need to repeat this over and over again. For years I’ve been fooled and used. I helped him screw over people. I should have known better.” Like her father’s insistence that she hire his longtime friend as the CFO for the charity. Obviously, Stewart’s qualifications and reputation spoke for themselves, but if she had been smarter, she would have vetted him instead of just agreeing with her father’s recommendation.
“Erika, it’s not your fault.”
He stepped toward her, but she lifted a hand to prevent him from coming any closer. One hug from him and she would fall apart. Every part of her throbbed, her skin warm and heart racing. None of it could be due to the attraction between the two of them. Her being was a boiling pot whose glass lid was one second away from falling to the floor and breaking.
“You didn’t know, and your father is a very smart man. I’m sure he used the right tricks to keep you from finding out the truth.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “Rationalization doesn’t change the past.”
“No, but it can change the future if you let it.”
She remembered the story he told her about his past and concluded he spoke from experience. “I guess you know what you’re talking about.”
He kicked a few rocks on the ground. “Don’t compare yourself to me. I committed crimes. I robbed people and lied. You have never willingly participated in your father’s illegal activities,” he said gruffly.
“Somehow it’s hypocritical of you to tell me to move on when it seems you haven’t forgiven yourself, Emanuel.” She touched his elbow, her finger stroking his skin. A mosquito sat on her shoulder, and she didn’t even attempt to swat it away. Was it a good thing she got used to being abused by them? No. “You were a child who didn’t know better.”
“You are too kind for words, Erika.” He angled the flashlight so it would illuminate her face without blinding her.
“Then don’t give me words.” Give me more, she wanted to shout. Give me you. The plea floated up her throat, where it got stuck and settled into a stubborn throb. He caressed her cheek, and she leaned into it like they were two lovebirds on a 50s stroll instead of the darkness of the jungle. She let out a sigh, far too romantic for her taste. Far too honest.
He watched her, how she reacted to him, and that caused her sex to clench in anticipation. Grinning, he outlined her parted lips with his thumb, and tension crackled in the air. She needed him like the first time, the next time, the last time.
An odd whisper cut into the night, a sound that until then she hadn’t heard. Didn’t seem human. “What is that?” she asked, blinking out of Arousal Land.
He moved his flashlight toward the south, and a patch of beige coat flashed through her field of vision. She registered an animal. “It’s a puma. Probably looking for food.”
She squealed. “A p-puma? Are you serious?” Her brows reached her hairline.
“She eats rodents and capivaras. Very rarely do they hunt humans.”
“How comforting.”
“Trust me, it leaped the other way. She’s more scared of you than you are of her.”
“I seriously doubt it.” She curled her fingers into a fist. “Let me be clear: until we’re out of the jungle, no more nighttime hikes. I can endure mosquitos, all the reptiles I couldn’t even name, and the spider whose haircut is overdue. But large mammals who could eat me for breakfast are beyond my comfort zone.”
“Is that so?” In a swift move, he swept her off her feet and carried her in his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked, nudging his chest.
“I’m a large mammal who wants to eat you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” he whispered in her ear. “And if carrying you will get me a second closer, it’s worth it.”
“You are crazy.” She meant to reprimand him but found herself laughing without a care. “We’re far from the hut.”
“Carrying you will be a welcome distraction. I’d rather focus on it than on my painful hard-on.”
She chuckled. “I should have known you had a hidden agenda.”
She’d taken pedicabs before, a couple of times at college with friends after a night of fun. The sensation of sitting in such a primitive means of transportation with the breeze caressing her face had made her feel warm and fuzzy. To be in Emanuel’s arms again evoked a much more visceral response.
The humid air sheened her body with sweat, but another part of her was considerably damper and stickier. She closed her eyes, and the lack of seeing what surrounded her, just hearing, added to the experience. Her body was plastered to his, her hands parked on his chest. The growls that escaped his mouth captured her attention, the sounds inviting and seductive, and made the hooting from owls and chirping from crickets fade into the background. Her tongue clung to the roof of her mouth. She would have to compensate him for all his hard work…but how?
…
Emanuel led her inside the oca and put her on her feet. He’d rushed back, at times jogging with her in his arms. He could have run, but he refused to make it uncomfortable for her. He’d made a mistake by not telling her about the Souzas. And even though her admitting to them who she was made him proud—mad and proud—damn it, he knew the events of the night took a toll on her.
She reached for the canteen of water, took a big gulp then handed it to him. “Have some.” He took another gulp, water still dripping down his mouth by the time he sat it on the ground. He should be exhausted from the exercise. His knees throbbed, and sweat coated his skin. The humidity in the air didn’t help. Yet all he wanted was to lose himself inside her. His bloodstream pumped and his nerve endings were on full alert.
“Emanuel.” She removed her clothes and tossed them on the ground. Flickers of the full moon outside skipped through several cracks. He put the flashlight facing the ceiling and placed a piece of clothing on the lens to keep the lightening sensual and intimate. “I want to take care of you.”
Before he responded, she erased the gap between them and unzipped his jeans. His cock throbbed, and all of his blood abandoned his brain in a race south of his belly button. “You don’t have to do anything, Erika.”
“I want to. You showed me what I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Since sex is all that can be between us, and for a short time, I want to give myself to you until I no longer can.”
Until I no longer can. The words danced in his head, and he wanted her to elaborate, but damn it, he couldn’t think straight. She pulled down his boxers, and he kicked them to the side. Every part of him her fingers grazed quivered.
“Trust me.” She palmed his length, and he arched back. “And relax.”
What could he say? She didn’t need to do any of this, but if she wanted to…who am I to stop her? When she got down on her knees with a wicked smile on her pretty face, he almost came undone. Licking the corner of her lips, she squeezed his balls and gave him one last sassy glance before bringing his cock into the delicious warm depths of her mouth.
He groaned. “Yes.”
Ever since the first time she teased him, back when she was still a hostage and seduced him but didn’t take off his underwear, he’d dreamed of her silky lips on his shaft. And fuck, it’d been worth the wait.
She ran her tongue up and down, every so often grazing her teeth over his sensitive skin. He shoved his hand into her sultry mass of hair, his fingers massaging her scalp then bringing her closer to him, so she could fit him—all of him—inside her.
She moaned and undulated her hips. She was aroused, too, and he couldn’t wait to get her off. She sucked him in and out of her, and he found himself moving, following her rhythm—or trying to. His buttocks tightened, and fire coiled low at the pit of his stomach. He could tell pre-cum coated the tip of his cock, and there wouldn’t be much time if he wanted to make it good for her. She twirled her tongue at his tip, tasting him, and showing approval with another moan that weakened his knees.
“Enough,” he said, pulling her from him. The moment her mouth disengaged from his length, an ache surged through him. But he couldn’t release himself that way—not this time.
Would there be many other times? The thought menaced him, like a fly buzzing over a freshly cooked meal. He shook his head, unwilling to give in to reality. They shared reality the whole damn evening. Now he needed her to help him forget everything. And the repercussions of their near future could fuck off.
He eased her down on the ground, making sure she lay on a blanket. “Spread your legs for me.” He demanded, intoxicated by that delicious scent of female arousal.
“So bossy.” She pouted playfully but did as instructed.
He sucked all the oxygen in the hut, so quickly, his stomach contracted hard and nearly cramped. She’s beautiful.
Smiling, he leaned down and positioned himself in between her thighs. He felt rather than heard her intake of breath the moment he dipped his head and planted an open-mouth kiss on her sex.
A wave of pride swept over him. Giving her pleasure was the first taste of an aged, rare scotch. He enjoyed it, savored it, and would crave it long after its finish.
With the tip of his tongue, he teased her swollen clit, making her squirm. His cock jumped, and he hung onto every shred of control he found within him not to release himself too early. Merda.
“So good,” she said, her head moving from side to side.
Encouraged, he inserted a couple of fingers into her pussy and scissored her soaking wet folds. God, every part of her was ready for him. He couldn’t promise her a future, or a happy ending for both of them, but pleasure was something he could give her—and he would.
He sensed the goose bumps rising on her skin. She thrust her hips into his face, grinding, the go-ahead he needed to move his finger in circles and send her to the precipice of climax.
“Emanuel. Come inside me,” she said.
He thrust his fingers deeper into her. “Wish granted.”
“No. I want your cock inside me. Please. I’m about to come.”
He licked some of the pearly cream coating her sex and traced a path of kisses up her body until he positioned himself on top of her, his throbbing dick poking her entrance. “You’re amazing.”
He plunged into her faster than he intended, the cocoon of her embrace too much for his self-control. She clenched her inner walls, and he had to fight the primitive urge to delve into her all the way.
“Yes.”
She convulsed, and he slipped into her, motioning deeper then retreated a little. His cock was about to explode, and at last, he let go, let himself go, and plunged deep, spilling his warm seed into her and reaching a place he never knew existed. A burst of sensations exploded through him, from the crazy beating of his heart to the exhausted but utterly satisfied state of his body. How can I go back to having sex without all these emotions? The unexpected thought nagged at him.
She swayed her hips and let out a blissful sigh. Carefully, he withdrew his length from her. “You’re okay?” he asked, spooning her against him.
“Hhhmmmm.” She hummed. “I can’t speak.”
“Same,” he said, and kissed her head. Even in the dark, without their usual war of stares, they managed to communicate.