Reluctant Companions- Part Three The Monster In The Forest....
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“Bleedin’ fook,” came his startled curse, as she was vaguely aware of him rolling around next to her. A large hand at her upper arm nearly sent her through the roof. She screamed. Another hand clamped across her mouth. “Shut up. You don’t want it to know we’re here.”....
Struggling to right herself, she peered directly into his eyes and whispered. “It’s not gonna hear anything but its own growling.” Her breath now came in shredded gasps. “What the f*ck is it?”....
“Something bigger than I fancy meetin’.” Cameron’s voice was raspy, winded, as though he’d been given the fright of his life as well. “Lie still. We don’t want to attract its attention,” he said into her ear. “Are you okay?”....
She looked at him in disapproval. “Like you care.”....
“I’m here protecting you, am I not?”....
She squirmed trying to rid herself of the grasp that now held her firmly planted against his chest. “Protecting? You’d be half way to Honolulu if you hadn’t run into me.”....
He returned his hand to her mouth. “Honolulu would be out the front door, darlin’. I was headed out the back to see what had become of ---.” As abruptly as it had started the chorus of blood curdling howls and auditory assaults ceased. The wall of sound hadn't lasted long, maybe two minutes, ending on a de-crescendo “cooooo” that seemed to alert the fractured jungle to zipper itself into one piece again.....
They both held their breath a further long moment; simultaneously exhaling as it became apparent the aural attack had ended. Neither wanted to move, slowly thawing as the relative silence of the night resumed. Cameron once again, drew his hand from her mouth.....
“Do you think it’s gone?” She whispered.....
“ ‘Gone’ is a relative term in this instance, I should think. Where does the boogie man ‘go’ when living in the forest?”....
“If it were a man I wouldn’t be so--”....
“Scared shitless?’ He scanned the entryway and out into the forest. “No, neither would I.”....
She lifted her head and pushed a hand against his chest. “Ahhh…so you admit to having some human characteristics. Could you please continue in this vein of civility and let me go?”....
He loosened his hold and they both rose slowly to their feet, attention now hyper focused on the shimmering shadows of the forest two steps away. Walking in tandem, they slowly emerged from under the cover of the bungalow’s thatched awning. Faces craned up to the canopy, they stood silently for what seemed an eternity.....
Chellie finally broke the still standoff. “I think he went home.”....
“As we should do.”....
“We are home,” She turned her face to him, brows squeezed together in capitulation. She’d be damned if she’d let him leave now with the wild beast of Sansabar on the loose, at least until they could figure a way out of their human dessert-on-a-platter situation. “I don’t want him to come and eat either of us.”....
“How touching. You do care,” he said, voice dripping sarcasm.....
“Come on. At least we can be civil to each other. After all…we do have one thing in common.”....
“And what might that be?” He asked.....
“Marvin Gray.” She turned into the bungalow, craning her neck to see if he was following. “Coming?”....
“Right behind you.”....
***....
Something heavy at her waist was the first inkling of sensation she felt as she woke. Sweat. God she was hot. What…who was curled behind her? She opened her eyes. Straining to focus, she saw the pots hanging from above the crude kitchen, the rice paper room dividers to the right.....
As awareness seeped through her body, she bolted upright, his arm still hooked around the small of her back. She gasped.....
“Good morning, Chellie.” The sleep-laden rumble of his voice sounded more a growl than human communication.....
She looked over her shoulder to the surface of the futon. There, in back of her was Cameron. Still clothed in Kaki trousers, he’d somehow managed to get out of the linen shirt he’d worn the evening before and lay in a “c” formation, bare chested, heavy lidded, sexy as hell.....
“What are you doing?” shot out of her mouth before she had the time to think. Oh yeah…she’d stayed with him, too afraid to crawl off into the isolation of the bedroom. Hadn’t they just been talking?....
“Guess we finally fell asleep,” he said, pushing himself up on straightened arm. Cupping his jaw in his hand, he made a few chewing motions, then sat full upright next to her. “You all right?” He asked in the same voice of concern he’d used last night after they’d plowed into each other.....
“Yes. Thank you…I think.” She looked at him, skepticism sneaking into her thoughts and no doubt across her face.....
Swinging his legs, feet touching the floor he continued. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen a hundred women in their underwear before.”....
The shock of realization shot through her. She looked down at her body. Sure enough, she was still in the black pushup bra and lace panties she’d stripped down to out in the bathroom enclosure last night.....
“Shit!” She crossed her hands in front of her cleavage in a mummy-just- discovered gesture and looked back up into his face.....
“Little late for modesty now, m’dear.” He chuckled. “I’m afraid I know the landscape of you as well as your sainted mother.”....
She bolted to stand and ran the perimeter of the room dividers, snatching the edge of the white sheet that still lay accordianed at the foot of the bed. Wrapping herself in it, she walked slowly back around the divider. “A gentlemen would have gotten this for me without asking.”....
He blew out an amused chortle. “And I guess you begging me to stay with you last night so the creature of…what did you call it, ‘Sansabar’? ..wherever that is…wouldn’t eat you. That wasn’t gentlemanly enough for you?”....
She felt her shoulders slump as she shed the hot sheet from around her. “You’re right. I’m being a bitch.” Before she knew it, she felt tears streaming down her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have….I nearly thought I’d…” with those fragments of thought she dissolved into a puddle of emotion. Folding her legs under her, she lowered to the floor cross-legged and dropped her head into her hands. “I’m sorry…” Before she had the chance to cobble that into a complete thought, he was next to her, arm around her shoulder, drawing her into the security of that same broad chest she’d rested against all night.....
“It’s okay, Chellie. I think we’re out of harm's way now.” She felt herself quake against him. Embarassed? No. She was too far-gone for that. ....
Feeling his strong hands at her shoulders, she lifted her head. The heat from her face felt like it was sucked into the room as the breeze wafting through the bungalow swept against her cheeks, cooling them.....
“It’s not you. It’s me,” she said.....
He dropped his arm from around her and sat up ramrod straight. “God, if you’re gonna use that sorry old line.”....
She laughed through her tears. “No, no…it really is me. I just lost my Dad and it seems to have finally struck home.”....
The expression on his face went from one of jovial platitude to astounded concern in the blink of an eye. “Oh, God, Chel. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.” He reached for her again, this time running the back of his hand along her tear streaked cheek. “Is that why you’re here?”....
She dropped her eyes to her lap. “Yeah.”....
“Jesus,” he said under his breath, as though he felt the instant cad.....
Raising her eyes back to meet his, she looked at him, really looked at him for the first time. He wasn’t some over puffed, over coiffed, spit and polish movie star. He was a man looking at her, eyes full of compassion and regret.....
Her heart went out to him. She’d hurt him, made him feel worthless, as though he were the one that had drug her heart through the dirt and stomped on it. ....
“Cameron.” She grasped his hand at her cheek. “I’m sorry. I’ve behaved badly. No excuses.”....
“You came here to grieve in peace and instead find some strange man with nothing better to do than to rant at you--”....
“You didn’t know,” She squeezed his hand and lowered it, snagging his other hand. “And I’ve the feeling Marvin doesn’t know either,” she said in softly apologetic tone.....
He lifted his brows in question. “What?”....
My friend Rachel sent me here. She and Marvin were…uhhh”....
“Yes.” He said in full comprehension.....
“Well Marvin told her she could use the place anytime she really needed a bit of solitude and--”....
“And she thought of you.” He dropped his head and shook it slowly twice. “It is the perfect place for--”....
“Being alone? …Yeah. But I can see now that I didn’t truly need solitude. I needed someone to care for me, protect me, if for only one night. Like Daddy used to.”....
He gathered her to his chest and rested his cheek on the crown of her head. “You’re never alone in the world. All you have to do is reach out.”....
His words detonated a feeling of warmth in her like a long draw of brandy. Why did the phrase sound so familiar? It was something her Dad would never have said. He was the go-to man for her, yes, but he always taught her to rely on no one but herself…and him. ....
Tears spilled down her cheeks again. Cameron lifted her chin with two fingers and leaned into her, kissing each tear as it trailed down her face. The warmth of his breath spread across her cheek as he lowered his mouth to meet hers. So soft was the kiss, it tickled her like the feather of a pen’s plume. He drew in a ragged breath and pressed his lips to hers again in a less tentative plea. His mouth so soft, so warm, forgiving one moment, pleading forgiveness the next. “Will you have me?” it asked.....
She slid her arms up his chest, placing her hands at the crest of his shoulders and pushed him away. Eyes deep purple, dark in the morning light, he looked once questioning, quizzical, aroused and hurt. “This isn’t fair,” she whispered. Clearing her throat, she shook her head. “You don’t need to take on a head case.”....
“I’m not. It’s you who are the strong one. If I’d just lost my father, I’d probably be catatonic.”....
“That’s why I railed on you like some lunatic…and after you nearly killed yourself running for shelter during the storm.”....
“I looked a fright. I’m surprised you could discern that I was even human, much less allow me to occupy the veranda with you.”....
She flashed him a grin edged with mischief. “I’ve never shared a lanai with a mud streaked naked man before. I thought it would be something I could add to my travel journal…let the girls back home have a good read when I post it on My Space blog.”....
“You wouldn’t dare,” he said, a moment of panic flashing across his face.....
“Got cha,” she teased.....
“Damn it woman. Why do you Americans always feel the need to toy with anyone who hasn’t had the benefit of growing up in your obsessively sarcastic, irrationally sardonic society?”....
“Oh fine…now you’re gonna insult my nationality as well. Just like a self- possessed ex-imperialist pundit--”....
Well, if you’re goin’ to start name callin’, then perhaps I will just get the Jeep revved up and take you back to civilization.”....
Thunderstruck, she shot a hand to his forearm. “Please don’t.”....
His expression morphed instantly to regret and he took her face in his hands. “I’m joking, darlin’. I know you need your time. It’s I who should be heading back to Honolulu.”....
She squeezed his arm harder. “No,” she spouted before she could think. “No,” she repeated in resignation. She’d been discovered. “I can’t stay here with the monster loose in the jungle. Not alone.”....
The corner of his mouth quirked, “Of course not.”....
***....
Trailing behind him through the thick underbrush, she wiped her brow. “Could you slow it to just below world mile record pace?”....
“I’m anxious to find the beast,” his voice floated back to her on the warm breeze.....
“This isn’t an episode of LOST, and I’m no Kate.”....
He stopped and waited. Grinning, he answered as she traipsed up in front of him. “I’d like to tell her that. She thinks she’s ‘all that’ on the programme.”....
“You’ve got to be kidding. Did you see her in that episode where she accompanied them to the plane wreckage and that monster in the forest…it…” She stopped and reached for his arm, scanning the surroundings. “Shit, but there are eerie similarities.”....
Placing a warm hand on top of hers he reassured, “See there. If you had been Kate, you’d ‘ov jumped into my arms with that revelation.”....
She pulled away from him. “Would not. I’d have found some perfect sized bit of flotsam in the forest, fashioned a spear and had the creature roasting on a spit in front of the bungalow by noon.”....
A chuckle rumbled through him. “We must have looked a rare pair of fools last night, standing outside the doorway, looking up into the trees.” His dark brows lifted in puzzled inquiry. “We did both sense that the noise emanated from the shelter of the trees above, did we not?”....
“Yeah…I guess so.”....
He leaned into her face. “Of course we did. Otherwise we’d have been looking to the jungle floor for the beast to pounce on us. No, this creature is either a brilliant ventriloquist, or it has the ability to climb.”....
“How could anything sounding like that weigh little enough to hoist its mass into a tree?”....
A sudden occurrence flooding his face, Cameron strode off in the direction of the bungalow. ....
“What are you doing?…Wait!” Chellie trotted to catch him. ....
***....
By the time she reached the front entrance, he was already inside. She took the steps by twos and was in the living area in no time. Lungs struggling to catch up, Chellie stood shoulders rising and lowering in effort. “What the hell--- made you--- come back here? I thought-- we were going on--- a monster hunt.”....
Fingering through the collection of books Marvin had covering the entire wall next to the futon, Cameron looked the perfect picture of a man on a mission.....
“If I’m correct, my dear…” he ran an acquisitive finger up and down spines in quick evaluation. “We shant have to worry.” He turned a flash of blue eyes back to her before resuming his plunder of the Gray library.....
“Ahhh!” He pulled out a particularly hefty specimen from the confines of the shelf. “Forest Biodiversity in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean: Research and Monitoring
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