8. Not His Keeper
Not His Keeper
Cerise
Iemerged from my tent, surveying the wilderness surrounding me.
Taking a deep breath, I inhaled the jungle air, the humidity already making itself known.
The sun was slowly beginning to peek over the emerald green of the mountains in the distance, painting the landscape with warm oranges and pinks as it burned away the early morning mist. Exactly why I had chosen this spot.
“Beautiful,” I whispered.
I’d dressed in thick trousers, high lace-up boots and a breathable linen button-up shirt in a soft green color. My hair was pulled back in a long braid, and I held my wide-brimmed hat in my hand as I made the short trek to breakfast, the smell of bacon taunting me.
Everyone else was just arriving, visiting as they readied their coffee.
I took a seat and poured myself a cup from the carafe in the center of the table.
Taking a sip, I hummed quietly to myself, listening to the sounds of the rainforest. Tropical birds called to each other while monkeys fought over a piece of fruit high above.
“Good morning, Doctor Thornheart,” said Sylvie from across the table, smiling brightly as she clutched her own mug.
“Good morning, Sylvie.”
“So…umm…where is Doctor Pendragon?” Sylvie asked tentatively, unable to hide the blush on her cheeks at the mention of his name. The poor girl had it bad and it took all of my effort not to chastise her.
I searched for the white-haired rogue, not seeing him. “Not here apparently.”
“Doctor Thornheart,” Rosenshield interrupted. “Where is your counterpart?”
I turned to my right and met eyes with my interim boss. “I don’t know. I’m not his keeper.”
Rosenshield pursed his lips, reached a hand in his front pocket, and pulled out a pipe.
My word, it does look like a rosebud.
“You are the more responsible one out of the two of you. I expect you to keep him in line.” He packed the pipe with dried leaves before lighting it with a match and taking a puff. “I assume he’s still asleep. Please go wake him.”
I set my cup down and rose from the wooden bench. “Yes, sir.”
I hopped down from the platform and trudged through the dirt, up the small hill that led to our tents, mumbling to myself. Keep him in line? How absurd. He was a grown man. It was not my job to babysit him and ensure he arrived on time to our meals and other events.
I wanted to enjoy my coffee in peace before we got to work and now Liam’s tardiness had interfered with our schedule yet again.
I stopped before his tent and called out, “Doctor Pendragon, the team’s waiting on you.”
Nothing but silence.
I tried again. “Doctor Pendragon?”
Still nothing. Perhaps he wasn’t there? I let out a groan and unzipped his tent, parting the flaps.
“Liam!”
He bolted upright, scrambling for his glasses and putting them on. “What? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
His hair was a mess, a lock of white falling in front of his green eyes.
And he was…unclothed. The corner of his blanket barely covered his lap but the rest of him was on full display.
How in the world did a professor look like that?
Lean, but perfectly toned, each muscle was sculpted with precision.
His fawn colored skin was soft and smooth, and there was a dusting of freckles atop his shoulders as if he’d worked outside just a bit.
He met my stare. “What are you doing in my tent?”
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to stop looking at his body. “Apparently, I’m your chaperone. Get up. Everyone’s waiting on you.”
“Well, you’d better leave so I can get dressed. If you hadn’t noticed, I sleep naked.”
I pursed my lips as my eyes betrayed me, unable to keep myself from studying his strong shoulders; the way his abdominals flexed as he adjusted the blanket; the trail of dark hair leading from his navel down to his—
“Eyes up here, sunshine.”
My gaze snapped to his, only to find him smirking. “I wasn’t—that’s not what I—you—”
He chuckled. “It seems all I have to do to fluster you is remove my clothing. Interesting.”
I let out a frustrated noise and backed out of the tent, almost tripping in my rush to get away.
“Hurry up,” I called as I marched back to the dining table, trying not to imagine what was underneath that blanket.
“Not much farther,” Ivan said from the front of our group, cutting through the brush with his machete.
I stepped gingerly over roots and ducked under branches, my satchel bouncing on my hip with each stride as I followed Emberly. My eyes darted around me, taking in the details of the bark on the trees and the deep green leaves hanging on lush vines, hoping to spot something extraordinary.
There were recent reports that a family of filius vulpis—commonly known fern foxes—had taken residence nearby. That was exactly where we were headed, with plans to document their behavior if we were lucky enough to spy one.
Rare and tremendously elusive, fern foxes lived in burrows beneath the trees in marshes, feeding on the fish inhabiting the shallow pools.
“Aaric,” I said, transitioning into teaching mode. “When were fern foxes discovered?”
Aaric looked over his shoulder from where he walked near the front of our group. “Only about two years ago.”
“Correct. And do you know the story of how they were found?”
“It was a botanist, actually. He was studying a particular species of fern and stumbled upon them. Their fur imitates those ferns for camouflage purposes and there happened to be a fox right in front of him…hiding in plain sight.”
“Fantastic,” I said, smiling.
Sylvie turned to Aaric, asking him a question, and they began a discussion about how the young were reared, what the foxes ate, and their defenses against predators.
“You never stop, do you?” Liam asked, striding up next to me.
“Stop what?”
“Working.”
“We are on a work sponsored trip, not some frivolous vacation.”
He thumped the brim of my hat. “When was the last time you took a vacation?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
“Uh huh. Exactly what I thought.”
“I don’t have time to take a vacation.”
Liam pulled a leaf off a tree and twirled it in his hand. “Sure you do. What about when the students are off for the holidays?”
I sucked on my teeth. During the holidays, I spent time with Emberly and Rosamund, avoiding my mother as much as possible, and usually had some project I was in the middle of. The campus was quiet during the break…Peaceful. I savored that time to work. But I didn’t tell him that.
“I’m busy during the holidays, too.” I dabbed the sweat from my brow with the collar of my shirt. “Do you take vacations?”
“Whenever I can, actually. Especially during school breaks.”
“You don’t visit your family during the holidays?” I asked.
“Not if I can help it.”
“I’m sure they miss you.”
“They don’t,” he said, kneeling as he swiped a bright purple feather from the ground, inspecting it. “Yes, this will do nicely,” he muttered, shoving it in his pocket.
“What was that?” I asked, glancing to where the feather had disappeared.
“What was what?”
I waved my hand. “The feather thing.”
“Oh, uh…” He looked a tad chagrined. “For my collection.”
He lifted a low hanging vine for me to walk under. “Collection?”
“Yes, well. We all have our quirks, don’t we? You have your…well, your whole thing, and—”
“Whole thing? What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know…you’re persnickety, meticulous, strait-laced, and a tad high-strung.”
“Are you just listing adjectives you believe describe me?”
“Basically,” he said with a laugh. “So you have all of that and I have my—what did you call it?—my feather thing. I like to collect little mementos, trinkets. You know, stuff like that. Sometimes, I get distracted by beautiful things.” His eyes lingered on me a little too long.
“Just like you get distracted by naked professors.”
“Oh for goodness’ sake.” I marched ahead, adjusting my hat. “Well, if you had actually been up at the expected breakfast time, that whole situation could have been avoided.”
We stopped before a fallen tree, blocking the path forward. It was large, reaching nearly to my shoulders, and I studied it, trying to figure out how to get across. I’d been so distracted by Liam, I hadn’t watched the others before me.
I grasped a branch and pulled myself up, trying to find a foothold.
Liam watched me with amusement. “Do you need help?”
“No, thank you.” I grunted, pulling harder and scrambling with my feet. With one last pull, I made it to the top, now straddling the trunk. “See?” I smiled. “I’m perfectly capable of climbing logs.”
“I can see that.” Liam’s eyes twinkled as he pulled himself up much easier than I had, now facing me as we prepared to jump down. “Be careful of those vines when you slide off,” he said, gesturing to the tangle on the other side.
“Yes, yes.” I waved my hand, swinging my leg over.
But I had swung it a little too enthusiastically and lost my balance, slipping down sooner than I expected.
With a twist and a yelp, I turned, trying to catch myself, but getting tangled instead.
The air was knocked from my lungs as I slammed into the ground on my back, my leg caught in a web of vines above me.
“Well, this is inconvenient,” I muttered.
Liam peered down at me. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“Only my ego…”
The grin he had been holding back widened and he burst into laughter.
“Stop laughing at me.” I tried to yank the vines from my leg, but they only tightened.
He slid down, landing with a grunt. Scanning my body, his laughter didn’t stop. “I’m sorry, sunshine, but you should see yourself. It’s quite the picture.”
“Is everything all right?” Dr. Rosenshield called from ahead.
“Fine!” I shouted back. “Keep going, we’ll catch up.” I really didn’t want everyone else laughing at me too. I groaned, looking up at Liam. “Well, are you going to help or not?”
He raised an eyebrow, still chuckling. “Oh…now you want my help?” He walked around me, hands on his hips. “I don’t know…these vines are pretty tricky…and you seem quite capable…”
I flailed, trying to yank my leg again. “Liam!”
“All right, all right.” He dug in his pack, pulling out a knife. “Hold still.”
My hip hurt from the position I was in, my leg so high that only my shoulders and upper back touched the ground. “Hurry. This is quite uncomfortable.”
Liam began to saw at a vine, cutting through it like butter. He worked on another, wrapping his arm around my leg to stabilize me.
“Cut that one last, so I won’t fall,” I said, pointing.
“I don’t need your instructions, Cerise.”
Unwrapping his arm, his hand moved to the back of my thigh and I tried to ignore the warmth of his palm as he held me up, slicing through the last vine.
Lowering me, he put away his knife and held out his hand.
I took it and he pulled me up, harder than I expected, and I ended up stumbling into him.
Hands on his chest, I met his gaze. He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
“I…umm…” I took a step back, brushing off my shirt, but unable to stop looking at his gorgeous eyes. “It’s quite all right. We should get ba—” I froze. A small neon blue spider climbed up his shoulder. “Liam…don’t move…”
Remaining still, his eyes widened. “What is it?”
“Drenstiria spider.”
“What?” he near-shouted. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
I shook my head, trying to figure out how to get it off him without startling it. “I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”
“Get it off…” he hissed through his teeth.
I searched the jungle for a large enough leaf.
“Hold on.” Finding the perfect one, I ripped it off a branch and approached Liam carefully.
“Be very still.” These spiders were easily startled and very quick.
I extended my hand, sliding the leaf along Liam’s shoulder as slowly as I could.
“Come on, little one. This way,” I coaxed.
“Are you talking to the spider?”
“Yes, I’m talking to the spider. Now, hush so I can concentrate. It’s quite close to your neck.”
Liam tensed.
As I moved my hand closer, the spider lifted its pedipalps, trying to sense what was in front of it. Finally, it began to walk forward. “Got it,” I said, when its entire body was on the leaf.
We both breathed out a sigh of relief as I walked to the closest tree. But before I had a chance to let go, a breeze whipped through the forest, startling the arachnid. It scurried forward onto my hand. I yelped, startled, and shook out my arm, throwing it across the jungle.
Liam lunged at me, grabbing my wrist. “Were you bitten?”
“I—I don’t think so. I didn’t feel anything,” I answered, my heart racing.
He inspected my hand carefully, searching in between my fingers. “You can’t feel their bites. Let me just be sure.”
Moments later Liam cursed under his breath. “We need to get back to camp. Now.”