21. Stubborn Woman
Stubborn Woman
Cerise
“Run, sunshine.” Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me into the jungle after him.
I pushed myself harder than I’d ever run in my life. I hated exercise—that was obvious by the way my lungs burned and I could barely keep up with Liam—but the adrenaline kept me going as I leaped over a tree branch.
The leader chased after us, shouting curses in the midst of his pain. It wouldn’t be long before he collapsed, but it needed to happen fast. My energy was already waning.
“Come on,” Liam urged. “Hurry, Cerise.”
I stumbled over a branch, Liam catching my arm to keep me upright. On and on we ran. It was likely only seconds, but felt like hours. Over fallen trees, under low branches, through shrubs.
The poacher still followed, showing no signs of slowing as he gained on us. Pushing through a dense copse of vegetation, my foot became tangled in a vine. Fueled by fear, I yanked it out. Something popped, and searing pain tore through my ankle.
“Liam!”
“I’ve got you,” he said, pulling the vines away and scooping me into his arms.
Unable to run with my weight in his arms, Liam hustled through the trees, the poacher closing in.
I met eyes with our pursuer over Liam’s shoulder.
He had a knife in his hand and cold violence in his eyes.
But he also had welts on his exposed skin, his forearms covered in angry-looking red pustules.
Only a couple of feet away now, the man lunged with his knife. I screamed. Liam pushed himself into a jog, his breaths heaving with the effort, barely skirting the attack.
The poacher stumbled, then collapsed, gasping for air. I breathed a sigh of relief as I clutched Liam’s neck tighter. Liam turned, facing the poacher as he backed away.
Reassured he wasn’t getting back up to chase us, Liam marched us away, tightening his grip on my waist and legs.
“We should put more distance between us before we stop,” he panted.
I gritted my teeth through the pain in my ankle. I didn’t think it was broken, but most definitely sprained. Fortunately, once we stopped, I’d be able to heal myself.
“I can’t believe that worked,” I said, trying to shove away the realization that we may have killed four men. “Oh gods, Liam. That was much too close.”
Something subtle flashed in Liam’s eyes and he leaned in as if he were about to kiss my forehead. But he pulled back and whatever I had seen in his gaze disappeared as he looked away. “Yes. Yes, it was.”
Just this morning he’d kissed me. Or I’d kissed him. It was hard to tell who’d initiated it. I hadn’t had time to process it due to our run-in with the poachers. But now, as he held me close, his hands clutching me as we continued on, I couldn’t stop replaying it in my head.
I had never been kissed like that before.
Unable to help myself, I lay my head against him.
Liam tightened his grip in response. My entire body heated just thinking about the kiss.
The desperate way Liam had plunged his tongue in my mouth.
The possessiveness of his hold on my rear as he’d pulled me flush against him.
How he had groaned when he nuzzled my throat.
I wanted to do it again. To do more. I yearned to.
But I’d pushed him away. Why?
I was still trying to figure that out. I’d enjoyed his company tremendously these last few weeks. And to be honest, I didn’t want this expedition to end, even though we were lost. But when I imagined going back home—back to work and my normal life—fear worked its way into my gut.
Because this could only be a fling. We would return to our respective places of employment and the towns we lived in that were several days’ journey from one another. We would probably see each other at conferences or events, but maintaining something beyond that felt impossible.
Aside from the logistics, my biggest fear—that I was embarrassed to admit—was what my mother would think.
My whole life had been a disappointment to her.
My lack of climbing the ranks as fast as she had.
My inability to contribute ground-breaking discoveries to the field of natural sciences.
Ending my relationship with Ambrose that was ‘perfect’ in her eyes.
If she knew I was falling for Dr. Liam Pendragon, she’d never let me hear the end of it. And, even in my mid-thirties, I wasn’t sure I was ready to face that. She was the only family I had.
So I had panicked and stopped him.
“Let’s rest and I’ll look at your ankle,” Liam said, startling me from my thoughts.
He knelt, setting me on a moss-covered log beneath a tree with twisted branches and vibrant yellow flowers.
Rolling up my pants leg, he unlaced my boot, grasped my calf with one hand and gently tugged the shoe off with the other.
Despite the pain, the touch of his fingers on my bare skin made me involuntarily shudder.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, looking up with concern.
“No,” I said, voice hoarse.
His hand moved lower, his thumb swiping back and forth, while the other clutched my foot, rolling my ankle around carefully. I gasped, but it wasn’t because of the pain.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re not in pain? I don’t think it’s broken, but you seem to be—”
I pulled my foot from his grasp. “No. I’m fine. I’ll heal it.”
I leaned down, avoiding eye contact with him as I placed my hands on my ankle and closed my eyes, willing my magic into my tendons.
Once my ankle was healed, I went to work on my face, still avoiding his gaze though I could feel it searing into me.
With a deep breath, I opened my eyes to find Liam looking at me as though I was a puzzle he couldn’t figure out. His bright green eyes were filled with longing and something like confusion.
“Now what?” I asked, breaking the silence.
He glanced around. “We try to find our way back to our things. Do you have any idea where we are?”
I shook my head. “If we can make it back to the poacher’s camp, I think I can get us back to our supplies from there. I paid attention when they dragged us there. Before we leave, let me heal your head.”
“All right.”
I stood from the log, Liam still seated, and faced him. Carefully, I placed my hands on the back of his head and closed my eyes again, concentrating on alleviating his headache and any potential issues from being hit so hard.
I felt Liam’s hands on the back of my knees and my breath caught. Slowly they moved higher, stopping just below the curve of my behind, his thumbs swiping back and forth.
My fingers dug into his hair as I pushed the final bit of magic into his head. His grip on my thighs tightened and he released a quiet groan, nuzzling into my stomach.
My core filled with heat and my breathing sped up. I couldn’t bring myself to let go. I wanted him. I wanted him so badly, I ached.
But we were absolutely disgusting, had just escaped a kidnapping and were lost in the jungle.
And I had stopped this morning’s kiss for a reason, right?
Though now, I couldn’t seem to remember what it was.
“Cerise.”
“Hmm?”
“We should get going before it gets dark,” he said.
I released his hair and backed away. “Yes. Of course.”
So much for getting to our stuff before dark, I thought.
We walked for hours, Liam assuring me we were headed in the right direction.
The reality of all that had happened today was slowly crashing down upon me, and I couldn’t stop myself as I blurted, “Liam. We killed people today.”
He stopped walking, turning to face me.
“We’re murderers…” I whispered.
“No.” Liam took my hand in his. “No, Cerise. We are not murderers. The chance of death from that plant is fifty-fifty. For all we know, they may not be dead. We did not kill those men. We led them into something harmful so we could escape.”
“But—”
“But nothing, sunshine. They were going to kill us. The moment they realized we were lying, they would have slit our throats and left us to rot in the jungle.”
I balked. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”
“It’s true. You know that as well as I do.” He squeezed my hand.
“I know…it’s just…”
He brushed the hair from my face. “It was traumatic. For both of us.” I nodded, throat tight. “But we must focus on getting our supplies and finding somewhere safe. We can’t fall apart right now, okay?”
“Okay.”
We resumed our trek, Liam holding onto my hand to comfort me, and I reveled in his quiet steadiness, so different from the boisterous jokester side of him he usually showed everyone. Perhaps he was in his head too.
We stepped over more fallen trees and climbed across a couple of boulders before Liam stopped us and pointed ahead.
“The camp is just beyond those trees. Which way is our stuff?”
I took a moment to assess our surroundings, searching for anything familiar, when I saw it. The tree with the heart-shaped burl.
“That way.”
We turned, beginning the next leg of our trek, when the pained cry of an animal echoed from their camp, stopping me in my tracks. I couldn’t leave them there. I wouldn’t.
“What is it?” Liam asked, looking at me with concern.
“I…we…we must go back.”
“Back? Back where?”
“We have to go to the poachers’ camp.”
Liam stepped toward me. “What? No. Why?”
I was on the verge of tears, exhaustion and fear catching up to me. And now I couldn’t keep myself from picturing those helpless creatures sitting there, waiting to be traded to live their life in a cage in some rich person’s house.
It was tearing my soul in two.
“The animals.” My voice came out rough.
His expression softened. “Oh, sunshine. What are you saying?”
“We must free them.”
Emotions warred on his face as he ran a hand through his hair.
“Please,” I said.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“There are only two poachers left.”
“We can’t. What if they have weapons or powerful magic we don’t know about? What if the others aren’t dead and they return?” He pulled me after him, walking away from the camp. “Let’s go get our stuff. We can report them to the authorities. That’s all we can do.”
No. I wouldn’t accept that. It would take much too long. Yanking my hand from his grasp, I turned on my heel and marched toward the poachers’ site, my fear and exhaustion turning to anger.
“Where are you going?” Liam hurried after me.
“If you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself.” I refused to let innocent creatures suffer.
“For fuck’s sake, you stubborn woman,” Liam muttered, yanking me back and pinning me against a tree.
One hand landed beside my head, while the other gripped my hip, but I’m not sure he even realized how close he was.
“You can’t go barreling in there,” he whispered harshly.
“Those men won’t hesitate to kill either one of us. ”
“I’m not leaving without freeing them. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. You’ll have to drag me away, kicking and screaming.”
He studied me closely. “You’re serious.”
“Of course I’m serious. Why wouldn’t I be? Have you met me?”
A mirthful chuckle escaped his lips as the hand on the tree moved to the side of my neck, his thumb brushing my jaw. “Well, far be it from me to stop the tenacious Cerise Thornheart from saving a group of innocent wildlife.”
“I’m glad you’re finally seeing reason.”
His eyes dipped to my lips and he leaned in to whisper in my ear. “By the way…once we complete our animal rescue, we will be talking about that kiss.”
I swallowed as he pulled back.
“All right, sunshine. Let’s come up with a plan.”