Chapter 1 #3
“Buono, grazie,” I said, nodding. I’d secretly been trying to learn Italian since taking the job but had been flying so much I’d only learned a handful of phrases. Giovanni seemed pleased to hear me speak his language, and now I wished I hadn’t done it.
Then the Cruiser pitched violently to the right on the uneven land and Giovanni was on top of me.
He scrambled to sit up when the vehicle righted, but his hands fumbled over my body, one brushing my breast. It happened so quickly, I didn’t comprehend it until it was over. Nathan had grabbed the back of Giovanni’s shirt and yanked him off me, hurling the Italian back into his own seat.
Giovanni sent a slew of angry words at his employee, who replied indifferently.
I glanced over my shoulder, stunned at this risk he’d just taken. Our boss didn’t like being pushed around.
“He’s sorry,” Nathan said. “He didn’t mean to put his hands on you.”
I blinked. What a total line of bullshit. “He said that, huh?”
His eyes were two black holes, pulling me in, making it difficult to breathe. “No, but he’s less likely to do that again.”
Less likely, but it was still a possibility. Perhaps next time I’d sit in his row. Desire flooded through me when I considered the uneven ground propelling Nathan on top of me. The image of my body beneath his hands made my pulse jump.
“Maybe you should sit beside him next time.” I’d meant for it to sound strong and biting, but my voice wavered with my sudden craving, and I hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“Maybe you don’t come along next time.”
The desire in me evaporated. Phillip said nothing, pretending he was too busy driving to pay attention. The Land Cruiser tackled a few more bushes before he cut the engine.
In the center of the thicket, three lionesses lifted their heads from their meal to focus on us, bloody entrails dangling from their deadly jaws. The largest cat went back to eating, and the others followed. They did not view us or our vehicle as a threat.
I couldn’t fight the instinct to press myself into the leather seat. There were no fences, no bars or glass separating me from these gorgeous beasts. I was only twenty feet from them. There was nothing to stop them if they wanted to pounce and rip out my throat.
“It’s all right,” Phillip said, sensing my apprehension. “They’re comfortable with us. We’ve been coming around for long enough that we’re just another part of the environment to them.”
The girl buried deep inside me would have preferred not to watch them eat some sort of dead antelope.
But I knew what my father and brothers would say—circle of life.
Growing up, I’d gone hunting, mostly to please my father and prove to my brothers I was tough, so I knew I could stomach whatever happened.
These cats looked so different from the ones in captivity. Muscles stretched beneath their hides that were hardened through need. It could be days before their next meal. Scratches and scars dotted their faces. It was a tough life, even at the top of the food chain.
I could have stayed for hours, silently watching them. Lions had always been my favorite growing up. At one point, I turned to Nathan, although I was unsure why. Maybe since he was also American, he would feel the same way I did.
“Isn’t this amazing?” I said.
His eyes slowly drifted away from the cats to settle on me. “Yes.”
It sent a delicious shiver up my spine. When I turned to Giovanni, I was surprised to find he looked bored. How could he not care? Wasn’t he the one who’d planned a stay at the game lodge? He could have chosen a trip to the south of France instead.
“Rinoceronte,” he said.
“Mr. Abramo would like to see a rhino,” Nathan said.
But after a brief conversation on the CB, Phillip announced there weren’t any signs of rhino in the reserve that afternoon. The controversial decision to take down the fences around Kruger National Park had been made years ago, and it allowed game to roam freely.
Plus, there was the issue of poaching.
“Last year was the worst,” Phillip said.
“More than three a day, all for a horn made out of the same thing as your fingernail. No medicinal quality, but in the black market in Asia, it’s more valuable than heroin.
The price is so high, it’s worth the risk to the poachers.
” His expression was resigned. “It’s extremely difficult to prosecute someone caught poaching, but at least the rangers are now allowed to shoot to kill. ”
He’d said it like he might have been pleased.
We drove to a herd of elephants. Phillip brought the Land Cruiser so close, the trunk of one of the gigantic beasts wandered over the hood as it searched for the best leaf.
Behind its mother’s legs, a tiny elephant’s ears wobbled on its head.
Its toenails were still white, and Phillip explained that it would darken to match its hide in another few months as it grew to adolescence.
It was incredible, and yet somehow not enough for Giovanni. He checked his phone. Instagram. Really?
When the sun sank behind the landscape, the Land Cruiser rumbled to a start and headed back for the lodge. It got dark fast, and being in the bush, surrounded by these men and other predators, was perilous and exciting. The vehicle unexpectedly skidded to a stop.
“What’s happening?” Nathan’s alert voice came from behind me.
“Here,” Phillip said. He hopped out of the driver’s seat and darted to a nearby bush, retrieving something from a branch. “Give me your hand, miss.” He clicked on a flashlight.
I held out my hand, hesitant, and then felt a smile widen on my face. A bright green chameleon, half the size of my phone, crept cautiously across Phillip’s hand onto mine, its L-shaped hands tickling my skin as it gripped onto me.
“Oh, my God, it’s so cute,” I whispered like a child. The chameleon’s independent eyes scanned me as if the description offended it. I watched it walk, lifting its limbs up and over, making its way slowly to my wrist.
“Signore?” I asked, turning to allow Giovanni the opportunity, but of course his attention was on the glowing screen of his phone. It left me with no other option. “Nathan? Would you like to?”
The moon was bright, and the high beams of the Land Cruiser illuminated the area around us enough so I could see him. He wasn’t looking at the adorable little lizard. His eyes were fixed on me, even as he put his enormous, rough hand over my wrist.
Oh, holy shit. His expression was empty, but beneath it, there was a sliver of interest. Desire?
As the chameleon followed a path onto the back of his hand, Phillip talked about the camouflage characteristics, but I found it difficult to pay attention. Nathan’s rough hand on my wrist was shocking and wonderful, and I could feel his touch in places . . . elsewhere.
Oh, I was in big trouble. I had way more than just a sliver of interest in the American seated behind me.
“How did you see him?” I asked Phillip. “In the green bush, and just headlights?”
“His green is a shade too bright. Once you’ve seen one, you can train your eye to spot them.” He gestured to another bush. “Do you see the one there?”
At first, all I saw were green leaves and thick branches, and one new leaf that was more yellow-green than the others. “Oh. There.”
He smiled and took the chameleon from Nathan’s hand, setting the lizard gently back in the tree. “Are you hungry? Our chef has prepared a fabulous meal for our guests this evening.”
There was Italian abruptly to my left, and Nathan’s grip on my wrist slid away. “You will join Mr. Abramo for dinner this evening.”
My breath caught, and I pressed my lips together to quiet any impulsive reply. “Was that a question?”
“No,” Nathan said, his face giving nothing away. “It wasn’t.”