CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #3
We couldn’t be any more at one with nature itself.
Bright pink orchids intermixed between the thickets, and leafy fronds sprouted and spilled over the bank.
In places, the forrest erupted. Thirty-meter vines adorned with vermillion flowers like flames of fire plunged from the canopy above us and swayed in the breeze.
Large, waxy branches with tongue-like leaves fanned above us.
Distracted by the beauty, I didn’t notice Jahnu’s muscular arms and sure hands laying hold of my torso until I was suddenly faced skyward, floating horizontally above the fish that scurried underneath.
I sent out my arms for balance, but the warm hand at the small of my back held me in place and somehow, I could give no objection.
He held me up just as he said he would, in more ways than one. Safe. So safe in the water with Jahnu.
I closed my eyes and allowed his gentle touch to be the only anchor I needed.
My toes touched a slippery surface that moved and my eyes flew open. To calm my startled expression Jahnu said, “Do not worry. It is only a Pacu.”
“Such strange teeth!” I said, coming upright to watch the small fish. They darted near, as well as in the distance of the pool, as though greeting us in the clear water.
“Yes, but they will not eat you,” he joked.
A shadow crossed my face and Jahnu pointed this time to the sky, “A harpy eagle is searching for prey.”
“Just as long as you keep those big birds away from me!”
“Your feathered foe was a cassowary—it means ‘horned hood.’”
“And what are the little blue fish called?” Their blue iridescence caught the sun overhead.
“Blue fish,” he said flatly, and we both laughed.
Jahnu’s mastery of the environment stirred me in ways I had never anticipated, spurring even more attraction to him and this wild terrain he called home.
I was mesmerized, wanting more…but more of what?
So much life and wonder all around me and in so many small ways I became drawn in like a magnet.
For weeks I was introduced to this new and often frightening world by a protector who made me feel safe. A friend. A man I was coming to love.
Jahnu’s calm and attentive demeanor touched my heart.
“Here, it is very deep. The rocks drop off.” I followed him in and went under, but not before he caught my hand and brought me to the surface.
I spluttered at the cold, and pushed my hair out of my eyes, and caught his expression.
We stared at each other for too long, our mutual desire needing no audible expression.
Jahnu pulled me in closer, all the while staring deep into my eyes.
“What do you really want, Sid-de-ne?” The question caught me off guard.
It’s the same question he asked before we kissed the first time.
No one had asked me that before and my response was so visceral it sent shock waves through my body as I struggled to form an acceptable response.
I couldn’t tell him what I really wanted.
“I’m a nurse—I want to help people…” I began, not willing to reveal my true feelings to him.
“You are a good woman, Sid-de-ne…do you know what I want?” He asked, calmly. “I want to kiss you…is that so wrong? Is it a surprise to you that I am honest with—?”
At once, my heart leapt as if in harmony with my own desires and my lips captured his, mid-sentence. Instantly, my body wanted more. More of him—this unassuming man who had lost so much, had overcome so many obstacles in his life, who’d held me as I wept out my grief.
I pulled away, as my fingertips traced his forehead, his closed eyes, and finally his lips. I said, “Jahnu…I want…you.”
His eyes found mine, “Sid-de-ne. I want you so, but we must not—we live in two different worlds—even now your people may be coming for you.”
“I don’t care. You asked me what I want…I want you.”
His eyes roamed my face as if memorizing every detail. “There are some things you can never come back from...this is one of them.”
“I know,” I said, tracing the line of his eyebrow with my my thumb. His eyes closed at my touch.
My neck yielded first to his fingertips, then he brushed wet hair strands from my face and shoulders. His large hand cupped my jaw and his thumb caressed the bone of my cheek. “‘You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you,’” he quoted.
Like the water, with its weight and motion, my rapid pulse followed Jahnu’s every movement and it clearly warned me of what was next in our exploring adventure. Thoughts were racing in a random order—each touch evoking more pleasure than the last.
I could choose to break this spell, but the dive was in midair, and there seemed to be no turning back.
His full lips fell on mine, possessive and hungry and my legs wrapped around his waist. His hands moved to cradle me, pressing me even closer, our kiss deepening, seeking, exploring.
I was smothered and smothering in breathy kisses matching his passion, and I clung to him with an urgency. He tasted of salt and earth and savage man and we both grappled for the shore line where his sweet caresses engulfed all of me.
I was his.