Jose’s van is parked out front and I shove everything into the back, grumbling and cursing as I fold my body into the backseat, as Marin and Jose continue their introductory chatter oblivious to my plight. Jose is telling her something that has her laughing and for some foreign reason, I want to gouge his eyes out for doing something I haven’t been able to do yet.
That’s because all you’ve been is a prick to her, asshole.
It’s hotter than blazes right now, the complete opposite of what we left behind in New York eight hours ago. I shrug off my jacket, leaving me in my tight-fitting black T-shirt. Marin notices my movement and glances over her shoulder at me. I gain an ounce of satisfaction when I notice the way her pupils dilate, and her eyes grow heavy as she takes me in. When she notices that I’m staring at her staring at me, she quickly returns her attention to Jose, who is babbling about the landscape. But not before I see the blush creep across her cheeks.
I can’t tell what she’s thinking, but by the way her face blooms a rosy-pink hue, and she moistens her lips with her tongue, I’d say she likes what she sees. And maybe feels the same level of attraction that I do.
Which in a word is problematic.
Because if she gives me the green light, it’s all systems go and I’m diving in.
6
Marin
Oh,my word. It’s so hot here. Like beads of sweat dotting my temple and upper lip-hot. The kind you get when you bite into a tamale with the extra-hot jalapeño peppers that makes your eyes water.
Sadly, I’m well aware my heat index hasn’t climbed solely from the change in climate based on my new latitude and longitudes.
It’s because of the way Nathaniel looks in that damn T-shirt.
When I turned in my seat to see him removing his jacket, I was mesmerized by the way his biceps strained against the tight cotton fabric of his shirt. It was then that I felt like a blazing inferno had just erupted inside my body. I’ve only seen him one other time before today and he’d been bundled up in a suit jacket, so I had no earthly idea that he was so freaking muscular under the shirt and tie. He’s been hiding those guns under hisProfessor Grumpyexterior.
During the car ride, the three of us spoke about the schedule and the agenda for the next two weeks. Tonight, we’d be spending the night in a hotel in San Jose and tomorrow morning we’d head out toLa Selva Biological Station, where we’d be spending most of our time during the trip when not doing fieldwork. According to Jose, Nathaniel had done some teaching in the past with the Organization of Tropical Studies and everyone there was all atwitter over his return. Since I am wholly unfamiliar with the who’s who in the field of scientific research, I have no idea who Nathaniel is, but it seems like he’s a pretty big deal.
I can barely keep up over dinner as Jose and Nathaniel chat about various findings and new species they’ve discovered, and the mutations they are seeing in tropical ecology due to the effects of climate change. So, while they talk, I continue to drink the fabulous wine they keep ordering, nodding my head at their comments and joining in the laughter at their lame science jokes. By the end of dinner, I’m feeling more than a little tipsy and terribly jetlagged.
So much so, that as we walk outside into the humid night sky toward the hotel next door, I weave a little bit, stumbling to keep my balance. Out of the clear blue, Nathaniel’s arm finds its way around my waist to hold me up, pulling me into his side. His warm, lean side.
“You okay, Marin?” he asks, staring down at me with an expression I can’t quite read.
“Mmm, yeah. Totally fine. I’m just really hot and turned on…I mean, tuned into what you were saying tonight.”
A warmth coils low in my belly as I suck in a lungful of Nathaniel’s spicy, masculine scent. That heat spreads down my spine and then between my legs when his fingers splay across my low back, sensually and possessively.
He chuckles, the low reverb of the sound sending flutters of butterfly wings inside my tummy.
“Glad you found it so fascinating and such a turn on.”
One moment I’m at his side and the next I’m standing in front of him, as he towers over me, both of his hands now at my waist, as my head falls back to look up at him. His mouth lowers, inch-by-inch, and I can feel his breath, warm and tropical, until our lips are so close only the night air can slip between us. My heart pounds loudly in my chest, my nipples hardening against his torso. And it’s not the only thing hard between us.
I lick my lips and swallow.
And then in an instant, Nathaniel’s mouth covers mine and he kisses me. I part my lips and open for him, his tongue raiding me with a claiming stroke. A wave of desire ripples through me and I feel breathless and weak, like I’m falling into the deepest ravine in the world. But with his hand lassoed around my waist to hold me, I’m not going anywhere without him.
I lift my arms to sling around his neck, digging my fingers into his scalp and pulling him into me. The masculine rumble from inside his chest hits me straight in my womb and my belly clenches in response.
I know I shouldn’t be kissing my boss. It’s wrong. But at the moment, I don’t care.
Maybe it’s the wine. Or my jetlag. Or the fact that the tropical heat of Central America has confiscated my good sense, but I have the urge to jump him this second. To climb him like the tree monkeys I’ve seen on the side of the road.
I’m needy, I’m horny and I’m wet for him. I don’t care that he’s my boss and this is my first night on the job. His kiss robs me of all rational thought.
Just as I feel the nudge of his hard length against my center and I’m about to throw caution to the wind, and say, “Take me, I’m yours,” Nathaniel drops his hands from my waist and ends our kiss, leaving me to rock on my tiptoes to seek balance from my internal discord.
Nathaniel clears his throat and he takes a gigantic step away with a pained look in his eyes.
“If I don’t stop now, you’re going to end up naked in my bed and I’ll be balls deep inside you before your buzz even wears off.”
