Amazon Awakening (5 page)

They had walked for about half an hour when Paola spotted a clearing ahead of her. As she stepped within the opening, she took note of the assorted huts and beyond them, the banks of the river. Familiar and yet still different.

As they marched toward the settlement, people emerged from the shelters and nearby forest area. Gloriously beautiful people in all shapes, sizes and colors, their faces wreathed in hospitable smiles as she and Rey approached.

She had a moment of hesitation at her naked state, but all the people were likewise unclothed and unashamed, lessening her embarrassment.

“Welcome,” she heard in her head.

When she faced Rey with a questioning look, he said, “There is no need for speech here.”

Soon there came a babble of voices in her head, all from the individuals gathered nearby. It was nearly overwhelming until Rey's voice rose up from all the others.

“She is not yet trained,” he explained mentally and the riot of voices quieted. In the silence which followed came one strident vocal challenge.

“I see you wasted no time getting her here.”

The man who had spoken up slipped from the throng of people.

Emilio Ribiero. She had met him at dinner earlier and had not cared for him. There had been something rapacious about him as he had leered at her as if he wanted to eat her up instead of the meal.

“Patricia suggested the time was right tonight,” Rey replied silently, challenge in his tone.

“Patricia always did favor you. I can see the jaguar spirit has already claimed her, as have you,” Emilio replied caustically and shot Paola an accusatory look.

To Paola, the entire exchange seemed very Cain and Abel-like, eroding the tranquility she had been feeling earlier. “Gentlemen, I am not some prize for the two of you to fight over,” she said aloud, earning a disbelieving grunt from Emilio.

“I guess he has not told you yet,” Emilio replied, directing a laser-like stare in Rey's direction.

Rey ignored the statement. “What are you doing here?”

Emilio raised his arms and motioned to the air around him. “I sensed a disturbance. I was not wrong,” he said, looking at her. His gaze swept up and down her naked body. He almost licked his lips before saying to Rey, “You caused it with your shift, but now it is almost time to go.”

“It is,” Rey acknowledged and glanced at her. “Unfortunately, our trip to the village took longer than I thought it would. We must head back to the pool to return to our place in time.”

Paola did not understand any of this, but she would not question Rey's judgment. Plus she was starting to feel a weirdness inside her, as if she was being jerked between two places.

When she glanced up at Rey, he must have sensed her unease. “It's from the shift. Once you're trained, you'll learn to control that pull from our world. Trust me.”

Surprisingly, she did trust him and nodded to confirm her assent.

After Rey bid the many people goodbye with one huge mental blast, he took hold of her hand and they hurried back toward the pool. Once again they dove in and Rey led her along the channel through which they had come. Like before, the water seemed denser and that strange tingling and sense of disorientation overcame her. What was worse was the darkness, which enveloped her at the tail end of their swim, far scarier than the light on the other side. Much like he had done earlier, Rey encircled her waist with one powerful arm and propelled her to the surface.

It was night once again.

The light from the moon created frosted surfaces and shadows as they dragged themselves from the water. She was shaking once more, her body awake with need. Rey must have felt the same, but he controlled himself. Bundling her into her robe, he wrapped his arm around her, offering support since her legs were weak.

Paola normally wasn't one to play the wilting damsel, but her body felt pummeled, by the bouts of desire, and strange, as if she was out-of-sync with the world around her. She didn't refuse his help, and they walked side by side toward the house, hips bumping together. Their bodies brushed, which kept the desire that began with their shift painfully alive.

The terry cloth of the robe rubbed at her tight nipples. Between her legs she was so wet she imagined the juices of her desire were running down her legs together with the water from the pool. She needed Rey again and was shocked by her own sexuality. She had never had such desire for anyone before.

Her one consolation was that Rey was in a similar state. His deep brown masculine nipples were hard little buds she ached to suck and his erection was impossible to miss.

At the French doors to her room, she turned to face him and parted the fabric of her robe, but he kept his distance, his fists clenched at his sides.

“I want you. Do you not want me again?” she asked, wondering at his reluctance. Any other man would have accepted her invitation without hesitation.

“I do, only this desire is from the shift again. I worry that it's too much too soon.” He finally released his restraint enough to reach up and cradle her cheek.

The desire raging through her was even stronger than before, but she wished to honor his self-control as well as give herself time to consider all that had happened in the span of the last few hours.

“I understand why you want to wait. I do, too.”

“Let's sleep on it, then. If in the morning we feel the same—”

“Stay the night with me so the morning won't seem so far away. You can explain to me what Emilio meant earlier.”

She took hold of his hand and led him into her bedroom. At the side of the bed she tossed aside her robe and climbed beneath the sheets. Lying on her back, she held her hand out in invitation.

Rey wavered for a moment, as if considering the wisdom of joining her, but then he took her hand and slipped in beside her. He faced her, eased one arm around her waist and urged her close. She pillowed her head on the muscled strength of the arm he had tucked beneath his head so he could look at her. Splaying her hand across the warm flesh of his pectoral muscle, his masculine nipple was hard beneath her palm. Lightly, she stroked her hand back and forth, needing to feel him. Needing to maintain some kind of connection to him because it seemed to bring balance deep within her.

“What did Emilio mean about the jaguar spirit claiming me?”

“Your father was a very powerful Guardian and so are you. It was how you were able to move from this physical plane to the realm of the sacred space so easily.”

“Where is that realm? We didn't go far and yet it became day—”

“Because it is in a different plane and time, but in the same physical space as we are. It is an alternate version of our world,” he replied.

“And only Guardians can see it?” she asked, wanting to understand.

“Only we can see it and visit it, but only for short periods of time because it is not truly our world.”

She thought about what her mother had said about her father's many absences. That he had seemed to almost disappear before her eyes. She recalled the way she had felt at the village earlier, as if she was being physically torn in half. “My father…he visited too often, didn't he?”

“Your grandmother believes that he did. The constant shifting between worlds disrupts our physical beings. Weakens us if we do it repeatedly.”

“So he didn't die from a logger's attack?” she pressed, beginning to wonder how much of what she knew about her father was true and how much had been faked to shelter the existence of the Guardians.

“He did die at the hands of intruders, but if he hadn't been as weak as he was, maybe he could have defended himself.”

“And your parents? They were killed with him,” she said and cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb along the sharp edge of his jaw.

“My father was a relatively new Guardian and my mother had no abilities. Because of that they did not have the power to protect the boundaries of the sacred place.”

“Is that what you do?” she asked, wondering yet again who they were and what their role was in this world.

Rey laid a hand at her waist, wanting to maintain the connection between them. Needing to feel the smoothness of her skin. Beneath his palm he felt the sensation of her spirit, now claimed by the same animal totem as his, which only made her allure even more potent. Between his legs the erection that had ebbed while they talked, awakened, but he drove desire back. He would not have her until he knew she was making the choice freely and not because of the intense rapture sometimes caused by the shifting.

“Rey?” she pressed when he delayed.

“Since the holy ground occupies the same physical space as we do, any damage to our world impacts them.”

“So if the loggers take down a section of rain forest—”

“It is also lost to those there, but unlike us, they cannot move to another area. For some reason they are bound to the Earth in that location. Trapped,” he explained.

Her expressive face gave away all that she was thinking as she processed the information he had provided. “So they are at the mercy of our world.”

He nodded. “Whether or not the sacred space is the true Garden of Eden, the reality is the same—the sins of man can destroy it.”

He knew from the look on her face, the lines in her brow and gleam in her eyes, that she had more questions, but some were best left for Patricia to answer. Paola's grandmother was the strongest of all the Guardians and she alone controlled everything about them and the space. Better that she provide the answers to the questions Paola had, including what Paola's role here was meant to be.

“It's time to rest. You can find out more from your grandmother in the morning.” He stroked his hand across her long dark hair before tenderly touching her waist again.

Although she nodded and tucked her head against his chest, the tension in her body was obvious. It took quite some time before her breath grew slow and regular as sleep claimed her.

But Rey couldn't rest. His mind was too busy processing what had happened tonight, including Emilio's presence at the space. He did not doubt the other man's explanation that he had sensed a disturbance. When Paola and Rey had traveled into the area, it would have created a big enough rift in the energy surrounding the space to alert a Guardian that something might be amiss.

What worried him more was Emilio's clear antagonism. Even as a child, Emilio had always been jealous of what others owned, and the man he had grown up to be was no different. Emilio needed to be the one with all the toys.

As far as Emilio could see, Paola was just the latest toy that someone else possessed. Rey worried about what Emilio might do if Paola decided to stay and eventually chose Rey to be her mate.

If
she decided to stay, a big if. Paola had her own life back in New York City and no connection to this place. If he could only convince her to stay for a little while, maybe she would consider creating a life here.

Maybe even consider creating a life with him, he thought, imagining what it would be like to live with her. To make love to her every night. He closed his eyes, picturing it in his mind.

Desire roused with that fantasy, making him heavy with need and almost painfully hard.

From beside him, he heard the softest of sighs before Paola sleepily mumbled, “Is it morning already?”

He gazed out the balcony doors to where the first pinkish tinge of dawn colored the sky. He had been lost in his thoughts for hours apparently.

“It is.”

“Good,” she said and gently encircled him. Slowly stroked her hand up and down his hard length, dragging a groan from him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, not wanting to take advantage.

“I'm sure.”

He moved until he was half on her body, pressing her into the mattress below. Lovingly, he cradled her face between his two hands, seeking so much from her emerald gaze. What he found was desire, but also something else. Maybe a growing affection, but certainly more than just physical attraction.

Satisfied with that for the moment, he bent his head and kissed her, exploring the edges of her mouth with his lips. Mingling his breath with hers until she was clutching his shoulders and pressing her body up into his.

“Shh, there is no need to rush,
amor mio
. We have more than a New York minute this morning,” he kidded, earning a delighted chuckle from her and a teasing bite of his lower lip.

“You like that?” he said and playfully nipped her bottom lip before trailing a line of tiny little love bites along the edge of her jaw and down to the crook of her neck.

He bit down a little harder there. She moaned and cupped the back of his head.

Rey took that as an invitation to bite down a tad more roughly. At her sharp gasp of pleasure, he sucked on the bite and licked it, soothing the spot before shifting downward to the swell of her breasts.

Rey covered her breasts with more kisses before bending and taking one taut tip into his mouth. Suckling her, he dragged a pleasured purr from her, which seemed to shock her.

“It's your Guardian spirit. Do not fear it.” He emitted his own low growl filled with passion.

Something inside Paola awakened as her body came alive. Almost reborn. Everything around her became sharper and more insistent to her senses.

The smells around her, from his masculine muskiness to the aroma of her own desire.

His hair was like satin, thick and slick beneath her fingers as she held him to her. He continued suckling her, his tongue cat-rough along her nipples, sending streams of need deep into her core with each lick. As he bit the tip, the perfect edges of his teeth worrying the sensitive peak, the bite had her arching off the bed and against the hard length of his arousal.

Smooth heat stroked her belly as he shifted his hips, drawing his beautiful dick back and forth along her skin.

She reached down between their bodies and covered the tip of his erection, dragging another low growl from him. She encircled his penis and then found the sensitive nerves just beneath the ridge of its head. He shuddered and lifted his head from her breasts as she teased that pleasure point with the tip of her finger.

His gaze widened and his pupils nearly obscured the dark brown of his eyes. “I can't wait much more. I want to be inside you when I come,” he said.

His need sent a tiny thrill through her, but he was not alone in his want. She stroked her hand down the very long length of his shaft and squeezed him gently as she whispered, “Then don't.”

He surprised her then by covering her body with his and easing one knee between her thighs. With gentle pressure, he spread her legs wide. Between her legs came heat and that incredible wetness again. He seemed to be aware of it since he dipped his fingers down and ran them along her moist center, dragging a rough moan from her. When he found the nub between her curls and pressed, her body shook as her climax approached.

She locked her gaze on his face and realized he was focused on her breasts.

She arched her back until her breasts were just an inch away from his mouth and raised her knees, bringing her nether lips flush along the length of his erection. He groaned as her heat and wetness enveloped him, but then grasped her hips and held her steady while he positioned himself at her center. He paused, the tip of his erection at her entrance. Expectant. Hesitant.

His words echoed in her brain.
You can stop me at any time.

But she didn't want to stop him, she thought, as she flexed her hips in invitation. He slowly entered her, his massive length filling her. Stretching her tight with his thickness. She shuddered from the sensation and despite the pleasure of his penetration, she wanted more. She wanted his lips on her breasts, sucking and biting. Licking with that amazing tongue.

Suddenly, he was there, fulfilling that wish. Adding the gentle pinch of his fingers, tweaking and rotating the tight tips until she could no longer hold back.

She moved her hips, dragging herself up and down the length of him. The friction was so intense she nearly came from the first stroke, but he urged her on with soft words. Words in her head, telling her how beautiful she was. Sharing with her how she tasted and felt to him. How her moistness bathed him with warmth and her tightness caressed him.

She responded in kind, sending him wave after wave of thoughts and sensations until they were both shaking, bodies on the verge of powerful release.

With one gentle bite at her nipple, he set off their mutual climax. As the sensations spilled through her body, his thoughts tumbled with hers, allowing her a view of making love she had never experienced before.

This was truly sharing, she thought, as he collapsed onto her and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close as they slowly returned to the now—from wherever it was that they had gone during their interlude.

“Will it always be like this?” she asked, stroking her hand across the sweat-slick skin of his chest.

He hesitated, forcing her to look up at him. With chagrin he said, “I don't know. This experience is completely new to me.”

“You've never made love—”

“I've had sex, but never with a Guardian. And never with anyone like you. Someone special like you,” he admitted.

His words sent that thrill through her again, until reality painfully intruded with a loud and urgent banging at her door.

“Coming,” she said and reluctantly left his side, picked up her robe and slipped it on before opening the door.

She barely cracked it and found one of the servants standing there, a worried look on her face.

“Is something wrong?”

“Your grandmother has fallen. The doctor is with her. He asked that we get you.”

“I'll be there in a second,” she said and closed the door, her heart pounding in her chest with fear.

Rey was immediately at her side, stroking her face. “You're pale. Has something happened?”

She suddenly became aware of a disturbance which shook her core. Something had happened. Something more than a fall. “My grandmother…she's not well. We need to go to her.” Rey was in motion, slipping his pants and shirt back on. Taking hold of her hand and leading her down the hallway to her grandmother's bedroom.

The door was closed and several servants stood outside, anxious looks on their faces.

Fear twisted Paola's gut.

As they walked in, the doctor was rising from the side of the bed and closing his bag. “You need to rest. You can't go gallivanting around the rain forest anymore. Your strength is not what it used to be.”

Her grandmother released an annoyed sigh and gave an imperious wave of her hand. “If I don't go who will? Who will lead?”

She was sitting up in bed, propped against a wealth of pillows, her silver hair spread about her like a halo. Her skin was almost ghostly white, but there was still vigor in her eyes as they met Paola's.

“There was no need to disturb the two of you,” she said, shooting a knowing look at them and then over Paola's shoulder to Rey.

“What happened?” Paola said and went to her grandmother's side. She sat on the edge of the bed and took the older woman's hand in hers. Was there a weakness there that she had not sensed the day before? Did her skin feel more papery and less substantial?

“She was coming back from the rain forest when she passed out,” the doctor said, warning alive in his tones.

“I merely tripped on a root,” her grandmother replied with an indignant sniff, clearly not wanting to profess to any weakness.

The doctor turned to Paola. “I believe your grandmother may have had a small stroke. With you here now to protect the sacred space, there is no reason for her to be an active Guardian any longer.”

“But I'm not here—”

“Could you all please give us some privacy,” Patricia said with another regal wave of her hand. Even as the staff surrounding her quickly scurried to honor her request, Paola noticed a tremor in her grandmother's hand that had not existed before and the trivial action seemed to tax her.

When Rey headed for the door as well, Patricia called out, “Not you, my son.”

Rey nodded, and, after the last person had left the room, he closed the door and then leaned back against it, his arms across his chest. His features were etched with concern.

“You should not have gone out tonight,” he admonished.

“I was worried about you both. I needed to know you were safe.” The tone of her voice was strained, as it if were costing her a great deal to speak.

“You need to rest, Grandmother. We can talk later,” Paola said and patted the hand she still held.

“No,” Patricia said forcefully, but then lay back against the pillows and peered past Paolo to Rey. “Please. You explain.”

Rey walked to the side of the bed opposite Paola and sat on the edge. He took hold of Patricia's other hand in his large ones. Tenderly, he rubbed it, offering consolation. When he spoke, his voice was pitched low, so only the three of them could hear.

“Your grandmother has sensed for some time that her spirit is waning. She has patrolled the space for far more years than any Guardian Priestess before her.”

“But you told me you could not visit too often or stay too long,” Paola said.

Rey nodded. “It is only because of the strength in the Lopes blood that Patricia has been able to lead and guard for all these decades. But it is time for another to assume her place as the leader of the Guardians.”

When he looked at Paola, it all suddenly became clear. The Lopes legacy was not about money or even this plantation. It was about protecting the sacred space. It was about being in charge of the Guardians, whoever they might be.

“Me?” she croaked and pointed to her chest with her free hand. “What do I know—”

“What you need to know we can teach you,” he replied evenly as if it was the equivalent of teaching her to ride a bike.

“But I have a life in New York. I can't stay here,” she argued, shaking her head to emphasize the point.

“You must,” her grandmother said softly and closed her eyes, clearly taxed.

Paola glanced at Rey. “Tell me why I must stay.”

Rey shrugged those massive shoulders and inclined his head in the direction of the door. “Emilio is waiting outside, eager to hear that you've refused.”

“Why? What does it matter?” Paola pressed.

“The Guardian spirit is strongest in certain families. The Lopes and Ribiero families possess the most powerful Guardian spirits and because of that, the leaders have been chosen from their lines for generations.”

“But the Lopes family now holds the reins of power,” Paola said, finally beginning to understand.

“For centuries the Lopes family has led the Guardians. If you decide to return to New York, Emilio and the Ribiero family will assume leadership.”

Since not one of her encounters with the man had been pleasant, she couldn't imagine what would happen to the paradise she had visited if it came under his protection. His anger and jealousy would be like a poison in that pristine place. Like the sin which had destroyed the Garden of Eden.

“And if I stay?” she asked, the lawyer in her wanting to understand all the terms and conditions so she could make an informed decision.

“If you stay you will need to choose from one of the Guardian men, marry and have children with them—”

“But my father didn't choose a Guardian. He chose my mother.”

Patricia chimed in at that moment. “I feared for him with that choice. With a Guardian mate he might have been stronger, but he would not listen. He loved your mother beyond all else.”

As her mother had loved him.

I'd do it all again.

Paola thought about that kind of love. What would it be like? She gazed at Rey and imagined that she could experience it with him. He was handsome and an amazing lover, but she needed more than that right now. She needed to know he was trustworthy and honorable.

“You're one of the men, aren't you? You knew the choice I would face, but you didn't tell me,” she challenged.

“What happened between us had nothing to do with you becoming our leader or choosing me as a mate.” He clenched his jaw with anger at her accusation.

“Didn't it?” she asked again, although she wanted to believe their connection had truly been about their attraction to each other and not some plot to secure a position of power amongst the Guardians.

“Believe what you will, but the only thing you have to decide now is whether to stay or go.”

She patted her grandmother's hand and Patricia roused, giving her a sleepy smile. Paola forced a smile to her own face, not wanting to worry her grandmother. “I need to go think about some things. I'll be back later.”

She moved toward the door, expecting Rey to follow, but he remained at her grandmother's side, holding her hand, the sight of him so large and powerful incongruous against her grandmother's now diminished presence.

As Rey had predicted, Emilio was right outside the door, his features filled with what looked like anticipation. “No need to worry. Patricia just tripped over a root and is quite fine. She's resting now.”

Emilio's eyes narrowed and he examined her, but he didn't question her, instead he rushed off along with the trio of men surrounding him.

Needing solitude, Paola hurried back to her room, but the sight of the bed brought back too many memories as did the scattered photos of her father, mother, grandmother and even herself as a child. She wouldn't venture back toward the rain forest alone and so she marched in the opposite direction until she reached the long floating dock stretching out into the river. The pontoon plane was moored just a bit away, and farther upriver were a series of small buoys and flags, probably marking the fish hatcheries Rey had mentioned.