Hinekiri (23 page)

“It was huge.” The woman’s friends crowded closer, the whites of their eyes contrasting with their darker skin. “The creature was tall, much bigger than Isaac.”

“That Isaac, he big,” one of the women said with a trace of awe.

“The hyena man was bigger and his eyes glowed. Evil eyes. He peered through the dark at us with his big eyes. A curse whispered on the wind promising danger to all those who traveled the savannah at night. It sent a shiver down my spine.”

Hinekiri nodded. “What happened next?”

The women craned forward, their expressions varying from apprehensive to ghoulish interest.

“The hyena man let out a
whoop-whoop
just like a real hyena.”

The shy woman forgot herself and spoke. “Probably because he related to hyena.”

“Then another hyena man appear. Much, much bigger. Big glowing eyes. Teeth. Big and white.”

“Jocelyn, how do you see teeth so well if it was dark?”

Hinekiri bit back a smile. The description of the creature had grown in the telling. “It sounds frightening. What did you do?”

“Isaac and I ran inside and barred the entrance to our hut. It was very smoky inside with the entrance closed but it was safer than being outside.”

“I think the hyena men were after your goats,” one of the women said. “Did they take them?”

“No, that is the strange thing. While the hyena men were outside, the goats didn’t make a sound. They bunched together in their pen. We expected to find them slaughtered but they were still there in the morning.”

“That sounds terrifying. Has anyone else seen the hyena men?”

“My cousin and her husband have been kept awake by a large leopard near their hut. My cousin says she saw a leopard transform into a woman.”

“No!” said one of the women. “I don’t believe it.”

“It is true. The woman drifted above the ground. My cousin said a cold shiver went through her body. She feared for her life.”

“Hmmm,” Hinekiri said. “That doesn’t sound good. If I were you I think I’d stay inside at night.”

“My family intends to stay indoors. It is the only way to keep safe.”

“Sounds like good advice,” Hinekiri agreed. “I want to buy some bracelets and necklaces to take home with me. Could you tell me which direction I should walk?”

“My cousin, the one who saw the leopard woman, sells beadwork. Walk past the man selling wood and the man selling goats. My cousin is the fourth beadwork lady. She is wearing a purple skirt and red blouse.”

“I’ll find her,” Hinekiri promised. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Plan work,” Killer barked when they walked past yet more plantain sellers, a large pile of tomatoes and another of potatoes. She stuck her nose in the air and ignored the loud comments about her light purple fur.

A youngster roasted peanuts in their shells over a brazier burner. He leaned over to blow and a shower of sparks flew across the coals. The boy used a wire scoop to remove the peanuts from the dish sitting above the coals. The distinct scent of roasting peanuts filled the air and his helper did a brisk trade with tourists and locals purchasing newspaper cones full of scoops of roasted nuts.

Hinekiri caught a glimpse of Richard chatting to a group of Masai standing around a small truck. They were loading the truck with supplies—sacks of grain and others that appeared full of red cloth. A bunch of plantains joined the purchases.

Richard glanced up at that moment and caught Hinekiri’s gaze. He acknowledged her with a smile and a wave. The moment seemed to freeze as they stared at each other. Her heart pounded and her breasts tightened against her silky bra and then people moved in front of him, blocking her view.

She loved him.

It hit her in that moment.

Hinekiri inhaled sharply, desperately needing air. She dragged in a second breath, her pulse rate jumping while her heart felt as though it had ridden in one of those super fast Earth elevators and landed somewhere south of her stomach. She swallowed, trying to lubricate a dry mouth and rid herself of the huge lump in her throat that threatened to choke her to death. The swallow did nothing. The lump grew, cold and icy, until it enclosed her chest with one big ache.

She loved him.

Courtesans didn’t fall in love, but somehow she had tripped and fallen. The horoscope was wrong and it was possible for her to love. Despite the budding joy, the realization kicked like one of the bitch-birds she’d discovered on Verox.

Nothing could come of their relationship.

They both had commitments elsewhere—their jobs and Richard had friends and family. She had her friends too.

She would have to leave as planned.

By the goddess, how was she going to leave him? Tears formed at her eyes and she turned away before she succumbed to temptation and blurted out her feelings. Goddess, it hurt now and she hadn’t even left yet.

“I see beads,” Killer barked. “Want multi-colored one and maybe another for special occasions. And another for present for Harry.”

Hinekiri ignored the chatter from the spotted creature and ambled over to the bead sellers. She smiled at the locals and decided she’d purchase some of the red material favored by the Masai for her fashion designer friend even as her heart ached and protested her decision to leave.

A group of youngsters crowded around a boom box. Music blared. The kids’ heads bobbed in time. The compulsive, toe-tapping reggae beat pumped through Hinekiri’s blood while the singer wailed about no woman, no cry. The tension in her chest magnified when she converted the lyrics to her point of view. No man, definitely cry.

The bead sellers sat on the ground with a cloth spread out in front of them, displays of their beadwork arranged on top.

“Hello,” Hinekiri greeted the plump woman sitting behind the first cloth. She plucked a beaded belt from a pile and decided her fashion designer friend would like a belt as well. “How much for the belt?”

The woman named a price that seemed reasonable to Hinekiri but she knew bargaining was expected. “Oh no. I can’t afford that many shillings. Will you give me a discount for five belts and a short belt for my dog to wear as a collar?” She named a fair price and waited for the counter negotiations.

“I can’t feed my children if I accept that price,” the woman said, a sad expression on her round face.

“Won’t have no children if hyena ghosts get them,” her neighbor stated.

“Have you seen the walking ghosts?” Hinekiri asked. “Everyone is talking about them at the lodge. I haven’t seen them. I would love to get an image to take home when I leave.”

“Better not seeing them,” the plump woman said. “Bad things. My children have nightmares.”

Hinekiri felt guilty at distressing undergrowns, but it was important to stop the poachers. “I thought they haunted at night?”

“My girl sneak out to meet boy at night. Her little brother followed to see where they go.”

Hinekiri sensed Richard behind her before she felt his touch on her shoulder. She identified his musky scent combined with floral soap. The male had taken a liking to her soap. He informed her it kept the bugs away.

“How’s the shopping going?”

“Fine. We were talking about the hyena men. This woman’s children have seen them.” Richard’s training of the hyenas had paid off. They were doing a fine job and under Livingston’s control, the timing was perfect. The locals would never know when the ghosts might show up and would gradually conclude it was safer to stay indoors at night.

“It’s a bad thing.” Richard’s sexy rumble reverberated through Hinekiri’s body heading for places south. A mild tingle sprang to life bringing to mind an afternoon nap with slow and lazy lovemaking.

Hinekiri decided to hurry things along and named a price for the belts just a fraction lower than the one the woman had declared.

“I accept. I must feed my children somehow.” The woman wrapped the belts in newspaper and handed them to Hinekiri.

Richard and Killer followed her around the rest of the bead stalls and waited patiently while she purchased items from each. She chatted to the cousin who had seen the leopard woman.

“What did it look like?” Richard asked.

“Big with head of leopard and body and legs of a human. It was the eyes that were scary.” The woman shivered and Hinekiri noticed the goose bumps that sprang to life along her bare arms. “The eyes were big as my fist and they glowed orange and red like fire.”

Once Hinekiri completed her shopping, and they fed the rumors regarding the supernatural beings prowling the savannah during the dark of the night, they headed back to the lodge.

Richard opened their cabin door and Killer marched inside.

“I take present to Harry,” Killer yapped. “Do ya have any food? Need steak first.”

Richard snorted. “Why don’t you dine at Harry’s burrow? It would be a hell of a lot cheaper.”

“Don’t like African food much,” Killer barked. “Get fur in teeth.”

“I think there’s still a doggy bag in the fridge.”

Something was wrong with Hinekiri. She hadn’t been her normal cheery self during the last two days. Once Killer left, he’d talk to Hinekiri. Hell’s bells. Listen to him. He was considering talking to a female willingly. Emotional, touchy-feely stuff. Shit, he had it bad for her.

Hinekiri walked over to the compact fridge in the kitchenette, her shoes squeaking on the tiles. Richard watched her each step of the way—the gentle sway of her lips, the display of slender, tanned legs and the luscious curve of her ass beneath the khaki shorts. His. A man would be a fool to let a woman like Hinekiri get away. A courtesan. Hell, she was no more a courtesan than he was King Tut.

“Steak.” Hinekiri unwrapped the hunk of cooked meat they’d saved from the briar cookout last night. She placed it on the tiled floor, using the wrapping as a dinner plate.

“Hungry,” Killer growled.

Richard left the dog to its dinner and walked through to the bedroom, mentally willing Hinekiri to join him. If he had his way, they were going to have a little bonding session of their own.

The bedroom reminded him of Hinekiri even though she wasn’t present. She’d left her favorite rainbow-colored robe, now his favorite since he’d discovered the nifty see-through panels, strewn across a cane chair. In the bathroom, several pots of mysterious feminine cosmetics and perfumes covered the surface of the vanity. The faint scent of her soap and potions perfumed the air.

Richard unbuttoned his shirt and cast it aside. It fluttered on top of Hinekiri’s robe and he decided he liked the way that looked, the display of intimacy. He kicked off his leather sandals and his shorts hit the ground followed by his boxers. Richard stretched out on the bed and waited for Hinekiri. A pleasant hum of sensual awareness pulsed through his body, tightening his gut and making his cock stiffer than one of the bed legs.

“Richard?”

“In here,” he called.

Hinekiri appeared in the doorway.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. “Come here. Please.” It was hard to believe another male hadn’t snapped her up years ago.

“Well, hello, sailor,” she purred. “I thought you’d be wanting a nap instead of little old me.” She dropped onto the mattress beside him. They kissed with slow familiarity. Lips sipped and tasted. Tongues explored with lazy strokes. Gradually, the heat built between them.

Richard brushed her ear with his mouth. “Age is an attitude, sweetheart. There’s nothing old about you, and since I’ve met you, I have a new lease on life.”

Her gaze drifted across his groin. “I can see that, sailor.”

He kissed her again, taking the time to explore the sensitive inner surfaces of her mouth. He wanted to imprint himself on her so she’d never forget how they were together.

“I love you, Hinekiri.” There! He’d admitted it—the words that had tickled the tip of his tongue for days. He traced her face, her lips with his gaze, feeling as though a burden had lifted from his shoulder—a weight called cowardice. “I love you.”

“You don’t have to say you love me in order to get your rocks off,” Hinekiri snapped.

“Huh?” He didn’t have to pretend confusion. It was a genuine emotion. She thought he was joking, hell, lying to her just so he could have sex. It was that bloody man with the horoscope still messing with her mind. How the hell could a modern woman like Hinekiri still believe in that mumbo-jumbo? Men and women made their own destinies.

“We don’t have a future. I have my job, my life and you have your commitments here on Earth. I don’t have anything to offer you—my future is set. Don’t let’s spoil what we have.”

Richard stared in shock. She believed what she was saying. “What do we have?” Anger pummeled his mind, and it had to have an outlet somehow. His hands curled to tight fists at his side.

“We have friendship and great sex.” Her violet eyes held a silent challenge.

Fine. He’d take that challenge and shove it down her throat. They belonged together and somehow he’d prove it. Richard decided to back off and let her think she’d won. He forced a tender smile and reached for her. Her expression was wary. Good! She should worry because, once he’d persuaded her their love was genuine, he intended to paddle her delectable backside until it turned pink. And once he reached that point, he’d let things take their natural course. By the time they were finished, she’d accept his love and she’d trust him too.

“Come here, Hinekiri.”

“Why?”

“I want to make love to you.”

Hinekiri flinched at the mention of love, the wariness never left her face, but she moved closer to him.

“You’re right. We have friendship between us. We have great sex. We shouldn’t fight during our last days together when pleasure is so much better.” Richard was relieved he managed to get the words out without choking on them.

“Good. We’re agreed,” Hinekiri said in a brisk voice.

“You’re wearing too many clothes. Let me help you remove them.” He rolled to his feet, taking Hinekiri off the bed with him in one well-planned move.

Richard started to undo the buttons on her cotton blouse one by one, kissing each inch of newly exposed flesh. He licked across her collarbone and let his tongue dart into the fragrant cleavage between her breasts. “You always smell so good.”