The Treasure (11 page)

Brody’s expression turned dark and for the first time since she met him, he actually looked uncomfortable.

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re hiding something. There’s more to this story, isn’t there?”

“We should get moving, the day is half gone.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” She came to her feet. “No evasive answers. What happened with my aunt?”

They stood toe to toe with Brody still leaning against the tree, arms crossed over his chest. He held her gaze and she was unable to look away. His sexy eyes drew her in and held her captive. They were by far his best feature. Well … one of them. She also liked his broad shoulders, washboard abs, and tousled dark hair.

“You’re an infuriating woman.”

Amelia smiled. “Yes, you’ve mentioned that. The story, please.”

His look darkened even more. “She got herself in trouble, that’s what happened.”

“What kind of trouble?”

His eyes took on a distant look as he remembered and Amelia wanted to wrap her arms around him. Instead, she waited for the rest.

“In her quest to find
Paraíso
she fell while rock climbing and broke her leg in three places. She also injured her neck and shoulder in the fall.”

“I had no idea,” Amelia said, imagining her aunt lying hurt on the jungle floor. She had never told anyone. How much more hadn’t she told them? She had kept Charlie a secret, if what Brody said was true and they were lovers. But why would she keep their relationship private? “Obviously she lived through it, but it must have been horrible.”

Brody’s gaze drilled into hers. “She almost died searching for
Paraíso,
Amelia.”

“I know that now. Why are you so angry?”

“Because I’m the one who had to fly in and rescue her from the damn jungle. I had to see her broken and bloody. And all for what? A piece of paradise that may not have existed?”

Amelia put a hand flat on his chest. “But it does exist. She found it, Brody. And she gave it to me.”

His hands gripped her shoulders. “Don’t you get it? Your aunt almost died finding
Paraíso
. Is it really worth losing your life over?”

A small gasp escaped her lips. “You’re worried about me. You’re scared that will happen to me. That’s why you refused me in the beginning.” Touched, she reached up and cupped his cheek. “You really are a sweet man, Brody Kern.”

He made a disgusted sound and pulled her hand away, but didn’t let it go. “I’m not sweet,” he muttered.

Amelia smiled. “Well, rest assured. If there are any rocky cliffs to climb, I promise not to fall.” Suddenly aware that he was still holding her hand, Amelia let her eyes drop to his lips. What would it be like to be kissed by those masculine lips? By such a masculine man?

“We should get moving.”

“Yes,” she agreed, taking a sobering step backward. She was really going to have to do something about her wayward thoughts. Before she got herself in trouble, because Brody Kern was exactly the kind of man she could fall for.

And she was exactly the kind of woman he didn’t want. She’d do good to remember that. Throwing herself at a man who clearly stated she wasn’t his type would be a giant, painful mistake. Rejection stung, but being rejected by Brody would be life altering.

“Let’s go,” she said, reaching for her bags. Without another word, she pushed ahead, this time paying special attention to the trees for snakes.

• • •

“There it is. Across the river. The turtle rock,” Amelia cried, wiping a strand of hair out of her eyes and pointing at the odd shaped rock ahead of her. It really did look like a turtle shell.

Stopping to pull out her map, she swiped a hand over her forehead to wipe away the sweat. “Can we swim in the river?” she asked. “The river back home was only a couple miles from our house. We used to ride our bikes down there and swim in the shallow part. The current wasn’t very strong, but strong enough it would carry us — ”

Brody’s hand on her arm cut her off, drawing her attention to him instead of her map. Seeing the intense look on his face made her smother a groan. She knew that look. It was his “danger-is-near” look. She hated that look. Oh, Lord, she hoped it wasn’t another snake.

“Give me the map,” Brody said without looking at her. He scanned the countryside.

“What? Why? You said you had it memorized.”

“Just give it to me.”

Sighing, Amelia handed the map to him. He folded it and put it in his pocket.

“What are you doing? We have to see it to find out where to go next. What is wrong with y — ” Something shattered the tree behind her, spraying bark over her head. With a scream, she ducked and covered her head with her purse.

Brody grabbed her hand and dragged her into the jungle. “Was that a bullet?” She struggled to keep up with him.

“Yes.”

Another bullet zinged over their heads.

“Who is shooting at us?”

“Can’t tell from here. They’re on the opposite side of the river.”

“That’s good, right? They can’t get to us.” A leaf slapped her in the face as Brody veered right, pulling her with him and fighting the jungle.

“Wrong. The river is shallow enough to cross in spots.”

She dodged another big leaf. “Are those spots anywhere near us?”

“Yes.”

Not the answer she wanted.

“Keep your head down.”

Amelia ducked and hurried to keep up. Her bags thumped against her hip and snagged on branches. “Where are we going?”

“Where the river is deeper and can’t be crossed.”

“Good plan,” she breathed, her chest starting to ache from sucking in the saturated air. The more they ran, the hotter she got. The humidity beat down on her, suffocating, making her clothes stick uncomfortably to her body. She barely noticed above the noise behind them.

Noise? Behind? Them?

Looking over her shoulder, Amelia saw three figures moving through the brush toward them. “Brody?” she panted. “I don’t think it’s going to matter if the river is deeper or not.”

“Why?”

“Because the men are right behind us.”

Brody cursed and before she could guess his intention, he pulled her into the brush and crouched behind her, a hand over her mouth, the other around her waist to hold her in place. Amelia tried to shake off his hand, but he held tight, his lips touching her ear. “Shh.”

Exhausted, she sank into him. Men crashed through the jungle, shouting at each other and making no effort to hide their location. Maybe because they weren’t afraid of being discovered. And why would they? They were the ones with the guns.

As they grew closer, Amelia sunk more into Brody, praying they weren’t seen. Another confrontation with guns wasn’t on her list of things to do today. His hand remained over her mouth and she didn’t fight it.

Her heart beat so hard she was certain it would give away their position. Behind Brody’s hand, she panted. His chest pressed against her back, rising and falling evenly, his hand splayed across her belly, warm and strong. Through heightened senses, she could hear and feel everything going on around her.

They were close now. Their boots pounded through the jungle, breaking off leaves as they went. When one of them ran past only a few feet away Amelia gasped, Brody’s hand stifling her. The other two ran past and Brody’s hand hesitantly left her mouth.

“Are they gone?” she whispered.

“For now.”

“Good,” she breathed, collapsing against him. “Did you see who it was?”

“Don Newton and two of his friends.”

His voice rumbled through his chest, comforting and alluring. Even his voice was masculine. Everything about Brody Kern was manly and she liked the feel of his chest pressed against her back. His arm still circled her waist, making her feel safe. She would be content to stay here forever.

But there was a hidden treasure to be found and she wasn’t going to find it in Brody’s arms.

“What do we do now? They’re going to figure out that we duped them.”

“It’ll be dark in a couple hours. You stay here. I’m going to find somewhere to make camp.”

He started to rise and Amelia grabbed his arm. “You’re going to leave me here?”

“Only until I find a safe place to sleep tonight.”

“Somewhere hidden,” she guessed. “Where they won’t see us.”

The corner of his mouth slanted in one of those sexy half-smiles he rarely gave. “You’re catching on. Stay down. You’re hidden here so don’t move from this spot. I’ll be back to get you.”

Amelia nodded. “Please, hurry,” she whispered but Brody had already melted into the jungle. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She missed Brody’s warmth and the comfort of his touch.

Although completely hidden by brush, if Mr. Newton came back there was no guarantee he wouldn’t find her. She did, after all, have a sunny yellow blouse on. That was bound to stand out against all the green.

Scary thought, and one she pushed to the back of her mind. What she needed to do was stay calm until Brody came back. To occupy herself, she began to hum softly. Then stopped when she heard Brody’s voice in her head ordering her to stay quiet.

She huffed out a breath and pressed her lips together. Brody Kern was a complicated man yet she knew exactly what he would say if he were here. He was a good bodyguard. An even better guide. Aunt Pandora had been right in sending her to him. He may be surly and set in his ways, but he knew this jungle and how to keep her safe.

Smiling, she took a moment to revel in his compliment.
She was catching on.
This survival stuff wasn’t so hard. Terrifying at times, but not so tough. If only her sisters could see her now. Wait, scratch that. If they saw her now they’d call the authorities and have Brody arrested for aiding and abetting her adventure.

No, her sisters wouldn’t like Brody. Well, maybe that was too harsh. They might like him, but they wouldn’t approve of him. He didn’t fit the image of the perfect man her sisters wanted for her. They wanted someone safe and boring. A banker or something along those lines. Someone whose most dangerous job was denying a loan or refusing a sale. Someone who would provide a nice, safe living environment for her. None of which sounded like Brody.

Well, she didn’t have to worry. Her sisters were never going to meet him.

A loud noise behind her made her jump. Somewhere high in the trees a bird screeched. How long would it be before Mr. Newton backtracked?

Nope, not going there.
Think about positive things. Brody would be back soon. Then she could go to sleep. And that sounded really good right now. The heat and humidity sapped her strength. Not to mention fighting the jungle all day.

What would be nice was a dip in the river to clean off. She felt hot and sticky and dirty. A shower would be preferable, but she would take what she could get. Question was — would it be safe for her to do so? Maybe she would wait just a little longer.

When it started to grow dark, she began to worry. Where was Brody? What was taking him so long? Had he lost her?

“Not helping,” she muttered under her breath, tapping her fingers on her leg. How long had she been here? It seemed like forever. Her muscles were getting stiff. Brody told her to stay put, but stretching her legs for a second wouldn’t hurt. There had been no sign of Mr. Newton or his friends in a long while, so she convinced herself it should be okay.

Slowly, she unwrapped her arms and rose to her feet, pushing her bags higher on her shoulder. Ducking leaves and branches, she crept toward the roar of the river. Brody would never even know she was gone.

After double-checking to make sure the coast was clear, she hurried to the riverbank and climbed over rocks until she reached the edge. She dropped her bags and knelt down to cup her hands in the cool water. It was so blessedly cool she couldn’t resist leaning in closer to splash some on her face. Just as she was leaning down to dip her hands in again, something landed on her shoulder, startling her. With a scream, she pitched forward, hitting the water with a splash.

The current pulled her down, dragging her downriver, scraping her arms and legs on the rocky bottom as she went. Gasping for air, she tried to swim to shore, but the current was too strong and swept her out farther, pulling her under.

Panicked, she fought. When it pulled her under again, she tried to free herself, but her efforts were getting weaker and weaker. The river let her go long enough to break the surface and gasp for air. This time when it dragged her under, her head struck something sharp and her world went black.

Brody carried Amelia’s still form out of the water and laid her on the bank. His heart pounded like a drum, echoing in his ears. Blood seeped down the side of her face and she laid unmoving, eyes closed.

“Damn it, Amelia,” Brody muttered and pressed two fingers to her neck. Her pulse was slightly erratic but strong. He hadn’t meant to startle her when he touched her shoulder, assumed she heard him approach. When she fell in, he almost had a heart attack, knowing how powerful the Amazon’s current was. Sure enough, the river swept her away like a feather.

Nothing, however, had prepared him to see her disappear and not come back up. It was blind luck that he had found her.

He tugged off his shirt and pressed it to the nasty-looking cut on her temple. With his other hand, he caressed her cheek, willing her to wake up while fighting the growing panic in his chest. He wasn’t going to lose her. History was not repeating itself.

“Wake up, sweetheart,” he murmured, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. Pan’s hair. Only lighter. Silky like her skin. “Don’t do this to me.”

His chest tightened when her eyes didn’t open. It would be dark soon. They couldn’t stay here. He had led Newton on a wild goose chase before he found a place to set up camp for the night. But Newton was smart; he’d figure things out soon enough and backtrack to the river.

Brody lifted Amelia in his arms and cradled her head against his shoulder so he could keep pressure on the wound and went to gather her bags. After slinging them over his shoulder, he headed toward camp.

Within minutes, he had her out of her wet clothes and inside the tent he covered with leaves and branches for camouflage. Carefully, he zipped her into his sleeping bag, fighting his body’s response to seeing her in lacy pink bra and panties. So like Amelia to have matching undergarments.