Dark Storm (Dark #23)(70)
Author: Christine Feehan

Chapter 14

Riley woke just before sunset. How she knew it was only minutes away, she wasn’t certain, but there was no doubt in her mind exactly when the sun would sink from the sky. She thought the continual drone of the insects might have woken her, the sound seemed so amplified in her head she clapped her hands over her ears. Birds flitted overhead in the trees, the squawking and chattering much louder than normal as they prepared for a long night of predators hunting them. Everything was so much louder, including several of the men’s snoring.

Her hand hurt, and when she lifted it to inspect it, it was quite swollen. A spider, or some insect had clearly bitten her and she had an allergic reaction. She couldn’t remember having allergies to bites, but in the rain forest, she knew the insects could carry all sorts of venom. She would have to do something about it. Her first aid kit was in her backpack.

Annoyed, she sat up in her hammock and surveyed the campground. Her body was deliciously sore in places she hadn’t known she had. Her heart was pounding a little bit too hard at the enormity of what she’d done-giving herself to Dax. She wasn’t irritated with anyone but herself.

She had to be honest, she’d practically thrown herself at him. He’d even tried to talk her out of it. In truth, counting actual days, she’d barely met him, but she felt as if she knew him better than she’d known anyone in her life. Sharing his mind, she learned so much about him.

Riley bit down hard on her thumb, scraping her teeth back and forth along the nail, trying to reconcile her staid little life with her behavior in the rain forest. Was she going to go all stupid and regret such an amazing, incredible, hot first time? It wasn’t as if she was in high school. She was a college professor for heaven’s sake. If she wanted to have sex with the hottest vampire hunter in the rain forest, she certainly didn’t have to be ashamed of it.

Was she ashamed? Hell no. She would never regret giving herself to him, but it hadn’t been just her body. With a little sigh she shoved long tendrils of hair that had worked their way out of her braid away from her face. She blushed at the memory of Dax pulling out the thick weave, at the memory of his hands in her hair. He had been the one to braid it again, right after he’d collected the flowers for Gary. She’d remained sprawled out naked on the bed, too exhausted to move. Again she felt the color rising into her face.

If it had been just sex she’d had with Dax, she wouldn’t be so nervous. She’d given him her heart and soul. Basically she’d jumped off a cliff and had no idea if there was a safety net. He’d shatter her if he didn’t feel the same way about her that she felt about him. And there it was. The entire problem. He professed to feel the same way, and last night, she’d been in his mind and had been so certain, but today, she could hardly bear being away from him.

The separation clawed at her. She found she couldn’t turn her mind away from him. She felt as if she were holding her breath, waiting for his arrival. She detested that the women in her family were so close to their mates that they wanted to be with them every moment. She had made herself into an independent woman, well educated, able to take care of herself. She spent time with friends and truly enjoyed their company. She wasn’t dependent on a man for fun, or for her livelihood. Her ancestors had all died within weeks of their husbands-even her own mother.

Riley had been so determined she would never be the same way and yet … she was obsessed with Dax. She needed to see him. She rubbed her hands over her face again, trying to think clearly, to assess the situation. There was no going back and if she could, she knew she wouldn’t. She was in love with him, more than in love. The moment his mind had shared hers, she was lost. There was no being alone ever again. She had only to reach for him and he was there. His devotion to her was easy to read. Dax didn’t attempt to hide his need or his admiration of her. For him, there truly was only Riley.

She pulled the first aid kit from her pack and picked through it until she found the allergy cream. So why was she upset? She had no real idea of what she was getting into and she always, always, had a plan. Her mind just worked that way. She needed stability. A goal. She didn’t fling herself headfirst off a cliff and have no idea how she was going to land. She didn’t give herself to a man. No, not a man-a Carpathian who considered humans a food source. Ever since she’d set foot in the rain forest, things had been out of control.

She smeared the cream over her swollen hand, sighing as the wind shifted, slightly teasing her face, telling her she wasn’t alone. "Weston," she greeted without turning her head. Carefully she put everything back in the first aid kit and stowed the kit in her backpack. "I thought we had an agreement. You were going to stay away from my sleeping area. I like privacy."

"I wanted to talk to you, before the others got up."

Riley sighed and turned her boots upside down to make certain nothing had crawled into them in the middle of the night. She had to admit Don Weston sounded conciliatory, but still, she braced herself, grateful she had the gun Jubal had given her. She even went as far as to feel for it where it was hidden in her sleeping bag on the hammock. "Sure, what is it?"

"Look, I know you don’t like me. And I have to admit, you have a good reason. I drink too much when I have to go out to these places. I hate the wilderness. I hate everything about it, especially the bugs. I know I was a jerk, but it was supposed to be harmless fun and it gives me a certain image." Weston scowled and toed the buttress root of the tree closest to him. He glanced over his shoulder toward the other men and lowered his voice even more. "This is going to come as a big shock to you, but I’ve got a couple of sisters …"

Riley’s head went up and she stared at him, very surprised. She couldn’t equate this man with a mother let alone sisters. "I never suspected."

Weston looked back toward Mack Shelton and pushed at the rotting vegetation with the toe of his boot. "Yeah, I have sisters, and I keep them away from my friends."

"So that’s why you came with us up the mountain instead of turning back with the professor. It seemed so out of character for you," Riley said.

He scowled at her, shrugged and gave a little sigh. "Let me just get this out. This man, Dax, I know you all said you knew him from before, but I don’t think you really know what he’s like. I talk a good game, and maybe I don’t come off as someone you’d trust all that much, but men like that …" He trailed off, shaking his head.

Riley slipped the gun from her sleeping bag to her backpack. She began to take her hammock down, needing something to occupy her hands while she listened to Weston’s revelations. Besides, as soon as Dax arrived, they’d be on the move again.