Finding Her Fantasy (9 page)

Shower and get dressed. We have a trip planned to the Mayan ruins.

No signature, so she had no idea which one had left it, but to be honest she didn’t
really care at the moment. The thought of seeing the ruins had her heart skipping
in excitement. She’d wanted to see them forever, but had never been able to get Clark
to come with her, so she just hadn’t made the trip.

Taking one final sip of coffee, she set the cup down and practically ran to the bathroom
to shower. Once dressed, she checked her hair and makeup in the mirror and headed
to the second-floor veranda. She assumed that’s where they would be. From what she
understood, almost all meals were eaten at the outdoor kitchen, unless the weather
was too bad.

She approached the open doorway that led to the covered second-level patio and slowed.
Jon and Erik sat at the table. Their voices were low, so she couldn’t hear what they
were saying. Jon’s back was to her, but Erik’s profile was in clear view as he smiled
at something Jon said. He was so handsome. They both were.

“Good morning, senorita,” Maria said as she passed by on her way to the veranda. “They’ve
been waiting for you.”

Melinda followed Maria out the door.

“There she is,” Jon said as he came to his feet.

When she came close, he grasped her elbow, stopping her. He leaned down and kissed
her cheek. Her skin heated where his lips touched and for not the first time, she
began to wonder if she was making things too easy for them.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he whispered, before releasing her elbow.

He held out a chair for her, and she sat. “Good morning,” she said. “And I’m not that
much of a sleepyhead. It wasn’t quite dawn when you left the coffee on my nightstand.”

Erik grinned. “That was me.”

“Ah.” Melinda unfolded her napkin and placed it over her lap. “So you just slam the
door as opposed to giving me a little shake?”

Jon returned to his seat and poured himself another cup of coffee. Erik rested his
elbows on the table and folded his hands. “I didn’t dare touch you. If I had, you
would’ve never left the bed.”

Her face heated, and she turned away to reach for the platter of fruit. “I appreciate
that.”

“Thought you would,” Erik murmured in his usual deep, sultry voice.

“So,” she said, hoping to move the subject away from sex. Something she thought about
way too much whenever they were around. “I understand we’re going to the ruins?”

“Yes,” Jon replied.

“Which ones?”

“Caracol,” Erik replied just before taking a sip of coffee.

“Isn’t that the largest site? I think I remember reading something about it once being
home to over one hundred and fifty thousand people. Is it far?”

Erik swallowed and shook his head, then placed his cup back on the table. “It’s not
far. Its south of San Ignacio in the highlands. You might want to change shoes, though.
There’ll be lots of walking.”

Melinda glanced down at her sandals. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She looked back
up at him, feeling just a little spunky. “Are the shorts okay, or should I change
those, too?”

Erik smirked, but didn’t say anything.

“I happen to like the shorts.” Jon put his hand on her thigh and gave it a little
squeeze. “They make your legs look longer.”

“Does everything have to be sexual with you two?” she asked, only half meaning it.

“I never said a word,” Erik replied, his lips twitching in amusement.

Jon put his finger under her chin, turning her face to his. “And yes, for the next
couple of weeks, everything will be sexual. What you wear, what you eat, even what
you say.” Melinda swallowed as she stared in Jon’s blue eyes. “For this time, you
are our sexual plaything and sex could happen anywhere and anytime. So get used to
it.”

He let go of her chin and returned his attention to his plate. Melinda blinked at
how suddenly he and Erik had seemed to change personalities. Where had that come from?
Usually Jon was soft, teasing. That little speech had been the most dominant she’d
seen him since she’d arrived.

“Something tells me there’s more to you than meets the eye,” Melinda murmured.

Jon winked at her, making her heart skip a beat.

“Okay, so…” She began. “When are we leaving?”

Erik tapped the edge of her plate with his fork. “As soon as you finish eating and
you have to eat more than just fruit. The eggs are good, try some of those.”

“Wow, you’re bossy.” Melinda shook her head and reached for the plate of eggs. “Trying
to make me fat?”

“No, just want to make sure you don’t poop out on us this afternoon.”

Melinda fought a smile. “Poop out?”

Erik shrugged as he chewed on a piece of bacon. “What’s wrong with poop out?”

“Sounds like something a girl would say.”

“A girl probably did say it. Probably where I got it.”

She couldn’t look at him. For some reason his mentioning other girls made her chest
tighten. She knew there had been other girls. Her brother had told her about some
of them, about how Jon and Erik could take an insecure girl and turn her into a vixen,
make her feel really good about herself. She wasn’t any different from the other,
just a broken girl her brother had recommended that needed some reassurance and some
really good sex. That was it; nothing more to it. She shouldn’t be jealous. She didn’t
know them well enough to be jealous. Plus, it would be incredibly stupid.

This wasn’t good. If she felt jealousy, she was getting way too attached emotionally.
She’d never last two weeks with her heart intact. Her brother’s plan was setting her
up for a heart break.

Melinda climbed from Erik’s jeep and removed the clip that held her hair on top of
her head. With the cover off the jeep, the wind had whipped through her hair so she’d
pulled the clip from her purse and secured it on her head.

Brushing her hair back, she studied the expanse of ruins ahead of her. “This is amazing,”
she whispered.

“How so?” Jon asked as he looked out over the ruins as well.

“Well, think about it. This place held more people than the current modern Belize
City. It’s hard to believe there were truly that many people here. Not to mention
how smart they were when it came to the stars.”

“They didn’t have television. What else were they supposed to do but chart the stars’
progression through the night sky?” Jon said, grinning.

Melinda smiled back at him. “Maybe it was aliens.”

She heard Erik’s laughter beside her and she spun to stare at him. She asked him,
only half-serious, “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about the possibility.”

“Maybe for about a second,” he replied, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Melinda liked the way amusement made his eyes appear lighter, younger. “How old are
you?” she asked.

Erik’s surprised look let her know just how out of the blue that question had been,
but he answered it anyway…sort of. “Not as old as the ruins.”

“Very funny,” she replied. “Seriously.”

“Thirty-two,” he answered.

She turned to Jon. “And you?”

“Thirty-one. Does it matter?”

She shook her head. “No, I just…I just realized I didn’t know and was curious.”

They were three and two years older than her. That made her feel a little better.
If they’d been younger, she would’ve felt weird, no matter how good they were in bed.
Cougar status was meant for older women who could seduce a younger man to her bed.
Melinda didn’t feel as though she had that in her. At least not yet.

Jon took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips where he placed a soft, warm kiss
against the back of her fingers. Melinda’s eyes couldn’t stop staring at his mouth
as his lips pressed against her skin. Warmth traveled up her arm and settled in her
breasts, where they became heavy and thick.

She quickly pulled her hand from his grasp. Jon’s lips twitched as though he fought
a smile, and she narrowed her eyes. “Keep that up and we’ll end up finding a dark
corner somewhere.”

“Really?” Jon asked, his eyes sparkling with a wicked gleam.

“Don’t give him any ideas,” Erik murmured close to her ear, and her heart raced at
the sound of his deep voice. “Or me.”

“Both of you behave yourself,” she chastised and raised her chin a notch. “I have
ruins to explore.”

Grabbing her camera from the front seat, Melinda turned and headed toward the center
of what was once a major city. As she walked around, studying buildings and statues,
she really began to enjoy their company. They were both incredibly smart and actually
knew quite a bit about Mayan culture. Erik even knew a lot about ancient alien theories
as well, despite his making fun of her earlier.

“There’re always colleges and university archeology students here who are more than
willing to talk about what they believe or don’t believe,” Erik said as they came
to a stop at the base of Caracol’s tallest structure,
El Caana
. It towered over them at one hundred thirty-seven feet.

“So you’ve been here often?” she asked in curiosity.

“This one, as well as
Altun Ha
and
Calah Pech
. Archeology was a hobby of mine in college. I even spent some time here during graduate
school.”

She stared at him in surprise. “Really?”

“What?” Erik asked. “Jon was into art during his college years. He was actually quite
good at it.”

Jon snorted. “That was a long time ago. I haven’t picked up a brush in years.”

“Why not?” she asked.

Jon shrugged. “Just lost interest, I think. The stock market drew my attention and
then Erik got involved. Seems we have a natural ability to pick a winner.”

“Apparently so. But all your money isn’t in the stock market, is it?”

“No,” Jon replied. “Very little of it is now. We’ve invested wisely. Now we just play
in the market for fun.”

“Yeah, but your fun usually comes out being worth millions.” Melinda began walking
around the base of the tall pyramid. “Can we go to the top?” she asked.

Erik and Jon both chuckled in amusement, and she glanced at them over her shoulder.
“What?”

“I just think it’s amusing how you jump around from one subject to another. You tire
of one and it’s off to something different at the drop of a hat,” Erik replied.

Melinda shrugged and wrapped the strap of her camera around her neck. “I’ve always
been like that. Short attention span. I get distracted easily…sometimes.” She grinned
back at them. “Race you to the top.”

She took off up the stone steps at a run. She could hear one of them behind her, but
she didn’t turn to see who it was. Instead, she kept her attention on the steps so
she wouldn’t miss one and fall. At the top, she turned to see Erik top the last step
just behind her.

Trying to catch her breath, she admired his muscular physique and nice ass encased
in blue Levi’s. She expected Jon to be right behind him, but he didn’t materialize
right away.

“Where’s Jon?” she asked as she walked over and peered over the edge.

She giggled as she watched Jon take his time coming up the steps. “What’s taking you
so long?” she called down.

“I don’t run up million-year-old steps,” he replied as he stepped over the last step.

“They’re not a million years old,” she proclaimed with amusement.

“They’re close enough.”

Erik chuckled as he grabbed Melinda’s hand and pulled her to the other side. There,
he pointed out the view from the top, which was absolutely breathtaking.

She lifted her camera and took a few shots of the jungle view. The few couples that
were up there with them soon left, leaving her alone with Jon and Erik.

Erik wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. His chest
was hard and his heat seeped through her shirt and into her back. It felt right being
in his arms like this. She felt safe, cherished, protected. She could feel his heart
beating in time with her own, and the synchronized rhythm made her smile.

Jon lifted the camera from her neck. He stepped back and took a picture of her and
Erik.

“Now I need one of you and me,” she said, smiling at Jon.

Jon handed the camera to Erik as he pulled her from his arms. Instead of posing though,
Jon cupped her face and tilted it up. He leaned down and gently brushed his lips over
hers. She hadn’t expected him to kiss her, but she enjoyed his lips on hers. His kiss
was sweet and slow as he slid his tongue past her lips and into her mouth.

With a soft moan, Melinda lifted her hands to his waist and held tight as he deepened
the kiss. He made her head swim, and she tightened her fingers in his shirt to hopefully
keep her knees from buckling. She’d never met two men who could do this to her so
quickly.

She forgot everything: where she was, the fact that they weren’t truly alone. It all
faded away at the feel of Jon’s lips on hers. He pulled away, and she stared up at
him with what she knew had to be a dreamy expression on her face. It couldn’t be anything
but dreamy.

Erik cleared his throat, and Melinda quickly stepped back just as three people began
to clear the final steps to the top. She glanced over at Jon, who smiled wickedly.
He could sometimes look exactly like Erik, especially when he had the devilish gleam
in his eye.

Melinda frowned. “I think I make things way too easy for you two,” she grumbled.

“Then fight us,” Erik murmured.

She turned to gape at him. “Excuse me?”

He stepped close so he could keep his voice low so the other sightseers wouldn’t hear
them. “Then fight us…if you can.”

She crossed her arms over her chest in a show of indignation. “If I can? Are you saying
I can’t?”

“You want me to prove it to you?”

She glanced around quickly. “Not here.”

“Chicken,” Erik purred, and Melinda fought a trickle of desire as it snaked up her
spine. Erik feathered the back of his fingers down her arm in a slow, seductive sweep.
“I bet I can find a dark corner in one of these open underground dwellings and have
you begging in no time. Despite the possibility of someone catching us. The thrill
of getting caught is a huge turn-on. Matter of fact, I’m getting hard just thinking
about it.”