Primitive Nights (29 page)

“I’m not sure what will be on.” She chuckled then and turned to smile back at him. “Not that you will care anyway.”

“Come here, Myla.”

Color rose in her cheeks and she shook her head. “I—I don’t think that is a good idea.”

His body responded to her too quickly and he had to shift. It was a problem he would need to control. Especially while his body was trapped with cloth. “Why not?”

“Because you look ready to attack me.”

He stood and crossed the room to her, wrapping his arms around her back to pull her close. The towel tucked between her breasts slipped free with a slight tug. “I am.”

“No, no, no you’re not.” She turned out of his arms and moved to the far side of the room, pointing her finger at him while she held the towel in front of her naked body. “You stay back. Your mother will be back anytime, and I don’t want to be caught—well—doing the things you’re thinking about doing.”

Her scowl was endearing. “She is a woman who had a child. Do you not think she knows how these things are done?”

“It doesn’t matter. Now, let me get dressed and we can talk about what will happen in the morning.”

“I still think what I wanted to do would be more fun.”

Hundreds of e-mails.

How was it possible to have so many unimportant e-mails filling her inbox, when she’d only been gone for two weeks? How the hell was she supposed to find any information when she had to sift through every single one to make sure she didn’t delete anything important?

Myla leaned back against her chair. Damon and Michelle slept peacefully. While Michelle had opted to sleep on the bed, Damon had refused, fearing he would sink into the mattress. Instead, he’d spread out on the floor.

His long body took up a good portion of the floor. He’d removed his clothes and only the bottom half of his body was covered by the thin sheet draped over his hips. Strands of his dark hair curled over his muscled arms where they served as a pillow. The urge to crawl under the sheet with him nearly brought her to her feet.

No. There was no time for that. Turning back to the computer, she pressed her fingers to her eyes.
Concentrate.
After a long, deep breath, she refocused on the e-mails. There had to be something here, and she was going to find it.

Seventy-two e-mails from InterCorp. She stared at the list of files she’d separated into another folder. Any one of them might be something she’d forwarded to herself. The addresses were different ones, though, all from InterCorp since she’d often had to use any computer she could find to send herself documents.

The proof was there somewhere. Clicking them open, she scanned the subjects, closing the ones she hadn’t sent and minimizing the ones she had. She included the e-mails that contained encrypted files or had odd addresses she didn’t recognize. By the time she’d categorized seventy-two of them into what she hoped was level of importance, the sun cast the first pale ribbons across the horizon. An hour, maybe two before daylight.

She wasn’t looking forward to the day ahead. So much hung in the balance. A simple humanitarian mission had cost her more than she’d ever expected, starting with John’s death and now ending with her loss of Damon.

At least Damon and his people would be safe. That was her only concern. To go on with the knowledge that the tribe would be protected from further atrocities, that they would have medical care and still maintain their way of life was more than she had ever hoped. If the Hountas agreed to move as well, it would be even better.

Then what would she do? E.I. had agencies all over the world. She could choose any location. They were always looking for more help. Clicking through the e-mails again, she sighed. Or maybe her stint as a humanitarian had run its course. Maybe it was time to go home. Her heart couldn’t take this kind of blow ever again. Not that she’d ever meet someone like Damon again.

The young girl she’d been when she left had disappeared under the harsh realities of the world outside her little hometown. Would she be able to handle the hustle and bustle, the gossip and weekend barbeques? The ever-present memories of her father’s hatefulness?

Somehow, she didn’t think so. She’d become accustomed to the quiet serenity of this country. She didn’t know where she fit right now.

Rubbing at her eyes, she moved the cursor down the page and tried to concentrate. What she needed was a huge chocolate bar and a soda. Both would ruin her diet, but after her trek in the jungle, she could spoil herself a little. She smiled at the thought and sent another e-mail to the junk folder. This was getting ridiculous.

Thirteen e-mails later, tossing the computer out the window looked like the best solution. She opened one of the encrypted files and typed in her code. “Finally.”

She clapped a hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say that so loud. Both Damon and Michelle remained sleeping, and she leaned her elbows against the table to read the file. It was one of the last ones she’d sent herself. Ironic, since the computer she’d used to send it belonged to the vice president of InterCorp Oil.

He was one of the only people in the entire company who seemed concerned with the impact oil drilling and scouting the land had on the natives. In his time, Albert Harrison had butted heads continuously with the president and board members of InterCorp over their drilling practices. Unfortunately, it hadn’t done much good.

She’d liked the man instantly, and after using his computer to send herself proof of the illegal activities of his company, she’d felt guilty. Now, she was damn glad she hadn’t let her conscience get in the way.

This was what she needed.

The adrenaline rush produced the energy she needed, and twenty minutes later, four more files were recovered and saved. After sending a detailed report to Emily Smith, the one woman inside E.I. she knew could be trusted, she closed the computer and sat back with a smile. It was all ready. As soon as Emily got back to her, she would take Damon and Michelle to Endurance’s main office.

She’d also requested Emily to contact the proper officials in the government and attached a copy of the files so Emily would know what they were dealing with. But Myla had every intention of being present. She, along with Damon and his mother, would be able to give their own testimony.

Pushing up from the chair, she crossed her arms and stared out the window. There was only a little time before she would need to wake Damon. Once their day started in earnest, there would be no time for them. And when the day was done, it was entirely possible he would be leaving.

“Have you found what you were looking for?”

The soft baritone of his voice didn’t startle her. His voice belonged near her. She nodded. “I did.”

He moved behind her, the strong warmth of his arms wrapping around her to pull her back against his solid chest. Everything about him screamed safety. “When must we leave?”

She swallowed hard to alleviate the tightness in her throat. Oh, how she wanted to say never… “As soon as I hear back from my friend at E.I.”

They stood in silence for a while. The sun moved close enough to the horizon to turn the sky a mottled gray. Crimson and burnt sienna streaked up from the edge of the land, changing into brilliant shades of gold and amber. It filtered through the trees, casting long shadows out over the land.

Damon’s chest pressed to her back as he inhaled deeply. “Your world has many wonders, things I have never seen.” He turned her to face him and tucked her hair behind her ears. “As mine held new discoveries for you.”

She nodded, entranced by the deep green of his eyes and too sad to stop whatever he might have to say.

“We both know this may be our last day together. I must return to my people and you—you must stay if that is what you choose.” He pointed out the window. “We will always share this, no matter where you are or where I am. I will watch the same sun rise and set as you every day, always.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. She pressed close to his chest, burrowing into him. There was nothing to say. She turned her head to stare at the colors slashed across the sky as the sun rose on their last day together.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Mr. Hanson, we have been trying to protect your tribe for years, without intrusion, of course.” The woman in the black suit opened the door to a huge room. A large table sat in the center of the room and the rest of the space was filled with boxes stacked floor to ceiling.

He stepped inside, still unused to the intricate insides of Myla’s buildings. “Myla has told me this, but why you wish to help is what confuses me.”

The woman Myla had introduced as Emily laughed. “Because it is the humane thing to do. You see, we are—please sit down, Mr. Hanson.” She waved to a chair and waited until he sat before continuing, “We, meaning Endurance International, are a humanitarian aid agency. Our mission is to preserve the way of life that tribes such as yours have always known.”

“That does not answer my question.” Her crisp voice sounded arrogant, like his mother’s. “Myla has told me your country suffers its own problems. Why do you try to help mine instead of your own?”

For a moment, the woman stared, then a slow smile spread across her unnaturally red lips. She sat in a chair across from him, leaning her forearms on the table. “You shall win over the board members in a matter of moments, Damon.”

“The board?” He scowled, tired of constant misunderstanding.

“Now I see what Myla meant. Forgive me.” She laughed then. “You see it is difficult for me to remember that you do not understand everything I say. It is how you speak. One can forget that you are from a tribe and not an everyday man come in off the streets.” Her eyes softened, moving over his body in slow deliberation. “Maybe if you were dressed as you usually do in the jungle, I would not forget.”

The heat of her gaze spoke of arousal, and he glanced toward the door. Where was Myla? He had no wish to couple with this strange, painted woman. “Emily, what is this board?”

She shook her head as though she’d woken from a dream, her back stiff. “It is a board of members, meaning a group of people, who decide what we can and cannot do. This way no one person can use E.I. in a way that we all do not approve of.”

Like the elders. “Must I convince them to help?”

Emily pushed up from her chair and walked around to where he sat. “No. Your people will be protected from this day forward. I meant that the board would have final say on certain issues. Certain rules your tribe must abide by.”

Damon stood to tower over her. The wide set of her eyes beneath her glasses told him she was intimidated. “We will not live under rules.”

The door opened then and Myla walked in. She stopped midway through her conversation with his mother and stared. “Damon? Is everything okay?”

Pointing at Emily, he walked over to stand with Myla. “She has said a board will set rules.”

Myla nodded. “Yes. That is the way it works.”

“For you, but not for my people.” Furious, Damon glared at his mother. “Is this why you advised the elders not to agree?”

Clasping her hands before her she held her head high. “Yes it is, Damon. But now is not the time to be stubborn. You made your choice for your people. Stick by it, son. As a leader, you owe it to those men and women to find peace for them, even if it means you must abide some regulations like the rest of us.”

“The rest of us?” He gritted his teeth. “How do you consider yourself as one of them? You have suffered nothing but freedom and choice in living in my tribe.”

Her short, harsh laugh filled the room. “Freedom? You call what I lived freedom?” She stormed forward, eyes flashing in anger. “I did not live free. I was under your father’s rule and then yours. What you said I could have as privilege, is what I could have of my freedom. I did not have the choice to do as I wished, when I wished.”

When he would have spoken, she slashed an arm through the air. “No! You, who have had nothing but freedom your entire life, actually think you can tell me what freedom is? You must lose freedom before you truly understand what it is. Grow up, Damon. Look around. The world is changing, and you must either keep up with it or be squashed by the inevitable.”

Before he could say more, she walked from the room. Myla’s soft touch on his shoulder calmed him. “Damon, why are you so angry?”

Emily walked over to join them. “I may have said something the wrong way.”

He looked deep into Myla’s eyes. He could trust her. No one else’s opinion mattered. “Will this board determine what we—my people can do?”

She sighed. “Damon, there may be some rules that you must abide.” When he would have interrupted, she held up a hand. “Please, let me finish. You have always been relatively patient, do so now.”

“For you.” She was the only reason he remained.

She smiled and looped her arm through his. “The board is waiting. They are very excited to hear what you have to say. Trust me in this. Whatever rules they do impose, they are for the good of your tribe as well as any other tribes that we may help now or in the future. You trust me, right?”

It was in her eyes. A calm that told him everything would be fine. Her smile reached out and tugged at his heart. There was no controlling his silent nod of acceptance. He could deny her nothing.