Risen To The Top

Chapter 15

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Joanne felt the cold stone on her back and Alex’s breath on her neck. She wouldn’t regret this move. She’d always taken what she’d wanted and she’d wanted him. Especially after walking out of the cave and seeing him standing naked under the water. She would have had to be a saint not to want to jump him. His muscles were impressive in clothes, but bare, she just wanted to lick him up and down.

As she felt his breathing slow, she knew he was going to be pissed at her for maneuvering him so easily. She’d never seduced someone like that before and she felt liberated in doing so. Actually, she wanted to do it again, but doubted they had the time or could spare the energy.

Her hands felt a few small scars on his back that she’d seen the other night when she’d been following him. Reaching down, she ran her hand over the larger one along the lower part of his spine.

“How did you get this?” she asked as he held himself still.

"in prison?" she asked again.

“Hmm. I should have been looking behind me instead of in front.”

She didn’t like that he was vague, but supposed it was a tender subject taking in account what all his past jobs must have included.

She closed her eyes for another second and enjoyed the feeling of being alive. She supposed all this had to do with what had happened yesterday. Seeing death so close, she had wanted to verify her own life, and sex had been just the tool.

“Damn!” He pulled back and frowned down at her as she unwrapped her legs from his hips.

She chuckled. “I’ve never really gotten that kind of reaction after hot sex before.”

“Uh?” He looked at her. “No, it’s not… It’s just that I went so fast, we didn’t use protection.”

She laughed harder. “It’s okay, big boy. I’m clean and on the patch.” She rubbed the patch on her stomach and noticed the relief flood his face.

“I’m clean, too. I was more concerned about the protection against pregnancy part.”

“Don’t you want kids?” she asked as she walked back under the freezing water and began rinsing herself again.

“What?” He looked up from her hands as they ran over her breast and she smiled. He was so easy. “Oh, yeah, of course. But not until later. I’m not even thirty yet.”

“Oh?”

He smiled slowly as he quickly walked towards her and pulled her with him as he jumped back into the deep, cold water of the pool.

When they surfaced again, he was still smiling. He dipped his head for a fast kiss. “We need to be moving. The sun’s already up. We need to travel twice as far as we did yesterday.”

She tried not to, but she groaned when she heard this.

“I know, I know. But think of it this way; from here on out, it’s all downhill.”

Less than an hour later, she wanted to kill him again. Her thighs were screaming at her and her hands had cuts and scrapes from all the branches she’d grabbed hold of as they made their way down the very steep incline. He hadn’t been joking; it had been all downhill since they’d left the cave and the waterfall.

Oh, how she missed the cool water. The sun was barely up and she was, once again, drenched in sweat. She’d tied her long hair up in a braid and was thankful she’d found a small rubber band in the bottom of her bag to tie it back with.

Alex looked like he could use another shower. She could see sweat rolling down his back. His shirt was soaking wet between his shoulder blades.

She’d lost her footing several times, and he’d been there to grab her and hold her steady.

She knew she was taking a big chance in coming with him. After all, what did she really know about Alexander Kane? She thought she’d been able to read him back at Marshall's house, but apparently the arrogance had all been a show.

She knew what she’d heard from her father and Marshall.

 They had called him Argon and they had told her in great detail how he’d rushed in and rescued people from the bad men in prison.

Her father had mentioned his long-standing record and said he was the best man for the job to save the company. Her father had hired Alex’s crew to watch over him in prison for a few months before the incident.

 Her father told her that he’d actually only met Alex once and they became close instantly.Since then it had been other members of his team that had done private security when he’d needed them.

Her mind turned after witnessing the power of what had happened back at the waterfall, she got the impression that it had been a while for him. For herself it had been well over six months since she’d broken things off with Scott, whom she’d dated for three months. Knowing how much she’d wanted him and how sexually pent up she’d been, she estimated by his reaction that it had been about that long since he’d enjoyed himself as well.

At least this all made perfectly good sense to her as she trudged through the jungle at a high rate of speed.

“So,” she said when the ground leveled and she felt like she could breathe again, “tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from?”

He looked over at her, and she could have sworn she saw humor in his eyes. “So now you get to the personal questions. Don’t you have it a little backwards, Princess?”

She smiled. “I guess I do. Usually I like to meet a man’s parents before I take them to a waterfall and let them…”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” he interrupted her and chuckled. “I’m from a small town in Washington state. Both my parents are dead and  I’m sure they would have been tickled to meet you. I have a half sister who—.” He broke off as he chopped a large vine that had been blocking their path with his machete. “…who was adopted as a baby. I found her almost four years ago. 

She’s married and living in Portland with a two-year-old daughter, Rose, who is the greatest love of my life.” He motioned for her to follow him down another steep incline and he stopped talking while he helped her. When she had jumped the short distance to the ground, he continued. “I went into the Sports but retired to be a computer engineer right out of high school. Actually, they came searching for me. I guess I’d placed high in the college exams.” He tapped his head. “I have a wonderful memory, and they were looking for people like me. When they got a look at me, they put me through all sorts of special training, and I guess I just fell into my job. I worked in sports for a while until I felt it was time to retire, then I went into business for myself. Nothing more to tell. Kind of boring if you ask me.” He smiled back at her.

He'd made sure to leave every memory of Sarah.

his life was short and simple without her in it.

“Boring? You call what you do boring?” She shook her head. “My father told me a little about through letters while in prison and I wouldn’t describe your life as boring.”

He shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. “So, tell me about yourself.”

“Oh please, you can’t fool me. You probably knew all about me before you even met me. You probably knew what color underwear I was wearing the day we met.” She smiled as he stopped and turned around to face her. His forehead was creased and he looked like he was thinking about something.

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to hear it from you. Hearing the personal details is far better than studying someone on paper.” He started to turn around, but looked back over his shoulder. “And they were hot pink.” He smiled and started walking again.

She thought about it and figured he was probably right. “Okay, what do you want to know? I assume you know where I went to college, where I got my first job, and who I have dated over the course of my entire life.”

He chuckled. “Tell me why you chose journalism.”

She thought about it for a minute. “When I was a girl, I used to watch the evening news with my father. Since he was always such a busy man, it was really the only time we had to spend together. I always loved the anchor woman’s hair and outfits and could picture myself dressed up, telling the interesting stories I was hearing. I dressed up as an anchorwoman for Halloween every year until I was thirteen.” He chuckled.

“I can totally see that,” he said causing her to smile.

“Actually, it was one of the only careers my father ever truly gave his full blessing for. My other career choices weren’t so notable.”

He stopped and looked at her. “Really? What other choices did you have in mind?”

“She smiled and walked past him. “Well, in high school I decided I wanted to be a flight attendant or a stripper.” He pulled her arm until she stopped and looked at him. “Well, I’d spent the night at a friend’s house and we’d watched Flashdance. The movie made it look so glamorous, I’d rushed home to my father and told him that I had found what I wanted to do with my life.” She chuckled. “He banned me from ever seeing that friend again.

He smiled and pushed aside a strand of her hair that had been pulled from her braid.

“Well, if you ever want to change careers, you can always try your routines out on me first.” She punched his shoulder playfully.

Then she walked ahead of him into a clearing and stopped dead in her tracks. There, in the middle of the jungle, stood five large men with machine guns.