Jungle Fever

Heat flooded her and she tried to rub herself against him, but he wouldn't let her. She shivered as he regarded her through hooded eyes. Cool air touched her aroused nipples, and she desperately wanted his mouth to return to her breasts. Her fingers wound through his thick hair, dragging his head back to that aching place.

"Do you like my mouth and hands on you?" His voice was rough with need.

She nodded.

"I liked to be touched, too. Touch me, Mai Li. Put your arms around my neck, run your hands over me. Do whatever you like."

Her mouth went dry. As she had been recovering, she couldn't count how many times she'd wanted to touch him and she'd denied herself, except for one time when she had been delirious with pain. She had begged Daniel to touch her when she had been in so much pain, to override the pain with pleasure and she had touched him in return, stroking his erection until he had rushed outside. She had been too far gone in her pain to know that he had actually rushed outside to spill his seed. Now that she was in almost no pain, the thought of touching a man intimately had never occurred to her until she had stumbled upon Daniel with his sexy voice, handsome tanned face and dark, probing eyes that melted her bones. She knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do, that she would leave after she got what she wanted from him, but for the first time, and maybe the only time, she wanted to taste passion. And she wanted it from Daniel.

Shyly she touched his chest. The soft mat of hair felt like silk beneath her fingertips. Getting bolder, she explored more. His shoulders, his back...then she dared to touch the hard mounds of his buttocks. When she heard him moan, her hands fell away and she stared into the stark features of a man too far gone with desire to turn back.

"I can't wait any longer," he gasped in a voice tense with erotic pain. "Feel how much I want you."

He dragged her hand between them, placing it on his erection. Velvet on steel, she thought faintly as she curled her hand around him and squeezed gently. He hissed out a breath. She squeezed him again and he groaned his approval.

Suddenly he flung her hand away. "No more!" His hand cupped her mound and he eased a finger inside her. "You are ready to receive me, and as sure as there is evil in this world, I'm ready for you."

He drew back a little and Mai Li felt his erection prod against her opening. She stiffened, recalling what had happened the last few times a man had torn into her unprepared body, and she had bled for days. After being sodomized, she couldn't sit comfortably for longer than that. And the pain. She couldn't go through that again.

"No!" The word tore from her throat. "Please don't! Let me go."

Daniel went still when he realized she didn't remember that they'd already had sex before. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not a rapist. Nor am I an inexperienced lover. I know what women like and I'll make it good for you."

He found her mouth and thrust deep with his tongue, just as his sex found her center. He was inside her. Not all the way, but halfway. Stretching her but not hurting her.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he rasped into her ear. "Can you take more of me, sweetness?"

Mai Li couldn't think. She couldn't relax. She wanted to move. When she did move, it was all the invitation he needed as he slid in all the way. She sighed and relaxed when she felt herself stretching to accommodate his huge sex in her small, tight one. There was no pain as he thrust in and out. She held her breath, waiting for something hurtful that never came.

Suddenly she needed more. She twisted and writhed. Not to get away, but to get closer...to get more. A massive surge of pleasure blocked out her inhibitions, her fear, overwhelming her with need to search for something...something with no name. What Daniel was doing to her wasn't hurtful, despicable, or obscene. What she felt was pure, unadulterated, erotic rapture.

She hadn't been a virgin a few days ago. The first time he had taken her, Daniel hadn't expected her to be one, either. She had asked him to make love to her, but most likely didn't remember. Then all thought stopped when he felt her muscles tighten and her sheath spasm around him in wet, torrid heat. The bliss so overwhelming, he began a rhythm of thrust and withdraw designed to bring both of them the most pleasure. He heard her sobbing his name, felt her nails lining his shoulder and back, and all his long-suppressed passion exploded in a wild frenzy of need as he pounded in and out of her, until he felt her sheath convulse in hard, rhythmic spasms. His own climax burst upon him suddenly. He bared his teeth, threw back his head and shouted. Then he rode with the pleasure, letting it carry them to uncharted territory. He prayed that this was the start of something special. God knew he needed it. He needed a woman with him so that there would be no need for him to go seek out prostitutes occasionally.

Blood pounded in his head in the aftermath of the best and most fulfilling sex he'd ever experienced. He heard Mai Li murmur against his neck where her head rested, and he realized that he was too heavy for her, but he wasn't really ready to leave her exquisite body just yet. Staying inside her, he levered himself onto his elbows and stared down at her.

"Are you all right?"

"I...that was...you did not hurt me." She sounded surprised.

He scowled. "Why would I hurt you? Is it because you believe that all men are violent? Making love to a woman has nothing to do with love. If both are willing, incredible pleasure can be experienced. I think I just proved that."

"This was mistake," Mai Li said. "I not know what got in me."

I don't know what got into me. That was what she really meant.

"I got into you," he said with a crooked grin. "I am your first lover that was able to give you pleasure, aren't I?"

She turned red from the tops of her small breasts, to her pretty face. "This should not happen and I not let happen again." She tried to shove him away. "There no excuse from my bad behavior."

"Bad behavior? Are you joking? What bad behavior?" Heaving a sigh, Daniel pulled himself out of her tight passage and sat back resting his back against the wall.

"You are a..."

"What? A white man? A deserter? Which do you like the least? No, let me guess. You hate the idea of having sex with a white man. Am I the first white man you've had sex with? Did you learn something about how evil we are, that we massacre entire villages just for the fun of it? We are not all bad as your people think we are. Me being white didn't seem to bother you when you took me so eagerly into your body, or when you urged me on, or called my name at the height of your pleasure. My back will bear the marks of your nails for a long time."

"Stop!" Mai Li cried, placing her hands over her ears to block out his taunts. "You know nothing about me."

"I know you were not a virgin. There were others before me. Perhaps you like bad men more than me."

"How dare you!" she cried out. Then she went from being angry, to more relaxed. "What you are thinking of me, is wrong. I never had good lover. Me no prostitute."

"No need to make excuses. We wanted each other. It is as simple as that." He searched her beautiful face, not liking what he saw. "Are you embarrassed at your response to me? Where you abused? Did someone hurt you?"

She nodded tearfully. "Yes. Men mean to me. Hurt me bad."

Daniel's face hardened. Bastards! He wanted to kill those men who had hurt this lovely woman.

The next morning, Mai Li fell ill again. There were nightmares. One simply ran into the next. She felt like she lived in a sea of pain and darkness where nothing made sense but a male voice pitched low as it murmured soothingly to her. She turned her head, pain overtaking her body. She felt trapped and claustrophobic, confined as she was to the bed. Staring sightlessly at the ceiling, she felt a cooling wind blow over her hot body. The rain fell. A continual, steady rhythm that both soothed and irritated her.

Daniel caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned as Mai Li tried to roll out of the bed. He leapt for her, his hands stilling her struggles. "Be still," he whispered, sliding into bed beside her. He had to calm her down. Be it with sex or not, he will do whatever needed to be done to calm her down. From the looks of it, she was in pain again.

"You are a beautiful man," she murmured. "Why do men have to be so beautiful?"

She had a way of throwing him off balance, making him notice her, and causing him to get aroused in the process. Her hand went to his face, fingertips trailing over his lips, sliding around his neck so that she was cradling his head, offering, what? He didn't know. Sympathy? Love? Her body? Tenderness?

He ignored his first impulse to knock her hand away from him. He couldn't take her looking and touching him like that. He caught her fingers instead, pulling her palm to his bare chest, over his wildly beating heart. "You shouldn't look at me like that, Mai Li." He didn't know what he felt, a mixture of anger and pain and ferocious longing. Damn it all, but he wanted her, needed her. Injured or not.

She moved against him, making a soft inviting sound. He was thick and throbbing, eager to sink into her hot, tight body. She turned, rolling onto her stomach. She lay there, her body lush and tempting, her hair spilling around her head like a halo. Womanly curves, soft flesh, heat and fragrance of the jungle were a heady combination and he wanted to make excuses for his body's reaction to her. But he wanted her too much to make excuses. Maybe it was the knowledge that he had of her body. His mind and heart reacted to her. And damn it, with her laying there with her little buttocks slightly raised, he wanted to mount her and have his way with her. From the looks of it, she wanted him to take her.

Mai Li shook her behind in obvious invitation. That's it. If that's what she wanted, then so be it. Careful as not to hurt her leg, he straddled her legs. Splaying his hands on her small rounded buttock cheeks, he drew them apart. Seeking for and finding her entrance, he rubbed himself along her sex a few times before beginning to slide in. When he was halfway in, he withdrew only to sink back in, feeling her sheath stretch to accommodate his large size. He repeated the action until he was fully imbedded inside her tight, hot and moist depths.

Mai Li forgot all about the pain as she concentrated on Daniel's lovemaking. He was so good at pleasing her. She knew she could count on him whenever she was in pain. Right now she was swimming in pleasure. Being taken in this fashion was highly erotic, and she loved it. As his thrust became faster, she raised her bottom and was rewarded right away with an even deeper penetration.

As soon as Daniel felt Mai Li lift her bottom, he supported himself on his knees and elbows, and began to thrust. First with slow, deep thrusts, eventually picking up the pace as his climax approached. As her orgasm approached, he felt her spasm around her. The feel of her clenching around him caused him to explode without warning, drenching her insides with a huge dose of his seed.

When his senses returned, he withdrew and lifted himself off of her. He lay down beside her, his face inches from hers. She slowly rolled onto her back and stared at him, her hands cupping her own breasts to hide them from his gaze, looking shy, trying not to grimace in pain, tempting him.

He took her into his arms, careful to keep her leg from moving too much. "You have to keep from moving too much. I haven't got that many antibiotics left and that leg can not open up again."

Mai Li was all too aware of his naked chest pressed against her breasts, of his hands sliding up and down her back in a soothing motion. His fingers went to the nape of her neck in a slow massage.

"Can I get a shirt to put on? I think I feel less vulnerable." And it might keep her body from reacting to his, her breasts aching with longing for his touch. Her leg was still a mess, painful and swollen, feverish, but still unable to prevent her strange attraction to him.

She watched him turn away from her to walk across the room to get a shirt. She watched him stretch, a slow, languid stretch. He stretched his hands over his head, fingers interlocked, arching his back to deepen the stretch.

Her heart slammed in her chest as she gazed at his naked beauty.

His hands dropped to his sides. He picked up the shirt and turned to face her. He held out the shirt for her inspection. "This okay?"

"Good enough." She started to struggle into a sitting position.

"Don't move too much, dear." He slipped the sleeve over her arm. "Don't move around too much." He helped her sit up, enfolding her in the shirt, his knuckles brushing the soft flesh of her breasts as he buttoned her into it. "Damn it, I think your temperature is beginning to climb again."

Mai Li pressed her fingertips over his mouth. "You swear too much."

"Really?" His eyebrow shot up. "I thought I was being careful around you."

She kept a smile on her face and serenity in her expression. She moved again, shifting into another position in the hopes of easing the throbbing pain in her leg.

Daniel swept her hair back from the nape of her neck. It was damp with sweat. Mai Li was becoming restless, shifting positions continually in an effort to ease her discomfort. "Mai Li, just relax. I'll fix a cool drink for you."

She lifted her hand to push back the heavy fall of hair to get it off her hot forehead. As she lay there, she swore the walls began to creep inward, boxing her in, pushing the air from the room.

When he sat down on the bed beside her, she let her hand fall and it landed on his thigh. She felt him stiffen. "I need to get out of here, Daniel, this room, before I go mad."

"Sweetie, slow down." Daniel grabbed at her, preventing movement. "Just lie still and let me get in beside you. I will hold you."

"No, Daniel, I want to go outside. Please."

He looked down at her beautiful face. "Okay, Mai Li, I'm going to carry you outside. It's still raining, but I have a canopy so we can sit in the open for a bit." He slipped his arms under her legs. "Put your arms around my neck."

She obediently linked her fingers behind his neck. Joy was rising inside her, a warmth bubbling over at finally being able to get out of bed, and of looking at the open sky.

"Be prepared when I lift you, it's going to hurt."

It hurt, so much that she buried her face against the warmth of his neck, choking off a startled cry. Pain shot up her leg, hit her stomach and radiated throughout her body. Her fingernails dug into his skin and she bit down hard on her thumb.

"I'm sorry, love, I know it hurts," he said softly.

He moved smoothly, almost gliding so there was no jarring to her swollen leg. As he stepped outside, the hum of the jungle greeted her. Insects and frogs, the chatter of animals, the flutter of wings and the constant sound of the rain all blended together.

"Daniel, tell me truth." She stared into the trees. "Will I lose my leg?" Her whole body stilled, waiting for his answer, telling herself she could handle the truth. "I would like to know now."

He shook his head. "I can't make promises, Mai Li, but the swelling seems less. Your fever comes and goes instead of raging out of control all the time. There are no streaks going up your leg so I think there is no blood poisoning. As soon as we can, I'll get you to a medic and have them take a look at it. The river goes down very quickly."

"No, Daniel, I not go to doctor," she said weakly. "No one can know I alive."

"Who wants you dead?"

"Viet Cong," she answered. "If they find out I still alive, they will kill me."

His hand settled on the back her head. "Lucky for you, my love, I'm here to protect you." He rubbed strands of her hair between the pads of his fingers. He grinned at her.

"When they ask you, you will lie to them?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I can have you all to myself."

She rested her head on Daniel's shoulder and allowed herself to relax. The night was strangely soothing as she listened to the rain play a melody in the background, and the wind cooling her heated skin.

He loved the feel of her against him. He heard her softly breathing. Her skin was hot, but soft and very inviting. All she wore was his shirt, and it was open halfway, allowing a glimpse of her small breasts. He wanted to open the shirt all the way and caress her.

Mai Li knew what Daniel wanted when she saw where his gaze went. Her nipples puckered as she imagined him caressing her.

Daniel saw the shirt rising where her nipples were. With his free hand, he opened the shirt and bared her to his hungry gaze. Her small, brown nipples were raised invitingly. With his fingers, he twiddled with the hard nubs, causing them to tighten even more.

"Take me to bed, Daniel."

He studied her face. Soft. Inviting. Temptation. Her mouth was perfect. He had more than his share of fantasies about that mouth. Her lush body, so tiny, so soft and warm and perfect for his, was an invitation he couldn't ignore much longer. "Damn it, sweetie," he groaned, thinking she wanted sex, "I'm not a saint." His voice was soft.

"Take me to bed, Daniel. What you and I need is sleep, not sex." Feeling his breath on her breast, desire pierced through her. "Let's go to sleep, Daniel. We are both tired."

"You think I need sleep," he said, but obediently stood and carried her back to bed and slid in beside her. She was warm and soft and everything he knew she'd be. Wrapping his arms around her, he fit her body around hers, snuggling his heavy erection against her hip, and his head against the soft swell of her breast.

She could feel his soft breath teasing her nipple. Mai Li wrapped her arms around his head, cradling him to her, her fingers coming through the thick mass of her hair. For the rest of the night, she belonged to him. Her own gentle warrior, a mixture of danger and tenderness she found impossible to resist.

After seven nights of giving her body to Daniel Baylor, she knew he was not only tireless and passionate, but inventive. It was not like he simply climbed between her legs and pumped inside her until he found sexual satisfaction, he varied the way they made love. Just remembering some of the positions they'd tried, made her blush. On the sixth night, when she had given herself to him, he had even penetrated her anus with his finger, pushing deep as he nibbled at her folds and clitoris, the sensation almost painfully exquisite with the dual possession of mouth and the shocking invasion of his touch. She had exploded in orgasmic release, open-legged for his oral assault, clenching against that probing finger, crying out loud at the sheer decadent rapture of it.

It was embarrassing; it was startling, but she had discovered in herself a sensuality that was liberated by either the fact that she had no choice but to let him use her body, or that Daniel was an exceptional lover. Or perhaps it was both.

On this eight day of being his lover, once inside the room, she immediately opened Daniel's large shirt that she was wearing, and discarded it so she was nude, hearing him close the door behind her.

"It pleases me," his deep voice spoke, "when you are so anxious to be naked and available to me." Daniel went to the bed, lounged on the pillows, his shirt open to the waist.

Her rapid pulse increased at the sight of him, lying there like some blonde warrior, unconcealed carnal promise in his eyes. With a pronounced limp, she walked slowly toward him.

"Even though your breasts her small, they bounce as you move," he told her, narrowing his gaze. "It is beautiful to see the weight of your flesh in such graceful motion. They are like an offering to me, so high and proud, and so lovely."