Amazon Heat Ch. 05

"I am not what you think I am, I am the light of the Amazon, and that means I am..."

Jessie hated to think the worst of Jack but his eyes were saying things that she really didn't want to hear. She'd known since that morning he wasn't normal. Human, probably, normal, living, breathing, leave your underwear on the bedroom floor, and your nasty socks on the kitchen counter, and drink your juice with vodka in it, maybe. Live in society with a nine to five job, and a house with a mortgage and two point five kids? No. Not in this lifetime, or any other for that matter. A deep breath and she was ready to take in what ever he had to say. Well, kinda ready. Okay not ready at all and trying really hard not to be selfish.

Jack watched her face, unsure whether he was really ready to tell her the truth about himself. She looked like she was having trouble with something and his instincts told him she knew something already. Something he didn't want her to know yet.

"Jack, I'm sorry." Her hands started shaking and she wanted to explain herself to him before he told her whatever secret he needed to reveal. "What happened to your heart?"

A wave of relief and apprehension washed over him like a tsunami. She knew he wasn't what he appeared to be, and that made thing easier to explain, but she couldn't know just how much they differed. Although with her special "talents" she was probably the only person to take this in without freaking, like Kathy, the woman who should have loved him despite his secret. A breath and he plunged into his speech, knowing there would be no returning if she decided she couldn't deal with his "differences."

"I'm the guardian of this rainforest. I made a pact with the original guardian that I would watch over this place till the day I die. That means I don't live the way other people do. I'm human and my body has had to live for far longer than it should have." Her eyes stayed with his, their expression interested and pensive, her teeth chewing her lower lip where he'd kissed her so many times. So far she hadn't shown any signs of panic so he kept going, hoping for the best.

"My heart stops every now and then to rest, and my systems go dead. I still breath but that's just when I have to, and when my heart isn't working I store oxygen to get it running again when I need to wake up." He looked at his hands where his thumb kept picking at his nails. "I'm sorry that you found out this way, but this is who I am." Taking a deep breath he said the words he'd been holding back, fearing she'd take them and flee, leaving him wounded in ways he didn't think could be mended. "If you cant deal with this I understand, I'll take you to the mission and get you back to where ever you want to go.

Jessie said nothing for a long time, the sounds of Death and Fear chattering away in Latin almost deafening, even though they barely whispered.

Finally she managed a soft, "Okay." She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed his hand, calling the Other to where they stood, the other women standing shoulder to shoulder in a line before them. Her soft hand grew warm and then scalding hot as yet another woman stumbled from her, pulling more with her. Four more Jessie look alikes stood in front of him, all of them dressed in different outfits and their hair styled in its own way. He picked out Ginger the instant she materialized, her bright pink jeans and tiny fangs a dead give away. Animals gathered at their feet as well, all of them rushing Jessie with the affection of a much loved owner. He felt his lips turn up in a small smile as several big cats pawed her thighs and yowled while a black and tan Aphgan hound barked and grinned, his long ratty tail swinging in an arc that whipped any one near enough for him to do so. Slipping off into the shadow of the Other in a lab coat, Jack could swear he'd seen a couple of snow white cobras. He'd keep an eye on those two for a while. Wrath at least didn't have venom; he was more than sure that these new reptiles could put him in the ground.

Clearing her throat Jessie sat on the floor and settled a large cat in her lap, its long chiseled head cradled in her left palm while her other hand swept long strokes over it's silver and white mottled sides. A motor-esque purr thundered and she giggled at the sound. Jack merely wondered at the way it vibrated the air around them. Voices chattered as the women caught each other up on the events that had already commenced, while Jessie stroked each pet as if they were long lost friends. Jack got the eerie feeling that they were more intelligent than the animals he killed and ate, and maybe just as smart as the women who owned them.

Laughter rang out, and Bessie slapped a girl in a Kiss T-shirt on the back with the flat of her hand and bent over sputtering and giggling like a girl. Latin flew back and forth between the twins and a chorus of female voices yelled, "ENGLISH." Then they all fell into fits of giggles when Demon belted out a very English, "Fuck you!" It was crazy and loud and totally mind boggling, and Jack chuckled out loud with them the feeling of being overwhelmed infectious.

Still Jessie hadn't said whether she would stay with him or not and it tainted his mood, putting a crease in his brow and a frown on his mouth. Quietly he turned to the cave entrance and watched the macaws preening, adoring the sound of the wind rustling the trees mingled with the sound of ten very happy women at his back. He knew he could never give Jessie the life she was used to. She was a businesswoman, feminine and used to things like running water and a home with a door. All he had to give her came down to a cave and his broken heart. Rubbing his palms on his dirty camo pants he knew without a doubt that she should leave him, but inside his soul, where it counted, he wanted her to stay with him so bad it hurt.

A hand brushed his shoulder and the Jessie clone in the kiss T-shirt and ripped jeans smiled up at him, her face lovely in its own right. She looked like Jessie, but even naked and far away he could tell them apart. This one had little horns jutting from her smooth forehead, the red thorns tipped in a venomous black. Her irises were also rimmed in a soft pinkish red that brightened the blue to a clear sapphire that both mesmerized and frightened him.

"Their kinda scary, huh? Jess's mom says I have the Devil in me, and these are his eyes." Her voice held a rough hint to it, the pitch low and sexy as hell, and Jack liked her instantly. When she extended her hand he took it in a warm shake that made him feel like he'd just gotten the sister he'd always wanted.

"I'm Jack."

"Lauren, or Laurie." She took her hand back and set about telling him about her sisters, as she called them. The one in the lab coat, she called Brain, also known as Annie. The snotty clone in the flare legged jeans and halter-top was named Theodora, or Teddie, apparently no one wanted to spend a lot of time in her company.

"The one who looks like a Martha Stewart wanna be is Matilda, or if you wanna piss her off call her Mattie like Jessie does. I do." The little red head grinned like an imp and began pointing out to whom the animals belonged to and what their names were.

"The ice cat is Fears, but she lets him stay behind, and come out on his own some times. His name is Terror, but he comes to Terry. The snow leopard in my Angel, also named by Jessie's mom. She knew he was mine so she called him a devil cat. To piss her off I called him Angel. He's got my horns."

Jack interrupter her to say, "Jessie's mom didn't really care much for you guys did she?" Of course he had no idea how much he understated that fact.

"No she didn't. But she really hated Kharu and Kaja the most. They belong to Brain, and she loves them more than she loves chemistry, and when you get to know her, you understand just how much that really is." Snapping her fingers she whistled as if she were calling a dog and a pure white cobra glided to her feet and curled its way up her leg to peer and him over her shoulder like a parrot. The black eyes gazedthroughhim and the black tongue flickered at him as if the beautiful snake where mocking him.

"This is Kaja, she's a good girl, but never grab for either Kharu or her, because if you get it wrong, you'll get bitten and these babies are worse than a black mamba." Patting the beast on the hood like a dog she put it on the ground and it slithered off toward Wrath, obviously well acquainted with the big python.

"Lastly there's Teddie's dog Theo, or, when we're mad, we call him Bear. He's a great dog, but when he was a puppy he used to eateverything. We all hated it when he did that, because Jess took the brunt of it, not Teddie." Lauren turned a pointed look at the lone woman, her head shaking at the memories of all the punishments Jess had taken for that dog.

Jack wondered, not for the first time, how much Jessie really hid under that tough exterior, how much pain she'd suffered though without letting it destroy her.

"So now that you're all out, what happens?"

"We have to talk about this, just us, Jack." Jessie pushed the sleeping cat to the ground and stood, slapping the dirt off her thighs. She seemed hesitant, but he couldn't tell why. Her hair lay over one eye and she turned those ocean eyes to him and his gut clenched. The heat between them snapped like a lighting storm and silence surrounded them, though he was sure the Others still chattered like magpies. Grasping her outstretched hand, he let her lead him to the cave entrance, neither of them looking back, their hearts straining to hear the other beating the same rhythm, there souls screaming with the need to meld.

They dodged several trees, the sound of their feet slipping through the ground foliage mingled with the call of howler monkeys and the crash of a waterfall some distance away.

Jessie wanted to talk, but her mind couldn't seem to focus on anything but the scent of Jacks warm skin and feel of his callused hand grasping hers. Her clothing stuck to her in a way that made her ache to be naked and she looked up at Jacks rugged face to see if he felt the same. Clear blue eyes met his fiery whiskey gaze and the tension tightened like a fine wire, the heat more than the jungle humidity.

"I can't leave you, I'm staying." Jessie managed to choke the word out before he yanked her to him and captured her mouth with his possessive kiss. The heady sense of being over powered weakened her knees and she melted into him, rubbing her swollen breasts against his chest, the wall of muscle holding her upright while he plundered her lips and stroked her in places that made her whimper with desire. Leisurely he devoured her, his head moving so he could suckle that sweet spot where her neck swept into her collarbone. The way he nursed her skin, she knew it would leave a mark, but the knowledge had her holding him to her rather than pushing him away. In no way could she bear the thought of leaving this man, her heart so irrevocably given to him, she could no more consider it hers.

His big hands captured her butt, sliding inside her pants and cupping her bare skin, grinding her hips to his. A keening moan belted from her mouth, and she held to him with all her strength, the power of her own need too much for her to resist.

"Jack...to much clothes, please, help me." Hands tangled in his t-shirt she tried to pull the sweat soaked material over his head, but it didn't budge. When he set her back from him to take it off himself, an aching emptiness pummeled her, the need to touch him stronger than any addiction. Tearing at her clothes she came to him, flesh to flesh, their heart slamming their ribs in a tempo that should have killed them. Lips met as theirs bodies melded, hers molded to his, tender curves laying against hard muscle as if she'd been made to make love to him.

He hiked her thigh up around his and plunged into her welcoming warmth, the sensation like a drug. He wanted more, the sound of her cries, and her arms around his neck urging him on. Picking her up her carried her tight body to a small alcove of sun drenched rocks, the surface at odds with her silky backside. Sighing he lay her down on the flat warm stone, reveling in the feeling of those heavy breasts pillowing his chest. Moving against her he held her like she meant the world to him, because in the short time he'd known her she'd come to mean that much to him. Her gaze held his and she smiled at him, her tiny hand reaching up to cup his cheek in a gesture that melted his heart. Turning into her palm he knew in that instant he couldn't let her go. It would kill him to miss her, his heart rebelling at the mere thought of not waking to her sleep rumpled face every morning. Rocking her with him, he touched her in that place between her nether petals and stroked till she tipped over the edge, her whimpers those of wonder and gratitude. Her inner spasms held him like a fisted caress and he too came, his own choked sobs stuttered against her rounded shoulder, their skin so slick with sweat he slid off her and nestled his wet face into the shade of her left breast, the smooth skin brushing his nose filling his senses with the heady scent of bitter almond and clean air.

Slowly their breathing returned to normal, and then to the low soft rhythm of sleep. How much time passed neither of them could tell for sure, but Jessie woke first, her backside numb and her head turned to an odd angle against the rock beneath it. Jacks soft snore made her smile and she shifted to make him more comfortable, her arms wrapped securely around his massive shoulders. From what she could see of his face he slept peacefully, his expression endearingly boyish. Tenderness poked at her heart, and behind it came the overwhelming sense that she wanted to be with this man till her death. Not ready to call it love, she waited; letting the knowledge that she was staying with him, here in the Amazon, creep up on her. It should have frightened her at the very least, but all she felt was the full and unmistakable feeling that all in the world was right and good, at least for one Jessie, and all her loved ones. Begrudgingly she allowed Jack into that thought, even though it scared her to think that he could hold her heart and not knowing when or evenifhe would break it. It was madness to know that she no longer lived to please herself. Sweet carefree madness and inside of her, where no man had touch her before, Jack took hold and stayed, filling her with a sweet security more potent than an army of Demons or Wraths.

"I'm staying." The words come out on a slow breath and she had not meant for Jack to hear, but she knew he had because he smiled and sighed as if the entire world had fallen from his chest allowing him the freedom to breath again. He'd been sleeping only moments ago, and now he was lifting her up over him like a rag doll, his face lit up in a smile that made her feel like a teenager in the back of her fathers car. It felt good to love someone so much.

Crouched, hidden in the bushes, he watched the emotions pass over her face. All around him the heat pushed in on him, his clothes hot and wet from his own body and the thick humidity around him. "Jessie lost weight," he thought to himself. He'd always managed to keep her thinking she was fat, but now she was just right, plump and lovely, and no longer his to control it seemed. Michael scrubbed a hand over his face to keep the sweat out of his eyes. The man with her was a giant wall of raw male power, and if he was going to get anywhere with his plans for Jessie, this Jack guy was going to have to go away. Searing jealousy rippled through Michael's body as he watched his ex snuggle into that behemoths embrace and allowed her gaze to turn sickeningly loving. He'd never seen her look like that before, and it killed him to know he'd lost her. For the time being he would sit tight and continue to watch them. His two way clicked on, and alerted him that someone was trying to reach him. Silently he slipped away from the two lovers, looking back once to see her kissing him on the head in a way that turned his stomach. The bitch thought she'd gotten away, but if he played his cards right, she'd be under his thumb again in no time.

The distance far enough for him to hold a conversation, he turn up the volume on his radio and waited to hear a response to his hello. A gruff man answered him, wanting to know the status of his mission. Grinning he held the mic to his mouth and laughed.

"She be yours by the end of the week general."