Mayan Lover by Wendy S. Hales Read Free Book Online

glanced over her shoulder at him. “Come on in.”
    She found what she needed in the third tiny
cupboard, measured the coffee into the basket and fired up the burner
with a match. Arka had to practically duck in half to get through the
door, leaving it opened behind him. Gwen quickly moved her still
unpacked bags over to the rumpled bed and he sat down. She took the
seat across the table from him. The aroma of coffee filled the space.
He reached over, lifted a lock of her unruly hair and rubbed it
between his thumb and finger. A shiver raced down her spine.
    “It’s the softest thing I’ve
ever felt,” he whispered.
    She felt herself drown in the milk-chocolate
pools of his eyes. The moment was broken when the coffee started to
boil out of the spout. She jumped up, turned off the burner and
searched for cups. “It’s a curly pain in the ass. I
should have it cut off.” She pulled two cups down and grabbed a
third for Enrique.
    “You should wear your hair any way you
like. It is beautiful. You are beautiful. Beauty such as yours comes
from both the inside and outside.” Thank God the cups were
plastic, because one dropped from her hand. Arka spoke as if he were
stating a fact rather than giving the nicest compliment she’d
ever received.
    He scooped up the cup and handed it back to her.
At a complete loss, Gwen saw Enrique emerge from his tent. “Enrique.
Coffee’s ready,” she called to him. He smiled and headed
over. Good thing. Gwen needed a buffer right about now.
    By the end of the
second week, the three of them developed a comfortable pattern. No
matter what she said, Arka slept on the ground in front of her
trailer. After coffee and a healthy breakfast, they dug late into the
night, stopping only for bagged meals and trail snacks throughout the
day.
    Gwen was thrilled with the finds and impressed
with the reverent way both Arka and Enrique handled the artifacts.
Arka could explain every object, though he wasn’t always
correct and some of the functions he gave things were impossible to
confirm scientifically. Of course, they were impossible to dis prove
either. She could listen to him talk forever. Her attraction to Arka
grew till she often found herself staring at him while he worked
instead of working alongside him.
    “Break,” she called out. Enrique and
Arka lifted their heads to give her a confused look. They probably
wondered how that word got into her vocabulary—the other
archaeologist called her a slave driver. “My friend is coming
in from the states today, and I need to get cleaned up. Rumor has it
there are waterfalls a few miles from here. Are either of you up for
a hike?”
    Both men nodded and Gwen raced to her trailer to
gather her bath items. She put on her bathing suit and tied a short
sarong above her breasts. When she stepped out, Arka lifted the small
bag from her shoulder to his with the quirked grin she found
fascinating. His eyes tracked her body, leaving a trail of warmth in
their wake. He gave a small shake of his head.
    “Did you purposely dress to torture?”
He joked.
    His quick grasp of the English language amazed
her. At first when she and Enrique would banter back and forth she
could tell Arka didn’t understand much of what was going on. He
even challenged his nephew because he thought Enrique had
disrespected her. Now, he not only picked up on most of the jokes, he
was starting to make a few. She even saw him flip the bird at Enrique
with a laugh.
    Gwen poked him in the chest with mock
indignation. “A waterfall in the middle of the forest after a
few weeks of grime and sweat? You should be grateful I’m not
planning to jump in stark naked.” She expected him to chuckle;
instead his nostrils flared and his eyes infused with the passion she
usually saw from him in her nightly dreams.
    “I got chow,” Enrique announced,
ruining the moment. He carried a backpack.
    With Enrique in the lead, Gwen in the middle,
and Arka trailing behind her, she could feel his eyes on