Mayan Lover by Wendy S. Hales Read Free Book Online Page B

pebbles. Deep water
in the center of the falls became shallow enough to stand at the
edges.
    His gaze returned to Gwen and Enrique splashing
water at each other like children. He’d had no idea the modesty
of the modern world extended to water. After Gwen’s comment
about swimming naked, Arka had decided to keep his shorts on since he
wore nothing underneath. With his nephew’s challenge, Arka
changed his mind. Nudity was as natural to him as breathing. Since
he’d walked in barefoot, he simply unbuttoned the shorts. They
fell to his ankles and he kicked them out of the way.
    “Damn Arka, you need a woman.”
Enrique’s laughter at his erection did not cover the sound of
Gwen’s swift intake of breath. He was not a small male, even
when his manhood didn’t stand at attention. The current state
of his body, though frustrating, had become perpetual. “If you
got it, flaunt it—right, uncle?” Enrique used Gwen’s
distraction to send a huge wave splashing into her face. She ducked
under water.
    He took a few steps forward, the water reaching
his hips, and pushed off with his toes, using long breaststrokes to
cover the few yards to the edge of the falls. The cool water flowed
around him as he stood beneath the cascade on the smooth, pounded
rocks below. A quick shake sent the excess water out of his hair. He
looked back to where Enrique and Gwen had been. Enrique stood at the
shore pulling his shorts up his legs. He lifted his thumb into the
air and disappeared back into the trees.
    Gwen swam toward him on her back with a couple
of bottles clutched to her chest. Unable to see where she was going,
she hit the top of her head against the top of his chest. “Oh
shit,” she exclaimed.
    She floundered, the bottles bobbing in the water
as she spun around to face him. The water was deeper than her height;
she went under, her hair floating at the surface in every direction.
Arka caught her armpits and lifted her back up. She spit a mouthful
of water at him through the plastering of hair covering her face.
Arka laughed and dunked her back under the water. The movement of her
legs brushed against his manhood and he groaned. She bobbed up chin
first, her face free of tresses, and placed her hands on his
shoulders with a playful smile.
    Arka silently cursed the Sun God again for his
torture. “I learned a new word. It fits you perfectly this
day.” He stepped nearer the edge of the falls, towing her to
shallower ground where she could stand comfortably.
    She settled to her feet and removed her hands,
which was blessing and a curse to his body’s demand. She
smoothed the hair at her scalp. “Oh, yeah. What’s that?”
    “Menace.” He swam back out to
collect the bottles she’d brought with her. The splash she sent
his direction missed him.
    He held the two bottles out to her, and she took
one. “Do you always swim naked?” Her eyes lingered at his
chest and then returned to his face.
    “I am an old-fashioned Maya Indian, Gwen.”
He chuckled.
    She lifted a brow. “Even Yucatan Indians wear bathing suits … or something. I think you did it
to shock me.”
    He needed her to find the skull before he could
tell her the truth, needed her to see her mother through the crystal
eyes of amethyst to be believed. “Perhaps,” he conceded.
“Did it work?”
    “I’ve seen plenty of naked men,
Arka. Get over yourself.” The desire in her eyes said
differently. Still, the idea of her intimate with anyone bothered him
more than was appropriate. A goddess could take any lover she wanted,
as many as she wanted, anytime she wanted. She held all the power
over lesser gods and mortals alike.
    “In that case, why would you think I did
it to shock you, since naked men are commonplace to you?” He
couldn’t help baiting her a little. Maybe she would choose him
for a lover. He could only hope.
    “Most men don’t run around naked
with raging wood either.” She laughed. Raging what? She
squeezed a liquid from the bottle into her