When we finally reached the end of the tunnel and saw the stone steps that led to the surface, Ren stopped.
‘Kelsey, I have one final request of you before we head up.’
‘And what would that be? Want to talk about tiger senses or monkey bites in strange places maybe?’
‘No. I want you to kiss me.’
I sputtered, ‘What? Kiss you? What for? Don’t you think you got to kiss me enough on this trip?’
‘Humor me, Kells. This is the end of the line for me. We’re leaving the place where I get to be a man all the time, and I have only my tiger’s life to look forward to. So, yes, I want you to kiss me one more time.’
I hesitated. ‘Well, if this works, you can go around kissing all the girls you want to. So why bother with me right now?’
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. ‘Because! I don’t want to run around kissing all the other girls! I want to kiss you!’
‘Fine! If it will shut you up!’ I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. ‘There!’
‘No. Not good enough. On the lips, my prema.’
I leaned over and pecked him on the lips. ‘There. Can we go now?’
I marched up the first two steps, and he slipped his hand under my elbow and spun me around, twisting me so that I fell forward into his arms. He caught me tightly around the waist. His smirk suddenly turned into a sober expression.
‘A kiss. A real one. One that I’ll remember.’
I was about to say something brilliantly sarcastic, probably about him not having permission, when he captured my mouth with his. I was determined to remain stiff and unaffected, but he was extremely patient. He nibbled on the corners of my mouth and pressed soft, slow kisses against my unyielding lips. It was so hard not to respond to him.
I made a valiant struggle, but sometimes the body betrays the mind. He slowly, methodically swept aside my resistance. And, feeling he was winning, he pressed ahead and began seducing me even more skillfully. He held me tightly against his body and ran a hand up to my neck where he began to massage it gently, teasing my flesh with his fingertips.
I felt the little love plant inside me stretch, swell, and unfurl its leaves, like he was pouring Love Potion # 9 over the thing. I gave up at that point and decided what the heck. I could always use a rototiller on it. And I rationalized that when he breaks my heart, at least I will have been thoroughly kissed.
If nothing else, I’ll have a really good memory to look back on in my multi-cat spinsterhood. Or multi-dog. I think I will have had my fill of cats. I groaned softly. Yep. Dogs for sure.
I opened myself up to the kiss and kissed him back with enthusiasm. Putting all my secret emotions and tender feelings into the embrace, I wound my arms around his neck and slid my hands into his hair. Pulling his body that much closer to mine, I embraced him with all the warmth and affection that I wouldn’t allow myself to express verbally.
He paused, shocked for a brief instant, and then quickly adjusted his approach, escalating into a passionate frenzy. I shocked myself by matching his energy. I ran my hands up his powerful arms and shoulders and then down his chest. My senses were in turmoil. I felt wild. Eager. I clutched at his shirt. I couldn’t get close enough to him. He even smelled delicious.
You’d think that several days of being chased by strange creatures and hiking through a mysterious kingdom would make him smell bad. In fact, I wanted him to smell bad. I’m sure I did. I mean, how can you expect a girl to be fresh as a daisy while traipsing through the jungle and getting chased by monkeys. It’s just not possible.
I desperately wanted him to have some fault. Some weakness. Some . . . imperfection. But Ren smelled amazing – like waterfalls, a warm summer day, and sandalwood trees all wrapped up in a sizzling, hot guy.
How could a girl defend herself from a perfect onslaught delivered by a perfect person? I gave up and let Mr. Wonderful take control of my senses. My blood burned, my heart thundered, my need for him quickened, and I lost all track of time in his arms. All I was aware of was Ren. His lips. His body. His soul. I wanted all of him.
Eventually, he put his hands on my shoulders and gently separated us. I was surprised that he had the strength of will to stop because I was nowhere near being able to. I blinked my eyes open in a daze. We were both breath-ing hard.
‘That was . . . enlightening,’ he breathed. ‘Thank you, Kelsey.’
I blinked. The passion that had dulled my mind dissipated in an instant, and my mind sharply focused on a new feeling. Irritation.
‘Thank you? Thank you! Of all the—’ I slammed up the steps angrily and then spun around to look down at him. ‘No! Thank you, Ren!’ My hands slashed at the air. ‘Now you got what you wanted, so leave me alone!’ I ran up the stairs quickly to put some distance between us.
Enlightening? What was that about? Was he testing me? Giving me a one-to-ten score on my kissing ability? Of all the nerve!
I was glad that I was mad. I could shove all the other emotions into the back of my mind and just focus on the anger, the indignation.
He leapt up the stairs two at a time. ‘That’s not all I want, Kelsey. That’s for sure.’
‘Well, I no longer care about what you want!’
He shot me a knowing look and raised an eyebrow. Then, he lifted his foot out of the opening, placed it on the dirt, and instantly changed back into a tiger.
I laughed mockingly. ‘Ha!’ I tripped over a stone but quickly found my footing. ‘Serves you right!’ I shouted angrily and stumbled blindly along the dim path.
After figuring out where to go, I marched off in a huff. ‘Come on, Fanindra. Let’s go find Mr. Kadam.’
23
Six Hours
It was early dawn. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. I stormed off through the buildings of Hampi and allowed the momentum of my anger to carry me halfway back to Mr. Kadam’s camp.
Ren followed along behind me somewhere quietly. I couldn’t hear him, but I knew he was there. I was acutely aware of his presence. I had an intangible connection with him, the man. It was almost as if he were walking next to me. Almost as if he were touching me.
I must have started walking down the wrong path because he trotted ahead, pointedly moving in a different direction. I muttered, ‘Show-off. I’ll walk the wrong way if I want to.’ But, I still followed after him.
After a while, I made out the Jeep parked on the hill and saw Mr. Kadam waving at us.
I walked up to his camp, and he grabbed me in a brief hug. ‘Miss Kelsey! You’re back. Tell me what happened.’
I sighed, set down my backpack, and sat on the back bumper of the Jeep. ‘Well, I have to tell you, these past few days have been some of the worst of my life. There were monkeys, and Kappa, and rotted kissing corpses, and snakebites, and trees covered with needles, and—’
He held up a hand. ‘What do you mean a few days? You just left last night.’
Confused, I said, ‘No. We’ve been gone at least,’ I counted on my fingers, ‘at least four or five days.’
‘I’m sorry, Miss Kelsey, but you and Ren left me last night. In fact, I was going to say you should get some rest and then try again tomorrow night. You were really gone almost a week?’
‘Well, I was asleep for two of the days. At least that’s what tiger boy over there told me.’ I glared at Ren who stared back at me with an innocuous tiger expression while listening to our conversation.
Ren appeared to be sweet and attentive, as harmless as a little kitten. He was about as harmless as a Kappa. I, on the other hand, was like a porcupine. I was bristling. All of my quills were standing on end so I could defend my soft belly from being devoured by the predator who had taken an interest.
‘Two days? My, my. Why don’t we return to the hotel and rest? We can try to get the fruit again tomorrow night.’
‘But, Mr. Kadam,’ I said and unzipped the backpack, ‘we don’t have to come back. We got Durga’s first gift, the Golden Fruit.’ I pulled out my quilt and unfolded it, revealing the Golden Fruit nestled within.