Page 73 of Afraid to Hope

Natasha licked her lips unconsciously as she studied Bane. He was mouthwatering. His powerful, ripped body radiated sexual prowess and was more heavenly than she ever could have imagined. His ever-changing hazel eyes and handsome face were the icing on the cake. A movie of the two of them naked, mouths and hands wild, thrusting, her quaking, played over in her mind. Her palms itched to touch his skin.

He groaned, a guttural sound that made her ache. “Sweetheart, I’m battling a massive hard-on here.”

“Oh.” Natasha blinked, then smiled lazily and rounded her eyes at him. “Sorry?”

“Sorry, my ass.” He leaned in, his breath whispering over her lips. “I’m looking forward to tonight.” Bane reared back suddenly. “What the fuck?”

Two stealthy macaques had come up on him. One tugged at the white bag sandwiched under his thigh and glowered at him.

Natasha smirked at him. “As I said earlier, they can be aggressive, and you certainly don’t want to be bitten. Let them have the bag.”

He lifted his thigh to allow the monkeys to take the sack. They scampered off to a distance and were joined by the others. Wrestling, shrill barking, and lip smacking ensued as they fought over the contents.

“One of the stores in Bhalil.”

Bane turned from watching the macaques squabble. “Huh?”

“Where I got the peanuts. Yesterday, while you were so engrossed in taking pictures. Just in case. I was hoping we’d stop here.”

He grinned and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “You continue to surprise me.” Bane ate with as much relish as Natasha did. “Damn. This is really good.”

“Eat up. I have tea in my thermos,” she said, unscrewing the top and handing him the cup before detaching the other cup from the bottom. She filled both to just below the brim. Natasha leaned against a large cedar, watching the monkeys that were observing them with renewed interest.

“We need to go. They look like they’re going to approach again.”

“I’d like to finish my tea.”

Bane placed his cup on the boulder and stood, spreading his arms and displaying his empty palms. The macaques moved away, disappearing in the forest of cedar. He sat back down and sipped at his tea, then held the cup out to Natasha for a refill. “You can enjoy your tea now. Tell me what happened at the farm.”

“That last room… I don’t know, Bane,” she said, hugging her knees and holding her cup between them. “It really bothered me. Jesus. It felt malevolent, like that cave under the temple in Guatemala. My nightmare became a daymare.”

Bane scooted closer to her. “We’re out of there. We’re not going back. Don’t allow what happened in Guatemala to have power over you.”

Natasha gave him a long look as she finished her tea. “Emmet also said Rafiq’s people will arrive in Tinghir early tomorrow and it’s unlikely we’ll see them unless something changes. I wish Rafiq could have been part of the operation.”

Bane stood and stepped off the boulder, assisting Natasha to the flatter ground and pulling her into his arms. He locked his hazel eyes on her gray ones. “Rafiq is recovering; he’s going to be fine.” Bane glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Let’s go. We’ve easily another six hours of driving.”

“You can go without eating for that long?”

“Um, good point. We’ll have to stop and feed me. You’re going to get hungry too.”

“I have another idea. Let’s pop into Azrou, top off the tank, and get some more water and food to go.” She patted her rucksack.

Once in the Jeep, Bane said solemnly, “There’s one more thing before we get on the road.” He withdrew something from his pocket and opened his hand. “The edge of this was peeking out from the crevice where the floor met the wall in the tunnel room, practically hidden by one of the piles of blankets.” Carefully he smoothed out the yellowed, torn paper on his leg.

le fantôme, Allamel, Asilah

Natasha’s words whooshed out. “What in holy hell? This can’t be a coincidence.”

“No. I don’t think so either. It indicates that the key found at the farmhouse was the same that was in your grandfather’s possession, the same that was missing from his effects.”

“The key to Mémé’s safe-deposit box. The same one I received by courier in Cape Town.”

“Exactly, and it also seems to support that the farmhouse has been a locale for the American and they overlooked this bit of paper somehow, or it no longer held any significance for the network. The fact that the room was a cool, dry environment must have preserved it.”

“The American murdered Pépé,” Natasha choked, her eyes round with disbelief, her hand going to her chest. She looked away, her lip trembling.

“Come here,” he said, gathering Natasha close and stroking her head, kissing it. She fought her tears, wiping them as soon as they ran from her eyes. Bane pulled her to his broad shoulder and rubbed her back. “Let it go, sweetheart.”

---