Amber Fire Read Free

know, but yet, darkly addictive in ways she felt she had to know. There was no chance of resistance, no hope of denying her desire for this man. She’d wanted him since the first moment she’d met him. She was wet and wanting now, welcoming the escape from everything, from the fear of moments before, into a place that was safe and pleasurable. To the desire and the warmth that was Jareth.
    But as certainly as he had claimed her mouth, he released it and her, his heavy-lidded stare meeting hers. “Am I a beast?” he said softly, his voice a rough timbre of a taunt. “I suggest you leave before you find out the answer to that question.” He turned and started walking, the image of pure masculine power striding up that mountainside, fitting in here in a way that no simple writer could have.
    Was he a beast? Jareth had all but dared her to find out. And he was no fool. He knew what he’d done. The question was—why had he ordered the others away and challenged her to stay? Should she be erotically charged or should she be scared? Because, it seemed, she was a lot of both. The two combined had Amber on fire.

2
    N early a week after the near attack in their camp, and the steamy hot kiss with Jareth, neither big cats nor man had been seen again, and the hard work on the cavern site was exhaustively underway. Exactly why Amber all but ran to the waterfall nuzzled intimately between brilliantly carved canyon walls, moonlight glistening off the water with the inviting promise of sweet relief and privacy. Though, if she were honest with herself, Amber wasn’t sure if she was burning up from a day of relentless digging or from the long nights that had shifted from nightmares to erotic fantasies about Jareth.
    No doubt he was displeased that her crew had remained. She’d tried to send them away, regardless of the impact their departure might have had on her grant. She hadn’t done it for Jareth, but for her own peace of mind that they were safe. But most of the crew had worked for her father, and they hadn’t missed the significance of finding a jaguar presence when they were hunting Yaguara, any more than Amber had. Everyone was in cautious, but energized mode. They were here for the long haul.
    Determined to relax, if only for a few minutes, Amber raced to the edge of the pond, unbuttoning her shirt and discarding the tranquilizer rifle she’d been carrying around like a second skin. No matter how quiet things had been at their camp, that feeling of being stalked had not gone away, nor had the need to maintain a confident, calm façade for her crew. Which only made her need for this short escape all the more urgent.
    Amber stepped to the edge of the water, naked and anticipating the cool, crisp relief of that pond. She waded through liquid ripples, the ground disappearing from beneath her feet, little pulses from the waterfall caressing her limbs, her auburn hair floating to the surface. She sighed and relaxed for the first time in days, settling onto her back, floating weightlessly, her arms and legs gently stroking the water.
    For long moments, she simply enjoyed the pulses of the waterfall fluttering along her skin, her mind traveling to one of those midnight fantasies of Jareth. She might not have the flesh and blood man here to pleasure her, but she had those dreams. Back to what it had felt like to be in his arms. What it would feel like to be there again, with him naked. And she had done plenty of contemplating how he would look. So fiercely male, with long, sinewy muscles. What he would be like. Demanding. He would be demanding in all the right ways.
    Her hands traveled her body, caressing a path up her sides and then over the stiff peaks of her nipples, outlined by the water. A soft moan slid from her lips. In her mind, it was Jareth’s hands on her body, touching her, and that stiff, hard cock outlined in denim, pressed between her thighs, moving against her, teasing