His Wicked Kiss Read Free

able to contain his glee. “Into the Amazon!”
    Her jaw dropped.
    He mistook her horror for awe. “Think of it, daughter! Our grandest adventure yet—an even more complex habitat than these Orinoco jungles! The Delta has been our mother and our tutor, preparing us, it is true. Ah, but the Amazon, that is our destiny!” He squeezed her hand, trying to pass on his excitement, but she yanked her fingers out of his light hold and shot to her feet.
    “You’re
mad
!”
    “Oh, Edie—”
    “I knew it! It’s finally happened, just as I always feared! Too much time in the wilderness has finally addled your wits, Papa! Good God, I’m probably next!” She clapped her hand to her forehead, but he merely laughed. “I’m not jesting—and I am
not
going there! Well, somebody has to put their foot down! Be sensible! There are headhunters there, cannibals, not peaceful natives like the Waroa—and God knows what all else!”
    “Nonsense, Connor will protect us. I need you by my side in this, Edie. You know I cannot do without you. As long as we’re together, you will be perfectly safe. By Jove, once we’ve conquered the Amazon, we’ll return to England , I’ll give lectures on our journeys. I’ll write another book! A new narrative to rival von Humboldt’s. We’ll never need to rely on another rich patron again.”
    She threw up her hands, exasperated beyond words.
    He knitted his gray eyebrows together. “What?”
    She had promised Mama on her deathbed that she would take care of him, but how was she to do it when the man had no care for his life?
    “Father,” she said sternly, folding her arms across her chest, “you are fifty-five years old. Your hero von Humboldt was in his prime when he made that trip, and it nearly killed
him
.” This point earned her nothing but a snort and low mutter of offended male vanity, so she tried another tack and sat down again, staring earnestly at him. “Have you forgotten that outside these jungles, Venezuela is at war?”
    “Of course I haven’t forgotten,” he grumbled, scowling at the reminder. “I’m not quite senile yet. What of it?”
    “To reach the Amazon, we’d have to cross the plains. The
llanos
are the main battlefields between the forces of the Spanish Crown and the rebel colonists.”
    “So? We still have time. There’s a lull in the hostilities now. The rebels up at Angostura have firm control of the interior, while the Spanish keep to their ships on the coast. What’s the problem?”
    “The problem?” She nearly laughed, barely knowing where to start. “To begin with, each side thinks you’re a spy for the other! The Spanish suspect you’re in league with the revolutionaries, and the colonists think that you’re working for Spain .”
    “If they really thought that, I would have been expelled from the country by now. Dash it, Edie, as I told those blasted bureaucrats from Caracas , science is neutral! I am here for the good of all mankind.”
    “Ugh!” She buried her face in her hands for a second, which muffled her retort: “You’re here because you’re hiding from the world.”
    “What did you say?” he asked sharply.
    With a sigh, she checked her vexation and lowered her hands to her lap. “Nothing, Father.”
    “I daresay. You had better mind your tongue, my girl,” he advised, settling back onto his rough wooden stool and giving his waistcoat a dignified tug. “I grant you a long leash, it’s true, but I am still your father.”
    “Yes, sir,” she answered, head down. “But…”
    “But what, child?”
    She held him in a searching stare for a moment. “You promised me last year that we’d be going back to England .”
    This was, it seemed, precisely what he did not want to hear.
    He immediately scowled and looked away, busying himself with his botanical finds. “ England , England , why are you always on about that wretched place? You really think the world out there is all so wonderful? How would you know? I’ve kept you