Page 64 of Beautifully Wild

I understood this holiday would be about fun, and I thought you would come home refreshed with clarity to where the hotel business is headed and hopefully ready to assess our relationship again.

I love you. I always have.

I know I messed up. Give me a chance to make it up to you. To work for you, beside you every day. To show you how much I have changed. Your father knows how crazy I am for you.

Every day I see how stressed out you’ve made him.

Please come home.

I’m scared for you. Scared of not having you in my life.

Ethan x

I release air from my lungs with a sigh then check if the shine from my phone has disturbed Samuel. The dim light reflects onto his beautiful face. His gaze lifts from my phone and meets mine. He doesn’t say anything, and yet there’s apprehension in his eyes. I wasn’t going to answer Ethan until my fingers start typing.

Eden: Hey, Ethan.

Thanks for your message.

I’m lucky to have so many people who love and care about me.

I assure you your concern is unwarranted because I’m fine.

Happy and on the adventure of a lifetime. Yes, I have met someone, and I’m learning so much about life from him.

I miss everyone!

I’ll be in contact soon.

I place my phone on the table and roll onto my side. My face is close to his, and my lips tingle with the light breeze of his every breath. I kiss him, so our lips barely brush. He doesn’t retreat, and I take it as a green light. My mouth slowly caresses his, and I shudder with need, a slight tremor to my touch. A hand takes my shoulder, and our bodies align. His kiss becomes frantic, the air zinging between us.

“I need you to make love to me,” I whisper against his lips.

He rolls onto me and sinks between my thighs.

To hell with the rules tonight.

33

Samuel

Whatwashethinking?

In one week, Samuel is to embark on a journey to the top of the tepui in search of a purple flower, one to heal the cells of the body. He learned about the unique plant from the shaman, knowledge gained during an ayahuasca ceremony where the vines and trees communicate to reveal secrets of the forest.

The pharmaceutical company believes the purpose of his stay is to find plants to cure disease. Samuel’s stay in Ulara has developed into something far more valuable. The people here have taught him the meaning of a soul, healing yourself from within, and connecting with all living things on earth in a way he never thought possible.

He has grown in character, in mental and physical strength, and learned to accept some things that can never be explained. His science-based thoughts questioned how and why with every miracle the shaman performed. Over the years, he understood some happenings have no justification by way of his education. He didn’t believe in magic. Happenstance in the jungle is far more powerful and connected him with other worlds his former associates mocked.

He understands the jungle more so than his previous privileged society. And by leaving that society, he became a different man, one indebted to the Ularans.

So why did he entice Eden to return with him?

It seems his selfish ways remain with him.

Eden sits ahead of him on the curiara, pointing and smiling toward the endless green when a monkey or colorful parrot catches her attention. He and Asoo laugh at her excitement, his gut tightening, hoping she maintains her cheerfulness during her stay.

Her acceptance into the Ularan community is yet to be decided.

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