Free River of Desire: A Romantic Action Adventure/Thriller by J. K. Winn

for security. He was gone for what seemed an eternity and she trembled at the thought he too had been attacked by the snake. When he finally returned, she let out a sigh of relief.
    He bent over and wrapped her ankle in leaves and gauze. “For the rest of the night, I’ll stay in the tent with you.”
    The flush of alcohol had made the ache in her ankle more bearable. Before she knew what he intended, he lifted her into his arms.
    She protested and squirmed, but the more she did, the tighter he held her. “I can walk. I can…”
    “ Trust me to handle this. I don’t want you to put any pressure on that ankle.” He carried her into the tent and lowered her to the bag. Once down, he helped her into her sleeping bag before he ducked down beside her. “Rest. I’ll be right here.”
    In Leah’s alcohol haze, Dylan looked like a guardian angel to her. So he was an angel with an attitude, what did that matter? He was her only hope, her salvation. She couldn’t stand to see him sit there in the increasingly cold night air. “Want to join me in my sleeping bag?”
    Her request met silence, but a moment later, he crawled in next to her. The friction of his bare leg against hers heated up the sleeping bag. Until that moment, it hadn’t registered that his sleeping attire consisted only of a long flannel shirt over jockeys.
    “ Are you okay?” he asked.
    “ Just woozy, but feeling little pain right now, thank you. How about you?”
    “ You’re the patient, not me.” He unexpectedly wrapped her in his arms. “Now get some rest. It’ll soon be dawn.”
    She relaxed against him. The manly smell of earth and fire emanating from his skin soothed her, at the same time it sent a strange sensation skittering along her nerve endings. His strong arms held her in a secure embrace. As she drifted off to sleep, her mind filled with the shimmery image of his naked, muscular body pressed against hers.
     
    * * *
     
    In the first dim dawn light, Dylan held Leah close to his chest and listened to her breathe softly through slack mouth. Holding her during the night had rekindled his memory of holding a dying Jason. He couldn’t allow Leah to meet the same fate as his friend, couldn’t fail her, too. By her brave reaction the night before, she had proven herself a worthy companion. He had to do what he could to save her.  
    He leaned over and gently shook her. “I need to look at that bite.” He touched Leah’s forehead with his lips, then drew her leg gently from the bag. With gauze unwound, the ankle looked swollen, fiery red. It seared, hot to the touch. A scarlet ribbon ran up her calf.
    Desperation seized Dylan. If he didn’t do something soon, the poisoned blood would travel too far. He might not be able to reverse the damage. She had most likely been stricken by a South American pit viper, the Barba Amarilla or, as the local’s called it, Yellow Beard because of its strange markings. An innocent name for a creature that caused more jungle deaths than any other snake. He had to act quickly.
    He rewrapped her ankle, but when he tucked it back into the sleeping bag, she groaned. The sound reverberated in his head like the screech of brakes in a car accident. He had better do something soon. Since he hadn’t been able to find the real medicinal plant in the dark, the leaves he had used the night before were useless, except to calm Leah’s anxiety. He had better find it now.
    When he crawled from the tent, hazy light barely touched the treetops. From their supplies, he extracted an empty jam jar, which he had intended to pack out of the jungle. He tucked it into his backpack next to his jungle knife.
    Making his way through the trees, he didn’t spot one Jergon Sacha. Damn, we would pick a place where they don’t grow . 
    There was sure to be plants downstream. He ran to the river, hooked the small motor onto the raft’s rear to maximize speed, and pushed off shore.
    At an inlet, he jumped ashore to search for the