wanted to go. They rode slowly along the narrow path that led into the heart of the jungle. Caroline swatted at swarming insects as her horse followed the path with no prodding from her. It had obviously traveled this way frequently.
The sound of voices and rushing water reached her as the beneficio, a low, wide stone building covered by a flat, red-tiled roof, came into view. All around the central structure, workers in straw hats used hoes to spread the golden coffee beans over broad patios that extended in every direction.
The aroma of coffee permeated the thick, sultry air as they approached. Caroline studied the orchards that surrounded the building. Other workers wound their way between the rows of trees, picking the ripe coffee berries and filling baskets slung over their shoulders.
She watched the narrow trail ahead as they turned a corner, and she pulled her mount to an abrupt stop. Her eyes fastened on the man who stood on one of the unused patios.
Jason Sinclair. He was completely naked.
Chapter Two
She couldn't move, couldn't tear her eyes away from his powerful, superb body. Her heart lurched, pounding forcefully against the wall of her chest as her mouth went dry and her face grew hot.
Water gushed from an overhead spigot in a steady stream that pummeled his body with bruising force. His every movement spoke of symmetry and strength. How could she have imagined he was less elegant than his cousin? Despite his larger frame and dwarfing height, he possessed all the predatory grace of a jaguar. His shoulders and arms were powerful enough to challenge an ox, and his broad, muscled back, made darker than his legs by constant exposure to the tropical sun, tapered into a narrow waist and sleek, narrower hips and buttocks.
She made no sound, but he seemed to sense her presence and turned to face her. A light feathering of golden hair covered his chest, growing darker and thicker as it plunged down his flat belly to cradle his sex.
Even after two years of marriage she had never seen a man naked, not completely naked, not like this, never like this. As a medical student, she'd learned the rudiments of the male anatomy; it had always seemed a shameful, embarrassing thing. But here was masculinity in its purest form, stripped of the restraints of civilization.
Her gaze returned to his face and locked with his rigid, unreadable expression before he cursed under his breath and reached for a towel. His movement broke the spell that had possessed her, leaving her dazed and mortified. With a violent jerk on the reins, she turned and plunged into the jungle, not knowing where she was going but trusting the horse to find its way back to the stable.
The horse had barely come to a stop when she leaped from the saddle and ran through the archway onto the patio. There she stopped, gazing around at the deserted courtyard, wondering where to go, what to do, to erase the images from her mind.
Her heart pounded erratically in her breast, not from running, but from some unnamable sensation. Leaning against the stone table before her, she took several deep, calming breaths.
She wouldn't think of it, she would not!
It took her all morning to regain some measure of composure. As long as she stayed busy, she could keep her thoughts from wandering back to the beneficio and Jason Sinclair's nakedness.
She occupied herself by playing the piano until her fingers ached, and even then she played on, pouring into it all the emotions she couldn't express or even identify. The music consumed her, coiling itself around her, inside her, until she and the music became one. By the time Ines came to announce luncheon, she felt almost completely serene once again.
But her fragile composure evaporated when she entered the dining room to find that Jason Sinclair had chosen today to grace her with his presence for the afternoon meal.
Her face flushed with the memory of what had taken place that morning, Caroline made her way to her customary seat at the long table on legs that had turned to rubber. He stood as she hesitated beside her chair until one of the servants pulled it out for her and they sat simultaneously.
A taut silence stretched between them as the meal was served. Caroline couldn't resist studying him. He seemed to concentrate all his energy and attention on his food, while she was forced to concentrate all of hers on merely breathing in his presence.