A Delicious Mistake Page 11

  Sarah wondered if she still really still wanted to find out what was really going on—with the poachers, with Benjamin, with everything and everyone. Perhaps she had reached a point where she was too scared of the truth. And yet, she knew that she owed it to Luke and to herself to seek out the whole truth. If she had any sense, she would never let her affair with Benjamin continue past the one night of recklessness that they had shared. It was only a physical thing, after all. At least so far. If she let it go on she knew she’d fall for him—she almost had. Now that she had gotten her physical attraction for him out of her system, perhaps she would be able to actually focus on what really mattered. What really mattered was that Luke’s killers, now that they had been caught, were prosecuted. And she would see if Benjamin was someone who mattered to her—and if she really mattered to him.

  As she rested her head against the soft pillows on her bed, her eyes closed. Depleted by her thoughts and exhausted by the long night and the morning's agitation, she finally fell asleep. For once, she did not dream.

  * * *

  To Benjamin, Sarah’s inexplicable withdrawal over the next few days was confusing. He had thought she would be happy about the news that had spread like wildfire. Even the Tanzanian press had had a field day with the arrest of a major gang of poachers. Benjamin just couldn’t understand Sarah’s contradictory response to him. The night they had shared had left him so sure they had managed to speak the same language. Without words, their needs had flowed freely in song and dance, passionate and unquestionable.

  However, it seemed a lot of questions lingered between them—secrets, even. Undoubtedly, Sarah wasn’t being straight with him. What could she possibly have to hide? She thwarted every attempt he made to see her alone, and he couldn’t say to her what he wanted to say with others around. She always had something else to do and somewhere else she needed to be. It was almost as if that night between them had never happened, like it was nothing but a figment of his imagination.

  Finally, he was fed up enough to seek her out in the library at the house, which Luke had also turned into his office. Benjamin walked in and shut the door behind him.

  From behind the desk, Sarah looked up from some papers. She sighed when she saw him. “Benjamin,” she said sounding all too detached. She didn’t look at all happy to see him.

  “I know, you have a lot to do,” he said dryly. “Well, as it happens, for your information, so do I. But how long are you going to keep avoiding me?”

  “It’s called being busy,” she told him. She sounded too much like the prim English girl she had seemed when he saw her after she returned to Africa.

  She shuffled some papers and placed them inside a desk drawer, locking it with a key. She rose to go over to one of the shelves and pulled out a record book. She flicked through the pages with studied concentration.

  Despite his best effort to stay stern, Benjamin’s lips twitched. He found himself tempted to put her across his knee and spank some sense into her. Instead, he drew in a deep breath. “To me, it looks more like you’re running away.”

  Sarah faced him squarely, her green eyes blazing. “What would I be running away from exactly?”

  Benjamin walked forward. She froze. He didn’t stop, not till he stood a mere few inches away from her. He looked down at her beautiful face. “You tell me. What is it about you and me that scares you so much?”

  “That’s just it. There is no ‘you and me.’” A pink blush stole over her throat and cheekbones. “That one night happened, end of story. I should never have let myself get sidetracked.”

  Benjamin flinched as though she had just slapped him. “You shared a gift with me that you had never given to anyone else. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

  Sarah lifted her chin. “There is no question that you’re quite skilled at seduction. It would have been downright impossible to resist you. But it was a one-off event that I have no intention of repeating. I came here on a mission, not to be your nightly amusement. So you should put it behind you, as I have.”

  “Have you, really?” Benjamin asked. He lifted one eyebrow.

  As he watched, a pulse began to beat like soft dove wings underneath the white, delicate skin of her throat. She fidgeted with the record book in her hands. Beneath the thin white cotton T-shirt that she wore tucked into her blue jeans, Sarah’s nipples visibly hardened. He stepped closer so she would feel the heat of his body—the heat she drew from him.

  Benjamin drew in a sharp breath, taking in her scent. It filled him with vivid memories of a lush oasis of palm trees and lily-strewn streams. His gaze fastened on her lips, which parted as soft pants began to escape her. He moved closer. In response, she backed into the bookshelf behind her. He closed the gap between them and gripped the ledge of the bookcase on either side of her head. Trapped against him, her expression looked a mixture of anger and arousal.

  Why does she hate so much to want me? What is it about us that is so wrong in her eyes?

  “You are far more than a pleasant pastime, Sarah, I think you know that,” he said softly, his gaze never wavering from hers. “Something tells me you can feel that this can be something much, much more. You wouldn’t have been able to surrender yourself to me if you didn’t trust me.”

  Sarah swallowed. He saw her throat work. She wet her lips with the pink tip of her tongue and it took all his control not to lean down and grab that tongue with his lips and pull it into his own mouth. In a voice not quite steady, she said, “I may not be able to govern my body’s responses to yours, but I can’t bring myself to think you’re really as perfect as you seem. What are you really made of, Benjamin? What is it you have to hide?”

  Benjamin grinned. “You think I’ve got some skeleton in my closet? Is that why you’ve been acting so suspicious of me ever since you’ve arrived? First you blamed me for Luke’s death. Now even with the culprits apprehended nothing seems to have changed for you. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted me to be guilty.”

  Sarah flushed red. She pulled as far away as she could, but the movement pushed out the curves of her up-tilted breasts so they almost brushing Benjamin’s shirted chest. He drew in a sharp breath.

  “I just want the truth,” Sarah said, her voice more breathy than usual. “Is that too much to ask?”

  Benjamin’s eyes darkened at her words. The truth? What could she possibly mean by that? “Sarah, I…” He let the words drift off because he didn’t know what to tell her.

  His studied her face for some clue about what she wanted—that pert button of a nose, those kissable lips, her jewel-like green eyes, the soft wave in her long auburn hair that made his fingers itch to run through those silky locks. For a moment, his head pounded with the memory of the night they shared. It seemed to have happened a lifetime ago.

  “What I’m asking,” Benjamin said quietly, “is for you to tell me what you’re thinking and feeling. Don’t lock it all inside.” He straightened and let his hands fall away. “Whenever you are ready to talk, I’ll be here. You don’t have to ever feel alone.”

  He held her gaze for one moment longer. He thought he saw a flicker of need shimmer in the emerald depths of her eyes before she averted her gaze and looked away, her breathing rapid and shallow.

  Quelling a harsh sigh, Benjamin turned and quickly exited.

  Once he was gone, Sarah sank back against the bookshelf.

  She put a shaking hand to her chest. Her body went limp as the breath rushed from her. She couldn’t stop thinking about the tortured look on Benjamin’s handsome face, nor about how his voice had been husky with emotion. Could she dare to set aside her lingering doubts? Could she even contemplate telling him all her worries and demand to know if he loved her?

  What if he said yes?

  Sarah drew in a deep breath and shook off the slight tremors that still racked her body from the close contact with Benjamin. Whenever he was near, it made it so hard for her to think. He was the only man she had ever allowed to get p
assed all her barriers. He had broken them down and claimed her with his passion. Ever since then, she had felt partially undone. Her feelings for him terrified her.

  Abandoning the library, she sought the solace and privacy of her bedroom. She paced the humid, rich night away with tireless footsteps. Her body taut, her nipples tight and urgent, she tried not to give into the memory of Benjamin’s masculine scent which still filled her nostrils. She was used to being so much more in control. Yet each night, her body would betray her, thundering with an aching, yearning desire just to have him close. She longed for his strength as much as to once again experience his sexual mastery.

  Her neediness was a weakness she could not bear to give in to. She couldn’t surrender to the spiraling, urgent craving that teased her. She had to be wise. Much as her heart might pound when she thought of how near he was, she never sought him out, not even when her nights grew loaded with decadent shivers. The wild rush of blood would pound inside her, and she knew if she went to his hut, she could spend the night warmed by his powerfully encompassing arms.

  But then what?

  That question now tormented her.

  What if she kept going to him, again and again? It would be passion at first, and then it would be a hopeless love. She wanted him to confide in her, but if she told him how she felt he could use that against her. Why couldn’t she bring herself to trust him with her heart as she had her body?

  But she’d been brought up a proper English girl. Emotions weren’t shown—passion such as this wasn’t expressed and shouldn’t even be felt. Somehow Africa was getting into her blood as it had with Luke—and look where that had led him?

  She shivered. She didn’t want to end up dead, hacked to pieces. She knew now that she feared the passion Africa had stirred in her. She should pack up and go home. She should leave. She’d forget Benjamin. She’d marry—or maybe not. She could spend the rest of her life looking after her parents, being comfortable. But so very alone.

  That thought didn’t entice her.

  Yet, somehow, she found the strength to hold back and not run to Benjamin the way she wanted to. But how long could she hope to keep her feelings at bay?

  Sarah bit hard on her lip and let her gaze shift to the ancient grandfather clock ticking against the wall opposite to the bed. She didn’t have much time. She needed to find all her answers. But first she needed to find her courage. And she would have to do that in her own way.

  * * *

  Her voice followed him everywhere. Sometimes she was a whisper, a quiet thirst that unexpectedly rose in his throat. And then suddenly he would remember every detail about her—the delicate silk of her hair trailing across his skin, the way her delightful curves felt beneath his fingertips, and how she tasted against his lips and underneath his tongue. Benjamin didn’t want to be filled with thoughts of Sarah, but as much as she tried not to think about her, she was never far away from his mind.

  As he drove across the untouched wilderness of the Serengeti plains in his favorite open Land Rover, he chose instead to dwell on the last couple of days and on how the news had spread rapidly that he was an innocent man. No longer did the shadow of suspicion hang over his head. But he still did not know what Sarah Hutton thought.

  There he went, thinking about her again. He truly was hopeless.

  He pounded a fist against the steering wheel to vent part of his mounting frustration. Never had he felt so exasperated. No one made his emotions rise the way Sarah did. How could she not see how she made him feel?

  Benjamin sighed and looked into the distance. The setting sun glittered through the shiny shrubs that dotted the horizon. One of the delights of the Serengeti was its sunsets. He longed to share a moment such as this with Sarah. There was so much he wanted to show her. His life ranging the park had always left him filled with purpose. Now he questioned its meaning without that one person who somehow made it all complete. When it came to Sarah, it wasn't just about how she excited him physically. He didn't want her just for her extraordinary beauty or the precious construction of flesh and bone. His feelings weren’t just tied to the topography of curves on her frame. It also wasn’t all about the way her eyes and lips spoke to him with the deepest sensuality. He didn't want just her body—he wanted her to yield to him her sweet, ravishing heart.

  Given the chance, he would have loved to know where things between them could lead. But how could there be anything if trust did not first exist?

  With a sigh, Benjamin shook off his morose thoughts and turned the Land Rover back toward home as darkness began to cloak the plains completely. He very much feared that Luke’s death was still a shadow that would forever stand between him and Sarah.

  * * *

  “It’s good of you to come, despite the lateness of the hour.” Gideon Mara nodded to Benjamin and gestured for Benjamin to sit down inside the cramped hut.

  Benjamin eyed the man before him. He stayed standing. “I’m glad you have sent for me.”

  Gideon had the proud bearing of the tall, slender Maasai. Benjamin knew Gideon had gained a western education before he returned to take his place as leader of his tribe. He also often worked as a nomad guide, aiding mobile safari companies whose travelers liked to follow herd migration as closely as possible.

  Like Gideon, Benjamin now wore the traditional shuka—a red checkered blanket—across his shoulders. It was a sign of respect both for Gideon and the Maasai people.

  “You have news?” Benjamin asked hopefully.

  Gideon’s tribe kept to the life of a nomad, following their herds of cows. This was in marked contrast to the Bantu who had adopted a more settled, agricultural life. Over many years Gideon’s tribe had helped with apprehending and tracking any poachers they encountered. In fact, poachers were known to fear the possibility of being found by the Maasai more than they feared the anti-poaching rangers or government enforcement units.

  Turning, Gideon nodded to one of his men. The man went outside. Minutes later, the man hustled in another young man who looked around him, his eyes so wide that white shone bright. Welts and swollen bruises marked his face. He cowered in the grip of the powerful warrior who held him captive.

  “He was caught by warriors of my tribe while attempting to raid cattle off the western Bunda plains,” Gideon explained.

  “Please, spare me!” the young man cried out in his native tongue. “I needed to raise some money to pay the bride wealth for my marriage. I’m a poor farmer with no other way to get the cash. I’m no poacher.”

  Benjamin frowned. “Cow theft is not something that can be brushed aside. If you’re handed to the village officials, you will be beaten. Which is far less than you deserve.”

  The man young man shivered and slumped lower.

  Gideon turned to Benjamin. “He says he has information. About what happened on the night the Luke was killed.”

  Benjamin’s head shot up. “What?”

  “He knows we’ve been asking about how Luke died. This man says he saw it happen.” He glanced at the man. “Tell him what you told us.”

  The man glanced around him. “I…I wasn’t hunting. But I was out. And I heard the engines they were near water and I thought I might ask tourists for food. I came upon them—poachers. I knew it as soon I saw them loading bush meat and tusks into their trucks. I saw Luke—I think he was able to track them down from one of their snare lines. They saw him and a shootout started and Luke was injured. They captured him and then they argued. One man, he was the one who got tired of the others saying to go and just leave Luke. He pulled out his blade and said he would make it look a lion attack. He struck at Luke, again and again. They left him there near the water. I—I am sorry. I stayed in the brush. I thought they would kill me next if I ever spoke of this.”

  “But now the poachers are in jail,” Gideon said.

  The main nodded and hung his head.

  Benjamin froze. Once he was able to regain some control over his emotions, he punched a fist into the man’s chest.
“Is this true?”

  The man nodded hastily. “It is, all of it. I feared backlash from the poachers and could not come forward with the information earlier, before they were caught.”

  Gideon sighed. “Sadly, it would seem that it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for Luke Hutton.”

  “What do you intend to do with him?” Benjamin asked after a few moments.

  “He is an eyewitness. Though the police have evidence from the blood, I’m sure they would like to hear from him. He can point out the man who killed Luke.”

  Benjamin nodded, feeling weary in his bones. He watched the warriors take the man out again. He turned to go, but Gideon held him back.

  “One more thing. There is someone else here that you might be interested in seeing. Sarah Hutton.”

  Benjamin staggered back a step. “Sarah’s here?”

  As he spoke, a side door opened and Sarah stepped into the room. She rubbed her palms down the thighs of her jeans. She glanced from Gideon to Benjamin and then straightened. “Luke wrote to me about Gideon—in his letters. I was sure he might know something about how and why Luke was killed.”

  “She got in contact with me through one of my clan brothers who works at the Hutton Game Lodge,” Gideon said. “I arranged to meet her here after we caught that man who was an eyewitness. I thought she needed to know. We all did.”

  Sarah nodded. “There’s something more. That man saw the face of the person in charge of the poachers. He can identify him, and he said the man is a top local official. We’re hoping this can help expose those behind the poachers. That would at least give Luke’s death some meaning.”