“Listen to you, Ms. National Geographic.”
“He doesn’t seem to care about us.” Heart thrumming with excitement, she watched as the lion walked along the edge of the road, his movements powerful and fluid, his body all muscle. “He’s coming this way.”
“Why are you whispering?” Malik whispered.
She hadn’t realized she was.
“I don’t want to scare him,” she whispered back.
Malik grinned. “Does he look scared to you?”
Only when the lion drew close to the SUV could she see how truly enormous he was, how big his head was, and those paws—like dinner plates.
“Holy shit.”
The lion glanced up at her, his amber eyes looking right into hers as he passed, the tip of one of his ears missing, a scar on his nose.
A thrill shivered through her, a primal and wild terror that made her come alive.
“Wow,” she whispered, watching the big cat disappear into the darkness.
Malik spoke in his normal voice, startling her. “That was cool.”
“He looked straight into my eyes.”
“He was checking you out, wondering what you were doing on his turf.”
“For a moment, I felt this primitive reaction. It was like my DNA recognized the lion as a threat, even though I’m safe in the car.” She flipped down the goggles again. “God, that was exciting! Did you see how big he was?”
“You really are a thrill-seeker.” He took his foot off the brake, and they moved down the road once more.
“The last time you called me that, we had just joined the Three Hundred Club, and all I could think about was getting my hands on you.”
“I remember you holding your breasts to keep your nipples from getting frost bitten. I wanted them in my mouth.”
The road curved to the left and went slightly downhill, the trees falling back to create a kind of clearing. Kristi glanced back and forth, watching for wildlife, but saw nothing. The vehicle came to a sudden stop—and then the front end began slowly to sink.
“What’s happening?”
“I think we’re stuck in mud.” He tried reversing, but it didn’t help.
If anything, it made things worse.
“Why are we still sinking?”
“Stay inside, and let me know if you see Simba creeping up on me.”
“Right.” She glanced around, but saw no movement among the ghostly green shapes of the trees.
Malik climbed out, walked toward the front, then staggered back. “Fuck!”
She’d heard that even with the windows up.
He opened the door. “You’re not going to fucking believe this.”
“What?”
He lifted his right leg, showed her his boot. “Quicksand.”