JORDON JUMPED TO THE GROUND DEEP INSIDE the wonderfully cool inner cavern and immediately grabbed the flashlight hanging from her belt, flipping it on. She held it up and stared in awe at the glorious sight she found around her. The light reflected off the sparkling water of a pond, which was in the center of a magnificent cavern. She quickly scanned for animals or other hidden dangers, and thankfully found nothing that represented imminent risk—only obscure beauty hidden in darkness. Drawing a breath, she tried to calm her racing heart. The idea of finding that flower had her pulse pounding at double-time. A flower as potent as legend foretold would do more than offer pleasure; it might deliver alternatives to addictive pain medications. She was dreaming big, but she couldn’t help herself.
Despite her excitement, Jordon couldn’t fight her uneasiness. Shouldn’t the guide have come down first and ensured their safety? And why the change of heart about helping them? Why show them this secret location? Up until this point, he had acted as if their quest for the secret estela flower was some sort of great taboo. And quite truthfully, even now, she felt nervous. Could they trust him?
Before she could consider those questions any further, Olivia landed on her feet beside Jordon, discarding her heavy backpack. Immediately, Olivia’s flashlight flipped on, showing she shared the same jitters.
“Oh, my God,” Olivia whispered. “It’s beautiful. Or what I can see of it is.”
“I know,” Jordon said, following her friend’s lead and sliding her pack off her back. “Easy to believe something special like that flower would be down here, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah,” Olivia agreed, not quite suppressing a sudden shiver. “And about ten degrees cooler. Gotta love that.”
“I bet the water’s a little chilly, though, and that’s where the flower is supposed to be,” Jordon warned. “We can’t go in without proper gear. We’ll freeze.”
Abruptly, the rope jerked, and Jordon assumed the guide was headed down to join them, but instead it began to climb upward.
“Hey!” Jordon screamed, instinct kicking in as she dropped her flashlight and jumped—four years on the college track-and-field high-jump team being put to use as she leaped upward, trying to grab the rope.
“Oh, crap!” Olivia exclaimed as Jordon’s fingers merely grazed the tip of the rope. The rope slid farther out of reach, and Jordon plummeted to the ground with a hard thud and scrambled for her flashlight again.
“Hey!” Olivia shouted at the guide. “What are you doing up there? I thought you were coming down, too?” No response. “Are you insane? We need that rope.”
Jordon pointed her light upward at the entrance as she pushed to her feet. “This is so not good,” she murmured, not bothering to yell again. At this point, it was pretty obvious they were screwed.
As if in confirmation, the guide’s head appeared at the opening of the hole and he grinned. “You will get the rope back,” he promised. “When the shaman, Donato, says you get it back.”
“What?” Jordon gasped at the same time that Olivia demanded, “Who is Donato?”
Suddenly the cavern lit with flames; fire flickered at several corners and then followed a path around a ridge. Within seconds the entire cavern was alight, and Jordon and Olivia found themselves surrounded by natives. And not just any natives—tall, muscular men in barely-there loincloths stood in various parts of the cavern.
“To say this isn’t an ordinary cavern in the middle of the Mexican jungle would be an understatement,” Jordon murmured, swallowing hard as three loinclothed, godlike natives stepped closer, forming a line. She flicked a split-second glance over at Olivia and then back over the rock-hard abs and broad shoulders of “the gods.” “Tell me I fell and hit my head, and this is some sort of erotic fantasy, because I really don’t want all of these hot men to be cannibals about to kill us.”
“Not unless you pulled me down with you, and we both hit our heads,” Olivia said, delivering the hard truth. The two friends took a step closer together at the same moment. “You think one of them is Donato?”
The three men who’d formed the line eased apart, and a gray-haired man wearing a bright, floor-length robe of yellow and orange stepped forward. “I am Donato, and I possess the answers you seek. I can give you the estela.” Though he spoke English, his words were heavily laced with a native accent.
Jordon gave the man a cautious once-over. “Why do I think there is more to your offer than simple generosity?”
“Exactly,” Olivia inserted, her arms crossing protectively in front of her chest. “Why are we here? It’s clear you planned this.”
A hint of a smile played on the older man’s lips, a bit of appreciation in his eyes at their astuteness. “There are certain terms to my willingness to help you.”
“Terms,” Olivia said flatly. “Why would we accept your terms?”
This time the old man openly smiled. “Because we both know how badly you want the estela. Why else would you be in the middle of a jungle, hunting for what many believe to be only myth?”
“But it’s not a myth,” Jordon countered. “Is it?”
“The estela is real, as is its power to deliver great pleasure.” He held out his hand, closed his palm and then opened it. A glowing flower lay in his palm.
The two women shared a gasp of surprise. “How did you do that?” Olivia asked.
“With the same kind of magic found inside these glorious petals.” He held the flower between his fingers and threw it in the air. A second later it disappeared in a sprinkle of gold glitter. “Magic I can show you.” He paused. “If you are willing to meet my terms. For we are the guardians of estela. No one touches it without our approval.”
Jordon and Olivia exchanged a nervous look, silently agreeing they should at least hear the man out. Olivia wasn’t one to walk around a subject; she took the direct approach. “These terms you mention. Be more exact. What do we have to do to get to the flower?”
“To leave with estela in your possession, you must first understand the true magnitude of her abilities. You must experience her great powers. You must sample her essence, here with us. Learn of her seductive magic. Then you will know what she will do to your world.”
“Do to our world?” Jordon asked, not sure she followed where this was leading and certainly not keen on taking the equivalent of a drug, especially outside a controlled lab environment. “What will it do to our world?”
He fixed on Jordon a deep, soul-searching stare, his gaze almost inhuman, his eyes emitting an odd quality, almost a glow. “The flower’s magic must be managed,” he finally explained. “Once freed into your world, her powers would become invasive, controlling. Your world would forget all it knows, living for nothing but all-consuming passion.” His voice was low, yet foreboding. “You must experience this power here, where I can control estela’s reach. Then, and only then, will you understand why we guard her so closely.”
Olivia snorted. “Please. We have plenty of drugs in our country. None of them have consumed our world. Besides, we mean the flower to be used for medical purposes.”
The old man stared at Olivia as he had at Jordon, and Jordon felt Olivia shiver under his attention. “Estela decides how she is used,” he commented with eerie certainty. “If you want the flower, you will accept my terms. Sample the flower under my supervision.”
As scary as this was to Jordon—testing the flower here, outside a lab—the science it represented was more important. “And if we do this and still want the flower, you will give it to us?” A slow incline of his chin followed, but nothing more. No words. No promises. Yet she understood his agreement; she also understood that he believed they would not take the flower once they tested it.
Abruptly, Olivia grabbed Jordon’s arm, pulling her aside, turning Jordon so that their backs were to the man and his followers. “We can’t do this,” she whispered urgently. “It’s insane. I like to consider us smart women. For all we know, he plans to drug us and kill us.”
“Then why talk to us at all?” Jordon countered, knowing Olivia was the rational thinker, the one who advised caution, whereas Jordon took risks. Their differences made for balance, and a good team. “No one knows we are here. He could easily have already killed us. We said we’d come too far to turn our backs on this chance when we came down into this cavern. And now that is truer than ever. We know the flower is here. We’re so close, Olivia, I can taste it. Think of what this discovery can do for science.”
Olivia wasn’t finished reasoning. “What if we die? What if we’re allergic? And who says they will let us go when this is all over?”
Jordon had to smile at that. “If we have to die, doing it in the arms of a few hot men sounds like a good way to go.”
An appalled look flashed across Olivia’s face before she chuckled. “I can’t believe I am considering this.”
“I can,” Jordon insisted. “We both know we can’t leave without knowing we did all we could do to take this flower home with us.”
Seconds ticked by as Olivia fretted. Suddenly the rope dropped from the hole above them, giving them an exit route. The girls turned to face the gray-haired man. “You are free to leave,” he offered. “Without the flower. Or you may stay and sample estela.”
Jordon looked at Olivia, her brow raised in question. Olivia drew a breath and let it out, then clasped Jordon’s hand. “We’re staying.”
The man’s wrinkled face showed no signs of response. “Then we begin.” He turned without waiting for their reply, the expectation clear that they would follow. The sexy native men, who Jordon suspected would soon be their lovers, stood like statues, staring forward, eyes averted.
Hand in hand, Olivia and Jordon started forward, following the old man past the loinclothed “gods.” The instant they passed those glorious bodies, Jordon felt warm all over. She continued to be aware of the men, who now walked behind them. A brief moment of fear and panic overtook her, but those feelings were quickly smothered by a growing sense of excitement and more than a hint of arousal. Even without the flower’s influence, these agreed-upon “terms” were erotic and daring. They’d agreed to let that flower lead them to sensual places, to perform erotic acts with complete, utter strangers. And even if she wanted to claim it was for science, a part of her thrilled at the excitement of exploration, of an excuse to let her inhibitions go and escape into pleasure. If she felt this now, what would she feel with the flower influencing her?
Donato led Jordon and Olivia into a smaller cave within the cavern, only it looked more like a room with stone walls. Gorgeous stalactites hung like icicles, and the walls were covered in primitive erotic art. Rugs draped the floors and a small black wood-burning furnace sat in the corner, though there was no doubting the floral scent that seemed to seep from the smoke. The essence of estela, perhaps?
Jordon barely had time to consider that idea when her attention was riveted to the three chairs before her, two of which held the most gorgeous twin males she’d ever seen in her life. Long sable hair brushed their broad shoulders, while lean muscle glistened beneath olive-colored skin, their loincloths doing nothing to hide their perfection.
“If, by chance, you indeed hit your head and this is your fantasy,” Olivia whispered beside her, “thanks for including me.”
Donato sat down in the open chair between the twins. “These are my sons.” He waved to the right, to the male directly in front of Olivia. “Chale.” He inclined his head at Olivia. “And this is Amador.” Amador inclined his head at Jordon.
Donato continued, “My sons are masters of estela’s magic. If you accept them as your protectors and guides through this experience, you will show them so. You will fall at their knees now and submit to their rule.”