Storm over the Caribbean

12. Into the Green Hell

I tried to tell myself it wasn't going to be so bad. I tried to tell myself we could do it. I tried to tell myself that, after all, this wasn't the first time I had stepped into a jungle, but...

The "but" was the problem.

But back then, we'd had supplies.

But back then, we'd had maps.

But back then, we'd had Karim.

And most of all, back then, we'd been prepared. We'd known what kind of predators we might meet and how to counter them. We'd known the political and geographical situation. We'd had easy access to drinking water, and, last but most certainly not least...

I had not been bloody pregnant!

"Tell me," I wheezed, sinking against a nearby tree trunk to keep myself from collapsing, "whose brilliant...huff, huff...idea was it again to...huff...go to this hellhole called...huff...the Caribbean?"

"I seem to remember you mentioning that 'a nice holiday in the Caribbean would be just the thing right now', Mrs Ambrose."

Crap! Why did he have to have such a good memory?

"Ehem, well..." I cleared my throat. "Let's get going again, shall we? We'd better not waste time talking."

"Indeed, Mrs Ambrose."

I took a last deep breath and, straightening, once again started forward into the jungle. The deeper we ventured into its depth, the more I hated this steaming green hellhole. Even without a corset, the thick dress and several layers of undergarments I was wearing were like a sweat-soaked prison trying to choke me to death. Add to that the weight of Ambrose Junior I was continuously lugging around, and I was not a happy camper.

Blasted jungle!

But then again...I had been in a jungle once before, hadn't I? And back then, I had already discovered an amazing remedy to the sweltering heat.

I smirked.

This jungle was already steaming. Why not make it a little more steamy?

I raised my hand to the top button of my dress.

"No!" an icy growl came from behind me.

I cocked my head, not turning around. "What do you mean? You don't even know what I'm planning to do?"

"I can guess. Don't even think about it."

"Oh don't worry," I assured him. "I've already finished thinking about it. Next comes the doing."

And, with those words, I opened my dress and let it slide down to the ground. Maternity gowns were such a wonderful thing. So loose, and easily disposable.

I heard a gruff, masculine sound from behind me as the dress dropped to the forest floor. Hm...what had it been? A bullfrog with hiccups, maybe?

"Aaah!" Stretching, I gyrated my hips and massaged my back. "That's so much better. Don't you agree, Dicky Darling?"

"Hnngr."

Oh dear, there was this mysterious sound again...

Picking up the dress, I wadded it up into a roll and, with one of the sleeves, tied the bundle together. With a glance back, I smiled at my husband. "Would you like to take off something too, dear? It's amazingly freeing in this heat. Maybe your tailcoat?"

Icy eyes bored into me, very welcome in the miserable heat of the jungle. "No, thank you."

"How about your underpants?"