Man of Passion. Lindsay McKenna

sky was clearing of soft white clouds that hung low over the dark green jungle along the river. She gasped when a flock of brightly colored scarlet macaws flew in a V formation right over her head toward the jungle in the distance.

      Rafe came and stood next to her. “I see the goddess of the river has welcomed you to her breast.”

      Ari turned and looked up at him, a quizzical expression on her face. “River goddess?”

      As the cabby came up with the luggage, Rafe told him to take it aboard the houseboat. Returning his attention to Ari, he saw the soft tendrils of her hair curling in the humidity. The maddening urge to tunnel his fingers through that thick, blond hair was almost his undoing. Instead, he cleared his throat and pointed to the quickly disappearing flight of parrots.

      “The Juma believe that the mighty Amazon is a goddess. They pay her tribute by gifting her with bits of cornmeal or other food. The legend is that when she wants to leave her watery confines, she turns herself into a macaw to fly over her domain, to look after it, care for it and all her beings, including the two-leggeds. If Chief Aroka was here, he’d be shouting for joy that that squadron of macaws zoomed over your head at such a low altitude. He’d take that as a sign, a blessing, that the Amazon River goddess is welcoming you to her breast.”

      Sighing, Ari closed her eyes. “How wonderful…how absolutely beautiful! That must go in the book. Oh, how I wish my mother could be here….” She opened her eyes and held his dark gaze. “I know she’d have sighed with joy over what you just told me. These are the kinds of stories I want for my book, Rafe! Please, just keep sharing these legends and myths with me, will you? This is what I’ve come down here for.” She flung her arms open and stepped forward. “The Amazon is so beautiful! So wide. So grand! And how powerful she feels to me!” Whirling around, the wind catching her skirt and lifting it to reveal her slender ankles, Ari laughed. It was a laugh of joy, of surrender to the eternal beauty of the Amazon jungle that now surrounded her. “I’m in love! Truly in love! This all feels so wonderful to me!”