It turned out dinner wasn’t the only thing she missed. Carla walked to building eight the next morning having gotten only a couple hours of sleep. Her eyes burned, she could barely stop yawning, but she wasn’t complaining. Jackson had been on fire. He had an insatiable drive, almost as if he were trying to make up for those two years of abstinence in a single evening. He’d given her a night to remember, with his stamina, and creativity, the way he had kissed her right where—
“Heads up, Carla!”
She snapped her gaze into focus just in time to avoid walking straight into a live oak. Behind her, she heard Lisa’s footsteps as she ran to catch up.
“Are you okay?” Lisa frowned with concern. “You just about planted your face in the tree.”
“I’m fine, fine,” Carla laughed it off. “Just had my head in my thoughts, that’s all.”
“Must have been some pretty good thoughts.” Carla shrugged, cheeks burning.
“Ooh. Those kind of thoughts.” Lisa’s smile widened as she raised a knowing eyebrow. “Then I can understand walking into a tree.”
Carla said nothing, surprised she actually felt her cheeks go warm. Luckily Lisa immediately changed the subject as they headed toward building eight.
“It’s your lucky day today,” she said. “Oh?”
She nodded. “Jackson’s doing several extractions this morning, so you’ll get to see how it’s all done.”
At that, any lingering thoughts of lust evaporated like a cloud of steam. Carla was regretting the cheesy scrambled eggs she’d had for breakfast. She swallowed, trying to will away the knot in her stomach. “I can’t wait,” she said faintly.
“Don’t worry, there’s nothing you have to do,” Lisa assured her. “You’re just observing. It’s fascinating; you’ll see.”
They reached the building and went inside. Cheng Li sat at the monitors, as well as another woman whom Carla hadn’t yet met.
Lisa made introductions. “Kelly, this is Carla Saunders, who’s interning with us this month. Carla, this is Kelly Grassle. She’s a researcher specializing in venom medicine. She’s done a lot of work with bees, but has recently turned her attention to cobras.”
“Hey.” Kelly barely gave her a glance as she kept her attention glued to the monitors. Clad in skinny jeans just barely grazing her hips and a clingy low-cut top leaving nothing to the imagination, her attire was more siren than scientist. “You’re a student?”
“No,” Carla said. “I’m actually a management consultant.”
“A what?” At that Kelly looked up, eyes flashing annoyance. “Are you here to talk to us about maximizing efficiency or some other bullshit?”
Kelly had an edge, no doubt about it. Carla shook her head. “No bullshit from me,” she said, keeping her tone light.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I—”
“She’s here at my request.”
All eyes turned to the door where Jackson had just walked in. His demeanor was calm, but exuding respect. He stepped forward, moving toward them with that wolf-like gait that always made Carla feel as if she were being stalked. A shivery tingle slid down her spine, remembrances of the night before.
Jackson joined them at the monitors. There were faint dark smudges beneath his eyes, but nothing else betraying his lack of sleep.
“Morning, Jackson,” Kelly said, her tone bright as sunshine, entirely different than it had been seconds ago to Carla.
He ignored the greeting. “Let’s get to work. Kelly, you’ve retrieved the cobras?”
“Cheng Li and I brought them in from the enclosure first thing this morning.”
“Good.” He turned to Carla. “Did Lisa fill you in on what we’re doing this morning?”
“You’re taking venom samples?”
“Yes. Kelly and I will be in the extraction room, but the adjoining room has an observation window so you can see what we’re doing.”
He was all business, and Carla took her cues from him despite her knees knocking with fear. “Sounds good. Is there anything you need me to do beforehand, or afterward?”
“I’ll have Lisa show you how to sterilize the equipment once we’re finished. But for now, just watch.” He gave her a nod and turned away but not before Carla saw, just for a moment, a burn of desire in his eyes. Her mouth went dry.
“Come on,” Lisa said to Carla. “I’ll show you where you can watch.” While Jackson and Kelly entered the main extraction room, Lisa showed Carla the door to a smaller adjoining room separated by a large pane of glass through which they could see everything.
“I know snakes aren’t your thing,” Lisa said as they sat down, “but you still might find this interesting. Jackson’s the best extractor around. He makes a really dangerous job look easy.”
Carla’s skin prickled with alarm. “Dangerous how?”
“Well, of course either one of them could get bit.”
“Bit?!”
“Don’t worry,” Lisa reassured her. “It’s a rare occurrence, and we’ve got antivenin if something does happen.”
There was no time for Carla to respond as she noticed Jackson and Kelly were set to begin. From somewhere beyond her vision, Jackson had retrieved one of the cobras and lifted it over to a stainless steel table by way of a pole with a hook at one end holding the body of the long snake.
Cold sweat beaded her forehead and her stomach twisted in sick revulsion. The cobra’s eyes, twin dots on either side of its head, gleamed like chips of black ice. Its forked tongue flickered as Jackson brought it to the table. She needed every ounce of will in her body not to run screaming from the room. Instead, she focused on her breathing, slow, steady breaths, forcing herself to maintain calm. But her heart nearly leapt from her chest when Jackson’s fingers wrapped at the base of the cobra’s head.
She gasped and turned to Lisa. “Won’t he get bit doing that?”
“No, not in that way. By holding it as he is, it’s impossible for the cobra to twist her head around and bite him.”
Jackson set the snake on the stainless steel table where Kelly awaited him, armed with a pole of her own fitted at the end with a rectangular plate covered in soft padding. It almost looked like a wet-dry mop.
“That’s for holding the snake’s body down on the table,” Lisa explained. “King cobras are so long, one person is needed to hold its body against the table while the handler deals with getting the head to the extraction receptacle.”
While Kelly held the snake’s body down, Jackson brought her head to a funnel-shaped collection vessel. As he held the cobra’s head right to the vessel, the snake bit against the side of it and her fangs oozed venom that slid down the inside of the funnel. Slowly the thick, yellowish substance dripped through the bottom of the funnel and into a glass collection jar.
Carla’s heartbeat roared in her ears, jackhammer thuds pounding so hard and fast it was difficult to breathe. In a trembling voice she asked, “How does he get the snake to stop biting?”
“He doesn’t. She stops when she wants to. If Jackson were to try to force the snake away from it, he risks damaging her fangs. That’s something he would never do.”
She watched in slowly growing fascination as Jackson waited with laser-focused intensity while the cobra released her venom. When the snake finally let go, Kelly handed him the pole with the hook and he placed it beneath the cobra’s body, then carried the snake over to a large glass terrarium where he gently lowered the creature inside.
A nervous trickle of sweat slipped down between Carla’s breasts. “Oh, sweet heaven, I feel like I can finally breathe.”
“Not so fast,” Lisa cautioned her. “Jackson’s doing ten extractions today. That was only the first.”
At that reminder, the taste of fear coated her tongue. Carla told herself Jackson would be all right, he’d done this hundreds if not thousands of times before. But she knew the anxiety would not leave her until he finished for the day. She was also aware she cared about what happened to him a little too much for her own good. For her own heart. She tried to shrug the thought away, like shaking rain off a coat after coming in from a storm. But it wasn’t shaking off quite so easily.
The next several extractions went as smoothly as the first. By the time the last one approached, Carla was shocked to discover she actually enjoyed it. There was something almost dance-like about the orchestrated movements between the snake, the handler, and the assistant, a curious beauty tinged with lurking danger unlike anything she’d seen before.
Just as Jackson had done several times that morning, he retrieved a cobra from the holding tank, keeping the animal’s upper body lifted with his hook while both he and Kelly held on to the lower end. He guided the head of the snake toward the extraction vessel while Kelly kept the snake’s body on the table by applying gentle pressure with her holding device.
Suddenly, the snake’s massive body twisted with violent force against the holding pole, hood flared and black scales flashing as it slipped from Jackson’s grip and dropped to the floor.
“Get back!” Jackson held his palm up toward Kelly. His focus never left the cobra as the snake coiled and hissed, its forked tongue flicking angrily in and out of its mouth.