Prologue
Dr. Stephanie Carmichael loves life without limits. She is driven and excels in everything she puts herself to, especially her science as a world renown archeologist and anthropologist. Dr. Steph, as she prefers to be known, is an anomaly among her elite colleagues. At only 35, she has climbed the academic ladders to have one of the coveted chairs on the faculty of archeology at Cambridge University. While an expert in many areas of ancient archeology and anthropology, her primary specialty is ancient Latin American cultures. Dr. Steph is fearless and often unorthodox in her pursuits, earning her innumerable awards and a bit of a scandalous reputation.
If she didn't stand out enough already from her academic colleagues, Dr. Steph is much more of an athlete with a bent toward cross fit and extreme sports than the usual bookworm way of life of her colleagues. Her body shows it. She is 5'10" tall blonde, with transparent blue eyes, tan olive skin and a broad disarming smile. She has a slender fit body with large firm breasts that appear almost too large for her frame, except for the way she carries herself. Her tight ass and long tan legs also have a way of capturing the attention of her students and other members of the elite faculty. She has a genius mind and perfect body of an athlete. She doesn't mind showing both off.
Dr. Steph is a risk taker. For example, unlike other faculty who safely choose interns and fellows based on grade point average, Dr. Steph looks for assistants who are up and coming risk takers who not only think outside the box, but find ways to live outside of them. They are not hard to find in the academic elite, but often overlooked because of their unpredictability. Dr. Steph purposefully looks for them to share in the massive workload of discovery as well as archeological digs around the world. For this trip, she needed three who would join her on a discovery mission deep in the Ecuadorian jungles in search of ruins and other evidence of undiscovered ancient primitive tribes. Most of her colleagues discounted her hypothesis of undiscovered ancient tribes in the unchartered Ecuadorian jungles. Even so, any search for them would be impossible and dangerous due to the thickness of the dense jungle. Most who have attempted to go in to these jungles have quickly gotten lost and disoriented, never to be seen again. The danger and impossibility of the research only served to heighten her interest.
Dr. Steph hand selected three students for the adventure. Jen is her favorite current PhD student who shares an interest in ancient Latin American archeology and anthropology. She is fascinated by tribal traditions and folk lore. She is also one of the brightest student scholars who had come across Dr. Steph's path, but also has a rebellious and infectious sense of humor. Jen is a 25 years old gorgeous petite black woman only 5'1" tall. Everything about her is petite except her imagination and adventurous nature.
Dr. Steph selected two undergraduate students to join them in the expedition. The first is Bruce, an ancient archeology student. Bruce is an impressive lacrosse player. He is 6'1" with a muscular build, blond hair and hazel eyes. His roommate Carl is also on the lacrosse team, and an aspiring anthropology student with a promising future. Carl is a tall 6'5" and also muscular, with brown hair and blue eyes. In addition to their intelligence and reputation as a bit unconventional, Dr. Steph thought having these two males in the jungle would be helpful for their strength.
"I have hand picked you," she said to the three sitting around a table at a local Irish pub near the university. The three students were excited for the opportunity to go on one of Dr. Steph's famous expeditions. They spent some time introducing themselves to the others before Dr. Steph launched into her final orientation for the expedition.
"This is a dangerous trip," she concluded. "I want to be up front about this," she continued. "We plan to go in, do our work and then make it back. However, there are no guarantees. Anything could happen. Greatness is reserved for those willing to take the risks. I would rather die taking risks than live by avoiding them. So, as we go, I need to know you are all in."
The table buzzed with escalating nervous excitement as the three students hung on her every word. "I'm in," Bruce said impulsively, raising his glass. "I'm in," Jen and Carl both answered simultaneously, as they raised their mugs to toast.
"I'm glad," Dr. Steph said with her broad smile. "All I can say is that whatever happens, your lives will never be the same.
Day One
A week later the four boarded a plane for Quito. When they arrived, they were hit with a wave of the sweltering Ecuadorian summer heat, thick with humidity. They rented a Land Rover and then strapped on a rented canoe before driving several hours through remote mountainous jungle roads. The paved road turned to dirt, and then after a few more hours, turned into little more than a walking path. The over brush was thick. With each mile, the jungle foliage became denser. They finally reached the end of a path, where it was impossible for the Land Rover to go any further. They unstrapped the canoe and hiked five miles through rugged terrain until they reached an enchanted river far from any human contact.
They camped there for the night using two tiny tube tents. Due to the blistering heat and humidity, they brought only small pads to sleep on. Sleeping bags were too bulky to carry and too warm for the tropical summer heat. For safety reasons they decided to have a man and woman in each tent. They decided they would alternate each night as bunkmates in the tents. It would also make it more comfortable for the men, sharing the tight space with one of the smaller women. Carl picked the tent with Dr. Steph; Bruce moved in for the night with Jen.
"You'll be more comfortable sleeping in just your tank top and underwear," Dr. Steph said with experienced wisdom. She turned on a small flashlight in their tent and pulled off her hiking boots. There was no way to stand up in the tiny tube tent, so the only way she could pull her shorts off was to lay back on the thin pad and pull them down her long firm tan legs. Carl was surprised to see she was wearing a thong for panties. Without hesitation, she nonchalantly unsnapped her bra through the fabric of her tank top, pulled her arms out of each strap and then pulled her bra out from under the front of the tank top. Despite her best effort, Bruce caught a glimpse of some of the pale skin of her ample breast.
Carl couldn't help the lust he felt as he watched his gorgeous mentor strip down to her thin tank top and thong, displayed almost naked before him in the dimly lit tiny tent. He also couldn't help the growing hard reaction of his dick to the beautiful view of her lying there.
"Let's go," she said, with a knowing smile of what the view of her would do to any 22 year-old male student. "We have a big day tomorrow."
Carl quickly took his boots off, lay back on his pad and followed her example to pull his shorts off. It was impossible for him to hide the tent his boxers had become with the fully erect pole of his dick beneath. Embarrassed, he quickly tried to adjust the thin fabric, accidentally causing his dick to push through the front opening of his boxers, exposing himself to his beautiful mentor. He quickly pushed the steeled rod back through the opening of his boxers to conceal himself.
"Nice," she said with a smile. "Very nice. Let's get some sleep." She turned off the small flashlight.
Carl lay there embarrassed, flattered and aroused. He was flattered she admired what she saw of his dick. He was surprised she would say so out loud, but also knew that nothing Dr. Steph did should surprise him. This deep into the jungle, the tent was now pitch black in darkness. He couldn't help enjoying the enviable moment of lying next to his gorgeous nearly naked professor in a tent in the middle of an Ecuadorian jungle. He resisted the strong urge to kiss her in the hope it might lead to more.
Day Two
The next morning the four got up early and ate a small breakfast. The three students were excited to begin the real part of the research expedition. They put the canoe into the river and loaded it with just enough food for three to four days. They would need to find food in the jungle to get them through the rest of the week. They also loaded a small amount of hand tools and other equipment for their research. Space on the small canoe was tight with the four of them. They pushed out on to the river, leaving any connection with civilization behind.
The farther they made their way up the river, the thicker the foliage got, and darker the jungle became. Sometimes the river was eerily quiet, other times the silence was broken with strange sounds of tropical wildlife. After paddling more than ten hours up the enchanted river, Dr. Steph directed them to pull the canoe up onto a small riverbank. A dense forest of massive tropical trees towered above them, with thick vines that hung like ropes. The ground was overgrown with bushes covered with large dark green leaves. The three students were convinced it must be the first time the riverbank had ever been seen or inhabited by humans.
Carl cut a long vine from a tree and tied the canoe securely to a tree. It would be their only way back to civilization if they survive the discovery mission.
"Let's find a place to set up tonight's camp up there," Dr. Steph said, pointing up the embankment. If ancient tribes once inhabited this area, it would be most likely further up there," she said. "We'll explore it in the morning with fresh daylight."
The four hiked up the embankment, leaving the security of the canoe behind. After hiking up the hill about 15 minutes, they came across a small clearing in the thick jungle. "This will work," she said.
The four were exhausted after the long trek to get there. The real work was still ahead of them. As the sun began to set they lit a small fire and ate some of their rations before turning in. Bruce shared a tent with Dr. Steph; Carl squeezed in to his side of the tent with Jen.
"What are you doing?" Jen asked, hearing the rustling sound in the darkness of their small tent.
"Taking off my boots and shorts," Carl said. "It's how Dr. Steph slept last night, and recommended it to me to sleep more comfortably."
"Makes sense," Jen said. With the things she had in the pockets of her shorts, she didn't get a good night's sleep the night before. She realized it was worth a try. She pulled her boots and shorts off in the darkness of the tent. Being so petite, Jen didn't bother bringing a bra on the expedition. As she lay there, she was grateful for the night's cover of darkness shading her scantily clothed body from Carl, but realized the sunrise in the morning would expose her. She smiled at the consolation of likely seeing him as well. The two coeds secretly lusted, as they lay next to each other in the tiny tent, before lulling off to sleep.