by T L Swan
“It could get cold,” she cries out in embarrassment.
“That will do me.” With a shake of my head, I turn and start to power walk. The terrain is too rough to run. We will end up breaking a leg. We walk quickly at the edge of a forest under the canopy of trees for protection from the skies above.
We have walked for over an hour and it’s hot.
“I stink,” she calls from behind me. “I need deodorant.” She swats the bugs as she walks. “I don’t suppose you have any in your pockets?”
Fuck’s sake. I keep walking and ignore her. Nothing new. I’ve been ignoring her the whole way.
I’m so pissed off. All of my plans were ruined in three minutes of crazy.
“Do you think it’s much farther?” she asks.
I don’t answer.
We keep walking for another half an hour. “Are you going to keep ignoring me?”
“Yes,” I snap.
“Why?”
I turn and raise an eyebrow and glare at her for a moment before I return back to my power hiking. She has got to be kidding?
Another hour we walk.
“How much farther, the town looked closer than this. Are we even going the right way?” she calls.
“Stop fucking jabbering and walk faster,” I yell.
We finally get to a farmhouse and I duck down low to do a risk assessment of the area. A large stone house and three cars sit idly. I wonder if anyone is home. I’m squatting down behind the building as I look around, and then, without hesitation, Rosh walks straight up to the car parked in the drive way and gets in.
I look around nervously. Shit. What is she doing now? I glare at her and shake my head angrily.
This chick has a fucking death wish… and I may be the one to kill her.
She pulls the cover off the front of the car and hotwires it. It starts on the first go.
“Get in,” she mouths.
I glance around. This is just great. When they find the chopper, they are going to doorknock the closest houses. She has just effectively told them where we are. With one last look around, I run to the car and get in and she speeds off just as a man and a woman come running out from the house.
I can’t control my anger any longer. “What the fuck are you doing?” I scream.
“Right now?” She glances at me. “I’m stealing a car.”
“Do you discuss anything before you do it or are you just in this alone?” I yell.
He eyes flash to me and she frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?” The car veers around the corner at speed and she nearly loses control. The car swerves as she straightens it back up.
“Stop the fucking car!” I yell. “Can you even drive?”
“Yes, I can drive.”
“Get out! I’m driving. Stop the damn car now.”
Her eyes flicker between the road and me.
“How do you know how to hotwire a car?” I yell.
“I had a boyfriend once who didn’t have keys to his car, so we hotwired it to use it.” She shrugs. “I never knew it would come in handy.”
She pulls over and I run around to the driver side as she jumps across the seats. I take off fast.
We sit in silence as I concentrate. The roads are filled with dirt and rough terrain, hilly with lots of corners.
Her hair is flying around from the air blasting through the open windows. “Don’t give me a lecture on discussing things with you. We both know you discuss nothing with me! In fact, you straight up lie.”
I glare at her. I don’t think I’ve ever been this pissed off with a woman in my life. She is absolutely fucking infuriating. “When did I lie?” I yell. “When?”
“Was Stucco there in the maintenance room?” She sneers sarcastically. “No, stucco wasn’t there, nothing happened,” she imitates me in a fake, deep voice.
I narrow my eyes.
“I was there, asshole. I saw you fight him.”
“What were you doing there?” I yell.
“Waiting to back you up with my gun.” She shakes her head angrily. “Like I was backing you up today.”
“Doing something without a plan is not backing me up. It’s fucking me up, Roshelle!” I yell.
“It’s Roshina,” she snaps.
I cannot believe it. I cannot fucking believe it.
We keep driving for a while and eventually we get to a sign.
Columbia—60kms
Finally
“We will go back to Columbia, dump the car, and catch a cab to Bogota. You still have the booking for another ten days in the hotel. We can lie low there until things die down. Make a plan,” I suggest.
Her face softens and she smiles her first smile of the day. I have to stop myself from reaching out and grabbing her hand. “Okay,” she murmurs as her scared eyes hold mine.
There is something breathtakingly beautiful about her bravery—her unbelievably stupid kamikaze bravery. She calls to me on a level I don’t understand, and even though I am beyond furious with her, my urge to protect and nurture her is at an all time high.
She was prepared to die for me today… for her cause.
She’s brave enough to be dangerous and yet vulnerable enough to die.
My worst nightmare.
It’s the last thought that I can’t stand and I know I need to get her safely out of the country as a priority.
Vikinos is not getting her. He’s not laying a damn finger on her. The damage he has already done to her is immeasurable. If I am honest with myself, I know why she shoots first and asks questions later. She has been pushed past the point of return and she doesn’t care what happens to her anymore. The need for revenge has consumed her just as much as it has consumed me. What are the chances that we both have the same target? Two people who randomly meet and have a connection, both with a thirst for the same man’s blood.
I’m not sure what to do with all of this. It’s information overload. I need to get my head around the fact that she is his daughter. The thought of him killing her scares me more than anything else.
This is not good.
A complication I don’t need.
As planned, we dump the car in a deserted street and grab a cab to Bogota. Two very silent hours later we arrive at the hotel.
* * *
Rosh
We walk through the reception of the hotel and I drop my head. I wanted to come back here with Stace one day, but not under these circumstances. As if he can read my fragile mind, he grabs my hand reassuringly. We walk into the elevator and he wraps me in his arms and pulls me to him. I put my head against his chest and close my eyes.
I’m home.
I don’t care what I did today, he is here with me. He is alive. The rest is just semantics.
We get up to the room and we walk limply. Without a word, he walks into the bathroom and turns on the shower and I make my way over to the window and pull the sheer curtains back and stare down below.
I have a heavy feeling hanging over me, like I’m carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Beyond exhausted, I feel like I could sleep for a week.
We are living on borrowed time.
He comes behind me and wraps his arms around me. “You okay?” he asks. This is the first time he has touched me at all since this morning. I didn’t realize how much his touch means to me.
“I don’t know,” I murmur as I stare out over the city. “Who have I turned into, Stace?” I whisper.
He kisses the side of my face as his eyes join mine to look way below, and after a moment he replies, “Someone I care for.”
I turn to him and the lump in my throat becomes really big. My eyes fill with tears at the warmth of his touch and the softness of his words. “I didn’t mean to shoot the wrong person today,” I whisper as my eyes search his for forgiveness.
He kisses me gently. “I know, babe.”
I shake my head as the tears break the dam. “I can’t let you die at his hands.” I shake my head nervously. “I can’t lose you, too.”
“Shh,” he whispers as he pushes the hair back from my face. “Let’s get in the shower.”
He leads me to the bathroom and slowly undresses both of us before we get under the cool water. He holds me in his arms with my head on his chest as the tears roll down my face.
He knows.
He knows this is the beginning of the end.
* * *
I wake in the semi-lit room, knowing it’s early evening. After our hour-long shower today, we laid down and I must have fallen asleep. The adrenaline has hit me like a truck. Stace is lying on his side facing me, his hand on my naked hip.
“Hey.” I smile bashfully. Why does he always watch me sleep?
He leans forward and gently kisses my lips. “Hey.” He kisses me again. “You were zapped.”
I smile softly and bring my hand up to his face. “Did you sleep?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
I watch him, knowing he has something on his mind. “What is it?” I ask.
He narrows his eyes as if trying to put the words together in his mind, and after a moment he replies. “I have to go back.”
I frown. “What?”
“I will never get the chance to kill him if I don’t go back now.”
Fear instantly fills me and I sit up violently. “We will never have a chance to be happy if you do.”
“Listen. Calm down. You stay here.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“You stay here where it’s safe and I go back and pretend that you kidnapped me. He has no reason to doubt me. I can still do it. I know I can.”
“He’s not going to buy it. You have been sleeping with his estranged daughter. You will be killed straight away.”
“Maybe not.”
I stand in an outrage. “Can you hear yourself? Maybe he won’t kill you? Why would you take the fucking chance?” I cry.
“Because I need to kill him for my brother. For your mother.” He shakes his head as he tries to articulate his wording. “So I can fucking live with myself.”
My eyes tear up as empathy fills me. “Stace, no.” I step toward him and kiss him gently and he snakes his hands around my naked body. “Stay here and fight for us. I need you to fight for us,” I whisper against his lips.
His hand goes to the back of my head and he kisses me deeply. It’s one of those goodbye kisses that I have come to hate so much.
“I have to do this,” he murmurs into my mouth.
“Why?” I scream as I pull out of his arms with renewed vigour. “So you can have the last word?”
“I’m not spending my life hiding from him.”
“Then we fight,” I yell. “One day he will come for me and when he does we will be ready. Don’t go into the dragon’s lair looking for death. It’s not needed, Stace. I only did that this morning to get you away from him. You are a danger to yourself.”
He shakes his head. “You stay here so I know you are safe.”
“No.”
He glares at me. “Yes.”
“I’m going to Europe and I’m going to forget all about my father.” I hesitate and shake my head as my eyes tear up. “I’m starting again and I’m going to forget ever meeting you.”
His eyes hold mine.
“I want a man to fall in love with me, one who wants to be in a happy family and isn’t hell bent on revenge for evils he can’t change.”
“I need to do this.”
“You can’t bring Justin back, Stace!” I yell through tears.
His eyes lose focus and drop to the floor.
“You can’t bring him back and he wouldn’t want you to do this. He would want you to move on,” I whisper through the lump in my throat. “Start again.”
He stays silent as he processes my words and eventually, after a long pause, he replies, “I can’t.”
I turn my back to him and fold my arms.
He puts his shoes on. “Stay here.”
I don’t answer him.
Moments later, I hear the door click closed and I turn.
He’s gone.
* * *
It’s 2am and I’m numb.
Stace is gone. He’s already dead. I’m grieving now.
I’m lying propped up in my bed with my Scotch and Coke in his honor, watching bad television.
We were so good together.
I’m furious with him, furious for him taking me, furious with his seduction, furious for letting myself fall for it.
All of it.
He had to go back.
What a crock of shit. If he cared for me, he wouldn’t have left.
He would have stayed and fought because the fight will come to me. It always does.
I lie back and stare at the ceiling as the sound of silent regret hangs around me.
Jiggle, jiggle.
What’s that? I look to the door and see the handle move.
Someone’s trying to get in.
I stand and walk over to the door and watch the handle jiggle again in the darkness.
Someone is trying to get in.
16
I stand back, wondering what I should do. What am I going to do?
Shit. I race over, pick up the gun, and shuffle behind the door. The lock clicks as if a key has been used, and then a figure comes into view. I frown as I try to focus.
I know that silhouette.
“Stace?”
“Hey.” He sighs.
“What the fuck are you doing? You scared me half to death,” I whisper angrily.
He turns to me in the semi-lit room, takes the gun from my hands and lays it on the desk.
I watch him for a moment as he stares at me, despite the darkness.
“I don’t know how to do it,” he murmurs.
“Do what?”
He hesitates. “Walk away from you.”
I smile softly. “I hope you never learn,” I whisper.
Then he is on me, his large lips over mine, his hands roaming up and down my naked body.
“Did you miss me?” he whispers.
“No.” I smile against his lips. “I decapitated your voodoo doll.”
“Smart ass,” he breathes against my lips with a smile. He picks me up and throws me onto the bed. I bounce as a thrill of excitement runs through me. He’s in that mood—the crazy, fuck-all-night mood he gets in.
“Where have you been?” I ask.
He rips his shirt over his shoulders. “In the bar trying to make myself leave.”
I smile and bite my bottom lip as I watch his pants slide down his legs. He’s semi-hard and my eyes linger on his groin.
Oh, he’s just so…
He walks around to the side of the bed as he watches me from above. “Legs open,” he snaps.
I lie on my back and spread my legs, and he smiles darkly as his eyes linger on my sex.
“There she is,” he whispers in wonder. He spreads me wide with his fingers so he can see everything, and I close my eyes. No matter how often he looks at me like this, it always seems too intimate, too close for what we are supposed to be.
He bends and licks my flesh and I see his cock harden instantly. His eyes meet mine as he bites my clitoris, forcing me to nearly jump from the bed.
Oh dear God, he’s good at this.
“You taste so fucking good,” he whispers before his lips lower down to suck me. His eyes close in pleasure and my knees start to lift off the bed by themselves. Oh God. My body starts to quiver and he grabs my thighs in both hands, pushing them back to the mattress.
“Open.” He growls. “I want it all. Give it to me.”
He bites me again and my back arches off the bed. He starts to really eat me—face whiskers, pleasure and pain—and all I can do is hold on to the back of his head and whimper. He takes his fingers and slides three in. I flinch.
“Ouch, take it easy,” I whisper.
“No,” he answers as he starts to really give it to me hard.
His fingers pump in and out and the bed starts
to hit the wall with force.
Holy… fucking fuck. My insides start to liquefy.
He watches me as he gently kisses my inner thigh, but his fingers continue to rip aggressively into my sex. The sound of my wet body sings loudly through the air.
In, out, round and round, and I’m going out of my head in pleasure.
He licks me again and I start to quiver when he pulls all fingers out immediately.
“Roll over. I want you on your knees,” he commands.
I frown. “Huh?” What for?
I shuffle over and he pulls my knees farther apart.
“Lean down onto your elbows.”
I drop to my elbows and he kisses each of my ass cheeks tenderly as his hand gently trails up and cups my breasts.
“So fucking beautiful,” he whispers, almost to himself. He runs his whiskers softly back and forth over my behind.
My eyes close.
Jeez, I would never let anyone do something like this to me before. What has he turned me into?
A crazy sex maniac, that’s what.
He gently pulls my cheeks apart and then I feel his hot tongue burn my behind.
Oh…
I close my eyes tight as my mouth hangs open. This is not my style, but holy hell if it isn’t the hottest thing I have ever experienced.
For fifteen minutes his tongue laps at me, coaxes me, and tempts me to do things I’ve never even contemplated before. I feel myself lifting towards his face for a deeper connection.
I can hardly breathe; I’m so turned on.
He pulls back and I feel him lube my behind with saliva. I breathe out to try and calm myself.
Shit. Oh my God. Oh my God. Is this happening?
He disappears for a second and I hear the telling tear of a condom packet being ripped open. He arranges himself at my opening.
“You’re not going to ask for permission?” I ask, joking, but half serious.
He slowly sinks two fingers into my sex. “You belong to me now. I don’t have to ask before I take what’s mine.” He pushes forward and drives me hard into the mattress.
“Ahh.” Oh fuck, that hurts. Holy… shit… ahhh!
“Relax.” He growls. His fingers start to slowly pump my sex and my mouth drops open with a deep arousal. Oh God, this is a new sensation. I’ve never done this before.
