by Cherry Adair
"No argument from me, believe me." This would work. She'd go to the city. Hire...people...and then stay in Cosio until she had definitive proof that Oliver was somewhere safe. "Just promise that you'll have someone contact me when you find Oliver or when you have information on Oliver. Good news or bad. I have to know."
Taking her hand, he squeezed it, his fingers warm, comforting, strong. "I promise. Stay put safely back in Portland.” He leaned closer to her. “We'll call you."
We'll call you wasn't I'll call you. But then River didn't expect anything else. She would have protested. The words were actually on her lips, but then his lips were there before she managed to say anything.
Lifting his head, he murmured, "I sure as hell hope we talked enough.” He cocked a brow.
God, he was irresistible. "Yes, damn it!"
With a smile, he lifted her over the console. He was a master at stripping her naked. In seconds, he’d undone the drawstring on her pants, and in another, he was gripping her hips and plunging inside her, giving her a fast, hard repeat of the mind-blowing performance he’d given her earlier.
#
Basking in the afterglow, River's body wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere. Sweaty, sticky, and blissfully in-the-moment happy, she was well aware the moment wasn't going to last. Seeing Ash subtly check his watch every five minutes when he thought she wouldn't notice, didn't help.
He protested when she peeled herself off his chest. Literally peeled. They were stuck together. Untangling their limbs proved a little more complicated when they both shifted and twisted in counterpoint. River put her hands on his shoulders. "You stay still, let me do the work."
Cupping her bottom, he helped her lift off him. "My pleasure."
"That's not letting me do it."
"It worked, didn't it?"
It did, and he gave her bare butt a little pat as she moved from him into the driver's seat, although that was easier said than done. Having sex in a convertible, while exhilarating, wasn't exactly graceful. The dismount left a lot to be desired.
"Don't you dare laugh at me, Ash Daklin. You're the one who turned me into a pretzel! If I'd wanted to be a contortionist, I would've joined Cirque du Soleil."
His smile widened. "You still can." Easy for him to say. His zipper was up, his shirt untwisted, and he wore the look of a man well satisfied. Most of the mud had washed off his face, and River feasted her eyes, committing his features to memory. She loved the way his pale eyes danced with amusement, and the possessive way he kept touching her: her arm, her shoulder as she pulled up her bra strap, the gentle way he combed his fingers through her wet hair to get the strands off her face. As if he couldn't not touch her.
"Don't look so smug," she said tartly, leaning over to brush her mouth over his in a fleeting kiss before finally unfolding her legs under the steering wheel.
"It's been over half an hour." She struggled to get her crumpled linen pants up her wet legs with great difficulty in the confined space. "It doesn't look as though your satellite is doing its satellite thing."
Smile gone, he shook his head. "If we don't have comms now, it's unlikely we will any time in the foreseeable future. We can't wait for reinforcements."
There was no way to communicate with his men to alert them to their predicament. It was up to them to get down the mountain by whatever means possible if they wanted to stay alive. River worried about his leg. If it felt half as bad as it looked, he must be in constant pain. "How far is it to the valley?"
"Twenty-three miles, give or take."
"I can't walk back to the hacienda to ask for a ride to the airport. Not in this rain." Not true. She'd run marathons in considerably worse weather. Portland had over a hundred and sixty rainy days a year. If one waited for a clear day there, nothing would ever get done.
It was barely past eight in the morning and still relatively cool. It would be a downhill walk. It was doable. For her. "We'll just have to drive without that back tire. Is that possible?"
"Yeah. Not good for the car, but since it's a piece of shit and the leasing company should be sued for renting it to you in the first place, they can add it to the bill if, and when, they get it back."
"Filled with holes?" River added dryly, wiping a drop of water off her face. It was now sprinkling instead of pouring, the drips and plops lending their musical accompaniment to the small birds singing nearby and the skittering of toucans’ claws on a nearby leafy branch. "I have a feeling I just bought myself an aerated convertible with three tires. Won't Franco be wondering where his bishop is?”
"He's a late riser. Chances are he won't know I'm not sleeping the sleep of the pure in heart upstairs in my celibate bed. And if he does notice my absence, I'll just say I went for a run."
Not if he sees you limping, River thought, biting her tongue.
"Stay where you are. I’ll push us out of this dip. You steer." Ash hopped over the door into waist-high shrubbery, and waded his way to the back of the car. "Put her in neutral."
River rearranged herself behind the wheel, and shifted gears. The car slowly inched through the wet, drippy, slimy and bug-infested foliage until finally, the front tires bit into the tarred road a few minutes later.
When he started rearranging the broken tree limbs, River got out to help, even though the memory of that snake freaked her out. Together they arranged the branches to cover and hide the makeshift road they'd cut into the understory.
"That's good." Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, they inspected their handiwork just as the rain stopped. The sun broke through the clouds, causing the water on the vegetation to steam. "Just in case anyone looks this way in the next few hours. After that, it won't matter."
Oliver, I hope to hell you're sipping an umbrella drink in some tropical location without extradition right now.
She loved the warm weight of Ash's muscular arm across her back, and the fact that he pulled her tightly against his side. She loved the smell of his skin, and the feel of his hard abs flexing when he hugged her. Turning River in his arms, Daklin lifted her chin. Warm rain sprinkled on her upturned face. He lowered his head to block the rain and his warm lips brushed hers. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
Wrapping her arms around his neck, River reached up to kiss his bristly chin. "Something pretty amazing did just happen to me." Please don't kill my brother.
He took his time with the kiss, as though savoring every second of it. Then he broke away. "Let’s get out of here." As they walked back to the car, his limp more pronounced, which didn't surprise her.
She stopped him with a hand on his upper arm. “How will you get to safety tonight if you can’t run?”
He arched a brow. “Worried about me?”
“Every freaking thing about what you’re planning scares the crap out of me." She was afraid for herself, too. But that was a given. “I know there’s got to be a plan in place for you and your men to get the hell away from the explosion. But you’ll have to run like hell to get out of the way.” She drew a deep breath then decided now was not the time to be delicate or worry about his ego. “With your leg..." His chances were slim to none.
Now she understood why he kissed her and made love like there was no tomorrow.
He isn’t planning on there being one. River sucked in a breath. “No! Taking down Xavier. Destroying him, his operation, and the explosive stuff in the mine, and avenging your brother’s death? You're going ahead, even if it means you don’t live through it.”
“Smart as well as beautiful.”
"Is this a suicide mission?"
He didn't miss a beat. "The job has to get done."
"That wasn't the damn question."
"River, I'm the best man for this job. I'd be the best man for the job uninjured, and I'm still the best man for the job. The reality is, there's a good chance I won’t make it out alive. That's part of the job I do. Part of the risks I and the others take every day. It's not good or bad. It just is."
"Damn it, Ash! Promi
se you’ll get out. Safely. That you’ll have an exit plan when you’re setting the explosives. That your focus on avenging your brother’s death won’t be your end goal.”
“I can’t make that promise.”
“Then at least promise me you’ll try.” Gripping his biceps, she got up on her tiptoes to look up at him, so close she saw specks of darker blue in his pale irises. “Because you’re scaring the hell out of me right now. God.” She punched his arm. “How dare you make me feel anything at all for you, when you’re not even factoring in your own personal safety tonight.”
He gave her a smile that ripped at her heart. Something changed in his eyes. Some of his coolness disappeared, and she saw a glimpse of yearning. “You’ll be waiting for me? No matter what this means for your brother?”
“You’ll see to it that Oliver is treated fairly?”
“I’ll see to it that he gets what he deserves. He’s made his bed, River.” He brushed his lips over hers, then stepped out of her hold.
Her arms dropped to her sides as he turned back to the car. She blinked rainwater from her eyes.
“We need to get you out of the valley and far the hell away from any fallout."
Good enough. At least he'd said “we.”
"Trust me, I'll drive as fast as this little car can get me over that hill."
"Let me get us to the junction, then you can take over." He grimaced as he climbed into the driver’s seat, positioning his legs into the space that was much too small for him. "The rental company should be paying you to take this heap."
"She's been an adventure, that's for sure." River didn't care about flat tires, bullet holes, or driving on the rim. All she'd remember about the little red car was making love in it with Ash, in the middle of the jungle, with a monkey watching their every move. Epic.
As they headed down the mountain, he slung an arm across the back of her seat, absently toying with her hair. His touch was casual. So light it was almost inconsequential. Yet, painfully aware they had at most fifteen more minutes together, she felt every brush of his fingers deep in her core.
A quick glance at his face showed him alert and vigilant as he drove. "Do you sleep with one eye open?" she asked.
"It's the nature of my job to always be alert to danger."
"Even at home?"
"I'm rarely there, but yeah. Being hyperaware comes naturally. It's who I am. Always."
"Must be exhausting."
"Invigorating."
River twisted to face him, propping her bent leg on the seat. "I can see how the constant adrenaline rush would be addictive, but it must be draining, too. Do you have any down time?"
"Six weeks the first time, eight with this." He indicated his left leg. "More than enough vacation to last a lifetime."
"Turks and Caicos would be more relaxing." River visually traced his features to store in her memory for later. She hadn't noticed before a little bump on the bridge of his nose. She fought the urge to touch it. A slight wave in his dark hair as it dried gave him a deceptively softer appearance. It wasn't necessary to know him for long. Just on their short acquaintance, she knew he was dedicated, single-minded, and determined. He didn't just like his job, he was his job. Unlike herself, he clearly didn't make time to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
River was a realist. She could see that there was no room in his life for anything or anyone else.
Enormous trees towering and dripping on either side of the narrow road shaded most of the trip down the mountainside. It made for a steamy green tunnel as the car limped along at a snail’s pace on the rim of the back tire. Finger combing her wet hair off her face with both hands, she was tempted to get out and walk. It would be a lot faster. "God, I miss my Tesla. We'd be zooming right now."
Ash glanced at her, dark lashes spiky, eyes very blue. A lump formed in her throat and a hard pressure constricted her chest. Because she desperately wanted to reach out and stroke his arm, she clutched her fingers together in her lap. God, how stupid. She missed him already.
"We'll switch at the turn off, then you take the car and head up to my people. Someone will take you to the airport and deal with the car." He pointed toward the trees and the direction of the windy mountain pass, which would take her north to the city and airport. "When we’re in range, I'll contact my team and give them the head's up you're on your way. They'll meet you a couple of miles up the road, and get you there safely. You have your passport on you, right?"
"I always do when I travel. That's a long walk back, though. Are you sure?" He'd walked miles already, pole-vaulted into the car, and had wild monkey sex in the confines of a bucket seat. His leg must be killing him.
"I want you gone. Walking a few more miles won't kill me."
He believed he was invincible. But it didn't matter what he believed. She'd seen his leg. "What if your communications are still on the fritz? Won't they shoot me on sight?"
His smile, because it was so damned rare, was riveting. "They know who you are. They'll make sure you get home safely."
"Thanks." There was absolutely no point asking when and where she'd see him again. If he survived the night, he’d implied he'd find her. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
It was foolish to miss the last opportunity to touch him. It wasn't as if she had anything to lose. Unclasping her fingers, she reached out and placed her hand on his muscled forearm. It felt like warm steel with a brush of crisp dark hair under her fingers.
BOOM.
"Holy crap. What was that?" The blast sounded so close, River expected the tall, swaying trees lining the narrow road to topple over. The air resonated, and the road vibrated, sending shockwaves up through her spine.
The world shifted, the air pulsed, but the man next to her went still. Calm. He watched the trees, assessing visual cues, as he appeared to measure the earth’s tremors with his senses. He turned to her, gave her a reassuring nod, and pumped the accelerator of the hopelessly slow car. “We’ll be fine.” Flocks of red and green parrots shot out of the tree canopy, adding their cries to the cacophony of surround-sound noise.
Yelling to be heard, River shot him a glance. "Was that like the other explosion that killed the people at the mine?”
He nodded. "Someone screwed up again. I doubt that was a calculated, timed blast. E-1x is volatile as hell. Extract it from the rock the wrong way and you get that.” He indicated the mountain, where the echoes of the explosion still reverberated down the valley.
Above the tree canopy, plumes of dark dust shot into the sky, indicating that the explosion had happened miles from their location.
"What if Franco sends people up here to check on the explosion and sees us?" she asked, instead of speculating aloud about how many people had died in the explosion.
"Doesn't matter. I doubt he'll bother. Explosions are par for the course in any mining operation," Ash's voice was dry. "He wouldn't be able to tell a planned explosion from a fuck up."
Adroitly missing a trio of small hairy pigs squealing as they trotted across the road, he said, "I'll take you up to the pass, and hand you off."
Like an unwelcome package? "Great."
They got down to the T-junction: left, down to the village, right, up and over the pass's tight curves heading to the airport. Ash turned right.
River had a momentary fantasy of him accompanying her home. Only her imagination wasn't that good. She could only manage to get him as far as the Santa de Porres airport.
Thirteen
"Delta One, to you," Daklin said into his lip mic only to be rewarded with dead air. Dust-thick air made navigating the winding, narrow, nine percent grade road, with its thousand-foot drop-off into the valley below, treacherous as hell. There was no guardrail. If he veered too far over, they'd plummet to their deaths. Keeping to the center, he concentrated on not getting them killed.
River covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her jacket to avoid breathing in the dust. She offered him the other sleeve. "Want to share?"
&n
bsp; "I'm good." He'd inhaled worse.
Daklin had promised her fair treatment for her brother, and made a mental note to pass along the message. Everyone's interpretation of 'fair' was different.
They were getting closer to the point of the explosion. The force of the blast had snapped thirty-foot-high trees like twigs, which littered the road’s slope-side like giant, discarded toothpicks. Fortunately, none blocked their way, but Daklin still had to play dodge-em with branches, rocks, and dead animals. From his vantage point, it was impossible to see where the explosion had originated, but mentally pulling up the schematics of the mine, he figured it had occurred in one of the north to south shafts they hadn't had time to explore earlier.
Someone had surely lost their life, and detonated a goodly portion of Xavier's revenue stream, thereby doing part of T-FLAC's job. It was all good except that now he had to negotiate an obstacle-rich road in a four-cylinder car with no pep and three bald tires.
The wreckage on the twelve-foot-wide stretch of road got thicker, bigger, and harder to navigate the higher they climbed toward the pass. Daklin took the next hairpin curve slowly and with care. Intermittently, terrified animals streamed across the narrow road to get away from the still-trembling ground. The after-effects felt like the aftershocks of an earthquake.
"I think we've seen just about every animal in the jungle in the last fifteen minutes," River said, as a spotted jaguar streaked across the road ahead of them, its coat the color of old gold in the sunlight. "On the up side, at least we're not being shot at anymore."
Two more miles and he'd consider her safe. His men waited in a blind around a hairpin bend to help evacuees as they slipped out of the village. They had enough firepower to repel the full force of Xavier's army, but he hoped to hell that it wouldn’t be necessary. He wanted River far away from any possibility of crossfire. "For the moment. The day's still young."
She shot him a look. "You think they'll come after us again?"
"Chances are Xavier's people are more concerned with the aftermath of the explosion than with chasing us down. If they haven’t found us by now, I figure they'll stay put. Stay alert."
