Page 40 of Reckless Woman
“My ‘alpha urges’ are doing just fine.” His southern drawl is even more languid when he’s high on whatever the hell he’s taken. “What color panties are you wearing?” He tugs hard at the lace trim and cocks his head to see. “Black. Nice.”
“Same color as your Dodge.”
“Same color as my soul. Shall we stain it further?” His fingers slip inside the material and rest tantalizingly close to my throbbing clit.
“Do youwantme to crash this car?” I say helplessly.
“No more crashes this week, thanks.” His fingers disappear, and I’m left grieving their loss. “Make yourself come,” he orders.
Yes please.
“No way!”
“I wasn’t asking.”
I hate my sharp, shallow breaths when he’s all bossy and macho like this. I may as well be naked on a bed with my legs spread. He’s pushing all my lust triggers right now.
“One more word out of you,El Asesino, and I’m pulling over and screwing you to sleep, just to get some peace and quiet.”
He barks out another laugh. “Well, you know my dick is hard and waiting.”
“You knowthat this is officially the longest conversation we’ve ever had.”
He muses on this for a moment. “Maybe some of the old ways hit the ground and burst into flames around ten p.m. yesterday evening.”
I have no comeback for this.
What I do have is a spark of hope.
* * *
We leaveMiami and follow the US-27, up through the lush, rolling core of the Sunshine State. Eve and I took a road-trip this way once, long before shadows and devils corrupted our bodies and minds.
Joseph’s finished talking about sex and epiphanies. He passed out sometime between South Bay and Clewiston. His huge, masculine frame is crumpled up against the passenger door, with his head resting on the window.
He looks peaceful this way; less enigmatic. I wonder if he dreams in bricks and mortar, or if his walls come tumbling down like everyone else’s.Does he see his wife? His son?He’s never mentioned them to me, but I know they exist. The same way I know that he was a war hero with Santiago in Afghanistan before he switched to the wrong side of the law.
These are all sound bites I’ve picked up from others. Different pieces of the same jigsaw puzzle that only he can slot together for me.
Taking a sip from a warm bottle of water, I run a hand across my aching neck muscles. The sun is like a high school bitch today and I’m constantly in her glare. My T-shirt is clinging to my spine and my bra straps are cutting angry red marks into my shoulders. Still, I’m here. I’m living. I’m not chained in a basement or caged in a sick display for a trafficker who dealt in human misery.
Three hours pass, and then four.
Seconds feel like days.
Minutes, centuries.
I’m dreaming of a hot shower and a cheeseburger and fries, which has me flicking the bird at McDonald’s signs and wondering how I find myself in these crazy situations in the first place. I’m half-tempted to steal a cigarette from a crushed pack I found in the glove box and set fire to an old habit, but I stop myself just in time. One false move, one misstep, and I’ll be tumbling back to a place that doesn’t deserve me.
I’m better than that now.
Hemakes me better.
The radio keeps looping Taylor and Ariana, and it’s driving me nuts. I switch it on and off so many times my hand is getting its own sweat on.
I think about Eve and Ella. Joseph must have told Dante the truth about Vi by now. There’s no way she’ll be setting foot on his island, but my best friend and her daughter are still vulnerable in a universe where the innocent suffer first. I don’t know what Joseph’s plan is, but we need to return to the island as soon as possible.
“Pull off here.” His voice is thick with sleep as he rights himself with a grimace. He tips another couple of those white pills into his mouth and coughs them down without water. “Do it, Anna. Next exit.”