“They won’t have a choice anymore,” I say. “Time could be running out to protect these children and their mothers. These kids are my flesh and blood, and I’m not letting anything happen to them.”
35
SLOANE
“What’s troubling you?” I ask Cristian an hour into the movie when it’s clear he’s distracted. He’s been staring at the screen as if he’s looking through it, his fingers idly playing with my hair as I lean against him.
“What?”
“You totally spaced out.” I rub my hand up and down his arm. “Anything I can help with?”
“Sorry.” He kisses me softly. “I’ve got a lot on my mind this week.”
I’m about to press, to encourage him to speak to me, when I think better of it. I don’t want to know. I don’t want Cristian to tell me anything important I would be expected to pass on. So, I shut my mouth and snuggle back into his side.
When the credits roll fifty minutes later, he turns off the TV and takes my hand, leading me out of the living room and into his bedroom. He kisses me softly as he slowly undresses me, and I cling to him with a desperation that is only mounting with each passing day. I’m wholeheartedly embracing the fantasy of us because I’m so in love with him, and I’m not ready to face reality yet.
Placing me on the bed on my back, Cristian covers me with his naked body, propping himself up on his elbows so he doesn’t crush me. His lips worship my mouth before moving down my body, gently kissing and caressing every inch of bare skin until I’m a writhing mess of need and longing. When he parts my thighs and blows on my sex, the moan that leaves my mouth is nothing short of sinful. “Cristian, please. I need you inside me now.”
“Let me make sure you’re ready.” He sucks on my inner thighs before swiping his tongue along my slit. “You’re always so wet for me,” he adds, driving one thick finger inside. My pussy clenches around his digit, coating his skin in a layer of my juices, before he removes it. Cristian kneels between my thighs, positioning his straining length at my entrance as he makes a meal out of sucking his finger while fucking me with his eyes. “I love the way you taste. It’s my new favorite thing in the world.”
My core pulses painfully, and my hips buck up of their own accord. “Please, Cristian.”
“Baby.” When he leans forward to kiss my lips, the tip of his dick pushes inside me. “You don’t have to beg. You need me, you have me,” he confirms, sliding home in one slow, deep drive.
Something settles deep within me as he fills me up. A sense of completion, of being whole. Like a puzzle piece that’s always been missing now slots into place. Contentment and belonging bloom in my chest, and I never want to stop feeling like this.
Cristian makes sweet, sweet love to me this time, and this tender exploration is equally as intoxicating as the more frantic wild monkey sex we’ve been having up to now. Hands touch and mouths meet as we move in perfect harmony in the most intense, intimate way. My legs wrap around his waist, and my hands trail over his shoulders, down his back, and over his sculpted cheeks. His gaze spears me with a host of emotions as we move closer to the finish line, and it matches everything I’m feeling inside. We maintain eye contact as we come together, and I have never felt closer to any man in my life.
I am so, so in love with him, and it terrifies me.
Cristian falls asleep first tonight, and I spend far too long staring at him. He has quickly become my entire world, and I don’t want to lose him, but it’s inevitable. Closing my eyes, I force these thoughts from my mind because I don’t want to think like that. Not after what we’ve just shared. If we only have this week, I want it to be the best week of my life.
* * *
Cristian is in the shower when I wake the following morning, so I tiptoe to my bedroom to retrieve the gift and card. I’m in the middle of wrapping the framed photo when my cartel cell vibrates with an incoming message. Acid crawls up my throat. I’m tempted not to look, but it will only be worse for Mom if I leave it unread. My fingers tremble as I open the message, and tears instantly spring to my eyes. Pablo has been sending a daily photo. A reminder not to forget my mission or the reason I agreed to it. Slapping a hand over my mouth to muffle my strangled cry, I stare in abject horror at the screen. Mom is naked, lying sideways on the bed as multiple men violate her in different ways. Her battered body seems slow to heal, her skin still mottled with bruises and cuts. The glazed look in her eyes is the only comfort I glean from the picture. I’m glad she’s drugged and not fully conscious. The pain must be unbearable.
How will my mother ever come back from this?
The trauma of what she’s endured will remain with her for the rest of her life.
Knots pinch in my gut as pain pokes holes all over my body. This is too much—for her and for me. Silent tears roll down my face as the cell vibrates with a text.
I want information by Sunday or your mother dies.
My fingers fumble over the keypad as I type a reply.
I have a week from this Sunday and I need that extra time.
His response is swift and brutal.
This Sunday. Time is up.
That bastard never sticks to his word, and I know he does it on purpose to add to the torment. I hate him, and I want him to die a gruesome death. Anger rears up inside me, and I’m imagining killing that prick a hundred different ways as I finish wrapping Cristian’s gift. It’s not long before my anger gives way to the usual gamut of emotions: fear, guilt, remorse, and an abundance of pain. I’m grateful I wrote the card last night, as there’s no way I’d be able to hold a pen and write anything that would make sense right now.
Heading to the bathroom, I splash water on my face and dry it before applying tinted moisturizer to disguise my blotchy skin. After spritzing on some perfume, I grab the gift and card and return to Cristian’s bedroom, where I find him in the middle of dressing. He’s got pants, socks, and shoes on, but he’s bare-chested as he clasps one of his expensive watches on his wrist.
“Good morning, beautiful.” His instant smile fades a little as he looks at me. “What’s wrong?”
