The mob boss Matias breezes past me, his long-legged strides eating up the distance to the helicopter.I dart forward, but he reaches Wolf and Jag first, grips Jag’s offered handshake, and stops short when he clocks the bottle in Wolf’s fist.
“Vodka.”Wolf lifts it in a lazy salute.
“We drink tequila here.”Matias accepts the gift with an arched brow.
“Not after this.”
Laughter ripples through the men nearby.Even the air seems to lighten.
Wolf passes Matias off to Jag with a flick of his wrist and turns back to me like there was never any other destination.
I cross the pad in a run, and he meets me halfway, arms opening wide.I barely have time to breathe before his hands catch my hips and lift me off the ground.I laugh a girlish sound that turns into a squeal, as he spins us, the world blurring into white stone and green jungle.
He smacks his lips all over my face, covering my cheeks, my temples, and the corners of my mouth, no aim, no restraint, just pure joy poured out in kisses.
“I missed you.”He slows to a stop and lowers my feet to the ground.“From rifles and wedding gowns to tiny pancakes and beyond, I love you.”
“I loveyou, my darling wolf.”I fist my fingers in the lace at his shoulders, inhaling his Alaskan scents of vodka, leather, and smoke, the familiar wildness of him untying me at the seams.
His mouth fuses to mine, and it’s a starburst of fire and light, a breath that feels like apology, and a compass needle spinning past directions that no longer feel like home.My heart knows the way, and it will forever and always point me back to him, back to the only north my body knows.
The urgency and ache of days spent apart spark between our lips.Breaths of longing stack onto heartbeats of absence.My arms wrap around his neck, and my legs lock around his waist, every muscle and tendon claiming him.
The kiss deepens, consuming my air and giving me his in return.The noise of the citadel drops away, the helicopter, the guards, and the cartel with its dangerous secrets all gone.There’s only this.The press of his mouth, the way he holds me with the intent to keep me, and the way my chest finally stops hurting.
When we break apart, our foreheads touch, both of us panting and smiling like lovesick weirdos.
For the first time since I arrived, the place feels complete.
“Let me look at you.”I untangle us and step back, taking in his outfit.“Love the look.It’s giving…Safe in your own skin and dangerous to anyone who underestimates you.”
“Checks out.Also…” He nudges the ground with a daisy-printed rain boot.“The forecast called for rain.”
“I fucking love you.”
“Keep saying it.It’ll never get old.”His lips quirk.“Speaking of old…”
I follow his gaze over my shoulder and land unerringly on Jag.
Our eyes meet and hold.
He stays back, parking himself a few steps from the helicopter, shoulders drawn in, and hands shoved deep into his pockets.Guilt sits in the hard lines of his face.Relief, too.And other things I can’t name because there’s so much I don’t know.
Too many questions crowd my throat.Too many years of redacted truths and fill-in-the-blanks.The cartel told me nothing, only that everything Jag has done, every choice, every cruelty, was done for me.
I don’t know what that means yet.But whatever it is, it took its toll on our relationship.
“He let you believe the worst in him,” Wolf says quietly.“Worked really hard to keep his best parts hidden.”
“Why?”
“That’s between you and him.He has some groveling to do, but when that’s done, hear him out, okay?”
“Okay.”My pulse quickens.
“Go on.Talk to him.Kiss and make up.But when you’re ready to fuck, I want to be there.To watch.”He waggles his eyebrows and backs away.“For now, I’m going to mingle and make somesicariosuncomfortable.”
“Fearless.”
