Lourdes cuddled intoher lover’s embrace.Enrique had taken her twice already, and now, he spooned her from behind with his arm clamped over her belly as though he couldn’t bear any space between them.She sighed contentedly and snuggled deeper under the quilt as the flames flickered low in the hearth.The sound of the crackling, burning wood would sweep her away to dreamland if she let it.
Dios mío.The rumors were true.Sexcouldbe incredible.No pain.No humiliation.Just pleasure.Pure feeling.He’d touched her like he was starved for her, that he wouldn’t survive unless she exploded around him like a starburst in the black of midnight.He didn’t just make love to her; he branded her soul.Her heart.
Her plan worked perfectly, and not at all.She’d expected a bit of pleasure before he took his own and left her unfulfilled.What he gave her, she’d never dreamed such a thing existed, let alone that she would experience it.If only she could repeat this wonderful night for the rest of her life.Not possible with her father waiting in the wings.
As Enrique’s breathing evened out, the strength in his arm slackened.She slipped free and stood on wobbly legs.A parade of goosebumps rushed down her arms.The firelight and shadows obscured the details of the tattoos on his muscled chest and arms.But wow.All that ink shouteddangerif nothing else could.Had the situation been different, she would’ve spent hours exploring and maybe even licking each mark.Instead, she drew the quilt over Enrique’s shoulders.Hopefully, he wouldn’t wake with the loss of her body heat.Her head swayed, demanding she forget her harebrained scheme.
Stay strong, Lourdes.You have to go.
Barely daring to breathe, she tiptoed to the trunk at the end of the bed where she’d moved her suitcase and the clothes she wore earlier.She quickly pulled on her blouse, jeans, and shoes, then withdrew the key fob from Enrique’s jeans, which he’d tossed haphazardly on the armchair.Once she slid the pieces of his phone back into place, she crept to the door.The red LED light on the mounted keypad glared at her, daring her to open the door without feeding it a set of numbers first.
She had just one chance to jump into the driver’s seat before he caught her.To drive away, leaving him stranded.Furious.
Heart thudding, she unlatched the deadbolt and turned the handle.She paused, staring back over her shoulder.
He slept peacefully, oblivious to her betrayal.
Maldita sea.That’s exactly how he would see it.As betrayal, not as her trying to protect him.After rolling her tight shoulders, she pulled open the door and ran.
An alarm blared behind her.Shrill.Mechanical.Impossible to ignore.
Frigid mountain air kissed her skin.Motion-sensor lights lit her escape in stark white.Adrenaline quickened her pulse.
“Lourdes?”
Enrique’s groggy shout escaped the confines of the cabin.Fear skittered down her back.She smashed a button on the key fob, and a double beep echoed as the vehicle lights flashed in the driveway.The cabin alarm fell silent.Gravel crunched.Her eyes burned.The breeze lashed her hair across her face.Owls hooted, and crickets chirped somewhere in the forest, oblivious to her mad dash toward freedom.
Don’t look back.
Footsteps pounded behind her.Closing in fast.
“Lourdes, stop!”
A heavy weight barreled into her, slamming her into the side of the vehicle.The SUV squeaked and jostled as she grunted, the jolt knocking the air from her lungs.
“Goddamn it.What is the matter with you?”Enrique whipped her around.“You fucking seduce me, then run?Was that your plan all along?”
She flinched in the light of his fury.Something like shame or admittance must’ve crossed her face because the anger morphing his into a tight mask tripled right before her eyes.She swallowed hard.He crowded close to her, and the sharp teeth of his unfastened jeans scraped against her waist.
“Now, I’m disappointed.”He snatched the key and phone from her, disassembled the cell, and tossed the items onto the hood of the SUV.“You think you’re such a seductress?I told you the cabin was wired, yet you test me.Do you know what happens to girls who misbehave?”
Her heart skipped.Jacobo had once said something similar before his fist hit her cheek.She raised her hands to ward him off.“Enrique, please.Try to understand.This has been a wild day.An amazing night.But we have to face reality.Let me go.”
“To do what?Be sold again?That’s the future you’re so desperate to run back to.How do you expect me to stand aside and let that happen?I’m not that strong of a man.”
His raw pain skewered her.His brutal, honest words broke her.A sob split her lips.Every bit of anger, misery, shame, and hatred that she’d pushed back for so long poured out of her in one great swell.She was through.She couldn’t be the obedient daughter anymore.The pawn to be traded off.Knees crumbling, she collapsed into his waiting arms and hugged him as though he were her life preserver in the storm.
“I’m sorry,” she croaked, crying into the crook of his neck and shoulder.
Shehadbeen sold before.To Jacobo.Her father called it diplomacy.She called it a sentence.The day Enrique had approached her after Jacobo’s death, he saw what she had become.Disgraced.Scared.Weak.He’d looked at her with pity, like she was damaged goods, but he still offered his love and protection.He deserved a strong woman.Not the mess she’d been then.Or was now.
Enrique clutched the back of her head and buried his nose in her hair.“Let me love you.It’s all I ask.”
“I don’t want you to die.”
“We all face judgment someday.If I go in pursuit of your heart, then it’s a sacrifice I willingly make.You’re worth it.”
Shuddering, Lourdes drew back on her unsteady feet and wiped at her tears.“Why do you love me?I’m nothing special.”
