The cold air burns my cheeks as we dive through it. This is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. My body feels kind of weightless, but at the same time, my stomach knows I’m freefalling and fast. I dig my fingers into Niko’s arm, holding on for dear life.
The sensation is so horrifying and weird, sort of like the takeoff, but a hundred times more intense. It’s hard to breathe, my ringing ears and my face are both hot and cold. But at least I’m not alone. Niko’s with me, and I pray to any god or deity who might be listening, that he knows what he’s doing.
As if on cue, he reaches back and pulls on the handle that came with the parachute bag. After a short delay, a mini-parachute thing flies up above us and inflates. It’s way too small and it does nothing to slow us down.
My stomach flips upside down, then drops. Did the parachute malfunction?
Just as I am about to have the last panic attack of my life, another thing flies out of the bag. I feel a tug and then it opens and inflates and suddenly we are not plunging to our deaths anymore. We are still falling, and I am still clinging to Niko, but it’s in a controlled and gradual way which I’d even dare say is enjoyable.
“Fuck, I’m so glad it worked,” Niko says, but I do my best not to read into his words. I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if it didn’t.
He pulls on the two handles and turns us. My eyes and mouth go wide. I can see the plane we jumped from! It’s flying away up above us, gaining distance as we slowly fall down. I keep my gaze trained on it until I can no longer see it, relieved when no one else jumps out to try to follow us. Niko must’ve done a good job blocking that door.
It takes us a couple of minutes to land. I spot all kinds of things from up here, including a tall, metal structure that stretches as far as I can see. This must be the border.Shit, we made it, didn’t we?We crossed into Mexico! Now we just need to find Niko’s friend, and everything will magically go back to normal! Right?
As my heart tries and fails to calm down, we approach the ground. Niko steers us away from the surrounding trees, guiding us to a small clearing where we won’t get stuck in the branches. Our touchdown is rough, but I’ve never been happier to feel soil under my feet.
“I can’t believe we made it,” I huff out, splaying onto the grass. The warm rays of sunshine touch my face, gentle and lulling. I know I’m lying in the middle of a field, but I’ve never felt comfier. I could fall asleep.
Niko hums, pacing back and forth as if to check that no one is spying on us from the tree line. “You never thought about skydiving, Tommy?”
Letting my eyelids sag down, I consider his question. “Maybe once or twice. But one, it’s kind of pricy, and two, I don’t think I have the guts to go through with it even if somebody gifted me such an experience.”
“Well…” Niko trails off, which makes me shoot one eye open. He’s stopped pacing and is now leaning against the hickory trunk of a nearby tree, his gaze turned skyward. From where I am, I can only see his profile, but the partial smile I catch is enough to skitter shivers all over me. “You can scratch that off your bucket list. You are welcome.”
That asshole! It’s not funny! I sit up and fold my arms, which gets his attention. He aims his shit-eating grin at me. It’s genuine and unapologetic and it drains the annoyance straight out of me, becausefuck, I love seeing this man smile. It’s kind of out of character for him with the vibe he’s got going on, and I can tell he’s very rusty. I mean, it makes sense—he was pretending to be a revered priest who people looked up to and sought advice from. But with me… I feel a twitch in the corner of my mouth, and I try my best to resist it, but in the end it wins. With me, he doesn’t have to pretend. He can be himself, even if that means he doesn’t ‘live up’ to that legendary mercenary everyone feared.
In fact, I think I like this goofier version of him a lot more.
I stand and inch closer to Niko, suddenly fighting off wave after wave of warmth across my entire body. It’s not just my cheeks anymore, so I know it’s not because of the pleasantly warm sun. With my fingers, I follow the outline of the red stone in my pocket to make sure it’s still there, then take a breath. “So, about that kiss…”
Niko acts so fast that my brain can’t keep up. One moment I’m standing in front of him trying to appear important, and in the next I’m pinned by powerful arms against the tree where he was. “I tried to resist you, Tommy. I really did. But you are too damn perfect.”
Then he kisses me. Again. My mind spins, going hundreds of miles an hour, but my body knows what to do. I place my arms around his neck and pull him closer, opening for his eager tongue. He growls, deepening the kiss. I can barely keep up, but I need more. Just that tiny taste I got of him on the plane was enough to turn me into an addict.
Niko’s tongue licks every part of my mouth, dominating it like he owns it. He tastes like the coffee he drank while we were waiting for the plane pre-checks, bitter and dark. I can’t get enough of him.
Heart racing, I let this man sweep me off my feet, enjoying every second of that kiss. I’ve never been kissed like this, nothing really measures up. It’s like he’s starving for me, like he’s been craving me his entire life, like this is his one chance to have me and he doesn’t plan on wasting it.
His free hand slides down my body, palming my quickly hardening cock through my clothes.Holy shit. My eyes roll back and I suddenly can’t get enough air to my lungs. I want this barrier gone, I want to feel his skin on mine.
Humming as if he wasn’t sexy enough already, Niko pulls away. His gorgeous brown eyes shimmer with want and arousal as he observes me, a sight I don’t think I’ll ever forget. The way his pupils are blown out is mesmerizing.
“You are so perfect, Tommy. Why did you have to come into my life?”
I soar, my stomach clenching in knots of joy. I know we didn’t meet under the best circumstances, but Niko has been nothing but kind to me, even though I brought danger right to his doorstep.
“Because you are the only one who could help me.” I cradle his face, little bolts of pleasure shooting down from my fingers as they rub his five o’clock shadow. “I just didn’t expect to find such a fine specimen posing as Father Gabriel.”
Niko chuckles, the sound of his laughter unleashing another wave of want within me. I love seeing him smile or laugh, and even more than it, I love being the reason for that. “You are a smartass, aren’t you?” he teases, running his fingers along the hem of my pants.
I try not to moan. He’s not even touching me and I’m already a mess. The anticipation is killing me. “Maybe.”
“This is such a bad idea,” he suddenly professes, sliding his hand into my underwear. “We are exposed here and we don’t know if we lost the men chasing us.”
“Uh-uh, yes. You are so right.” I close my eyes, fighting off a moan as his fingers brush the tip of my dick. “This is the worst time and place for a hand job, I agree. But I really want you to touch me.” I wiggle my eyebrows up and down. “Just five minutes. I promise I’ll be quick.”
He huffs out a noise of amusement. Is that a yes? Or a no? It has to be a yes, right? Else why would his hand bein my pants already? I inhale deeply, my heart pounding so fast I can feel it in my neck.Please be a yes.
