Chapter Sixty-Two
Bree
I held my arm up, fist clenched, but couldn’t bring myself to knock on the door. The lights were out in the little motel room, and I couldn’t decide what that meant. I lowered my hand and stepped back.
Either Nathan was already gone or he was asleep. I doubted he would be able to rest much before he completed his mission.
I didn’t want to knock and wait with my heart in my throat. It was inconceivable how much it would hurt if I discovered the motel room was empty. Had I already missed my chance with Nathan?
Tears blurred my eyes. I had thrown it all away, tried to leave him, so how could I expect him to be there?
I shook my head and tried to think like Nathan would. The motel clerk had nodded as I passed, and there was nothing funny about his expression. It was possible that Nathan had paid through the night and already left, but there was a slim chance he was still in the room.
I held on to that hopeful thought but still stopped myself from knocking. If Nathan was asleep, it was because it was critical to his plans that he be rested. Without me around, I knew Nathan preferred rigid structure.
There was no telling if Nathan would be happy that I woke him in the middle of the night or if he would be enraged that his biggest distraction was back.
I felt a spark of anger at my own thoughts. I hadn’t been a distraction; I had helped Nathan. I thought about all the clues I helped put together, all the times I had stepped in when he couldn’t talk around something on his own. If Nathan was still in that room then I deserved to see him again.
I knocked and held my breath.
There was no perceptible movement from the dark motel room, but I felt a rush of excitement. Then the door tore open, and Nathan stood there staring at me hard.
“Bree?” His voice was roughened with sleep.
“Oh, god, I really did wake you up. I’m so sorry, Nathan.” I panicked and turned to go.
Nathan’s hand snaked out and caught me around the wrist. “I just nodded off. I would have woken up soon anyway.”
He pulled me closer to him and didn’t let go of my wrist. The intensity of his study made me nervous. “You’re not dreaming,” I joked.
Nathan came to his senses and pulled me into the motel room. He turned to shut the door and lock it behind us, but I couldn’t wait. I threw myself at his broad back and wrapped my arms tight around his waist.
He chuckled and twisted in my arms. “You’re right. For a minute there, I thought I was dreaming.”
I wound my arms up and around his neck, pressing myself to him. The burning need to touch him only lessened when his strong arms locked around my back and held me tight. We hugged, breathless, for longer than I could track. When his arms finally loosened, I realized my toes had lifted off the ground.
Nathan put me down then cupped my face with both hands. “You came back,” he said.
“I had to.”
The kiss erupted with equal force from both of us. I was so relieved to see him still alive and free that I poured everything I had into his lips. Nathan returned it full force with a red hot need I hadn’t felt from him before.
“So, you missed me?” I asked against his hungry lips.
Nathan chuckled, his hands dropping to flex over my bottom. “I should be mad that you defied a direct order, but, oh god, does this feel good.”
I knew the second his rational thoughts returned because Nathan pulled back faster than lightning. He gripped my shoulders and leaned down to look directly into my eyes.
“What happened to Maggie?” he growled.
My already accelerated heartbeat tripled under his fierce gaze. “She’s fine. The whole crossing was fine. Maggie’s on a bus to Springer right now. She’s safe.”
Nathan repeated every panicked phrase I had spouted and then nodded. “Were you followed? The cartel has eyes everywhere.”
I pushed out of his grip and rubbed my arms. I didn’t like hearing the certainty in his voice. What if they knew I’d put Maggie on that bus?
“I did what you said and I kept watch. I didn’t see anyone. There were no signs that anyone recognized us. They thought Maggie really was my daughter,” I said.
Nathan relaxed a fraction of an inch. “Was she okay going alone?”
A nervous giggle escaped my lips. “Maggie Wheeler is the bravest little girl I’ve ever met. She’d already charmed the bus driver by the time they pulled away from the curb. And I bought her a burner cell phone.”
The tension left Nathan’s body. “Good. You did good, Bree. But you weren’t supposed to come back.”
“I know.” The weight of my foolish gesture pushed me down to the end of the motel bed. “I know it’s stupid to think that I can help you, but I couldn’t just walk away, Nathan. How could you expect me to just go like that? And never see you again?”
I waited for Nathan to call me naive. I waited for him to swear about how there were better men for me in the world and I shouldn’t have ever gotten involved with him in the first place.
Instead, Nathan sat down next to me and pulled me tight against him. “I would have found you,” he said. “Afterward. I would have tracked you no matter where you went.”
“But I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere, Nathan.” I waited for him to growl at me.
Nathan dropped a soft kiss on the top of my head. “I’m glad you’re here. I made contact tonight but there’s something off about it. A second pair of eyes could save the whole operation.”
I jumped up. “You made contact? What happened?”
Nathan stood up and turned on the bedside lamp. Then he poured us both a short shot of whiskey and handed me mine in a plastic cup from the bathroom. We moved to the table and sat down across from each other.
“I went looking for a poker game or some other gambling. My idea was to lose big to someone in the cartel so that I could get pulled in.” Nathan sipped his whiskey and frowned. “Instead, I was approached by this drug dealer, and he offered me a gig tomorrow. No details on it yet, just a time and place.”
I shook my head and almost spilled my whiskey. “There’s something off. Why would he just offer you a job? It’s a trap. Right? It’s gotta be a trap.”
Nathan shrugged. “Either way, it’s what I asked for. Once I’m in, I can get a beat on where they keep the children.”
My hand trembled as I reached for his. “Nathan, please don’t do this. We can leave now. If we head to the coast, we can get back to the US through Baja.”
“Or just live there in a hut on the beach?” Nathan took his shot of whiskey and crushed his cup. “I have to do this, Bree. You know that.”
I shook my head. “Maggie’s safe. I’ll call her and prove it. Then you can write out all the information you know about the cartel’s operation and send it to the FBI. By the time they come looking for us, we’ll be on some secluded beach somewhere.”
Nathan scowled and leaned back in his chair. “We’ve gone over this before. Anything we expect the government to do about this will take so long those children will be scarred adults by the time they are reached. Can you even imagine? They’ll be knotted so tightly into the cartel they’ll never have anything but a warped life.”
My heart throbbed. Nathan was angry with me again. I was nagging, not helping. And the thought of those children condemned to life under the cartel’s control was almost too much to bear.
“You’re right. We need to end this,” I said.
“We?”
I swatted at him across the table. “We. I am not leaving you to do this all on your own. I know you think you’re some kind of rogue hero, but you said it yourself: you could use a second pair of eyes tomorrow.”
Nathan bristled at my defiant tone. “Rogue hero? What kind of hero would I be if I intentionally led you into danger?”
I laughed. “As if you haven’t done that before.”
He stood up. “Bree, I’m glad to see you. More than you’ll ever know. But I’m not going to let you walk into this mess with me. We don’t know what we’re facing. I still can’t remember anything that could help us.”
“You’re glad to see me?” I moved around to stand in front of him.
“Did you hear anything I said?” Nathan asked.
I nodded and trailed my hands up his hard chest. “You know you’ll never remember anything unless you relax.”
Nathan’s eyes dropped down my body. His hands swung around and pulled me close, eliminating any space between our bodies. I felt his hands then glide up and down my back.
I arched back to draw him down into a kiss and one of his large hands swept up to cup my breast. A ragged sigh escaped him, and his hands flexed around my soft flesh and coaxed my nipple to standing.
I shuddered with pleasure when his thumb flicked over my erect nipple again. The sound made Nathan’s eyes dilate, and his lips parted on a hot breath.
Then he growled, letting go of me only long enough to peel my shirt up and over my head. Before my arms came back down, Nathan had sprung the clasp on my bra and tossed it aside. He then used both hands to scoop up my breasts and draw another moan of pleasure out of me.
I arched back to let his hands roam and pressed my hips deeper into him for balance. As his hands caressed and squeezed and teased my nipples to electric ends, I felt his passion growing.
“Are you sure I’m not dreaming?” Nathan asked.
“God, I hope not.” I pushed my body farther into his hands.
He dropped his head down and kissed first one nipple and then the other. I gasped as the wet stroke of his tongue sent molten waves through my entire body.
My hands were useless, fingers fumbling as bright thrills flowed through my body. When Nathan saw me struggling with my jeans, he brushed my hands aside. As he pulled them down, he knelt and let his hot lips trail down my belly. I stepped out my jeans and stood with only a thin pair of cotton panties between me and his hot, ragged breaths.
Nathan swept his hands up the back of my legs and held me. He pressed a soft kiss to the apex of my legs before pulling my panties down so slowly I almost melted.
Once they were off, I put my hands on Nathan’s shoulders, my body ripe and ready for his lips. It was his turn to fumble with his pants, tearing them off to reveal his throbbing response.
I looked to the bed, still unsure how to make the first move. Nathan shook his head and caught my waist in both hands. Kneeling on the floor, he guided me over him and lowered me slowly down. His big, strong hands guided my thighs around him and then I felt him nudge into me.
I sank onto him, stopping only when he caught my lips in a panting kiss. His tongue swirled and teased until I melted down, taking him fully inside me. Then Nathan’s strong arms flexed, lifting and plunging into me until my desire took over. It felt like riding to the sky-high crest of a hill and then racing down so fast the air lifted me off the earth.
When I finally came back down, I was wound around Nathan, his arms still holding me though now his muscles were relaxed and loose.
I caught my breath, hopeful that Nathan felt the same. “So, can I stay with you?”
Nathan erupted with laughter, lifting us both up and into the motel bed. There he scooped me against his body and gave a contented sigh. “I hope you never leave again.”