Guapo’s house looked like de Velazquez’s except dustier due to the fact the area was more desert than lush jungle. As they were paraded through the gate onto the grounds and up the steps into the house, Tony looked in every direction, though his head was relatively still. Furious with himself for being distracted by the idea of a romp with Grace at the airstrip, he’d allowed these men to easily capture them and take their weapons.

The promise he’d made to her was at the front of his brain. He wouldn’t let de Velazquez have her; he knew her fate would be prolonged torture, both physical and mental, until she was a broken shell lying bloody on the dirty floor of a cell. He’d have to kill her if there was no other choice, but the idea of doing so destroyed him a little. He cared for her, more than he would have expected after such a short time together. Her death at his hand would be a blessing, but if he survived, he would have to live with it. His survival, should she die, wasn’t going to happen.

As they walked through the hacienda, a gorgeous example of Mexican architecture, Tony saw no means of escape. Guapo stopped them at the base of the steps that led upstairs.

“My men will escort you to your room,” he said, as if he were their host and not the jailer. “I’ll have clean clothes sent up. Please, take advantage of the shower and bed. Rest. This evening at eight, we will have dinner.”

Tony glared at the man. “Stop pretending you aren’t sending us to our deaths by calling de Velazquez.”

Guapo smirked at him. “May I remind you, your deliverance to de Velazquez is not certain.”

“What do you mean?” Grace asked, frowning.

“We’ll discuss at dinner,” Guapo announced. “Up you go.”

They followed two men up the stairs and to a bedroom that had bars on all the windows. The men closed the door and locked them in, and Grace sighed as she slumped into a chair, dropping her bag from the store on the floor. “Bars on the windows… think he keeps prisoners here a lot?”

“Or he’s afraid of thieves,” Tony joked as he wandered the room, checking the windows to make sure none of the bars were loose. Grumbling, he said, “All tight. No escaping this room. We’ll have to try something at dinner.”

“But he said he might not turn us over to de Velazquez,” Grace reminded him, sitting up. “Why would he not?”

He shrugged and ventured a guess. “Guapo is from a different cartel, I’d bet. If de Velazquez wants us, he wants to know why, see if the information is useful. Maybe sell us to him. Who knows?”

“Well, this just keeps getting better and better,” she grouched as she rose from the chair and stomped to the bathroom. “Mind if I use the shower first?”

“Not at all,” he told her, watching her back as she reached the bathroom. She didn’t close the door, a testimony to the intimacy they shared. She stripped quickly after turning the water on and stepped under the spray, moaning like she was having an orgasm. Tony’s cock hardened instantly at the sound.

A knock sounded on the door a few minutes after she’d climbed in the shower. He wondered why they bothered since they could unlock the door and walk in as they please. Which they did. Two men walked in, one carrying hangers draped with outfits for them both, the other a small knapsack Tony guessed held underthings. Neither spoke as they deposited their burdens on the bed and left, locking the door behind them.

Tony lifted the hanger with slacks and a button-up shirt, both of excellent quality, and hung them in the closet. Guapo had sent a dress up for Grace, which looked like it would fit her when he held it up. He grabbed the bag and dress and turned for the bathroom to deliver her clothes when her shopping bag caught his eye. He picked it up but the bag tore. All the items fell to the floor, and he grumbled as he laid the dress across the chair to pick them up.

When he saw the pregnancy test, his heart scampered in his chest like a rabbit being chased by a wolf. His brain ceased working for several seconds as he stared at it, lost in his fear. As his brain function returned, his outlook on life changed suddenly. If she was pregnant, he had to save her, even if it meant his own life. She had to live.

The door to the shower opened and Grace walked out wrapped in a towel. She saw him on the floor, holding the pregnancy test, and froze. He lifted it, watching her expression, and she tried to explain.

“Tony, I…um, okay.” She paused and took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing. “I missed taking my birth control all week. When we had sex, I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

“Do you think you’re pregnant?” he asked, his voice gruffer than usual. He cleared his throat as he rose to his full height, trying to sound less angry because he wasn’t. “Is it possible?”

Grace wore a confused expression on her face, and he assumed she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Um, I don’t know. My period should start tomorrow or the next day, but because I missed several pills, my body could be out of whack.”

“So you don’t know?”

Grace scoffed and threw up her hands. “How the hell would I know, Tony? We had sex last night and this morning! I bought the test out of a misguided idea of taking it just in case because it’ll drive me crazy not to know, but taking it would be stupid because it’s too early for an accurate reading.”

He scowled down at the box as he read it. “Says you have to wait until you’ve missed your period.”

“Yes, I know that,” she barked. “I read the box. It was stupid to buy it.”

Tony looked at her. Her hands were on her hips, and she looked miserably angry and hopelessly beautiful with her scowl and her wet hair and nothing on but a towel. She might be carrying my child, he thought with wonder. He looked down at the box again and understood that the little stick inside could change his entire life. More importantly, it could change how he dealt with their current predicament.

He looked into her eyes as he moved closer to her. He didn’t take her in his arms because he hadn’t showered, but he desperately wanted to. “Grace, I think you should take it.”

Her eyes popped, and she looked down at the box in his hand as if it were a live snake. “Tony, it wouldn’t be accurate. What if it says I am but we get home and I’m not? Or that I’m not but I really am? I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

Decision made, he said, “Regardless of what this test says, you will live through this. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you out. If you’re pregnant with my child, nothing will hurt you. If you’re not, still nothing will hurt you. I pledge my life to you, and to the possibility of our child.”

* * *

Tony’s intense reply struck her heart, which opened to the possibility of loving this man. He wasn’t afraid of her being pregnant; he was afraid she wouldn’t live to carry their child. A tear slipped down her cheek, then another, as he gazed into her eyes. She didn’t know if he loved her, but he cared enough to make sure she lived to take care of their possible baby. Even if he didn’t.

“Tony, I don’t know what to say,” she sniffled, staring at him.

He held the box out to her with a small smile. “Take the test and let’s see what it says. All other decisions will be made after that.”

She grasped the box and said, “You shower. I’ll take it while you’re in there, and by the time you’re done, we’ll have our answer.” She held up a hand to remind him, “Just don’t forget that this might not be accurate.”

“Either way, Grace, you’ll live,” he said again, his intensity magnified by the look in his eyes.

“You too, Tony.”

He nodded, but she knew he would throw himself to his death if it meant her survival, and she was afraid. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, make love to him, but she pushed him to the bathroom for his shower. Once he was in the stall, showering off the dirt of travel, she sat on the toilet and took the test, setting it on the counter on top of some toilet paper to wait. She checked the box for instructions. Plus sign is pregnant, minus sign is not pregnant.

Grace stared at his silhouette in the shower, his impressive muscular build, his larger than average cock hanging between his legs. A powerful lust overtook her as she watched him wash his body, and a longing to help wash him became an insistent need. She rose and closed the bathroom door, which didn’t have a lock. She was willing to take the chance. Leaving the test on the counter to look at later, she dropped her towel and opened the shower door.

Tony turned to look at her, his eyebrows lifted in question. When his eyes met her lustful ones, saw her naked body, he knew her intent and stepped aside so she could climb in. He wrapped her in his arms as she stepped into the spray of water, and when his lips touched hers, the kiss was loving, not rushed by lust as their kisses had been before. He kissed her like they were dancing, slowly, allowing his tongue to taste her as she tasted him.

Grace ran her hands over his body, exploring it as she hadn’t the other two times they’d had sex. Every peak and valley was known to her as she touched the small of his back, the crevices that were his abs, and the mightiness of his cock. As she stroked it, using the water as lube, he let his head fall back against the wall of the shower stall. Grace lifted on her toes and ran her tongue along his jaw, down his throat, and to each of his nipples, seducing him as she stroked his cock into full hardness. He mumbled words she couldn’t understand, and when he pushed against the wall, knelt, and lifted her one leg to his shoulder, she understood his meaning.

His mouth attacked her pussy, sucking her clit gently, then roughly, changing the pattern until he found the one that made her moan the loudest. His tongue was as talented as his thumb had been the night before, and as he dashed his tongue against her clit, he inserted two fingers into her opening, thrusting upward in moderate strokes.

Her hips, of their own accord, thrust forward against his mouth as she placed her hand on his shoulder to hold herself up. As she moved faster, his fingers thrust inside her harder and his tongue flicked across her clit with a speed she was amazed by. He hummed against her as he closed his mouth around her clit and sucked. The vibrations combined with the sucking was nearly her undoing, and her head tossed from side to side against the shower wall as she felt her climax reaching for its peak.

As her moans grew louder, Tony thrust harder and crooked his fingers, hitting her G-spot. Three strokes in and she was primed. Her orgasm grabbed her body and mind and shuddered through her so hard she had to let her leg fall from his shoulder as he leaned back to look up at her. She bent over him as the strength of the orgasm overwhelmed her, resting her forehead on top of his head. He lifted his head and took her mouth in a deep kiss that increased her need for him.

“Oh, fuck, Tony,” she murmured as she shoved him so his butt landed on the tiles. “I need to fuck you now.”

He adjusted his body so she could straddle him, and the water sluiced over their bodies as she lowered herself to take him into her. Uncomfortable in this position, she rose and turned around, settling on his lap with her back against his chest. Her legs were closed, his wide, and she felt him maneuvering his cock into her, and once it was inside, she began to move. He wrapped his arms around her and put one hand on each tit, massaging the nipples as she reached down and played with her clit.

The water beating on her skin, his fingers kneading her breasts, his cock buried deep inside her…all the sensations rocked her. Her need for him increased tenfold, and her movements became frantic. She lifted up and slammed down on him, feeling his cock rubbing every inch of her pussy. She put her hands on his knees and used his strength for leverage as she fucked him hard in this altered reverse cowgirl position.

He grunted as her ass hit his stomach, but he thrust upward as best as he could, growling, “Come for me, baby. Come all over that cock.”

His dirty talk turned her on even more, and she moved quickly, reaching for her pleasure as she forced him to take his from her. “Fuck that pussy, Tony! Fuck me hard!”

Rather than fuck her harder as she’d asked, he lifted her to a standing position, quickly scrambled to his feet, and bent her over, placing her hands on the wall. He put his mouth close to her ear and said, “I’m gonna fuck you so hard you’ll be screaming.”

“Yes! Yes!” she answered, tensing her arm muscles so she could push back against him. “I want that cock inside me now.”

He slammed into her pussy, nearly pushing her face to the wall, but she’d been prepared for the hard thrust. Her arms held her in position as he pounded into her. Grace screamed as another orgasm grabbed her and held on, scorching pleasure centered in her pussy and exploding outward through her entire body.

“You like that?” he asked, his voice sexy in its growling tenseness.

“Fuck yeah! Give me more,” she cried, and he answered by pulling out, turning her, and lifting her, placing her back against the wall.

“I want to see your face when you come for me,” he whispered against her lips. “I want to taste your screaming pleasure.”

So aroused her brain was melting out her ears, she forced her eyes to remain open as he fucked her, holding her tightly against the wall as her legs clamped around his waist. Their bodies made loud smacking noises as they came together again and again, and Grace was nearly begging him to fuck her even harder.

The water on their bodies was cooling, but their heat kept them warm. He fucked her hard, and she kissed him hard. When she felt her third orgasm approaching, she cried, “Oh God, I’m gonna come!”

“Me too!” he replied in a groan, and together, they cried out their ecstasy, nonsensical noises in the language of pleasure. As their euphoria subsided slowly, he laid his head on her shoulder, and she put her hands on his head to hold him to her.

He remained inside her, holding her against the wall, for several moments. When he lifted his head from her shoulder, he smiled into her eyes. Grace felt words pushing against the back of her teeth, her tongue longing to say speak her feelings. Instead, she let her eyes tell him, as his eyes were telling her, that this was special, not sex due to circumstances. This was more.

Tony stepped back, still holding her, and set her gently on the floor. He touched her cheek with one hand, brushing his thumb down her face to run across her lips. A sweet kiss followed, and her feelings for him were set in stone. She was falling for him.

The water was getting cold, so he reached around her and turned it off. Smiling, he grabbed a fresh towel and began to dry her. His goosebumps told her he was chilled, so she escaped his ministrations with a small giggle and handed him a towel.

“You can’t protect me if you get sick from standing in cold water,” she told him with a little nip of his lower lip.

Tony grinned at her. “Cold water is nothing.”

“Yeah, okay,” she teased, rolling her eyes, which landed on the test waiting patiently on the counter. She looked back at him, but his gaze had followed hers and remained on the test. “Remember, it could be wrong either way.”

He looked at her seriously and asked, “What does your gut tell you?”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Your gut,” he said again. “I’ve heard women just know when they’re pregnant. So what’s your gut say?”

Grace frowned as she listened to her body. “I don’t think I have that instinct, but the minute I thought about it earlier today, it kinda felt right.”

“All right,” he said matter-of-factly. “Let’s look.”

“Plus sign means pregnant, minus sign means not pregnant,” she informed him, and he nodded. He took her hand, and they walked to the counter together and looked down simultaneously at a pink plus sign. Grace’s gut said something now: panic. “Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right,” Tony said, and the tone of his voice made her lift her eyes to his grinning face.

Her eyebrows in her hairline, she exclaimed, “You’re happy?”

“Well, I don’t like the situation, but a baby, Grace,” he whispered, emotion clouding his voice so unexpectedly she stared. “What do you think?”

“I have no idea yet,” she answered truthfully. “But I do know one thing. You better get us out of this.”

His expression hardened as his brain clearly began to work furiously. “I will, Grace. You will live.”