“What is it?” Derrick asked.
I picked the package up off the bed, holding it out at arm’s length in case it decided to grow legs and bite me. I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Slowly, I started to unwrap the small black bag, and out tumbled a well-wrapped paper and taped package. Using my teeth and then a plastic knife we found among all the stuff on the floor, we cut away the tape. I unfurled the paper and tape. Then, it was a thick and heavy piece of something, like what the dental hygienist drapes over you before they x-ray your mouth. That’s the closest thing I could come to for a comparison. Was it a giant piece of lead? They’d wrapped lead around the package? What on earth had I just smuggled?
I pulled the lead away and tossed it onto the bed. Next, it was foil. I tore at the foil. Whoever it was had gone to rather extreme measures to conceal whatever was in this bag. Once I finally got through the layers of foil, out tumbled a manila envelope. I opened the envelope and came face to face with a giant wad of cash. I pulled the money out. It was in neat rolls. All hundreds and fifty-dollar U.S. bills. Derrick’s eyes went wide as I dumped the contents of the envelope out onto the bed. And last but not least, after around twenty or thirty rolls of bills scattered out, came a small plastic bag. A plastic bag FULL of pills. There had to have been several hundred inside. Drugs had been in my backpack. I’d smuggled drugs, and money, probably drug money or laundered money, across international borders. I could have wound up in a Peruvian prison. I began to shake uncontrollably, and then, the dry heaving started. I could no longer breathe.
Strong, warm hands fell to my back as I hunched over, my hands on my knees, gasping for air, choking on nothing. “We need to call Chase,” he said softly, his hand rubbing rhythmic circles and drawing my hair up and out of my face in case I ended up puking, because at the moment it was not out of the question.
“What are the pills? What the hell did I just smuggle?” I stood up and faced him. “Oh, my God, I’m a drug trafficker!”
His hands moved to my shoulders, the pressure was grounding, and I couldn’t help but feel just a little bit better. “You’re not a drug trafficker.”
“Yes, I am. I just trafficked drugs from one country to another! Does Peru observe capital punishment? Oh, God, could I go to jail? Do they hang people or do firing squad? I think Indonesia still does the firing squad. I read that somewhere recently. So, it does still exist in the twenty-first century.”
He started to shush me. “You were a mule. An innocent mule. One who had no idea she was in possession of an illegal substance or money when she crossed borders.” He rubbed the back of his neck while shaking his head. “Boy, are we lucky they didn’t see those pills on the scanner. I guess that’s what the lead was for.”
I mewled. “Oh, God… I’m a mule. How is that any better? I should have known he was too nice to be trusted. You can’t trust anyone anymore!”
He unrolled one of the wads of cash and did a quick count. “There’s a thousand dollars here in this roll.” He lined up all the rolls and counted them. “Twenty-five. There’s twenty-five thousand dollars here.” Wasn’t the limit ten thousand dollars? Unless declared? Holy shit, I’d committed another crime.
He grabbed my phone off the bed and pushed it into my hands. “Call Chase. He’ll know what to do.”
I nodded, and with quivering digits, I found his contact information and hit dial.
“Hart,” came a grisly bark into the receiver.
“Uh…Chase…it’s Piper. Piper Valentine…from Lima…well…uh, Miraflores. You um—”
“Piper! Everything okay?”
I shook my head but then realized he couldn’t see me. “No,” I said, tears welling up in my eyes. “No, nothing is all right. Everything is not all right. Everything is wrong.”
“What’s wrong?” His tone was softer, almost big-brother-like. “Deep breaths. Slow down. It’s going to be okay. Tell me what happened.”
I inhaled and exhaled a few times, letting the air fill my lungs and clear my head. I nodded again. “We, um…we were attacked again, this time here in Cusco, that was a few days ago. When we got back from Aguas Calientes just a few hours ago, we found out that someone had gotten into the hostel and held the front desk girl up at gunpoint, while their accomplice cut open a bunch of backpacks. We think they were looking for my bag.” I swallowed and used a stray sock, I’m not even sure whose it was, to wipe up my eyes. I hoped it was at least a semi-clean sock. “So Derrick and I tore my bag apart again, and we found a compartment I hadn’t known about before…and…and we found a package of money…lots of money. Twenty-five thousand dollars and…and pills.”
“Fentanyl.”
“I think so. Robert…he said that they’re having issues with that here in Peru right now. Coc—”
Derrick stopped me. The walls in such an antiquated place were paper-thin, and we didn’t want to risk being overheard, so we went into the bathroom and shut the door.
“Who’s Robert?” Chase asked gruffly.
Oh, right, he didn’t know about our other incident. I filled him in on our movie theater escape and on Navy SEALs Robert and Aaron. Chase didn’t say much; he just grunted and said he’d look into it. I heard the quiet and rhythmic tap-tapping of fingers on a keyboard and wondered if he was trying to find something on them that moment. I highly doubted he’d find anything; men like the three of them weren’t found unless they wanted to be.
“We’ve discovered that The Inca Treasure is a hub or a front for distributing this new drug. But they’re using the dark web now for all their communication. Someone must have tipped them off to our bugs and taps, so we’ve had a harder time keeping track of their comings and goings. You’re not the first mule we’ve intercepted, just the first one we can tie to the hostel in Panama and The Inca Treasure.”
I tasted bile when he called me a mule. Derrick pulled me against him and took the phone; my hands had started to shake again.
“H-how’d they find me here, though?”
I heard him exhale. “I don’t know...is there a tracker in with the pills?”
We held up the bag and checked. “No.”
“Okay…how many pills are there?” Chase asked.
“A lot, man,” Derrick said. “Hundreds.”
“When do you leave Cusco?”
“W-we’re set to fly out tomorrow afternoon,” I whispered, not wanting to spend another minute in the same room as the pills. But we couldn’t very well flush them or get rid of them. Could we call the police?
“Stay where you are. Don’t leave the hotel for anything, okay?”
I nodded.
“Okay.” Derrick smiled.
“I’m procuring a charter. I’ll be there tomorrow morning, okay? You’re at Hostel Travesura, Cusco?”
I nodded again.
Derrick gave me a pitying look, while his hand resumed its comforting massage on my back. “Yep.”
“Okay. For now, just hide the pills and the cash. The toilet tank, or under the bed. Don’t act suspicious or weird. Go about your business, but don’t leave the safety of the hostel. And don’t let housekeeping in, either.”
My head just continued to bob. I’d lost the ability to speak.
“Can do, man,” Derrick said.
Chase made a noise in his throat before speaking again. “Okay. And hey, Piper?”
My head snapped up. “Yeah?”
“It’ll be okay, I promise.”
I swallowed, fresh tears stinging my eyes. “Okay.”
CHAPTER 17
I showered. But the water, despite how unbearably hot I made it, and the white scalding rage that flowed through my veins, neither of them did much to quell the chill that ran rampant through my bones. And the debacle that was this entire trip was so deeply embedded in my skin that even the harshest of loofas wouldn’t be able to scrub me clean.
I was violated, so completely and utterly violated. I could be in prison right now, facing God only knows what kind of sentence
, for trafficking illegal drugs across international borders. And all because of Eduardo. I had half a mind to jump on the next plane back to Panama and go and tear a strip off of him, but what good would it do? What good would any of it do, besides have him possibly call the cops on me, and then, I’d wind up in Panamanian prison instead of a Peruvian one. But no, I’d promised Derrick I wouldn’t do anything reckless again, and I intended to honor that promise.
So, despite every instinct I had to go full steam ahead into the raging inferno and start throwing daggers, pitchforks and whatever other pointy object I could get my hands one, I had to be level-headed about this. I needed to follow Derrick and Chase’s lead, do as I was told and get the ever-loving fuck out of Peru.
I was towel-drying my hair when there as a light knock on the door. Even though this man knew my body more intimately than most, we still weren’t quite there, where he could just barge in unannounced. A woman needed a few secrets.
I wrapped the towel around my body and opened the door for him. “It’s all yours,” I sighed, brushing past him, staring at the small pile of clothes in the middle of the bed that I’d deemed “clean enough to wear again” and hoping that some pajamas were in the mix.
He grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Piper.” I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. “On the bed.”
But I shrugged him off; I wasn’t in the mood. “No, not tonight, I’m not into it. Okay? I just want this all to be over. I just want to get the hell out of here. I just want to go home.”
“On the bed now.” His voice low and commanding. “I’m not asking.”
I shot him a steely glare, but he didn’t back down. The man was a Dominant to his core, especially when it came to things behind closed doors, and even though he claimed he’d never trained as one, I could tell he was a quick learner and could probably out Dom some of the most dommiest Doms. “I’m not going to tell you again.” I clenched my jaw but moved toward the bed. “Lose the towel.” My back snapped ramrod straight, and I looked at him. He met me with a hard stare, daring me to defy him again.
I clenched my teeth but did as I was told. I let the towel drop to the floor and then climbed onto the bed with the grace of a pissed off feline, glaring at him the entire time.
“Now…” The edge gone from his voice, only to be replaced with a deep and husky warmth that quickly spread from my ears into my chest and belly and down between my legs. “Seeing as this is our last night together, I figured we ought to make it memorable. I’d like for you to remember me every time you go to sit down for the next several days. Remember my hand, my mouth, my touch, my cock… remember all of it.”
Fuck, he was right, this was our last night together. I’d been feeling melancholy about it on the train and in the van, excited to take our sexual exploration to the next level, one last time. But the robbery, my slashed bag, and finding out I was a drug mule had pushed all thoughts of sexy, dirty fun out of my mind completely, and I was simply ready for the day to be over. But it couldn’t be over. If it was over, then it meant I was one minute closer to saying goodbye to Derrick for good.
I swallowed the hard lump that formed in my throat. All the fury I’d felt a moment ago was disappearing, leaving nothing but sadness. I’d only known this man a week, but in that week, he’d managed to save me in so many ways and help me open my heart up to new possibilities again, open my heart up to second chances.
A warm hand started to trail along my ribs and back, down toward my buttocks and the backs of my thighs, and then his lips followed. Searing hot kisses replaced his hands, and then a tongue, warm and velvety, wedged its way between my legs. I pushed into his face and spread my knees, tilting my hips down so he could get better access.
“So sweet.” A lone finger began probing my needy core. “I want to taste every inch of your skin tonight, imprint your moans on my brain so that I never forget the way my name sounds coming from your lips.”
My breathing was ragged as I knelt there on all fours, his tongue massaging my clit while his finger pumped. If any other man spoke like that to me, I’d burst out laughing, I loved dirty talk, but this was something else. This wasn’t dirty talk; this was dirty poetry. And it was hot as hell but at the same time incredibly heart-rending, because I knew it all to be true.
I was already close, so close, just about to tip over the edge when a whistle through the air drew my attention away and a hard and solid smack came down on my left butt cheek. I yelped and flipped my head around to look at him. It was his belt!
He gave my clit one more flick with his tongue before standing up next to the bed. “Turn around face the headboard, Piper. I’m going to spank you now with my belt. Is that okay?”
“Considering that you’ve already done it once…” I sassed, wiggling my butt in front of him.
I heard him groan behind me, and his hand came out, and he ran a finger beneath my cheek, right where it meets the thigh. “Are you sassing me?”
“No.” Yes, yes, I was.
“Good.” I could tell he was trying hard to be serious; there was a glimmer of humor in his tone. “Now, are you okay if I spank you again with the belt? I should have asked before I did it the first time, but I was going for the element of surprise.”
I wiggled my butt again. “Yes, I’m okay with it.” I knew he wanted me to beg him, and seeing as it was our last night together and he was going to give me everything I wanted and more, orgasms upon orgasms upon more orgasms, I’d give him something, too. “Please spank me, Derrick, please. I’m begging you.” Pressing my butt higher into the air toward him.
Another growl. Men were so easy.
His exhale was ragged and strained. “Holy fuck! You are seriously the perfect woman.” He hit me with the belt again, this time across the other cheek. I yipped, but not nearly as loud, the pain quickly dissipating and building into a lovely warmth, spreading across my skin and through my body.
“More, please.”
Three more came in rapid fire, one on each cheek again, in a slightly different spot than the last, and then one across both cheeks, across the meatiest part of my butt. I hissed and moaned and pressed my ass into the air again, while my pussy clenched with need and I felt the tell-tale trickle of arousal begin to drip its way down my inner thigh.
“You are so fucking perfect,” he groaned, his lips coming down on top of where he’d just spanked me, kissing away any lasting bite of pain. “So perfect.” His hand kneaded and massaged my smarting flesh while his mouth continued to explore. And then his tongue was back on me. Inside and out, plundering my core with a new and driving need. Until my clit throbbed with each lick, swelling and screaming out for more. The man was everywhere, his hands, his mouth. He couldn’t get enough, and neither could I.
He fell into a bit of a delicious, but tormenting, pattern for a while. Fucking me with his mouth until I was but a breath away from release, only to rear back and spank me with the belt. Each time giving to me harder and giving me more, only to then massage and caress my tingling skin until it was warm and happy. But good as it felt, I wanted more, I wanted more of him. I wanted to feel his body on top of mine, his lips on my lips, his cock in my pussy. This was our last night together, and I wanted to be connected in every way possible.
I was panting, struggling for breath, while sweat misted my chest and forehead. “Fuck me, please. I need you inside me.”
He made an unidentifiable animal noise in his throat. The belt was tossed to the ground while the sound of a zipper and jeans being slipped off made me lick my lips in anticipation. I thought, hoped, craved that he was going to take me from behind. But instead, he flipped me onto my back and hoisted me up to the top of the bed, leaving me spread eagle in between the pillows. His gaze raked me, dark gray and soul-piercing. Even though I was naked, I felt even more stripped, even more laid bare than that. The man was seeing all of me.
His Adam’s apple bobbed slowly in his throat as he continued to stare at me, sudden emotion taking hold of his voice. “I’
m uh…I’m going to go have a shower. Be right back.” And then, without a word, he ducked into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving me wet and wondering what the hell just happened.
CHAPTER 18
I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. One minute we were playing and Derrick was tanning my ass with a leather belt, eating me out until I was a panting, sloppy mess, shrieking for release, and then, all of a sudden, he announced he needed a shower and sprinted off to the bathroom, shutting the door. Was he mad at me? Had I done something wrong? I was so confused, so completely and utterly confused about what had just happened, and hoping to God that when he came out of the shower he could explain things to me and our night together wasn’t going to be entirely ruined.
I was beginning to catch a chill, he’d been in there for a while, so I drew the blankets up over my body and snuggled into the pillows, my eyes closing and the dreams coming before I even knew what was happening.
I felt the covers pull across me, and the light on the nightstand flicked off. My eyes fluttered open to a dark room, a shadowy lump lying next to me in bed. I reached for him. He was warm and smelled incredible. Thankfully he moved into my arms, and the gap between us closed.
“Did I do something wrong?” How had we gone from wild, hot and passionate to him leaving me hanging, seconds from orgasm?
His breath was minty-fresh as he exhaled. “No.”
I looked up into his face, but I couldn’t really get a read on his expression. “Th-then what just happened?”
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