by Jordan,Skye
Her tang was sweet and soft, like her. The delicacy of it was like licking beer off his lips, and having the taste make him realize he need a deep swig.
“Oh…” Her fingers threaded in his hair, and he lifted his lashes to check her expression. Her eyes were closed, head tilted back, lips parted. Sweet triumph burned through Marcus’s chest, and he watched her reactions as he took more, tasted deeper, explored the swell at the very base of her clit.
“God…” she said, barely audible, her head falling forward and her expression drenched with pleasure, laced with surprise. “Marcus.”
The sound of his name in that voice, with her forehead drawn tight in rising pleasure, drove him crazy. He opened wider, covering her, taking as much of her as he could, swirling the strong tip of his tongue around and around that swell even as it swelled beneath his lips. Even as her hips moved to his rhythm and her fingers locked in his hair.
“Yes…” The pitch of her voice rose, grew tight, “Jesus… Mar—” She cried out. Her hips jerked against his mouth, and Marcus closed his eyes with the delirium of her, held her steady, and ate at her, absorbing her tremors, her heat, her flavor, until her motions melted into shivers.
She was panting as her legs lost strength, and Marcus gathered her into his lap on the floor of his shower. After a moment, she laid her head back against the shower wall, and with water spilling over her, Tova’s lashes fluttered open just enough to show the golden glow of her eyes. A hot smile hinted in the tiny crinkles at the corners.
“You are going to be so sorry…” she said between quick breaths, “you showed me…that little hidden talent.”
Ten
Tova rose up on her elbow in bed and winced as she reached for her phone, checking for any missed calls. Marcus had nagged her into taking more ibuprophen before she’d fallen asleep, and she was grateful for his forethought now. With no messages from Cedro waiting, she set her phone down and rolled toward Marcus. He was passed out, sprawled on his back, only a sheet tangled around one muscled thigh. His handsome face was turned toward her, long black lashes in a soft curve along his cheekbone, strong chest rising and falling in slow, deep, even breaths.
He’d fallen asleep just like that while he’d been telling her about his nephews. Midsentence, describing their last Christmas together three years before, he’d finally drifted off to sleep. And a grin broke out on Tova’s face just remembering it again now. Definitely a moment she’d never forget. Just like the two additional rounds of world-rocking sex he’d treated her to after the shower.
Now dawn grayed the sky, and still, Tova couldn’t sleep.
She eased one leg over his hips, rested on her knees--more heavily on the one that hadn’t connected with pavement earlier—and planted her hands on either side of his head. He didn’t stir. Didn’t open his eyes.
“Mar-cus…” she sang softly. Still got nothing. Her smile widened, and she bounced the bed gently.
Still nothing.
Tova sighed and glanced at the nightstand where his gun, keys, badge, and wallet lay. Returning her gaze to his handsome face, she ran her thumb over the full bottom lip outlined in stubble. When he didn’t even flutter an eyelash, Tova rolled from bed and found his T-shirt on the floor. Pulling it over her head, she wandered through the bedroom and bathroom, picking up and folding the clothes and towels they’d left behind.
She held his uniform shirt in her hands, his badge glinting in the dim light. Heaviness settled over her heart, and she traced a finger down the center of the gold metal. The chill beneath her finger immediately brought to mind the black metal bars of the border fence, like a symbol of everything that still stood between them.
How long can this last?
It couldn’t. Not when he found out she planned to help Cedro run the border.
“You’re here. He’s been here. And he owes us money.”
Her kidnapper’s words created uneasy pressure beneath her breastbone. “He’s been here” mixed with Cedro’s words when she’d met him at the border fence: “I’ve got a lead on some work in Calexico.”
She released a breath of confusion and frustration, shaking her head. God, she didn’t understand what was happening.
Pushing the unease from her mind, Tova passed through the bedroom again toward the living room and strolled through the small space. His house was modern. Simple. Technologically equipped with a big flat-screen TV, sleek desktop with some kind of gaming system attached, and a laptop on the kitchen table.
Her gaze skipped to a row of hooks just inside the door, and she wandered that way. A uniform jacket hung there. Beside it, a thick, black belt with numerous keys and a bunch of other gadgets she didn’t recognize. On the floor, mud-caked black boots. Just like those in the bathroom. No sports equipment. No other jackets. No magazines. No sign of hobbies. Just extra work gear. And after listening to him talk about his work—the topic that had brought up his nephews when he’d told her of a child he’d encountered recently—Tova knew his job was obviously the focus of his life.
She ran her fingers over the patch on the jacket sleeve, and her gaze blurred over the words and the emblem, her mind finally turning to Cedro—something she’d been trying to avoid. She wondered where he’d slept last night. If he’d eaten yesterday. If men like the ones who took her were still out there searching for him. The thought of Cedro being kidnapped or killed flooded her with fear and opened a hole in her chest.
She pulled her hand from the patch and wrapped one arm around her waist, picked up a strand of hair near her shoulder with the other, and wound it around her fingers again and again. Surely her parents weren’t getting any sleep either. What would they do if he were killed? Her mother would fall apart. Tova would have to go back to take care of her mother so her father could work and her mother could get the medication she needed. Which would put Tova further behind in school. And because of her late start and her heavy workload, it was already taking forever.
All the troubles Tova had been trying so hard to keep at bay spiraled through her mind, dragging her lower and lower.
Sound touched her ears, and she glanced toward the bedroom. Marcus stood in the doorway, magnificently naked in the shadows, one hand on the doorframe, one rubbing his eyes. “Are you okay?”
Warmth filled her chest. But unease quickly followed. She wasn’t ready to let him go. One night wasn’t enough. But the complications in her life were mounting, complications that could drive them apart.
“I tried to rouse you a couple minutes ago,” she said, smiling as he came toward her in a sleepy saunter, “but you were zonked.”
He came up behind her and slid his arms around her waist, pressed his mouth to her neck. “I felt you gone,” he murmured and grazed her skin with his teeth. “I’m awake now,” he said, his voice heavy with innuendo and his erection pressing against the curve of her spine. “Tell me what you wanted, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Smiling, she leaned into him, loving the way he supported her weight, held her tight. What would it be like to have this in her life every day? She laid her head back and turned to nuzzle his neck, humming with pleasure. She breathed deep, her head going light with the musky male scent of him.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, serious. “Worried? Scared? Restless?”
She sighed and turned her head to glance through the sidelight by the door, where dawn’s rays lifted the darkness from the sky. “You ever wonder…” she said, not sure what she meant to say, but following her mind’s unfolding thoughts. “What if you weren’t you? What your life would be like if you’d been born in Mexico or Haiti or Kenya?”
He lifted his face from her skin and rested his chin on her shoulder. Tightening his arms, he pulled her fully against him. “Not…in depth. But I do feel a sometimes excruciating sympathy for the people I catch and send back to those very countries.” He paused. “Sounds like something you’ve thought about a lot.”
“It’s all just a crapshoot, you know? None of us have con
trol over where we’re born or to whom. And I’ve been so lucky.” Something that often bewildered her when she thought about it. “I was born in the United States by pure fluke. My parents met when my dad was in Mexico doing relief work after college. Back then, getting over the border was easier, and they came to the US hoping to get work, eventually become citizens, and I was born here. But my grandmother, my mother’s mother, got sick, and they went back to Mexico to be with her. Which is where Cedro was born.
“What if Cedro had been born first, and I’d been born second? I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have had all the opportunity I’ve had, all the good fortune I’ve had… My life is so much easier just because—”
“No, Tova,” he said softly. “You didn’t get where you are by accident. Yes, you had a gifted start, but so have millions of others who haven’t accomplished half of what you have already. You had to earn the grades to get into a California university. You had to keep your grades up to stay there. You had to qualify for the scholarships and grants I damn well know pay your way. You had to do countless hours of practice to be good enough to make the dance team and stay on the dance team. You had to get your job at the diner. You had to work hard to keep your job. You are the common denominator in your own success, Tova. Yes, you’ve made good use of your American birthright. But you’ve had millions of choices to make in your life to get you to this point. You’re here because you’ve made the right ones.”
He swept her hair off her neck and combed his fingers through it. “I believe everything happens for a reason. If you hadn’t been born first, you wouldn’t be here. If you weren’t here, we couldn’t have met.” An edge of humor lightened his tone. “If we hadn’t met, you couldn’t have blinded me with the best sex of my life all night.” His mouth curved against her cheek. “See…purpose.”
She laughed softly, but a weight had grown inside her. She hadn’t always made the best choices, and a pressing need made her turn in his arms. “Marcus…”
But the words caught on a jagged breath and stuck in her chest.
His dark eyes scanned her face, and his smile fell. “Baby? What is it?”
Guilt consolidated in her gut until it felt like a rock. “I need to…”—she swallowed—“tell you something…”
His body tightened, and his expression darkened. “Why do I get the feeling I should take a heavy hit of tequila before I say ‘shoot’?”
She lowered her gaze to his chest and dragged her lip between her teeth.
“Tova…” he warned. “Please don’t tell me you’ve got another guy in your life—”
“What?” She darted a look at his face, confused. And was surprised and humbled to see apprehension and the glint of hurt there. She lifted her hand to his jaw. “No. No.”
He relaxed against her again, sighing out, “Thank God. I really don’t feel like killing anyone today.”
Laughter exited her on a heavy breath, and she pressed her forehead to his chest.
He ran a hand down her hair. “I’m really hoping we can give this a try, baby. I’ve only known you for a few days, and I already feel like I’d be missing out on something special if it ended here.”
Her heart swelled, and tears pressed against her lids. She lifted her head, pushed up on her toes, and kissed him hard. Marcus groaned and opened to her, cradling her head in both hands.
She broke away, unable to hold the secret a moment longer. “I’m working to get money for Cedro,” she rushed before the words cemented inside her. He looked down at her, confused. “I took on the webcam job because…because…because…” She forced her mouth to stop stuttering. “He plans on running the border again, and the last two times he tried, he’s gone it alone. The last time, he was shot and almost died. I told him not to. Told him I found a pollero through a friend at work and got a good price to have Cedro guided safely over the border, but I needed time to get the money together.”
She couldn’t stop. Everything just spilled out. And she couldn’t look Marcus in the eye. “I know it’s wrong, but he’s my brother. And it could be me, you know? It’s not his fault he was born there and I was born here. It’s not fair, and I can’t stand seeing him struggle and suffer and know he’ll continue to spiral his whole life until he dies too soon because he takes stupid chances. And if he died crossing, it would kill my parents—”
Marcus pressed his fingers to her lips, and Tova closed her eyes, surprised to feel tears sliding down her cheeks. “Slow down, baby.”
When he cupped her face and smoothed her tears away with his thumbs instead of yelling at her for breaking the law and making his life harder and ruining the American economy by aiding illegal immigrants, something inside her broke. Her tears came faster, and her heart seemed to split open. All her years of guilt gushed out. She dug her fingers into his back and pressed her face to his chest, sobbing like the weak, needy female she swore she’d never be.
“Shit…” He pulled her close and held her tight. “This has been building for a long time.”
“I’m s-sorry,” she hiccupped. “I didn’t mean to fall apart.” She pulled back, covered her face with both hands, and sucked in ragged breaths. “I just…w-wanted you to know…before w-we tried to make this w-work…”
The thought brought a fresh wave of confusion and hurt, and more sobs threatened.
Marcus pulled her off her feet, and Tova startled. “What—”
He turned and carried her into the bedroom. On the bed, he pulled her into a straddle across his lap. The growing light outside created a soft, intimate atmosphere. His arms wrapped around her, and his dark eyes looked deep into hers.
“Tova…” he said, serious but compassionate, “this isn’t about you and me. This is about you, your brother, your parents, and your guilt over being lucky by birth.”
Her brain felt like a wet sponge, unable to take in any more information or sort out any more problems.
As if he read her confusion, he combed back her hair and said, “I hear what you’re saying and understand your side of it. I do. I see it every damn night. I’ve had years to ask myself all those tough questions, try to iron out the impossible ethical dilemmas involved. I believe in what I do for a lot of reasons, but those don’t include keeping good people out of the US. That is just part of the job requirement. And I do love my job.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded. “I understand.”
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t find a solution.” When her gaze darted back to his, he said, “There are legal ways your brother can come into the country. There are student visas. There are reasons the US grants asylum to people like your brother, which looks reasonable, judging by the night we’ve had.”
The pressure in her chest eased a little. The storm clouds in her brain thinned. “There…are?”
“There are,” he said, a soft smile crinkling the corners of his eyes for a moment. “Yes, they are tedious. Yes, there is a lot of paperwork. And, yes, it does take time. But in my experience, when people know there is hope, they develop patience they didn’t know they had.”
Tova drew a deep breath, and it seemed to expand her heart again. “How do I find out about those things? The visas and the asylum and all the papers?”
A slow smile lifted his lips, and he leaned down to kiss her gently. “I happen to know someone…”—he trailed his lips over the tear tracks on one cheek—“who knows all the ins and outs of this crazy system…” —he did the same on the other cheek— “and would be happy to help you navigate through.”
Tova stroked her hands over his jaw and threaded them into his hair. She didn’t believe love could happen this fast, or in this complicated situation, but she didn’t know what else to call the warmth swamping her.
She rose up on her knees, slid a hand between them, and moved the head of his cock back and forth across her wetness. “You’re a good man, Marcus.” She lowered, impaling her body with his hard shaft. The sensation of him pressing into her, expanding her body to fit him, cre
ated the most sensual pressure. Her throat thickened. Her heart filled.
There was a condom on the nightstand she’d reach for…in a second. But for this glorious moment, she wanted all of Marcus inside her. Just Marcus.
She sank in slowly and held his gaze until he was completely buried. Then his eyes closed with a look of utter bliss that sparked lust and affection deep in Tova’s soul. When he opened his eyes, his gaze mirrored those emotions, and he kissed her, murmuring, “You’re a far better woman.”
Eleven
Marcus took his first sip of coffee with a new sense of comfort. It was 9 a.m., but he was kick-ass tired. When he thought of why he was tired, a smile curved his mouth.
Tova…
He took a deep breath and exhaled with warmth and hope pouring through him, then picked up his cell and dialed Zoe.
“Agent Brooks,” she answered.
“Hey, it’s Marcus.”
“I was just getting ready to call you.”
“Scoop me,” he said before he took another sip.
“The suspects vomited a shitload of information, and it’s starting to look like Cedro Sorensen has gotten himself in some hot water. Either Tova is in the dark, or she’s lying about being in the dark.”
Marcus’s throat closed around his coffee. Fuck.
He forced the coffee down. “I’m listening.”
“They say the money Cedro owes isn’t for being smuggled, it’s for smuggling. According to them, Cedro has been running groups over the border for the Zetas for about a week, and according to these guys, those should have been Knights Templars’ clients.”
Marcus put his coffee down and braced his hand against the counter.
“Each illegal pays six grand for Cedro to guide them over the border. Cedro keeps a thousand and the Zetas get five. The Knights say those customers Cedro took for the Zetas should have been theirs. They see Cedro as a traitor. He grew up in Knights’ territory, associated with Knights all his life, now works for the Zetas. They want the money for the business they think should have been theirs, and they want him dead as an example.”