“So you’ve run out on Wolf?” I said.
She nodded.
“It’s not going to be easy to get away from him.”
“I know.”
“The rest of Los Lobos will join the hunt.”
“What choice do I have?” she said, her emotion rising to the surface.
“Relax. You did the right thing. You can’t live your life under the thumb of a man like that.”
“I just couldn’t take it anymore,” she said, tears filling her eyes.
“It’s all right,” I said. “Do you have a plan?”
“I was going to run for the border. I’ll figure something out once I’m across.”
“You don’t know where you’ll go?”
“I don’t have anywhere.”
“Do you have any money?”
She shook her head.
“That’s a terrible plan,” I said. “You won’t get far at all. He’ll find you.”
“That’s not your problem. You’ll just drive me to the border and forget all about me. You’ll have had everything you want form me by then.”
“Will I?”
“You want what everyone wants, right?”
She pulled her skirt up on her thigh, giving me the tiniest glimpse of the black satin of her panty.
She was a torment. Fuck, my cock wanted that cunt. It throbbed and crushed against my jeans. I had to adjust my position.
I could tell this didn’t come naturally to her. She hated what she was doing, bartering her pussy for help. But she was doing what needed to be done, and I respected that. The world was full of people who accepted their fate without a fight. She wasn’t one of them.
“Maybe I want more than that,” I said.
“Whatever you want, you’ll be done with me by the time we reach the border.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You will. You’ll tire of me very quickly in this situation. I’ll have nothing left to offer.”
“That’s not true.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You have no idea what you’re getting into,” I said. “If you knew what I wanted from you, you’d run from me too.”
“It can’t be as bad as what Wolf wants.”
“You should be careful what you give up,” I said. “You’re telling me I can have whatever I want, but that’s only because you’re desperate. When it comes time to pay the price, you might regret what you’ve bartered.”
“And you’ll make me pay every penny?”
“When the dancing’s done, the fiddler always gets his pay.”
She started to cry. “Look, I’m not here to bargain. I need your help. If Wolf finds me, he’ll destroy me. You can either help me or you can leave me here for him. I’ll give you whatever I have. I don’t care what you want. Take it and help me, or stop wasting my time. I won’t go back to Los Lobos. I’ll die first.”
I was silent for a moment. I looked at her, took in the details. What was I doing? I’ve taken a lot of things from people in my life, but never something like this. I usually take from those who can afford to give, and I take money, not something personal. Not something vital.
But I’m a thief at heart, a bandit, and I wanted this woman’s body, all of it, more than I’d ever wanted anything else in the world.
“Stop crying,” I said. “I’m going to get Wolf off your back.”
“How?”
“Leave that to me.”
“And what about his gang? Los Lobos is a brutal pack of killers.”
“All men are brutal killers,” I said, “or have the potential to be.”
She looked at me for a long moment. It was the first time she truly saw me for who I was. A look of fear crossed her eyes. I meant my words. Brutal killer. She could see it in my eyes.
“What if you die?” she said.
I spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness. “If I die, I die,” I said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’ll have already fulfilled your part of the bargain. In return for that, I’m willing to give you my life.”
She nodded. “And this arrangement, what exactly is it? What am I offering in return for your help? You keep saying I’ll regret it, but you don’t say what it is.”
I didn’t like forcing her into this position, this horrible choice. She deserved better, but I was the only one there, the only one who could protect her. We needed each other.
She couldn’t change what she needed of me.
I wouldn’t change what I wanted from her.
“It’s everything,” I said. “That’s all I can tell you.”