We say goodbye to Esteban at a small airfield cut into the forest that can only be a remnant of Javier's smuggling days, and hop into one of the beat-up pickup trucks parked near the end of the crude runway.
We sit in silence as we drive through the trees. My mind is a blur as it spins with all the new thoughts and opinions about the man sitting next to me, and this whole crazy adventure we've been on for the last few days. And that’s what it is, really; a fantasy adventure. This whole beach-life existence of being on the run, with the threat of danger and the thrill of the unknown around every corner and in every shadow has been a fantasy. It's been like a joy-ride of avoiding real life and avoiding the inevitable for the last few days, and somehow that ride has culminated into crashing into one another in ways I don't think either of us expected.
Javier Toro is literally the last man on Earth I should have ever had anything to do with, let alone sleep with. I want to blame the craziness of our shared experience, or the adrenaline thrill of the chase, or hell, the tequila. But I know none of that's fair to blame for this.
Because really, I don't even know if “blame” is the right word anymore.
Maybe it’s “thank”.
He's like an onion, and I just keep pulling back layers to see just how deep this man goes. And just when I think I have Javier pinned down and figured out, I get a story like Esteban's about his past, and everything gets shaken up all over again.
I'm still stewing about the whole thing when we pull up to a hotel by the beach. I'm silent as he signs us in, paying with probably the last of his stolen cash. I say nothing in the elevator as we slowly rise. I can't talk, because I don't trust myself.
I don't trust myself to deny that I still want him, however wrong it may be.
My mind is honestly made up before we even make it off the elevator, but it's not until he closes the door to the room behind us that I turn on him.
Javier looks stunned as I shove him back against the door, hard, and slink into him as I mash my lips to his. It's fevered, and full of lust and pure need as I kiss him with everything I have; just needing to escape back into him and the fantasy he brings.
He growls suddenly and shoves me away from him, his eyes blazing as he wipes my kiss from his lips with the back of his hand; “Fuck you,” He mutters, his gaze burning intently at me.
“Well fuck you too!” I explode at him. My pulse is pounding through my veins as I tense every muscle in my body.
“I’m not going to play this bullshit back and forth with you, Chelsea,” He says, his teeth bared and his eyes leveled on mine; “I’m not going to play ‘guess the fucking mood of the hour’ with you.”
“You know what, forget it,” I spit out; “Fuck you for bringing me into all your bullshit, for bringing me into all this,” I choke out a harsh laugh as I jut my jaw out at him; “And fuck you for invading my life!” I hate him, and I also want him with every piece of my being, and the war between the two is making my whole body spin wildly out of control.
“Oh, I invaded your life?!” He roars; the muscles of his arms bunching and tensing; “Just who walked into whose life here, Special Agent Archer.”
He steps forward suddenly, snakes his hand into my hair, and pulls me into him as he kisses me. His lips and his mouth devour mine, and for brief half-second I melt into him before the rage comes rushing back like a flood and I shove him away.
“That is exactly what I mean!” I yell at him, pointing my finger into his chest; “You can't just fucking kiss me you prick! It doesn’t work that way!”
Javier's dark eyes narrow at me; “You kissed me first,” He growls. He takes another step closer to me, and when I start to back away, he grabs me roughly by the wrists and yanks me close; “But I will kiss you, and I will do anything else I want to you whenever I damn well please, princess.”
“I dare you to try it and see what happens,” I spit out, feeling a tingling warmness inside at the rough way he's holding me still by the wrists.
He leans close; “Watch me,” He speaks darkly into my ear, sending shivers down my whole body.
“You’re a pig.” I whisper back, feeling every inch of his body press against mine.
“Don’t even try, princess,” He growls right into my ear, making my knees week as I hold back the moan threatening to fall from my lips; “Don’t even try to pretend that you’re not dying know what it’d be like for me to take you any way I please. To tie you up, to dominate you, and to make you feel every inch of my cock when I fuck you like you’ve never been fucked in your life.”
Oh, fuck.