“Come for me again,” Finn ordered.
That wasn’t going to be a problem, but Zo didn’t have the breath to reassure him. She felt the second orgasm barely out of reach. “Harder,” she said.
He obliged, and as he held her hips, pouring himself into her, Zo went over the edge a second time. Her knees gave out, but Finn wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, still moving inside her until their orgasms subsided.
When he straightened, he brought her with him, and she let her head fall back on his shoulder. “Well,” Zo said when she found her voice again, “since we put on a show for Lima, I guess I can stop worrying that I’m too vanilla for you.”
“Loquita, in case you missed it, I’m into vanilla, and you fit me exactly right. Don’t ever forget that.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Near San Isidro, Puerto Jardin
Present Day
FINN DIDN’T LIKE the setup. He and Zo were back in the rainforest with six of Ramos’ men, and unlike the duo who’d found them earlier, these guys were pros. Probably ex-military. The one who worried him most was Vargas. His demeanor suggested he’d done more than a few hits in his time, and there was nothing to prevent him from performing two more assassinations after Zo brought them to the disk.
They had her separated from him. When he’d been leading the way, he’d been in front with Zo trailing him by a good twenty feet. Now that she’d taken over as guide, he was held back, and Vargas was behind him, a position that had Finn feeling twitchy as fuck.
That was the tip of the iceberg. The ground was sloppy, and drops of rain continued to drip from the tree leaves high above them, remnants of an earlier shower. It was late afternoon,and the sun was low in the sky. Then there was Zo. Before they’d left the estate, she’d had nearly an entire pot of coffee, but the effects hadn’t lasted long, and she was flagging. He wasn’t sure how much longer she could push herself.
For a while, he’d hoped they’d get lucky and pick up his team since they were patrolling. There’d been no way, though, to get close enough to their camp to guarantee that. Not when it would look suspicious as hell when they reached the tree, and its location didn’t justify the path he’d taken. Luck hadn’t been on his side.
Without backup, he had two options—let Zo find the disk or escape.
He wasn’t sure which choice he hated more.
Their guards were already tense. Zo’s hesitancy on which way to go was keying them up. Their demeanors gave nothing away, but every time his loquita paused to figure out the next direction to head, their agitation increased.
He no sooner had the thought when Zo stopped and looked around, confusion obvious on her face. She might have memorized a series of landmarks to find the disk again, but her fatigue was affecting her recall ability, and she wasn’t used to any kind of wilderness, let alone the rainforest.
Vargas sidled next to him. “If this is some game,” he warned softly, “it will not go well for either of you.”
“Dude,” Finn said, maintaining Tom Finley’s swagger, “she’s a city girl. Give her a chance to figure out her signposts.”
Vargas grunted, but he did drop back into position behind Finn.
They’d spoken quietly, and Zo was far enough ahead that she was unaware of the exchange. It was a good thing. She didn’t need additional pressure. It took her another moment to angle to the left, and their group resumed moving.
Attempting an escape was like a fifteen on the risk scale.There was no scenario he’d come up with that gave them even a ten percent chance of success. He’d never reach Zo before someone grabbed her. Or shot him. And taking off on his own and hoping she’d follow was a non-starter. She was too exhausted.
Then there was Ramos’ ace in the hole. Tia Izel remained on his compound.
He watched Zo move through the rainforest. Her usual grace was gone, but it was a miracle she was upright at this point. Her braid hung down her back, caked with mud, and on the occasions when she turned enough, Finn could see she had a thinner coat of dirt on her face. Damn, she was a mess. His mess.
How did he protect her? How the fucking hell did he keep her safe?
Finding the disk—if she could locate it again—might be a death sentence. Vargas was along on this jaunt, and Finn didn’t trust him for a second. The man took orders from Ramos and obeyed them.
Ramos, yeah. He was the wildcard that made risk calculation doubly difficult.
As they went around a curve, Zo tripped and started to fall. Finn took a step forward, but one of their escorts caught her before she hit the ground. At the same moment, Vargas pressed the barrel of his weapon into Finn’s back. The message was clear. Stay put.
Finn stayed.
Ramos was known for his violence compared to other drug lords, and that said a lot. The odds were he had ordered them to be killed once his men had the disk. But…
But the history he shared with Zo and their mutual love of his grandfather made the drug lord more unpredictable than usual. For all their antagonism, they definitely had a relationship of a sort. Yeah, she was leery of Ramos and claimed heterrified her, but she didn’t act as if she werethatfrightened. While she never openly challenged him, there was a level of trust that came from him taking care of her when she’d been a kid.