She gave a patented Melina hip rock and groaned. He matched the sound, then gritted out between clenched teeth, Do that again.
She complied. And shuddered around him. He gaped up at her. She was there already? Ho-ly cow. He moved beneath her, and she moaned again. She matched his motion, and they quickly found a rhythm between them.
A loud squeak sounded and Melina froze above him. What was that?
He grinned widely. That, darlin, was the Land Rovers shock absorbers. Were giving this poor old bucket a worse workout than it got in those gullies.
She giggled, collapsing on his chest in embarrassment and humor. Ive never done it in a car, she confessed.
He shook his head in mock horror. What was wrong with the boys in your high school? How could they let down the male half of the species like that?
She sat up once more. Look! The windows are fogged over and everything!
He laughed up at her. Next time well do it in the front seat. You havent lived until youve had sex with a gearshift jabbing you in the side. Everyone should experience it at least once before they die.
It was as if an arctic wind blew through the air. She froze, and all the joy drained out of her like water pouring from a glass.
Whats wrong, Mel? Talk to me, sweetheart.
She shook her head violently and her hair spilled down around her face, a veil he couldnt see past. He reached up to push it back, to look into her eyes, but she moved determinedly, riding him hard and fast with a desperation that bordered on manic. He wanted to stop. To ask her what in the hell had just happened. But the demands of her body pulling at his, sliding up and down his shaft like a jackhammer, battering against him as if the world were about to end, were too much.
He closed his eyes and allowed her to suck him into the moment, to wipe all thought from his mind, to fill him with a lust so bright and pure and hot it seared away everything but sheer sensation. The world narrowed down to her perspiration-slicked body slamming against his, his equally galvanized body shivering beneath hers, arching up, meeting her thrusts with his own, driving into her with every ounce of his strength.
And then the orgasm started, shimmering outward in ever-expanding circles until it consumed his entire being, building into an explosion that convulsed his entire body into a single giant spasm of release, a shout tearing from his throat at the same moment she keened a long, waivering note of her own release.
He shuddered once. Twice. A third time. And finally, finally, the orgasm released its hold on him. He collapsed back against the hard, cold floor, wrung out to the dregs of his existence. Melina collapsed on his chest, breathing like a spent racehorse. He knew the feeling. Sweat lubricated their entire bodies and she slid easily against him when, a few minutes later, she finally pressed up onto her elbows to stare down at him.
He did push her hair back then, determined to see what was in her oh-so-expressive gaze. She might lie to him with her mouth, but her eyes had never lied to him. She didnt resist this time when he split the curtain of golden silk and tucked her hair behind her neck, holding it there lightly. He stared up at her, and she stared back at him in the darkness.
And what he saw in her unwillingly, painfully honest gaze made his blood run cold.
It wasnt fear.
Or desperation.
Or even despair.
It was nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.
It might as well have been a mirror into his own soul, for he was staring into the abyss.
Chapter 7
By the time they caught sight of a village late the next morning, Melina felt like a giant bruise from head to foot from sitting in the car so long. Silently, they drove along the floor of a deep valley between towering twin peaks. Thered been utter silence between them since that devastating moment last night when John gazed into the depth of her soul, and finally recoiled from what he saw.
Not that she blamed him. Shed come out here to die, plain and simple, and hed seen it clear as day in her gaze. Thankfully, he hadnt belabored the point with pleas to reconsider or lectures about the preciousness of life. She knew all that. Heck, she didnt want to die. But the situation was what it was. And she had no more choices left.
She started when John actually broke the silence, speaking emotionlessly. Thats where were going.
She looked up at the line of peaks soaring at least a thousand feet above them and gulped. This was the place where she was supposed to rendezvous with Huayars men and get further instructions. A long series of switchbacks led from the valley floor up one of the mountains to a village perched at its summit. There it was. The point of no return.
She ventured a glance over at John. As it had been since they made love last night, his jaw was set in lines of stone, and his eyes weredead.
Under normal circumstances it would have scared the hell out of her. But as it was, she knew exactly how he felt. She didnt know why he felt that way, but she recognized the great void of black despair yawning inside him the same way it did inside of her.
With every mile behind them, the darkness consumed a little more of her. In another few minutes, John would hand her over to Huayars men and leave her. The oppressive weight of her looming fate made breathing difficult. John would say it was just the altitude getting to her, but she knew better. She would be well and truly lost.
John guided the Land Rover around the first switchback.
She knew the source of her despair. It had come upon her the moment shed made her decision. When the ransom letter arrived from Huayar demanding that she hand herself over to him in return for the lives of her brother Mike, and her parents, it had taken her about thirty seconds to absorb the implications of her choice and about another two seconds to decide that she was willing to sacrifice herself to save her family.
John downshifted and went around another switchback.
Nope, not a difficult decision at all. Just an incredibly painful one. Thing was, she liked living. Not that her life was any great shakes. She spent most of her waking hours locked in her lab, experimenting with common over-the-counter chemicals, trying to find a formula to replace methamphetamine as the next designer drug of the new millennium. Not with the intent to market it, of course, but rather to help governments and pharmaceutical firms anticipate which common chemicals and medications needed to be regulated and controlled. And if she was lucky, to find a way to counteract its negative effects.
Still, she enjoyed the little things in life-sunlight on her face. The feel of the ocean on her feet. The song sparrow who serenaded her faithfully every morning outside her bedroom window. Old movies and pizza with double pepperoni and pajamas warm out of the dryer.
Another switchback.
The choice was simple. Her life or the lives of the three people she loved most in the world. It was no choice at all. And in the moment when shed come to understand that, darkness had claimed her soul.
The Land Rover groaned a little as the road grew steeper and spiraled around another hairpin curve. John downshifted again.
She didnt want to die, dammit!
And then there was John himself. In his arms shed found a joy shed never dreamed existed, let alone was possible for her. He made love to her with his entire being, like she was the only other person on Earth. It was extraordinary. It completely consumed her, and she thought maybe he felt the same way. And for just an instant-long enough to remember what it felt like to breathe-making love with him held back the darkness.
Stop the car, John, she said abruptly.
He did so with alacrity. Whats up?
I need you to promise me something.
What? In a single word, his curiosity was replaced by caution.
Please dont mess this up for me. Im making a deal with these guys, and at all costs, I need that deal to happen. No matter what you think of it, you have to promise not to interfere or screw it up.
That sent both of his eyebrows sailing upward. But then that mask of his that showed absolutely nothing of his thoughts settled back into place. And if I dont promise?
Then Im firing you, getting out of this car, and walking the rest of the way up the mountain by myself. I am going to go through with this deal.
He nodded grimly to himself as if in confirmation. It is blackmail, then. What do you have to sell, and what are they offering you?
Her lips thinned into a tight, white line.
He threw up a hand in surrender. All right. Fine. Dont tell me. Im your greatest asset, but if you refuse to take advantage of what I can do for you, theres nothing I can do about it. I promise not to block your deal.
You swear? she asked nervously.
His brows slammed down hard. Honey, I may not be a lot of things, but I am a man of my word. If I say I will or wont do something, you can bet your life on it.
And that was exactly what she was doing. She was betting her life and her familys life on him keeping his word. It had been a huge risk to bring anyone along with her on this journey at all, let alone a big, strong, capable guy like him. She could only pray his presence didnt tick off Huayar so badly that the crime lord backed out of the deal. But shed simply been too scared-too weak-to do this by herself.
Are we ready to proceed? John asked tersely. The lookouts are no doubt beginning to wonder what the hell were doing, just sitting here like this. And believe me, you dont want to make these guys suspicious. Theyll shoot first and ask questions later.
How do you know who these people are? she shot back.
This time a single eyebrow arched sardonically. I already told you. Ive run around in this part of the world before. I know where I am, and I know whose turf Im operating on.
She sighed. He was entirely too smart for his own good. Thank goodness hed promised to behave himself. Lets go.
His jaw muscles rippling, he threw the Land Rover into gear and it lurched into motion.
Here went nothing.
The village looked much like the last one, except the houses clung precariously to the side of the mountain in terraced rows with narrow, stone streets between them. It was dusty and poor and strangely devoid of pedestrians, just like the last village.