Lust Abroad Read online

  I chuckled low in my throat and brought his hands down to my breasts. “Yeah…is it really that great?”

  “Mhmm,” he hummed, thrusting it between my legs. “Super hard.” He nipped my earlobe.

  I reached behind myself and fished him out of his boxers. It was great, big and firm and silky smooth. I wanted it. I needed it. We’d been through hell; we were shredded, we deserved to feel good.

  “I won’t tell if you don’t.” I started to awkwardly stroke him while encouraging his curious hand to travel down and beneath my pajama shorts.

  “You’re dirty.” His teeth grazed my shoulder. “I love it.”

  “We need this.” Suddenly breathless, I let out a contented sigh when his fingers started rubbing circles around my clit.

  “We do.” He bucked into my hand as I ran my fist up his length, from root to tip and back.

  “Fuck me, Derrick…please.”

  His voice was husky and rough behind me. “God, I love it when you beg.” He quickly pulled his hands from my body and shed his boxers, I shimmied out of my shorts and underwear but then resumed the spoon position. If any of the roommates did wake up, the spoon position would be the most inconspicuous, and we could probably get away with just closing our eyes and feigning sleep.

  “Shit!” His breath was warm on my ear and neck, sending a frisson of need straight to my core. I squeezed my legs together, desperate for some friction. “Condoms are across the room in my bag.”

  Fuck! “I, um…I have an IUD.” His fingers had found my clit again, and my eyes were threatening to roll out of the back of my head. “And…and I’m clean.”

  “I’m clean, too,” he whispered, pushing himself further between my legs, demanding I let him in. And dear God, did I ever want to. “Just got tested.”

  I swallowed. “O-okay.”

  “You’re sure?”

  I grinned and craned my neck around to look at him. “Fuck me, Derrick …please.”

  His smile was pure masculine triumph, and he captured my pleas, fucking my mouth with his tongue. Deep and commanding plunges while his lips grabbed and pulled, claiming all of me. It was a messy kiss, not comfortable and incredibly awkward, but somehow it just added to the moment, to the forbidden exhibitionism of it all. I spread my legs for him; he found my cleft and thrust inside.

  A room full of sleeping people, people we’d just met, and we were humping like dirty cavemen. Each finding solace and comfort in the body of the other. We’d lost so much. I’d lost so much, and not just yesterday. I felt like the last few years of my life had been filled with nothing but loss. First my aunt, then my grandmother, and then Ray. I needed to feel something besides grief. I needed to feel good. I needed to feel alive. And God, if Derrick didn’t make me both.

  I pushed myself onto him, taking all of him, feeling him slide in and out of me, my body gripping him tightly. “Fuck, you’re so snug.” His teeth grazed my earlobe then traveled down my neck. The man was a vampire, and I loved it.

  “Oh God,” I whimpered, moving my hand down so I could rub my clit, but he figured out what I was doing and batted my hand away.

  “Let me do the work. You just enjoy.” He started to tease. Pinching and pulling, only to mix it up again and massage lovely little circles around my swollen nub, until I was seconds from combustion.

  “Derrick, I’m close.”

  “Oh God…” he groaned. “You’re fucking perfect. You know that?” His fingers picked up speed, while the rhythm of his thrusts began to falter, he was close. He pinched my clit. “Come for me, Piper, come hard, baby.”

  Waves of pure, unadulterated ecstasy rippled through me as I tumbled off the cliff. He’d kept me riding that sweet paper-thin edge for so long that my body was positively screaming for release, and threatening to revolt if I didn’t get it soon. When he finally let me go, I was swept up in a vortex of sensations. All good. All amazing. My entire body, even my brain was on fire. It was all so hot. So forbidden. We hardly knew each other, we weren’t protected, we were in a room with other people, and yet for some reason, all those wrong and naughty things felt so incredibly right.

  The orgasm continued to unfurl in my belly as I pulsed around him, drawing him deeper into my body, willing him to find his own release. And he did. Teeth found my shoulder again, and he bit down hard, muffling his snarls of satisfaction against my skin. I was excited to check the mirror later for bite marks. The sick and twisted part of me kind of hoped there’d be some.

  He grunted a few more times behind me, his body trembling in the aftermath of his climax, while his hand came up and he cupped my breast. “You’re amazing.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re pretty amazing yourself.”

  “Oh shit!” He had started to slip out.

  I squeezed my legs together and cupped my mound, wondering how the hell we were going to get ourselves out of this situation. We were both naked from the waist down, and it was a twelve step walk to the bathroom, past the beds of dead to the world roommates. If I tried to get dressed under the covers, I’d make a giant mess. Crap! We’d been so caught up in the moment we hadn’t thought about what we’d do afterward.

  “Wait a sec,” he said, sitting up in bed behind me and rummaging around under the blanket for his underwear. He pulled them on and slid out of bed, a still fairly impressive tent pitched in his front of his shorts. But he didn’t seem to care and walked right past the passed- out foursome and ducked into the bathroom, bringing back a wad of toilet paper. He handed it to me and I shoved it between my legs. I slipped on my underwear and shorts and quickly scurried off to pee.

  I joined him back in bed a moment later, then suddenly I found myself beneath him. “I’m sorry I was such an asshole yesterday,” he whispered, biting my lip, which forced my eyes to roll into the back of my head.

  I fluttered my eyelashes at him and let my arms float up to rest on his shoulders, my fingers playing with the silky soft hair at the nape of his neck. “It’s okay. Yesterday was rough.”

  “It just takes me some time to process things. Study all the angles before I react. But I was a jerk, and I’m sorry.”

  I rubbed my nose against his. “And I’m a hothead who acts first then thinks about it later.”

  “Quite the pair, eh?”

  I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Mhmm.”

  “Hey, you two,” came a groggy voice from the bottom bunk of the bed across the room. Big black raccoon eyes with mascaraed lashes slowly blinked open, while blonde hair that looked like she’d stuck a fork in an electrical socket started to move as Elissa attempted to sit up. “Don’t be having sex while we’re in here, okay?”

  Derrick’s body started to shake with laughter on top of mine. And soon I was trembling too. “Okay,” I squeaked.

  “Let’s just fly up,” he said as we made our way to breakfast, choosing to eat at a restaurant outside of the hostel. We’d walked past a cute little kitschy bistro-type place when we were out for our wander the day before. The menu had been interesting, and we wanted to go back and try it.

  “Up to Cusco?”

  “Yeah. I know we’d both planned on busing up, but after everything that has happened,” he shook his head and clutched his camera bag to his chest like it was an infant he was deathly afraid of dropping. “I’d rather just get my ass to Cusco than sit on a cramped and stinky bus for a day and a night.”

  I had to admit it, the idea of simply flying up there sounded awfully appealing. I wasn’t looking forward to an endless bus ride either. I’d done one from Boquete to Panama City, and it’d been bloody awful, cramped and bumpy, with terrible Spanish films playing on the televisions overhead.

  I nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

  “I’m going to go duck in and check out some new computers,” he said, switching gears and pointing to a shady looking computer store. “Maybe I’ll find mine. The robbers may have pawned the stuff to ditch it quickly.”

  My face fell, but he just chuckled and pulled me
close, planting an affectionate kiss on my temple. “Come in with me?”

  My eyes flew down the road; I knew exactly where we were. I shook my head. “Uh, no…I’m…I’m going to go look for a…for a souvenir shop. Meet you back in here in fifteen?”

  His eyes flashed fire for a quick second at my refusal. But then he tossed on a giant, panty-soaking smile and pecked another quick kiss on my temple (this appeared to be his thing).

  “Okay,” he said, untangling our fingers and pushing open the door. I grinned at him and turned to go. A woman on a mission. And then I headed off.

  I hit the buzzer for the door, and within two seconds it clicked open. Unlike the new hostel we were staying in, where the level of security rivaled Fort Knox, this place would let anyone waltz in, including shady maintenance guys.

  There she was, again. Sitting like an idiot behind the desk. I walked up to her. “Do you remember me?” She squinted at me, and then it dawned on her. Her eyes going wide, while her hand jerked and she fumbled with the pen in her hand.

  “Uh…Senora…Miss…”

  I glared at her. “Have you found out who did it?”

  She shook her head and started to stammer. “N-no.”

  “Did you have something to do with it? Did you get a cut?” I started wandering around the little lobby, an old worn couch next to a stand of pamphlets, a potted plant sitting on top of her desk, next to a small clay cup of pens and scissors.

  She swallowed, then her eyes darted to the boisterous group of young twenty-somethings who came bounding down the stairs. “P-please…” she murmured.

  I cocked my head. “Please what?”

  She shook her head. “Y-you have money. J-just go.”

  What the hell did that mean? I have money? So, because I happen to have more than the average Peruvian, that gives them a right to steal from me? What the fuck?

  I turned to the boys who were laughing. “You know this place is dangerous, right?” Four happy smiles vanished. I nodded. “Yeah, we were robbed here yesterday. First, they gave my room away. So, then I agreed to share with someone else. Then the pipes burst in our room. So, when we went out for a bit to let maintenance fix the bathroom, they, or someone else, used bolt cutters on our lock on the valuables cabinet and robbed us. Took my…” I hesitated. “Took my boyfriend’s laptop, his passport. Credit cards, money. My cameras.”

  Their eyes went wide.

  Gladys shook her head. “No…no…no robado.” What was this woman’s deal? Why was she so reluctant to admit that we’d been robbed? Why was she against having the authorities in the hostel? Something was seriously fishy.

  “Yes!” I said with a hiss, spinning back around to face the woman. “Si, robado.” And then something came over me. Like I was suddenly possessed, my inner beast, my inner bitch came raging forward. All the loss I’d suffered and bared throughout the last couple of years came to a head, my arm came out, and I ran it across her desk, sending everything to the floor in a flutter. The clay cup crashing and smashing, sending pens everywhere. Damn, that felt good. I moved on. I flipped over the pamphlet rack, and then grabbed the potted plant and smashed it to the ground. I was on a rampage, determined to destroy, to ruin. To ruin her. Even if she was completely innocent in all of it (which I highly doubted, given her behavior so far), I needed someone to blame.

  I continued on my path of destruction. The four backpacking boys just stood there with their mouths hanging open, watching as the crazy blonde chick trashed the hostel lobby.

  But then I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Lady,” came a strong accent, maybe German. “I get that you’re mad, and you have every right to be. But she’s calling the cops. You need to go.”

  The lightbulb flashed on, and I stopped. My heart was pounding while my chest heaved as if I’d just run a marathon. I was practically foaming at the mouth. I saw that her cell phone was glued to her ear, while her eyes darted around the room.

  “Lady…you need to go.”

  “Fuck!” And I sprinted.

  “Whoa, whoa! Where’s the fire?” Derrick chuckled, after I smacked right into his chest, having bolted from the hostel and directly back to the computer place. He grabbed me by the shoulders, the humor in his eyes disappearing the moment he took in the panic on my face.

  I swallowed. “We…we have to go.”

  “Why?”

  I looked behind me. “I kind of went back to the hostel and trashed the place. She called the cops on me.”

  “You did what?”

  “J-just the front room. Knocked some stuff over, broke a planter.”

  Just then a big thick hand came up under my arm and began ushering the both of us down the sidewalk. I tried to dig in my heels, but the force of the man behind us was just too strong.

  “You guys need to change your appearance and keep a low profile,” the gravelly voice whispered.

  He turned a corner and then ducked us all into an alley. Only then did he let go of my arm. Derrick wrenched his body away and spun around to confront the man. “Dude…what the…”

  “Shhh,” the mountain of muscles warned. We heard footsteps running down the sidewalk. The mountain turned his back to the street and pushed the two of us in front of him. The footsteps drew nearer, and then three police officers ran past.

  “Are they looking for us?” Derrick asked.

  “Yes,” Mr. Mountain murmured. He peeled off his hat to reveal a completely bald head. “Here, put this on. Can you tuck your hair up?”

  I shook my head; my hair was too long. But I put the hat on anyway, pulling my ponytail through the hole in the back. “Why am I doing this?”

  “You guys need to keep a low profile,” he said again.

  “Why? Because I trashed a hostel lobby?”

  “Yes.” His voice sounded like a Harley Davidson coming to life, while eyes as dark as midnight, blue and deep, stared back at me with unwavering focus and sincerity. His head was shiny and bald, but he owned it, and it looked good. Muscles rippled out of his tight black T-shirt, while two-day-old scruff clung to his chin, hiding a faint but long white scar that traveled up the left side of his jaw to his ear.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Derrick asked impatiently, his wary eyes and “ready to bolt” stance saying he wasn’t yet entirely convinced this guy was here to help us.

  Baldy rolled his eyes. “My name is Chase. I’m…” he paused. “I’m one of the good guys, and we’re here on a” — his eyes darted around the alley quickly — “sensitive mission. The hostel is a front for something. We’ve been bugging them for some time, trying to figure it all out.”

  Holy shit. “A front for what?” I asked, suddenly happy as a pig in shit that I’d gotten out of there when I had.

  He shook his head, big blond caterpillars practically kissing, he furrowed his brows so tight. “I can’t say.” And then it dawned on me. Had they been bugging the place yesterday when we were in the shower?

  My cheeks must have gone fifty different shades of pink. “I didn’t listen to that,” he said matter-of-factly, reading my mind. “Besides, you’re not the first two people to get it on in a hostel bedroom.”

  My face was on fire.

  Derrick shook his head. “I still don’t understand what the hell is going on. Are you a SEAL? Joint Task Force 2? Who are you with?”

  “You two need to go back to your hostel and stay there,” Chase said, evading his question. What was Joint Task Force 2?

  I shook my head. “Derrick has to go to the embassy today to get a new passport. We were just going to grab breakfast and then head to the embassy.”

  Chase’s eyes flew to each of our faces, and then he nodded once. “All right, but let’s get a move on. I’ll come with you.”

  We started to move, Derrick managing to keep pace with our new bodyguard, but I was forced to trot at a steady lope to keep up. “So why are we in danger?” I asked, a tad out of breath from how quickly we were traveling through the streets.

  “What was on tha
t laptop?” He turned to Derrick but didn’t stop moving.

  “Photos and articles,” he said dubiously. “I’m a travel journalist and photographer. I’ve been in Costa Rica and Panama for the last six weeks taking pictures of monkeys and sloths and writing about the nature sanctuaries they live in.”

  Chase shot him a side-eye. “That’s it?”

  Now it was Derrick’s turn to side-eye. “Yes. Why? You think they thought I had sensitive information on my laptop and that’s why they stole it?”

  He rubbed the stubble on his chin, and it made a raspy sound. “Perhaps. I’m not sure yet.”

  “What is the hostel a cover for?” I asked again, a painful stitch forming on my side. Luckily, I spotted the white and red symbol of the true North, strong and free, waving just up ahead. I could have cried, it was so beautiful. My flag. My home.

  Chase made a low rumbling sound in his throat. “We don’t know yet. But we’re leaning toward money laundering and possibly smuggling of illegal goods. Maybe even human trafficking, or drugs; again, we’re not entirely sure. They’re good at what they’re doing and hiding their operation well.”

  We came up to the guard gate in front of the embassy. He walked straight up and started speaking to the woman behind the Plexiglass. We were then asked to present all our identification, only Derrick didn’t have anything besides his international driver’s license, his last emergency credit card, and his travel medical insurance card. Apparently, that was enough, and we were eventually permitted access.

  “You weren’t stopped by anyone in Panama and asked to bring anything in your suitcases, were you?” Chase asked after we’d all taken a seat in the unfriendly and very un-Canadian embassy waiting room. Seriously, had the decorator even bothered to Google Canada? Where were the images of lakes and rivers and the ocean? Leaping orcas, sassy beavers, and stoic elk? Instead, there was just an ugly-ass mosaic of random-colored tiles glued to the wall; it looked like something a six-year-old had reluctantly done at summer camp.

  Both Derrick and I shook our heads.

  “Did you leave your bag unattended for any prolonged period of time? Meet anyone suspicious? Tell them which hostel you were staying at?”