Page 11 of High

“Is my Papá dead?” I broke and asked.

“No.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do because I gave the order that no one was to be harmed, if possible. And my men obey me.”

A riot of emotions ricocheted through me as he began to urge me toward the water’s edge where the sand was packed.

“You should have killed him. I won’t go back, Thio. I won’t.”

“You don’t mean that. You would hate me if I hurt him.” He took my hand in his. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t let him have you ever again.”

His men closed in around us, a wall of muscle dressed in black, like the night had come alive to pursue us to the end of the world. I glanced up at the stars and they were cold, and so far away. My heart thudded too fast, even harder than from running, and my vision swam. I closed my eyes and stumbled. Thio’s strong arm was right there to catch me.

“Faster,” he said, and we hustled into a dead run. At first I wasn’t sure what we were doing—this seemed stupid, and I was sure that my father’s men would close in on us and catch us soon—and then… I glanced out at the rolling waves. Vaguely I wished for my surfboard and the danger of a good riptide. The water would be better than what I’d been through in the last four years. The hell. The loneliness.

Thio must have been sensing my morbid thoughts somehow because he squeezed his arm around me and pointed ahead of us. I let out a yell as happiness rushed me. There was a boat, large enough to fit all of us. It looked like the type of thing soldiers might use. I didn’t know much about boats, but it was black and made of rubber that barely reflected the light of the moon. The sides weren’t very tall, and it almost looked like a bathtub toy. He urged me toward it even faster and sweat beaded on my body. My legs ached. I hadn’t done anything like this in forever, and my entire body would probably be stiff and sore later.

“It’ll take us to the cars,” he said. “The convoy will meet us a few hundred miles up the coast.”

“Don’t know why you’re bothering to explain anything. I thought you were the jefe now,” I grumbled back, and he cut me a surprised look. The lights from our nearest neighbor were bright along this stretch of the beach and I could actually see the blue in his eyes. Yeah, the old me would have never said anything like that to him, but I was enjoying being able to speak my mind again, at least a little bit, without getting slapped down. Who knew when that might end if he really was the jefe now?

The very thought that he was in charge of the Reyes Cartel pissed me off, and I didn’t know why. This wasn’t a reunion; it was another goodbye. He’d take me back and dump me on Tía Rosa, and… I might never see him again. He wouldn’t spend time with me. I’d have to hide in the house I grew up in, just like I had here, to stay away from Papá, and whoever he’d managed to upset. Yeah, with Thio I would have family, but would I have him?

My eyesight was blurry with tears again as he dragged me into the cold water and literally picked me up. I was surprised at his strength as he hoisted me over the side of the boat with a pained hiss.

“I could have done it,” I said, but he ignored me as he pulled himself in. I sank to the floor. He gave orders in Spanish to the man controlling the silent engines, and then cursed and switched to English. There were laughs from the soldiers around the boat as they splashed through the water and made their way in as well, and I wondered if they’d lost anyone coming to get me.

My emotions were a seething knot of gratitude and fucking rage. Just yesterday I’d lain in my bed, my dick in my hand, and fantasized about what I would do if I saw Thio again. I’d thought I might drop to my knees and suck him off right there. I’d thought I would throw myself into his arms and kiss him. Offer myself in any way he wanted.

The reality of the rescue was exhausting compared to the soft heat I’d built up in my head.

He turned, caught me staring, and gave me a confident smile. My stomach flipped with exhilaration, but the anger was still there. It stunned me to be so furious. He’d left me for so long and had simply been living his life. Moving up the ranks of the Reyes Cartel. I shook my head and stared at my feet. Thio stood there in the middle of the boat, clutching his arm and giving other people more orders, outlining things to prepare for when we got wherever it was we were going, and then the boat began to move. Everyone braced themselves against the side.

Shivering with cold and angry prickles that danced over my skin, I drew my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, but I didn’t want to stop looking at Thio, even if I was upset. I didn’t care that I was cold as the boat picked up speed and the wind whipped past. My nose clogged up from crying. It had been a long time since I saw other people. Hell, it had been so long since I was out on the water.

And Thio was here.

Tears spilled faster from my eyes, and I hated that I didn’t feel like I had any control over my emotions, or myself, or what was happening. I clutched my legs harder. Thio dropped down next to me, and I gasped as he slid over and wrapped his strong arms around me, slipping his legs on either side of my hips. He was so hot against my cold body, and solid and real.

Definitely not a dream.

I elbowed him and moved over to sit by myself along the side of the boat, unable to deal with the riot of emotions running rampant inside me. I shuddered and closed my eyes. No, this wasn’t the Thio I’d spent so many nights aching for and missing. My Thio had something he was waiting to say that last night we’d talked, but apparently not now.

“Are you okay, hermoso?”

“I thought you’d have just said it when we saw each other again.”

“What?” He scowled, and I could tell because there was a light glowing close to him as someone checked their cell phone. “Say what?”

Shaking my head firmly, I took a deep breath. “I won’t go back. I won’t go back to being alone. I won’t go from one prison to another.” My voice climbed in volume, out of my control. “So if you don’t… if you’ve got someone else waiting back there? You should have left me because I refuse to do that all over again. I fucking won’t.”

I wasn’t sure what I was saying, and I didn’t want to die, but I sat up to look out at the choppy waves. I’d never survive the swim. Maybe if I was in peak surfing condition I would have, but now that was a joke. We were far enough away from the water’s edge that I would die trying to get there, but I really couldn’t do this any longer. I’d given as much as I could, and on my worst days I’d thought about the ways I could end my confinement, whether my father wanted me to stay or not.

Thio crawled over and pulled me close to his chest. I fought him, but not very hard. In the end I sat there and sobbed against his chest.

“Hope I’m not embarrassing you too much,” I hissed. Papá had worried about it too. Never wanted anyone to see me.

“Hush, you’ve got it all wrong,” Thio whispered, but I couldn’t see how that was true. His arms felt so good, though, that I leaned back against his chest. Eventually he got me turned around until he was holding me and rubbing my back, just the way he’d done when Mamá died. This was supposed to be the best moment of my life, but I just felt awful, and even though I was in his arms, I wasn’t sure what that meant.

All I knew was, I would go completely insane if I was locked away by myself again. I burrowed in closer to him and trembled. Being held was so good. I never wanted him to stop touching me.

“We’ll talk as soon as we get home.”

“What about the seven hundred miles between Pedregal and the border?” I said snidely, and he slipped his hand down to give my ass a sharp pinch, dragging a gasp from me.

His breath brushed my ear. “Not in front of the men. I suspect you’ll want to yell some more.”

I shivered, and in spite of myself I started to laugh.