| |
Isabella lay in the big bed feeling truly loved for the first time in her life. Tino had taken her to heights she thought only angels soared, and treated her so tenderly, tears came to her eyes. He’d fallen asleep quickly after their last round of loving. She’d known the first time she’d laid eyes on him in Mexico City that he wasn’t resting well. How could he be at his best and stay one step ahead of the man who wanted to kill him when he was exhausted?
If she thought she could talk him into it, she’d ask him to stay with her, here, secluded for one more day. But she knew he’d be itching to find out where he stood with Garza. And she was due at the Garza’s this afternoon.
Guilt burned in her heart as she peered at Tino’s sleeping form. She had to tell him. That way he wouldn’t be caught off guard when she arrived at the compound. But she already knew he would be against it.
His arm slipped around her waist. She willingly slid against him, spooning her bottom against his body. He kissed her neck as one hand cupped her breast and the other slipped between her thighs, his thumb grazed her throbbing nub. All he had to do was touch her and her body wanted his with a ferocity she found both exciting and frightening.
He sucked on her earlobe as his fingers one by one entered her body and his legs spread hers.
“Querida, your body opens to me like a flower to sunshine. This welcome makes my heart ache with happiness.”
His words filled her heart. “Tino... Oh!” His clever fingers were increasing the throb, sending sensations to her extremities, and sparking rapturous sensations in her brain.
He rolled her to her back. His mouth captured hers at the same moment he slid into her, eliciting more spirals of electric sensations through her body. She clung to him, watching the morning sun slowly rise, knowing this could be their last intimate moment until they returned to the U.S.
His thrusts grew faster and harder as his kisses grew hotter, more needy. She lifted her hips taking him deep and clung to his body as she matched his movements and kisses, passion for passion. Her climax shook her body. She moaned and bit down on Tino’s shoulder as sparks flashed and her mind went black.
Tino thrust deep and whispered her name before collapsing, covering her body with his and dropping small kisses all over her face. “Querida, you are my heart. Whatever happens you have given me back a life worth living.”
Tears burned at the back of her eyes. “You have given me unconditional love.”
He laughed gruffly, moving off her still lethargic body, but drawing her into his arms as he rolled to his back. She lay on him, peering down into his blue eyes.
“We make quite a pair. Do you think we could live a life that is not filled with danger?” She’d thought about this a good deal the last few days. Was their need for one another just an adrenaline high they both thrived on?
His face grew somber as his gaze heated. “I believe that no matter how we spend our lives, we will always crave the other and have passionate love.”
His words were exactly what she needed to hear. They could live like regular people and not lose the excitement of one another. She leaned down, staring into his honest eyes, and kissed him with the sincerity she felt.
His arms tightened around her, and he deepened the kiss. Drawing her thoughts away from everything and holding her in the bliss of the moment.
The faint strands of a Mariachi band invaded her bliss.
“¡Carajo!” Tino swore, pulling out of the kiss and rolling to the side of the bed.
Isabella pulled the sheet up as a chill chased down her back. Tino sat on the edge of the mattress and flipped the phone open.
“¿Hola?” He listened.
She couldn’t see his face but the muscles in his back visibly bunched. Sliding behind him, she massaged his neck and back listening to the conversation. It was Garza and he sounded angry.
“Sí.” Tino tossed the phone into a chair and turned, drawing her into his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist as she sat in his lap and molded her body to his.
“Garza is not happy I have disappeared, but he is happy I am at least answering the phone. It seems Cezar has also disappeared and is not answering his phone.” Tino’s mind raced. Did the Bohu gang kill Cezar so he would not rat him out? If so, Hadda meant a lot to Luis Bohu and it would be in his best interest to keep the girl alive to not only take down Garza but to stop the drug activity within the Bohu gang.
He kissed Isabella soundly on the lips as her naked body, pressed to his, played havoc with his thoughts. The dread that had hounded him last night until he’d exhausted himself loving Isabella, now lifted. He would not die this day. At least not the way he had worried about. If Garza didn’t know he went to the Bohu distrio then Cezar had planted the transmitter and Garza knew nothing of the meet.
Sí, today would be a good day. “Querida, I wish I could love you more, but you must get dressed so I can return you to the hostel and I can continue with my job.”
Isabella leaned back. The cool air filling the space between them chilled him as much as the uncertainty shining in her eyes. She placed a hand on his chest, her fingers sifting through the dark spattering of curls.
“I’ve been acquisitioned to help at the Garza’s in the afternoons.”
The words sunk in and his fear for her escalated. Tino grasped her arms. She sucked in air and looked at him.
“Helping them is foolish. You know he kills without flinching, and he is most likely the person who orchestrated your being here.” His fear for her life outweighed his own. “You will get on a plane and go back to Arizona. I will come as soon as I finish my assignment.”
“No.”
The defiant, independent nature that he loved in this woman was going to get her killed. “Querida, you have accomplished your assignment. You discovered how the artifacts are being stolen. Take the report back to your father and stay safe.”
She slipped from his arms and his lap. Isabella paced the bedroom, naked.
“I don’t see why I should slink off to Arizona when I can also figure out who is doing it and keep an eye on you to make sure nothing happens.”
Her logic was illogical. “You are not my partner—” The minute the words hit the air she flinched and wrapped her arms around her thin waist.
“Querida.” He crossed the room, gathering her stiff body into his arms. “You are my partner in everything but my job. I will not risk your safety to make my mission easier.”
“You won’t be risking my safety. I can learn things you may not be able to. A wife knows everything about her husband. I can gain señora Garza’s confidence and supply you with added information.” She stared into his eyes. “Garza adores his wife. If she likes me, he wouldn’t dare harm me.” She kissed his chin. “Just as you adore me and would never want to do something to upset me.”
Her argument was not falling on deaf ears. She could be an asset if she were safe and didn’t snoop beyond the boundaries Garza allowed her. But he couldn’t let her know she was wearing him down.
“I might adore you, but I would not worry about upsetting you if my actions kept you out of danger.” He narrowed his eyes in his best “don’t mess with me on this” look.
Her hips swayed, rubbing her mound of curls against his miembro. Her hands squeezed his butt and moved on up his back. “I think we could make this work, just like we’ve made our relationship work.”
He grasped her firm backside in his hands and pulled her hips tight to his.
Her breathing quickened and she whispered, “I’ll ignore you at the Garza house and you ignore me.”
“If we are to ignore one another—there can be no touching, no secret meetings at the compound, and no eye contact that isn’t reasonable.”
The hitch in her breathing when he backed her against the bed, made his heart race and his body ache for more. “This will have to hold you until we can find a moment to be alone again.” He gently pushed her backwards. She fell upon the bed, her knees at the edge, splayed, revealing the treasure Tino could not explore enough.
He lowered himself over her, entered, and captured her mouth in an all or nothing kiss that brought him to completion seconds before she moaned in his mouth and her body clenched his miembro. He remained in her, holding her longer than he should. But there was no way of knowing when they would be together again.
Garza was already mad, so a few minutes longer wouldn’t change anything with him. And the extra time with Isabella meant everything to Tino.
~*~
Isabella wore one of her long, colorful, tiered skirts, a white peasant top, and her walking sandals. She’d witnessed Karyme’s fashion aplomb and wanted to fit in. She stepped out of the cab wondering what Tino had told Garza about leaving the compound and if he was now looking into Cezar’s disappearance.
She walked up to the front door. Before she could ring the ornate bell, the door opened and Karyme met her with a welcome smile that didn’t glow in her eyes. “I’ve been watching for you. I am excited to get your thoughts on the carvings and box them up.”
Isabella was ushered into the atrium. A man standing inside the door made a grab for her newly purchased tote bag.
“Manuel, there is no need to search Isabella’s purse. She is my guest and I will vouch for her.”
“Señor Garza said no one, even our own people, are allowed in without being searched.” The man’s voice was objectionable, more like a child telling his teacher what his parent had told him.
“I will speak to him. Isabella is not a devious person. She is a scholar. Her only weapon is her brain.”
Isabella’s smile wavered a moment before she caught herself. How did Karyme know about her aptitude? Had Garza told her everything he’d dug up on her?” The thought the woman knew her intelligence and perhaps more was unsettling. Was the wife in on the scheme the husband had planned? She’d told Tino a wife knows all the sordid things about her husband even if she pretends to not.
Karyme shot her a smile that twinkled in her dark brown eyes before she started walking up the stairs.
“I thought we were going to look at the carvings in the ballroom?” Isabella said, following and clutching her tote, which held her survival vest, to her side.
“The ballroom holds Paolo’s treasures. I want you to see mine first. They don’t impress guests like the statues and carvings downstairs.” They turned to the left and entered a room set up much like the archive room at the museum. Only at the museum there was an area where the items were tested, photographed, and studied.
“As you can see, these are fragments that are found around whole pieces. Many I’m uncertain of their original use, but they must be something that was used by the Aztecs to be buried with or near the other antiquities the museums keep.” Karyme’s eyes lit up as she scanned the shelves and then grasped Isabella’s hands. “My favorite part is discovering how old the item is and what it was used for.”
Karyme walked over to the shelves and picked up a small elongated piece. “This was part of a ritual spear.”
Isabella crossed the room and looked down at what looked to be petrified wood. “How did you come to that conclusion?” Was Karyme mad? The piece of wood might be a splinter from a spear shaft, but it was highly unlikely it could have been from a ritual spear. There were so many variables that would need to be discerned and then it was highly unlikely it was what the woman believed.
“I ran carbon dating tests, wood classification, and under a ultra-violet light found traces of coloring and blood.” The woman’s eyes gleamed.
“But how do you know it was a ritual spear? Did you do comparison tests to make sure your outcome was conclusive?”
“That is why I want you to help me with my latest project. You know the questions to ask that will help me discover the truth about the carvings and my latest acquisitions.”
“Where do you get these from?” At least what she was helping Karyme with wasn’t the missing artifacts from the museum. Those had been intact statues and carvings...like her husband collected.
“I started out to be an archeologist. When I married and had children, I gave that up. But I still have contacts within their circles. They gather up the items too small to take the time to deal with and send them my way. If I discover something that is museum worthy, I pass it along. Otherwise, they stay right here where I can handle them and get close to my ancestors.”
That perked Isabella’s attention. “You are descended from the Aztecs?”
Karyme’s frame straightened and she smiled. “Sí. It has been said my family is from the goddess Tlazolteotl. She was the goddess of sexual excess and childbirth.” Her eyes glazed over for a moment. She shook her head and smiled. “So you see I have a very strong reason for wanting to learn all I can about the Aztecs. My people.”
Isabella knew about that need to learn all about heritage and genealogy. She’d been doing that since she learned of her Hopi heritage.
“I heard about the death in your family. Was it a blood relative?” She hoped news like this was something that did make the rounds and she wouldn’t have to lie about where she heard the news.
“Did Geraldo tell you?”
“Who?”
“Geraldo Bastante, the director of the museum. He paid his respects yesterday.”
“Oh, yes.” Why was the name Geraldo Bastante flashing through her memory? It wasn’t just from researching the man. She’d read the name elsewhere.
“It was my nephew Hector Maritnez who died too young.”
“Martinez?” Her mind was flashing even faster now.
“Sí, my brother’s son.”
The names Geraldo Bastante and Karyme Martinez were connected on one of the reports she’d read.