Love On the Run Pt. 01

He glanced at her and his eyes softened, just slightly, before he turned back to the road. "Hmm."

She sighed, knowing she would have to get him stared. "Is your name really Julian or is that some kind of code name?"

"I'm not James Bond. My last name is Vasquez. I'm thirty-one, and I was born in New York. My father came over from Cuba when he was five, and my mother came from a working class Irish family. I have five siblings, two brothers and three sisters and we grew up hating The Brady Bunch."

She was too curious about him to stop his speech, and she liked his voice. It was rich, deep, soothing, though she knew all too well when it lowered to a husky whisper it was beyond arousing.

"We grew up poor, hardworking. I was a skinny kid, tall and gangly when I was little. My dad made me enroll in Big Brothers Big Sisters and my 'brother' was an army man. When there was no money for school, I followed his steps into the army, and I was good at it.

"After awhile I was a ranger. Those were...good and bad years. I've seen things I never want to see again, but I got to travel to new, exciting places, meet new, exciting people, and kill them." His eyes slid to hers at the attempt at a joke and Jessie could only offer a half smile.

"Anyway, when I got out I still wanted adventure, so I joined the DEA. I've been a field agent for a few years but recently got busted down to desk duty, archives. Going through cold case files I found yours. I read what you went through and-"

"Yeah," she said quickly, cutting him off. She didn't want to talk about those dark years with Jimmy and if she heard pity, she'd open the door and tuck and roll her way into peace and quiet.

"Don't want to talk about it?"

"I got a raw deal, most kids do. No matter how bad, I've seen some of the poorest areas on earth, and I know I still had it a lot better than most."

"A lawyer came in, plead your case. Worked for some charity. Said he knew you personally, told us a lot of details."

"I don't know any lawyer."

"Know anybody from your teenage years that would become one?"

She couldn't think of one. Her friends were mainly cheerleaders and their boyfriends, good, sweet people, but not a Rhodes scholar among them. Henry was smart, but he'd dreamed of being a science teacher or biochemist. "Nobody comes to mind."

"It was high profile, and you were the poster child for lost causes, a pretty blonde teenager, a cheerleader to boot. I don't have all the records, but probably a lot of people came forward to help."

"Hmm. So how did you find me?"

He took the hint. "I connected those three dead bagmen of Diego's and figured out your path south. It took me just a week with old contacts, but I found out you were headed to Argentina. Why?"

"I haven't seen one of you guys in eight years, I thought you'd forgotten about me," she murmured, yawning.

"Hmm. The DEA did, your file was buried in archives. Lucky for you, I found it."

"Lucky for me?" She nearly laughed. "I was about to walk into Argentina, buy a plane ticket, and leave the continent. I was home free!"

"And one of Diego's men killed your contact!"

"He probably followed you! It's been five years since I got even a glimpse of one of Diego's men!"

Silence loomed once more as they both contemplated that. She tried sleeping but it didn't work, and once bored she played with radio. When she could find nothing on she liked Jessie tried again to get him to talk.

"So...got a wife and kids back home?"

He nearly swerved off the highway, earning a honk from an approaching truck. "God damn it! I couldn't have slept with you if I did!"

"All right, all right, all right! Watch the road!" She slumped down and hugged herself, feeling embarrassed. "I was just curious."

"Jesus, who do you think I am?"

"Some guy I thought was just a loose cannon, a random mercenary I fucked who turned out to be the federal agent hunting me!?"

The look he gave her was unreadable, and they lapsed into silence once more. Jessie knew she was being churlish to cover her own embarrassment, but she bit back her apology. She was still not completely trusting.

After a catnap she woke to see the sunrise, and it told her they were heading north. "Why are we going north?"

"By now Diego will know you're with me. We're going to leave the car somewhere north and double back."

It was smart, but she had no idea how they'd accomplish it. even with the coffee she was too tired to think.

"Please, talk more. I won't interrupt or ask questions."

"Hmm," he said once more, smiling in his doubt. He went into a story from boot camp, when he was seventeen and clueless, and it was funny. She fell asleep smiling before he could finish.

"Jessie, wake up."

She opened her eyes and saw they were parked in front of a hotel off the highway. She sat up and stretched. Julian had her door open, their bags and his briefcase in hand. She unbuckled and joined him, stretching again. "What time is it?"

"Just before breakfast. We have a ways to go still."

They went inside the hotel and he paid cash for a room and got the key. Inside he pulled open her bag and tossed a shirt and pair of panties on the floor. From his own he tossed a pair of jeans and socks.

"Let's go."

"Go where?" That bed looked awfully comfortable, and right then the thought of sleeping in his arms seemed fine and dandy.

"Diego's men will find this within hours. Time to move back south."

"How long were we on the road?"

"Six hours."

He lead her down the stairs and out the back, and they cut across two parking lots to another hotel. "Don't you ever sleep?" she asked as they trudged along.

"I can go another ten hours without sleep. The rangers taught me well."

"Lah-dee-dah," she said with a yawn.

"Wait here." He set their bags down behind a dumpster and left her. Seconds later a Toyota rolled up.

"Hop in."

She passed the bags into the backseat and sat down in shotgun, buckling up. "Your car?"

"Better you don't ask. You'll want to sleep."

"Oh, I will, but first I want to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"You called three people in the DEA and they all said Jessica Andrews won't be prosecuted, but you never told them I was listening. Why?"

"In my world you trust no one. Phones aren't secure, cell phones particularly. I have a contact, an old friend I can trust in Buenos Aires. I'll call the agency when we get there."

"So why should I trust you? What are you getting out of this?"

He glanced at her, holding the gaze a bit longer than she thought a driver should. "At first finding you and the money was my ticket to getting back in the field. But now that I've met you..."

She bit her lip, expectant, trying to tell herself wanting him in any capacity was still madness.

"Now even if we don't find the money I want to make sure you're safe. Maybe you'll still get to go overseas, but if you do it on our dime you'll be safe, protected, and it'll be done right."

It was her turn to say "Hmm," and she fell back asleep with surprising ease. As long as she was with Julian for the first time in a long time, she felt safe...even though she knew it was merely the dream of a foolish girl.

He'd slept two hours after they dumped the car out by the highway where it would likely be stolen again. They'd set up camp in a field by the highway, hidden by tall grass. Julian had sent her in her disguise to a store in the little town a mile up the road where she got hair dye matching the red of her new ID, stripper for the brown color, and enough food and water to last them twenty four hours.

Once she was laden with supplies and he was annoyingly refreshed with such little sleep, back into the forest they went after a three mile walk, giving the main path wide berth. Costa would have been likely discovered by hikers, though Julian said it would be longer before they found Diego's man.

They camped, something both had plenty of experience in. They settled on a branch of the river and ate quickly, then he made her take out the color stripper, slapped on the gloves, and mixed it up.

"Take off your shirt and sit by the river."

They'd been naked dozens of times together, and yet she hesitated. He smiled, pure predator, and knelt beside her. Running a finger over her color his eyes dropped to her suddenly stiff nipples and he teasingly brushed a finger lightly over one. "Don't want to stain your one good shirt."

"Ungh."

When she didn't move quickly enough he helped her, his face close to hers once she was left in her jeans and bra. Jessie's breath hitched and she licked her dry lips. His gaze flickered down to the movement and back and he pulled away.

"Close your eyes."

She did and was not rewarded with the kiss she was aching for. Instead his fingers moved through her hair. He worked it through her hair and while they waited for it to set Julian asked her light questions about her life on the run. What she had done, how she made money, how she survived. He was careful to avoid ay topics she was uncomfortable with, sticking to basics.

Jessie told him how she worked for cash under the table, mostly as a dishwasher or hotel maid. Sometimes she worked as a translator for tourists who only spoke English, as a migrant field worker more than a few times too. Sometimes she had to steal food, but she worked hard to make sure that was rare. When it was cold she spent time in libraries, reading. When it was hot she tried to find work in the shade.

He helped her rinse off her hair in the river and they used one of his shirts as a towel. In the late afternoon light he let the wet strands of her hair slip between his fingers. "It's beautiful, gold, not blonde. I wish you didn't have to dye it."

He was so close, and despite a night spent in the woods and in sweaty little cars, he smelled fantastic. It was wrong, so wrong, but she wanted to touch him. There was no time for this, the danger was too great, but she couldn't seem to make her body understand that.

"We have to let it dry before we dye it red. It's as good a time as any to sleep. We'll be walking all night."

"We can't both sleep."

"I'll wake up at the slightest sound." He spread her spare hoodie out on the grass and balled up two of his t-shirts for pillows. The wet one was hanging on a branch to dry.

Julian laid down with one arm lying loose, patting his shoulder. "I'll be your pillow. Come on."

She moved awkwardly. Just moments ago he'd been looking at her like she was a goddess he was aching to touch, and now his movements were lazy and his eyes laughing. She knew how to read men in combat, how to read a room while hiding, but Jessie had no idea how to read a man's romantic intentions.

She blinked. Hell, romantic intentions implied something more than just sharing their bodies. Nothing was concrete or settled, and the risk of feeling too much for a man destined to leave was too great. Or, hell, she was the one destined to leave. That left her blinking in astonishment.

"I'll sleep over here." She began to sit three feet away.

"For Pete's sake." He'd looked sleepy but moved like lightning and she found herself yanked down, sprawled half atop him back on his original spot.

He cupped her head, holding it close. "Do I make you nervous?"

"Ungh," she choked out.

"Good." He kissed her then, taking advantage of her gasp to slide his tongue between her lips.

She warmed quickly, pinned to him with his arms wrapped around her like steel bands. Her hands were trapped between them, splayed against his chest. He angled her head and she groaned at the sweet taste of him.

Against her thigh she felt him harden, and her blood thickened, pulse pounding. Julian just broke the kiss and settled her against his side.

"Why?" she nearly sobbed out.

He nestled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I already took you once in the open like a mad animal. Until I know if anyone is watching, I won't do that again."

"So...no..."

He took her hand and pressed it to his hard cock beneath his pants, groaning slightly. "If you think for one moment I am not calculating the fastest route to a nice hotel room with a large bed, soft sheets, and a hot shower where I can show you a thousand more ways to scream my name...you're a damn fool, Jessie."

She stayed awake after he did, wondering. If he was telling the truth she had a life to return to, or a new one to hide under forever. If that money never materialized, she could go anywhere on the DEA's dime. Maybe she would settle into life somewhere, attend school, work an honest job, then it would be time to start having these feelings. Sighing, she looked over at Julian, wondering at his life in Miami. If they found the money, put Diego away, would the nightmare end? Could she settle in Miami herself, and if so...would she see him again? She could go to school, find a job, maybe even meet Henry's, her first love's, wife and kids.

But there was no place for Julian in those paths. For all his easy smiles he was a hard man, suited to this dangerous life. Jessie had adapted to it, but longed every moment to return to normality. He would bring her in, get a pat on the back from his boss, and return to life in the underground.

Once more she glanced at his face, the hard, sculpted lines fierce even in repose. She couldn't do this much longer, or when they said goodbye, he would be etched on her heart. She had heard stories of his life, but did she truly know him? No, she knew so little.

He was gorgeous, but unlike most gorgeous people he seemed to only be aware of it at certain times, usually when advancing on her. He was good, confident, smart. He made her laugh, and worse, when he'd talked about his childhood and she'd heard the hints of loneliness he'd made her ache to comfort him. Hell, maybe she did know more than she'd thought.

Damn it, she couldn't afford any feelings. She had to leave him.