Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Lima, Peru

23 Months Earlier

FINN TOWEL-DRIED his hair as he walked out of the bathroom. They'd recovered the tumi and handed it off to the Paladin League contact in Lima. Zo's part of the mission was finished, and they'd be headed back to LA tomorrow. Thank God.

Archer hadn't been exaggerating her need for a bodyguard. Zo wasn't reckless, but she did take chances. A lot of them. The man's comment about her valuing an artifact more than her own life wasn't the load of bullshit Finn had believed it to be.

The lights were off in the suite, but the drapes were open, and there was a bright enough glow from the city that he easily made his way from the bedroom to the sitting room. He spotted Zo on the balcony, but he hesitated instead of joining her. Would she want him out there? They'd been arguing, and she might prefer to be alone .

Dropping the towel over the back of a chair at the dining table, he decided they needed to settle a few things. She looked over when he opened the slider to the balcony, but she didn't say anything. The knot in his chest grew larger.

The two wicker chairs were close enough to share an ottoman, and Zo had taken the one on the left, her feet on the beige cushion. He took the other seat and propped his feet next to hers. Their skin brushed, but Zo didn't move away from the contact.

He decided to try conversation. "For a non-profit, the Paladin League sure pays for some expensive rooms."

Zo swept her braid behind her shoulder. "It's because of the work I do. They have a hard time finding people with the right credentials, temperament, and willingness. That's why I'm paid as well as I am and get perks like this suite."

Finn puzzled through that and decided to ask. "Why would there be a problem? Aren't there plenty of archaeologists out there?"

"Yes, plenty of archaeologists, but they have to be able to travel on short notice, be willing to go to places like Puerto Jardin, tell if an artifact is the real deal or not, and meet with illegal antiquities brokers." She shook her head. "Not only meet with them but not get sanctimonious about what those men do. That reduces the numbers a lot."

She sounded normal, and the tightness in his chest eased a small amount. "Sanctimonious? Don't they want to recover the stolen pieces?"

Zo finally looked at him, a lopsided grin on her face. "We talked about this, remember? Most archaeologists would be absolutely appalled by the very idea of buying from a broker. They believe it only encourages more looting. If my parents knew what I really did for the Paladin League…" She let her voice fade off.

"I remember. What is their plan to protect the artifacts then? "

Her sigh was loud. "Good question. So far, the only answer has been to tell people not to buy antiquities. As if that's stopped anyone."

"Yeah, I don't imagine that slows it down."

Zo shook her head. "The Paladin League can't save everything, but we try to buy the important pieces, the ones we can't risk disappearing into a private collector's vault." Zo nudged his foot with hers. "Do you really want to hear me go off about the looting issue for an hour or more? Because I can."

"No, I think I'll skip that." Although he didn't mind seeing Zo get passionate about a topic, he had a more important discussion on the agenda for the night.

"Wise choice. I don't want to get wound up at two in the morning."

The knot in his chest grew again. What he wanted to talk about was likely to get her keyed up anyway. "Yeah," he said, but let the quiet linger for a few moments before jumping in with both feet. "Am I going to need to find another place to live when we get back to LA?"

Zo's head turned sharply, her gaze locking onto his. "Why? Did you want to move?"

"No, but I thought you might want me out of your condo."

Her expression morphed from intent to puzzled. "Why would I want you to leave?"

"We've had a few arguments this week."

"And?" Her voice held as much confusion as her face did.

Finn took a deep breath and admitted, "When I was in a foster home and had arguments with someone in the family, I always found myself back in the system until they could find another place for me to live."

She stared at him for a moment before saying, "Maybe that's how it worked for you when you were in foster care, but it's not how it works with us." Zo nudged his foot harder. "You and I are both strong-willed, and we've lived on our own for a while. We're used to doing what we want. Now we have each other to consider. Of course, there are going to be disagreements. It doesn't mean we're going to break up every time we quarrel."

The tightness in his chest exploded, the pieces shooting out like shrapnel, but instead of tearing him up, they healed wounds he didn't realize he had. For the first time in a while, Finn was able to take a deep breath. "You were really pissed off at me this afternoon."

"So what? You were really pissed off at me, too. Do you want to cut and run?"

"Hell, no."

Zo nodded. "There you go. I don't run either." A small pause, then she continued, "I grew up differently than you did. My parents disagreed with each other intensely at times, but they were always partners. They always reached an understanding. It's how I was raised."

"And this is how you're going to handle our arguments?" He needed to be sure.

"That's my plan." Zo put her feet on the ground, turned her chair toward his, and leaned forward. "I believe in fighting fair. I believe in not keeping score. I believe that if something is important to you, and I don't care very much, I'll let you make the call. I expect you to do likewise. And I believe that when something is important to both of us, we'll argue until we reach some kind of consensus, even if there's no good compromise. Do you have a problem with any of this?"

"No." His voice was thick, and Finn cleared his throat. "It sounds about perfect to me."

Some of Zo's intensity faded. "You won't think so when we're nose-to-nose over something we both feel strongly about."

She was wrong. As long as he knew she wasn't going to tell him to get the fuck out of her life, the fights wouldn't bother him. Now to finish the argument they'd been having earlier. "Speaking of something I care about, let's talk about how many chances you take with your safety." Finn leveled a glare at her.

Standing, Zo moved to the edge of the balcony. For a moment, she looked out at the lights of Lima and then turned to face him, her elbows resting on the top of the railing behind her. "I care about my safety." She raised a hand, stopping him from refuting that statement. "This is the first time we've worked together, the first time you've met any of the brokers involved. You overestimated the risk several times, especially this afternoon."

Finn got to his feet and squared off with her. They were about to put her beliefs on disagreements to the test. "Zofia, I saw you in action in Trujillo when you were searching for your friend. I'm not overestimating your willingness to put yourself in danger."

"No? What about today when we met with Emiliano? He works for the Paladin League and was no risk to me."

"Just because he works for the same organization doesn't mean you should trust him blindly. There was still a need for caution. And what about when you met with that brok—"

Zo cut him off. "Of all the brokers I've worked with, Se?or Sosa is the least likely to cause a problem."

"Really?" He halved the distance between them. "He brought some muscle with him that could have caused trouble."

Straightening, Zo took a step forward then stopped, her lips quirking up. "He probably thought the same thing, that I brought some muscle with me who could cause trouble."

His lips twitched, but he quelled the urge to smile. "There were smarter—safer—ways to accomplish some of the things you did on this operation."

"There were?" Her tone held curiosity, but no disbelief. "Let's do a debrief when we get home. Then, in the future, I can make more informed decisions." Zo closed the distance between them, running her hands over his chest before linking her fingers behind his neck. She leaned forward, her breasts pressing into him.

"We're not done talking about this." But he was distracted.

"Oh, I know, but it's the middle of the night. Let's save the rest of the discussion for when you run me through the mistakes you think I made."

Finn considered it and nodded. They could table this for later, and they'd covered the most important thing he needed tonight—he could stop worrying that Zo was going to tell him to fuck off when they clashed. "Loquita," he said, putting his hands at her hips and tugging her more firmly into him. "You're going to make me insane."

Zo smiled up at him. "Sergeant, I know you worked covert ops, which means you were insane when we met. Don't throw this one on me." Her tone was most definitely flirtatious.

He tried not to laugh—it would only encourage her—but he couldn't help it. "Damn, you're a pain in the ass. Just my luck that I have a thing for strong women." Especially this one, but he didn't say it. Instead, Finn lowered his mouth to hers.

With a soft sigh, Zo melted into Finn. She opened her mouth under his, inviting him to deepen the kiss. She didn't want much foreplay, didn't need much. It had been a week—seven long days—because he didn't want to be distracted while they were working. She could have pushed him because she was aware he had as little control with her as she had with him, but she hadn't because it had been obvious how seriously he took this job.

She stroked the warm, bare skin of his back, loving the freedom to touch him. They'd been sleeping together long enough that all he had to do was look at her a certain way, and she'd start getting wet. When he kissed her? Oh yeah, she was ready for him in seconds.

His erection pressed insistently into her, and Zo slipped a hand between them, cupping him through the knit of his shorts. His groan was serrated, and it made her breath catch. Zo ran her palm up and down his shaft, teasing him the way she knew he liked.

Finn broke the kiss. "Keep that up, and it'll be hard and fast," he warned her.

"I like hard and fast. You know that."

He jerked in her hand. Zo felt Finn take a deep breath, and she knew he was struggling to find his self-command. The man liked to be in control of himself, but she liked it better when he was as wild as she was. She squeezed him, running her thumb over his head through the fabric.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Finn said, and before Zo could reply, he turned her, so her back was against his front. His hands went under her T-shirt, and cupped her breasts. Her nipples were already hard as he teased them.

Zo didn't know whether to push forward into his palms or backward into his cock because both were equally tempting. Her indecision left Finn in charge.

"Lean forward and grab the railing," he rasped near her ear.

She obeyed without questioning him, trusting Finn to take care of her as he always did. But when he pulled the gusset of her shorts and panties aside, and she felt the night air on her sex, she tensed. "We're outside. Anyone can see us."

"It's the middle of the night. No one is up."

That wasn't true. There were lights on in the high-rise hotels and apartment buildings surrounding theirs, but Zo didn't straighten. The head of his cock brushed against her sensitive skin, and she gasped, her fingers clutching the railing harder. She didn't know when he'd moved his shorts out of the way and she didn't care. "I'm not putting on a show for our neighbors."

He slid inside her, and Zo's eyes fluttered closed as she focused on how freaking good he felt. "Damn it, Finn." But her voice lacked any force.

He moved until he filled her. "No one can see anything."

"Bull—" she gasped as he thrust "—shit."

His voice was thicker. "Your T-shirt and shorts have your body covered. They might know we're having sex, but they can't see me move inside you. They can't tell how wet you are. It's okay, loquita, I promise."

Zo gave up her protests. Finn's word was golden, and if he said no one could see her body, then she could trust him. Just in case, though, she kept her eyes closed, not wanting to know if they had an audience. Instead, she moved with Finn, matching him thrust for thrust.

Her first orgasm took her by surprise. She hadn't realized she was that close.

"Come for me again," Finn ordered.

That wasn't going to be a problem, but Zo didn't have the breath to reassure him. She felt the second orgasm barely out of reach. "Harder," she said.

He obliged, and as he held her hips, pouring himself into her, Zo went over the edge a second time. Her knees gave out, but Finn wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, still moving inside her until their orgasms subsided.

When he straightened, he brought her with him, and she let her head fall back on his shoulder. "Well," Zo said when she found her voice again, "since we put on a show for Lima, I guess I can stop worrying that I'm too vanilla for you."

"Loquita, in case you missed it, I'm into vanilla, and you fit me exactly right. Don't ever forget that."