Previously: Chapter Three – Mas o amor sabe um segredo [A]

I think the PG will all understand when I say that Yeebs is partly the architect of our tale today.

Rating: X. NSFW. Hot sex.

* * * * *

Chapter Four: O medo pode matar o seu coração

By the time they arrived at The Retreat, less than half an hour later, Ashley seemed to be getting worse. She was bathed in a cold sweat and was mumbling incoherently almost incessantly. Spencer had to half-carry her into the opulent hotel. The large marble-floored lobby was a welcome respite from the sticky heat outside. Settling Ashley into an old-fashioned leather armchair and smoothing the damp hair from her forehead, Spencer walked up to the reception desk.

“Bom dia,” she began, only to be pleasantly surprised when the young man behind the counter answered her in slightly American-accented English. She immediately wondered if he had gone to the States for college.

“Good afternoon. My name is Marius. How can I be of assistance to you today, ma’am?” he asked, giving no indication that there was anything untoward about her dishevelled appearance or the fact that she had carried in a semi-conscious companion.

“We have a reservation under Nesbitt,” she said, giving the name Brendan used for company bookings.

Tapping some keys in front of him, he smiled politely.”Yes, I have that reservation here. The Hemingway Suite.” He reached behind himself to retrieve two keys and a large envelope. “Your uncle also left specific instructions to provide you with this,” he commented, passing the envelope to her.

Opening it and peering in, Spencer saw that there appeared to be a significant quantity of cash in Mesan dollars. Her ‘uncle’ Brendan thought of everything. “Yes, that seems to be in order.”

“Your uncle also indicted that your friend might need to see our house doctor. I shall arrange for him to call upon you as soon as possible.” Tapping the small service bell on the desk, he motioned for a uniformed bellboy to approach. “Jorge will help your friend to the room.” He immediately relayed instructions in Portuguese to the young man. “Is there anything else we can do for you today, Miss Nesbitt?”

Spencer subtly palmed a hundred dollar bill from the envelope she held as she turned to watch the bellboy lift Ashley effortlessly into his arms and walk towards the elevators as if she were no heavier than a bag of sugar. She extended her right hand to the young man. “No, thank you. You’ve been most accommodating, Marius.”

The young man equally covertly accepted the tip, slipping it into his pocket without looking at it. “It’s always our pleasure to help our guests, Miss Nesbitt. Please dial 0 if you think of anything you need.”

* * *

Spencer had generously tipped both the bellboy, Jorge, and the house doctor who had appeared mere minutes after they had arrived at their room. The doctor’s opinion was, as Spencer had suspected, that Ashley had been drugged with a powerful hallucinogen. Without tests, he could not identify what it was, but he had conjectured that it might be something organic, possibly from a cane toad. Assuming that Miss Nesbitt did not wish to take her friend to a hospital, he had given Ashley an injection which he said should help break the fever and recommended plenty of rest and water. Noting that both women appeared to have several cuts, scrapes and bruises, he had tended to Ashley’s most visible wounds – the cuts on her hands and feet – and had left some antiseptic, cotton balls, bandages and surgical tape for Spencer to finish the job and, of course, to dress her own wounds.

As soon as he left, Spencer began undressing Ashley. Although she had seen the brunette in a bikini back at the Vice-Consul’s house, she felt as if it were somehow a violation. Stripping off the wet jeans was the most difficult job, but she tried to be as efficient and professional as possible. When Ashley was clad only in her underwear, Spencer inhaled sharply. A large dark purple bruise was forming on the brunette’s hip. She could only hope that it had been self-inflicted during the walk in the woods. Unable to prevent herself, she leaned over and brushed her lips across the angry-looking mark and heard the girl sigh softly in her sleep. Applying some of the antiseptic to a cotton ball, she dabbed at the remaining cuts she could see on Ashley’s torso. None of them looked more than superficial.

Grabbing one of the soft terry robes from the huge bathroom, she quickly removed the underwear and pulled Ashley up to a semi-seated position on the bed. Although the brunette was like a dead weight and could offer no assistance, she managed to get her into the robe and fastened the belt with a knot. Settling her in the middle of the bed, Spencer pulled the covers around her and kissed her on the forehead.

“You sleep now, baby,” she whispered.

Heading back to the bathroom with the medical supplies, she quickly stripped off and got into the walk-in shower. As the hot water glided over her skin, she felt a deep sting along the back of her left arm. Craning her neck to examine it, she saw that a large gash extended from her shoulder to her elbow. With the adrenaline surge she had been on since seeing Ashley’s blood on the rock by the boathouse, she hadn’t even felt it happen. Checking the rest of her body, she saw that her cuts were, like Ashley’s, not deep. Except for her upper arm, most would heal in a few days. Once she’d thoroughly showered, she bandaged her arm as best she could. After being under the running water, the gash had opened again and applying the antiseptic almost brought tears to her eyes.

She held a hand towel under the cold water before loosely wringing it out. Slipping the other robe on, she padded through to the bedroom and placed the folded towel across Ashley’s forehead. The fever already appeared to be breaking, as the brunette was hot, but no longer sweating profusely. Placing all of their clothing into a plastic bag taken from a closet, she dialled 0 and asked Marius if it could be picked up and laundered as soon as possible. He instructed her to leave the bag outside the door so that they wouldn’t be disturbed.

When she had first entered the suite, Spencer’s training had allowed her to take in most of their surroundings from a security point of view. She had noticed, for example, that they were in an end room and that the layout was semi-circular. French windows led from both the bedroom and the sitting room to a veranda outside that appeared to wrap around the whole suite. This gave her good vantage points all around, but also gave additional points of entry to anyone trying to get in. Now that they were both patched up and she could take more of it in, she saw that her original impression of a 1920s feeling was not far off.

Everything about the room had clearly been carefully selected to enhance the feeling of timeless luxury that the hotel possessed. The floors were the original wooden boards, polished to a dull shine and covered with expensive rugs. Spencer couldn’t place them. They weren’t Oriental – Greek or Turkish, possibly. The furniture was mostly polished wood and also looked period. The artwork was travel-related: original Art Deco posters from luxury European cruise liners, advertising exotic destinations such as Cairo, Venice, Havana and, of course, Mesa. She amended her original thought from The Great Gatsby to Death on the Nile. Yes, she could definitely see Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells being at home in their suite. Opening the French windows onto the veranda, she took in the commanding lake views and saw two steamer chairs with luxury striped padding which continued the nautical theme.

Helping herself to a bottle of water from the wet bar and an apple from the fruit basket on the dining table, Spencer slipped her Glock into one pocket and her cellphone into the other. Walking out onto the veranda, she turned one of the steamer chairs around so that it faced towards bedroom and, in particular, the king-sized bed on which Ashley was resting relatively peacefully. It was approaching late afternoon and the heat was bearable. She sat down and munched her apple, watching the brunette sleep.

* * *

The seat must have been even more comfortable than Spencer had suspected because, when her cellphone rang just before eight, it woke her up. She gave Brendan another full run-down on everything that had happened that afternoon, but nothing new occurred to her that she had not shared previously. As Brendan explained in return that he had several men on stake-out at the second drop site and that the drop was scheduled for 10pm, Ashley woke up. Spencer watched the brunette wordlessly get out of bed and shuffle slowly and painfully out to her.

“So, what do we do now?” Spencer asked as Ashley pushed Spencer’s right leg off the chair and sat down in the space that had been vacated. While she listened to Brendan’s reply, she inhaled sharply as the brunette drew her legs up and settled into Spencer’s lap, moulding her back to Spencer’s front and letting her head rest on her shoulder. Instinctively, she used her free hand to wrap around Ashley’s waist, holding the fragile girl closely to her.

“Brendan,” she whispered in Ashley’s ear as she held her hand over her cellphone’s mouthpiece. She felt Ashley nod and wrap her arms over her own. “Uh-huh… Yeah, well, we’re not going anywhere,” she said into the phone. “No, I think she’ll be fine. She just woke up, so I’d better go… Yes, of course. If I learn anything that can… Yeah, you keep me informed, too, Boss.”

She flipped her cellphone shut and placed it on the low table next to her. “How are you feeling, sleepyhead?” she asked softly.

“Like a truck ran over me and backed up a few times,” Ashley admitted hoarsely.

With her free hand, Spencer picked up her untouched bottle and waved it in front of the other girl. “The doctor said you need to drink plenty of this and rest as much as you can. You’ve had quite the ordeal.”

The part of her brain that was a serious professional had about a million questions she wanted to ask about the kidnapping – not to mention that her boss was counting on her to provide as much detail as Ashley could remember – but the better part of her, the part that was ruled by her heart, just wanted to hold this girl and take all the pain and the ugliness away. As Ashley opened the bottle of water and drained it almost in one gulp, Spencer hugged her loosely from behind.

“We should get you back to bed,” Spencer noted, although she made no effort to move or to let go of Ashley.

“Uh-huh,” Ashley agreed, dropping the empty bottle on the floor and turning to the side until she was curled up like a kitten against Spencer. “Right on it.”

Almost instantly, Spencer could hear the sounds of light snoring. Chuckling to herself, she stroked Ashley’s back through the terrycloth. Being in such luxurious circumstances – with Ashley wrapped in her arms as the sun was starting to dip down over the mountains and the temperature was easing off – made it seem impossible that only a few hours previously, she had been worried that the other girl might never be found. The events of the early afternoon down by the little boathouse just outside Tico seemed almost to belong to another lifetime. Now there was only the two of them and this idyllic setting and the fact that she had never felt so at ease with herself as she did right at that moment.

As she continued to soothingly rub Ashley’s back, she thought back to the brunette’s babbling that afternoon. Among the nonsense about baseball and music and the utter randomness of some of her outbursts, Spencer had definitely heard Ashley profess her love, even if it did seem like she was barely conscious at the time. She knew it was stupid and reckless and possibly more dangerous than anything she had done in a work capacity, but she knew she felt it, too. She knew the moment that she heard that Ashley had been kidnapped that she would move heaven and earth, do anything, break any law, vanquish any foe, to have the girl returned to her.

Kissing the top of Ashley’s head, she whispered, “I love you, too, Ashley Davies.”

* * *

Spencer let Ashley doze in her arms for only another hour or so before cajoling the brunette into a standing position and helping her through into the bedroom. She knew that she needed to get Ashley washed and cleaned up properly and her own stomach was rumbling far too loudly to ignore. Ashley, of course, protested in a half-hearted, mumbling fashion, but the truth was that she was too weak to really stand up to anyone.

Spencer turned on the taps above the bath and tested the resulting water temperature. When she was happy with the results, she pushed Ashley in the general direction of the bathroom, instructing her firmly to have a long soak.

“I’ll need someone to wash my back,” the brunette retorted with a hint of her normal flirtatiousness.

“Leave the door open,” Spencer warned, as she looked through the room service menu and ignored Ashley’s comment. “I don’t want to have to break it down if you pass out and drown. Do you want me to order some food for you?”

Ashley just shrugged and disappeared into the bathroom, unselfconsciously dropping the robe to the floor as she went. Spencer was quite proud that she managed to muffle the moan that she felt welling inside her when she saw Ashley naked for the second time that day.

By the time Ashley reappeared twenty minutes later, room service had delivered their meal and set it up on the large dining table. Lifting the metal lid off one of the plates, Spencer commented, “Baked salmon. I thought you might want to try something light. If not, there’s plenty of fruit and juice.”

Ashley sat down facing her and pulled the plate towards her. “I dunno.” She poked her fork at the fish and vegetables before pushing the plate away from her. “Maybe not, actually.” She poured some water into a glass and heaped ice into it.

Spencer uncovered her own plate and picked up her cutlery. “You sure I can’t get you anything else?”

Ashley shook her head. “How come you get steak?”

The blonde chuckled. “If you can’t face a little salmon and green beans, then you definitely can’t eat steak.”

“But I want it,” the other girl pouted.

“Do you always want what you can’t have?” As soon as she said it, Spencer realised the potential double-meaning of her statement and she raised her eyes only to find the brunette grinning at her. Well, at least she was feeling well enough to flirt. That must be a good sign.

“Are you saying that you won’t give me what I want, Spence?” Despite the grin and the light tone, there was no mistaking Ashley’s real question.

She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

Ashley picked up a green bean from her discarded plate and tossed it across the table at her. “Liar.”

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Spencer repeated, smiling to herself as she ate another bite of the delicious steak.

“I think we want the same thing.”

“Yeah?” Spencer asked quietly. “And what would that be?”

“That delicious steak.” Her tone was deadly serious, but Ashley’s eyes danced with mirth and mischief and Spencer found herself bursting out laughing. They giggled together for a few moments, relishing the chance to just laugh and be silly. All too soon, though, Spencer sighed heavily and put her fork down on her plate.

“We need to talk, don’t we?” Ashley asked, refusing to look anywhere but her own lap.

“Yeah, we do, Ash. I’m really sorry. Brendan -”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. I’d rather talk to you than the Mesan Police.” She chuckled. “You’re a lot better looking and much less hairy and sweaty, I imagine.”

They laughed briefly again and then Spencer listened as Ashley told her every detail that she claimed to be able to remember. She described the feeling of the bag being pulled over her head on the Mesan street and then passing out. Spencer made a mental note to have the doctors check Ashley over for other signs of being drugged, although it could, of course, have been chloroform. Ash described the room in which she had been held and the angry man in his mid-twenties who kept his face obscured by a bandanna at all times. She remembered nothing after being given a bottle of water on her second night in captivity until waking up in the boathouse alone.

“Not much to go on,” she admitted ruefully.

“And you’re sure there was only one other person there?” That part had been the only element in Ashley’s story that seemed to make no sense to Spencer. It was unlikely that the job could have been pulled off by one person and the phonecall she had received about Ashley’s whereabouts pointed to a group dynamic that was in disarray, not an oganised individual.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Spencer. I only saw one person.”

Spencer suspected that Ashley was not telling her the whole truth and her mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that there might be elements of her ordeal that Ashley was reluctant to share. She felt a murderous rage coursing through her at the thought that anyone might have seriously harmed her.

“Did he hurt you?” she whispered.

Ashley shook her head. “Not really. I was scared more than anything.” she shrugged. “I think the hardest part was the realisation that I might actually die, just for being stupid enough to give Glen the slip.”

“Why did you do that anyway?”

The brunette turned and looked out the window. “To make you jealous,” she mumbled.

“What?” Spencer asked incredulously.

“Well, nothing else was working and I figured if I ditched Glen for a night and stayed out till almost dawn, then you’d think I’d got lucky and it might make you jealous enough to really notice me.” She looked utterly mortified by the admission.

Spencer just stared at her for a few moments, wondering how different things might have been if one of them had been honest with the other instead of both of them playing games. In reality, she knew that the kidnapper or kidnappers would have found another opportunity, but the whole situation highlighted how foolish they had both been.

“I always noticed you, Ash,” she admitted. “From the moment we met.”

The brunette grinned. “Yeah, I figured that, but I had to make you see it.”

“So you thought you’d put your life in danger wandering the streets of the city on your own in the middle of the night?” She knew her irrational anger wouldn’t help after the fact, but she couldn’t help being annoyed by Ashley’s cavalier disregard for her own safety.

Ashley bowed her head in contrition. “I really am sorry,” she whispered, a slight hitch in her voice causing Spencer to look up.

She saw the silent tears rolling down the brunette’s face and she felt immediately chastened for having snapped when the girl was in a fragile physical and emotional state. If she didn’t feel so strongly for Ashley, she would not have reacted so vehemently, but that was hardly an excuse.

Getting up and moving round the table, she pulled a chair close to Ashley and sat down next to her. Reaching out, she enveloped the crying girl in her arms.

“Hush now, baby,” she soothed. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. It’s gonna be okay.” She felt Ashley’s arms slip around her waist as the sobbing continued in earnest. She continued to murmur soft words of comfort while stroking Ashley’s back and dropping kisses onto the top of her head until the tears subsided.

When Ashley looked up at her finally, her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks were stained with tears. Instinctively, she leaned down and softly kissed away the tears, alternating between each cheek. She saw the brunette’s eyes flutter shut and she kissed her eyelids lightly. Soon, she was slowly and deliberately covering Ashley’s face in kisses as the other girl trembled.

Without thinking, she covered Ashley’s mouth with her own and felt her respond instantly. Lifting her hands to the brunette’s cheeks, she gently cradled that beautiful face as she just lightly brushed their lips against each other. It was a feather-light touch, but she was trying to offer comfort, not passion. It was Ashley who blindly lifted her hands to the back of Spencer’s neck and pulled them closer together, Ashley who pressed her lips more firmly against hers and Ashley who angled her head to deepen the kiss further.

Never breaking their kiss, Spencer shifted them both and stood, the tightness of their holds on each other forcing Ashley to follow her lead until they were both standing. Their new position allowed them to intertwine their bodies even more. Spencer’s hand dropped from Ashley’s cheek to her hip, and she pushed backwards. They stumbled together across the wood floor towards the large bed and fell together, laughing into a heap.

Propping herself up on one arm, Spencer smiled down at the beautiful woman lying next to her on the bed. She reached out a hand to stroke Ashley’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered, leaning in and kissing Ashley incredibly softly. She suddenly felt uncertain. “You know, we don’t have to… Uh, I mean, if you’re still feeling -”

Her words were cut off by Ashley reaching up and pulling Spencer’s head back down to hers. Half-shifting on top of the brunette, Spencer continued to kiss Ashley. While the soft terry robes were comfortable to wear, they were nothing but a distraction now. Slowly and carefully, so that Ashley could object at any moment if she wanted to, Spencer reached down and started to untie the belt at Ashley’s waist. The other girl merely did what she could not to impede Spencer’s progress. Once it was undone, Spencer pushed herself up on her hands and manoeuvred herself into a better position, settling in between Ashley’s legs. Supporting herself on one hand, she moved her other to the tie of her own robe, only to find Ashley’s hands pushing hers out of the way.

“Let me,” she whispered. Spencer raised herself back up fully on her hands as the girl underneath her untied the belt and pushed the robe off her shoulders. “You’re the one who’s beautiful.” She then wriggled out of her own robe, leaving it pooled under her.

As Spencer lowered herself again, lightly settling her weight against Ashley, she moaned softly at the feel of the expanse of soft skin against her own. She could feel the ceiling fan above her head tickling the fine hairs on her back. She was glad of contrast of the cool against her skin when her front was burning up. For a few moments, she just remained there, still holding most of her weight on her hands, until she felt Ashley’s hands snake around her back and pull her down fully on top of her.

“So incredible,” she murmured, meaning both Ashley and the feeling of their bodies pressed against each other finally. “Soft,” she continued, dipping her head to kiss along the other girl’s neck, smiling as the head was tilted back to allow her better access. She was very careful to be slow and gentle, covering the soft skin with tiny kisses, letting her tongue flick out occasionally. Her hands skimmed up Ashley’s sides, exploring slowly and tentatively. She arched her back as she felt the other girl’s hands start to stroke along the curve of her spine with only her fingertips, nails scraping lightly.

Then those hands were tangled in her hair, yanking her head up. “I won’t break, Spence,” Ashley whispered fiercely, closing the distance between their mouths and kissing her, hot, wet and wanting, kicking everything up a notch as Spencer felt fingers digging into the back of her neck.

Needing no further encouragement, she deftly slid her hand between them, cupping Ashley’s breast in her hand and roughly flicking her thumb across the straining nipple. She gladly swallowed the loud moan that Ashley made in her mouth. She used the pad of her thumb to tease the nipple as her fingers kneaded the soft flesh. With her tongue, she mirrored
the movement of her fingers, licking Ashley’s lips. As she pinched the hard flesh between her thumb and forefinger, she took the other girl’s lower lip into her mouth and nibbled gently.

They had started writhing against each other with a slow but welcome rhythm and Spencer gasped herself as she felt the other girl’s hand slide back down her spine to the firm globes of her ass. Pushing down hard, Ashley arched up, forcing her breast more fully into Spencer’s hand and rubbing her core against Spencer’s abdomen. She was so wet, so ready that the blonde moaned again, louder. Maybe when she started this, Spencer had believed that she could set a gentle pace and make love to Ashley slowly and tenderly, but she realised now that she was at the brunette’s mercy. Whatever pace Ashley wanted, she would give her. She had no control over the situation. For one who prized herself on being in charge of her emotions all the time, it was a scary, intense and utterly erotic thought.

Sensing what Ashley was wanting, she once more took her weight onto her outstretched hands, lifting herself off the brunette. Adjusting herself slightly, she wriggled her hips until they were perfectly aligned. She nearly lost all composure when the slighter brunette locked her legs around her waist, causing a thrusting motion. She could feel Ashley’s wetness mixing with her own and she had to concentrate hard on holding her body weight up. Slowly, surely, she started to rock her hips. Opening her eyes, she stared deep into Ashley’s chocolate-brown eyes as she slid their clits together for the first time.

“Fuck, Spence,” she hissed. “More.”

The blonde grinned and nodded. Purposefully, she rocked her hips again, thrusting just a little. She knew the movement was too slow for both of them, but she was perversely enjoying the torture of the pressure being so much and not enough all at the same time. She settled her hips more heavily against the other girl and felt Ashley’s legs tighten around her. She had never known anything more erotic, more arousing, than the feeling of Ashley’s feet pushing down on her lower back, forcing them even closer together. She continued to slide against Ashley deliberately, gasping every time their hard clits rubbed against each other.

It was impossible to tell which one of them was wetter than the other. All she knew was that she had never been so turned on in all of her life. When Ashley’s hands came around to cup her breasts, her palms teasing Spencer’s nipples, she let out a noise that was somewhere between a moan and a scream. Moving her hips just a little faster, she ground down into Ashley in small circles. She could feel sweat trickling down the back of her neck with the supreme effort it was taking her to maintain the casual pace.

Then Ashley murmured, “Harder, Spence. I need you so much,” and she knew she couldn’t really maintain her composure much longer. She tried to speed up only a little, but Ashley’s linked ankles were digging into her harder, trying to drive the pace faster, and she was incapable of resisting. Thrusting harder, but maintaining a languid circular motion in between each thrust, she continued to stare into Ashley’s eyes, looking away only momentarily to look down at her own chest to watch the brunette’s hands caressing her breasts.

“So fucking good, Ash,” she whispered.

The brunette just nodded, bringing her own hips up to meet Spencer’s downward thrusts, every movement sliding their clits against each other in delicious friction. As she felt the tremors starting to build within the girl underneath her, she saw Ashley’s eyes starting to flutter shut. She shook her head.

“Look at me,” she commanded, as she increased the pace even further, letting her head fall only far enough to press hot, needy, open-mouthed kisses against Ashley’s mouth, maintaining their eye contact at all times. The room was filled with sounds of their bodies crashing together over and over again, faster and faster, and Spencer ground against Ashley more firmly as she heard the brunette’s breath hitch.

She could feel her own body shudddering with the effort of holding back the powerful orgasm that was threatening to rip through her. When the brunette began kneading her breasts more firmly, it tipped her over the edge and she came hard, moaning and calling Ashley’s name loudly. Seconds later, she felt the slight body stiffen underneath her and Ashley’s legs tightened so much around her waist that she thought she might break something. Finally, her arms gave out and she slumped against the older girl, letting her head drop to rest on Ashley’s shoulder as they clung together, riding the last remnants of their pleasure together.