A/N: Sorry for the long delay. I had to really outline the next couple of chapters so I do this justice. I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter, but I had to cram in everything, so it had to happen. Enjoy!
Piper continued to stare in awe at the gorgeous and yet beautifully flawed creature that was before her. This was her Alex; her Alex that had finally broken through the last wall that she had kept from Piper. Everything was laid out on the table now for both of them.
"From here on out no more secrets. No keeping things from one another, even if we think we're protecting each other. We're together in this. Does that work for you?" Piper asked tentatively.
Alex bit her lip before answering. "I've never been great at being totally exposed. I've kind of built my business around being a cold fucking bitch. So you'll have to remind me every now and again, okay?"
Piper leaned forward and placed her lips gently on Alex's. These kisses were more comforting then passionate like the ones before.
"I can do that."
"If you remind me like that, every time, that would be great." Alex replied while placing a few kisses on Piper's neck.
Faster than she thought possible, Piper's hands were grasping either side of Alex's face. Trying to close as much of the space between them as possible.
Piper gently guided Alex to lean back on the bed and threw a leg over her. Straddling Alex, Piper took her time with the deep, luscious kisses that she was gifting. She wanted to pour as much love into this as possible. Piper briefly broke from the kiss to glide her tongue up the brunette's neck to her earlobe. She suckled at the soft piece of flesh, eliciting a soft, low moan from Alex.
With one flick of her wrist, she untied the sash around the robe that she was wearing from the earlier shower and pushed it off the bed. She ran her hands down to Alex's hips and slid them up underneath the worn tee shirt that separated their bodies. Pushing the shirt over Alex's head, she threw it somewhere behind her in the room.
Piper ran her hands all over Alex's chest before planting kisses on as much of the exposed flesh as she could. She brought herself back to Alex's mouth. Alex's hands were running up and down her back, not rushing her. Alex pulled back and met Piper's eyes. They were full of love. 'This girl has all of me now,' Alex thought.
Keeping their eyes fixed on each other; Piper gently skimmed her hands down the brunette's arms and applied a little pressure on Alex's wrists. Alex splayed her arms out on the bed. Piper immediately understood that this simple act was a testament to Alex relinquishing control.
Piper's lips moved back to Alex's, as hands moved from wrists to hips and thumbs hooked in the waistband of the lounge pants that remained. Piper got tangled up in the ends of the pants. She yanked the pants off clumsily and unabashedly causing that familiar smirk to appear on Alex's face.
"Jesus, Pipes. At least try to make it fucking sexy."
"Shut. Up."
Alex's laugh was stifled by Piper's finger running over her half-open mouth. Piper ran it back and forth over Alex's full lips, silently wishing that she had been wearing her signature red lipstick. After a few passes, Alex tilted her head forward to take Piper's finger into her mouth. Automatically, Piper could feel the rush flow through her body. She ran her finger down Alex's chest and stopped just above her belly button.
Piper couldn't continue to tease Alex; she was dying to taste her.
She moved her hands under Alex's knees and lifted them up onto her shoulders. With a few kisses placed on Alex's thighs, she inched her way closer to the apex. As she attacked Alex's folds, her grip on Alex's hips tightened. Alex was writhing now on the bed.
"Piper. More." Alex was able to blurt out through her heavy breathing.
The blonde easily slid two fingers into Alex, eliciting a low, guttural moan from her body. Piper didn't stop her assault on her clit. Alex's body gave away how close she was, as Piper could feel her legs start to shake and body clench.
"Yes. Fuck, Piper." Were the last words that Alex was able to say before she came. As Alex came down from her high, Piper lowered Alex's legs off of her shoulders as she peppered more kisses on them.
"Come here." Alex said; her voice still low. Piper shambled up the bed, into Alex's waiting arms.
"I love you." Alex whispered as she planted a kiss on the blonde's lips.
"I love you too." Piper answered.
As they lay together in the twisted sheets and thrown pillows, the worry crept up on Alex. She didn't want to have this discussion now, but they were running out of time.
"I'm going to have to do this run. You know that, right? If I pull this off, it's going to put me in the cartel's good graces. Maybe that will help." Alex furrowed her eyebrows. Her mind was racing with a hundred different scenarios.
"Can you talk to Fahri about this?" Piper asked.
"All of us are supposed to be meeting after the first stop. Fahri will be there. I'd rather do this in person; at least then I'll know if I'm fucked or not. Can't read faces on a phone."
"Alex I'll be there."
"I don't know if you should come with me." Alex looked directly at Piper. "Piper, this is really fucking serious. I can't let you come with me. I don't know if they are going to -" Alex stopped.
"To what?" Piper urged Alex to finish.
"To hurt me. If you're with me, they might try to hurt you too. I wouldn't let them do that. I couldn't. They would have to fucking kill me. Not that they are going to kill me." Alex added quickly. 'They might try to kill me. You are not helping the situation. 'yeah babe, come with me, when they put a gun to my head, you can watch..'
"Has anyone tried to leave?" Piper said quietly. She was unsure if she wanted the answer.
"I don't know if I should tell you. It's not really going to help the matter any."
"Tell me. I thought we said, 'no holding back.'" Piper reminded Alex.
Alex sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "You're right. Okay. I only knew one guy, Yang, that left. It was when I was just starting, so I didn't have a lot to move and I only met him two or three times. Fahri mentioned it one day in passing. I said I had thought the cartel had just moved him to a different area, different countries to work. Turns out he was in the hospital for weeks; the beating he got was so bad. Yang must have talked to somebody because his fucking tongue was also missing. Fahri fucking laughed when he was telling me the story. What a prick."
"Oh god." Piper covered her mouth with her hand. "This is -" Piper couldn't finish her sentence. She was completely overwhelmed with this information and wishing she could take back asking.
Alex grasped Piper's hands. "You should go back to the States. I couldn't live with myself if something fucking happened to you, Piper. Please. Please. So I know that you're safe. You can stay with Polly. Or I'll rent you someplace. Anywhere but with me." Alex moved her hands to hold the blonde's face. Alex's was pleading with her. "Please, please Piper. Go home. I don't fucking care what happens to me, but you. You're worth it. And you had nothing to do with this. I can't let them get to you."
"I don't want to leave you going through this alone. I can help you." Piper raised her eyebrows.
"You won't be able to. I'm going to have to do this alone. I'm sorry. Other than carrying the bag, you haven't done anything illegal. You've met some of these people before, but they'll forget you. They'll just think of you as some blonde that I had for a while before turning out as a mule. I have to keep you apart from this. You have to be clean, Piper. If I get caught at any point, I can't drag you down with me."
"I've been involved in this already. These people, they've seen me. We've traveled with them. Jay, Fox, Maya, all of them, Alex. They know me."
"I'll handle them. It's Fahri and everyone above that I'm concerned about. I taught the rest of them what they know. I don't think they'll fuck with us."
"We will figure out a way to get you out of this." Piper said quietly while brushing some stray hairs that had attached themselves to Alex's face.
'Well, you finally told her, so good job on that front. Now how the fuck do you expect to leave the cartel? 'I quit' just isn't going to cut it. Even if you nail this run, do you think they'll just let you walk away. I hope you have a fucking casket picked out for your hopefully pre-planned funeral, because you'll never leave this shit alive.'
Alex fumbled around the bed for her glasses and pulled out her computer. 'Start planning.'
As Alex searched flights and travel schedules, she filled Piper in on the minimal information that she had. "My first stop is Jakarta. Then Myanmar and Turkey. Jakarta's no big deal. We've done that before. Remember Java?"
"How could I forget? I was sick for days, and pooping in front of the entire village."
"Yeah, but you have a great story now."
Piper and Alex shared a look and started to laugh together. Alex couldn't help but feel terrible about everything was going to happen in the next couple of weeks; sending Piper home when they had just affirmed their love for each other, stressing about work, worrying about the backlash of her leaving the cartel. She had had grand plans, and none of them ended this way.
In a little while, Alex had both of their trips booked.
"Okay, we'll be able to head to the airport together. You leave for JFK about noon, and I leave about an hour later to Soekarno. I have a car that will be waiting for you at the airport." Alex explained.
"I could just have Polly pick me up." Piper tried to reason.
"It's already done. No need to bother her. Are you going to stay with her? Or do I need to get you an apartment?"
"I haven't talked to her yet." Truthfully, Piper hadn't had time to. Alex and her had been arguing, talking and fucking.
"Call her. Please. This way we get everything out of the way, and enjoy the rest of the day. I'm going to shower." Alex took off her glasses and winked at Piper. "You've made a mess out of me, kid."
Piper heard the shower start up and picked up her phone. She took a deep breath in and dialed.