Juliana woke slowly. First she heard was the snore next to her. Her mind slowly emerged from the secure place she retreated to so she did not have to feel.
She slowly recalled her current life, if you can even call it that. The violent man snoring next to her in the bed, Rodrigo, was one of Cali Cartel's enforcers, and he brought her to Bogota as a fuck toy, too pretty to be entrusted to one of his lieutenants back in Cali.
She had not chosen this life. She was a girl in the university in Cali. Sure, she was popular, she was pretty, but Colombia and Venezuela produced some of the prettiest women on Earth. Why her? She had a perfectly normal middle-upper class life until she was noticed by some thug on the street, and her parents gave her up when the Mafioso enforcer came to her house asking for her hand, and her family did not dare refuse. She knew the Mafiosos (Cartel is such a gringo term) were a power but she had never imagined it would touch her personally... "plata o plomo" Silver or lead.
She sometimes wished she was offered that choice, and she knew she would have chosen the lead, for Rodrigo was never gentle, and took her screams to be proof of his prowess. She was sore every night, and it was rape, for there was no love, not even pleasure of a fuck. She was slapped (never on the face), sometimes punched, and always verbally abused, reminded daily, even hourly, how her family gave her up. She had plenty of bruises, physical and mental, to prove it.
She must get away... or die. She no longer cared which. She was dying a little every day. Soon, he will be bored of her when she no longer feel.
She very gently slipped off the bed, being careful. She hugged herself, and the sensation triggered flashbacks.
Strong arms prevented her from falling when she collided with almost a solid... man. She looked up and...
He was... oriental. The square face, the slightly knitted brow, that hint of a mustache...
Gentle hands on her face, on her breasts, thumbs gently playing with her nipples...
He told her that he was in Cali visiting old friends for a few weeks. He asked her to dinner in Pacific Mall Cali that night.
His hands roamed, drew a line from her inner thigh to her knees. Her legs parted without further thought. The fingers traced back toward her core...
He spoke perfect Colombian Spanish, and English. He said he was educated in a private school in Cali before moving to the United States.
He entered her slowly, even as he held her gaze. She can see the sweat beading on his forehead, above those brows. The heat radiated to her core...
Suddenly the image shifted
Rodrigo's face, contorted with rage, was only inches from hers. His body was on hers, pushing her into the mattress. He reeked of beer and cigarette smoke. She turned her face to breath, only to be slapped. Her left cheek was on fire, but she cannot move as he snarled, "Yo compre un virgen, y recibio un puta!" I bought a virgin, and I got a slut!
She fought those memories down as she found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and and slipped them on silently. No shoes...
She slowly opened the door from the bedroom of the suite to the central area. The guard was watching porn. She slipped a sock on the door latch to prevent it from closing completely and making a sound. She crouched and slowly moved behind him on the sofa. He paid no attention other than to the grunts and moans on TV.
She was almost at the door to the corridor. If she made any noise surely she will be spotted.
She heard him got up, and her breath caught in her throat, as her heart hammered in her chest.
She watched him turn away from her toward the balcony. Just as he slide the screen door open, she opened the door and walked out. She slowly closed the door behind her, and the door closer fought her. Then the door latch clacked, the sound loud like a dropped hammer in the silent night.
Juliana ran, her bare feet almost silent on the carpet. She took the first corner she could, looking for an exit, not finding any. She know she won't make it to the elevator bank, but she had no plan other than to get away.
She could hear a commotion started behind her. An order was barked behind her "Encuentrala!" FIND HER! She glanced behind her, expecting guards, and ran smack into someone.
She ran even faster, and pushed through the emergency stairs exit, and started down the stairs two at a time, her bare feet hurting on the cement floor, but she continued. She made it two floors down before she heard the door above her open, and angry voices.
She tried the next floor... It cannot be opened from the stairs side.
She almost gave up, but she went another floor. Then another.
The next floor's fire exit door was open, propped open with a door stop, and maintainence sign.
She kicked the door stop away and went through the door onto another hotel corridor. She just ran, certain that they were just steps behind her, reaching for her.
She heard the door click, then angry pounding. She dared one quick look behind her, heard the yelling, which is when she ran into some thing.
She bounced off... Then strong arms held her and prevented her from falling, and she almost shrieked when she realized it wasn't a guard.
"Wow, are you okay?" The man asked in English, not Spanish.
She turned her head to look at the man, and time stopped, as she saw the last face she'd ever expected to see in a hotel in Bogota, Colombia.
Ricky "El Chinito" Lin.
Her first lover.
"Juliana?" The man asked hesitantly, as his eyes also widened.
For a moment they just starred at each other. Then he heard the commotion around the corner. Without another word he gently pushed her into the room, pulled in the luggage, put the do not disturb tag on the outside door jamb, locked the door, and flipped the deadbolt.
Juliana's mind was still trying to process the information when Ricky pulled her into the restroom, put a finger in front of his lips before she can ask him anything, and turned on the shower.
Then he carefully turned and waited at the restroom door's door frame, not exposing himself. Juliana saw him reached under the jacket... and removed a pistol. She could not have said anything even if she tried.
They carefully listened as several people ran down the corridor, some shouting in Spanish, muffled through the door, some steps barely audible over the water... that faded into silence.
Ricky sat down on the toilet, and Juliana felt his hands gently pulled her onto his lap, and and strong arms closed around her. Protecting her.
Juliana wrapped her arms around the chest she had dreamed of timed and time again. The chest she wanted to rest against. She still could not believe this was real. She buried her face into his shoulder, her tears flowed. For a long while, she just sat there, in his arms, sobbing silently, only occasional shakes in her body betraying her turmoil. She barely felt his hand that stroked her hair
Juliana whispered in his ear, in English, a language she hadn't used in a while. "I not expect to see you again."
Ricky just gently brushed the contours of her face, and gently touched the tip of her ear, making her sigh, as he replied, "me neither." He kissed her hair.
Juliana pushed back a little and kissed him on the lips, very, gently, as if not quite believing it was real.
He raised her chin with one finger, and kissed her back, a little harder. His tongue parted her lips. and she allowed him further access. He teased her tongue with hers, gently suckled her tongue and her lips, making her tremble with desire. She had dreamed of those kisses...
Suddenly she felt filthy, as her mind went back to those dirty paws, the abuse she had just escaped from only minutes ago. She shuddered involuntarily.
He stopped and frowned, but he did not say a word. Juliana pushed him away and stood up, stripped off her cloths, and stepped into the shower without another word. She let the water sluice over her head, spaying her face. She reached for the little bottle shampoo and washed her hair. She took a glance behind her but he was gone. She almost sobbed at his absence, even though she knew he was just outside. She got a hold of herself, then use the body wash on herself. As she tried to wash her front, she hit a particularly sore spot on her ribs. She gasped in pain, and memories resurfaced...
Rodrigo was on top of her, held both of her wrists. in his left hand and was slapping her breasts hard with his right hand...
She screamed in pain then felt his huge hand on her jaw, then the the pain between her legs...
The little body wash bottle slipped from her hand and bounced off the tub bottom, rattled. She slowly collapsed into the tub into a fetal position, her eyes closed, as her mind retreated to that little safe haven it had.
She distantly felt someone turned off the water. She felt gentle hands carefully picked her up, and carried her to the bed. She felt a warm hand held up her hand, palm up, and something dropped onto her palm. She opened her eyes to look wearily. Three white pills. She looked for him and found him handing her a cup of water. She heard but did not understand what he said. She tossed those into her mouth like a robot, took a sip from the offered glass to wash them down, and closed her eyes. Her mind slowly The hands tucked her into bed, pulled the comforter over her, gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
She reached up with one arm, winced, and had to let her arm drop back to her sides. She managed to croak out, "No, wait, please."
